What better way to start our annual family vacation than with the police pulling us over before we can even get out of our own city. That is exactly what happened at 3:30am as we departed from Fairborn. I guess I was a little excited about heading out for the west that I wasn't watching my speed. He clocked me doing 15 over but was very nice and only issued a warning.
After about 7 hours of driving we stopped at our first attraction, the historic Mule Trading Post in Rolla, Missouri. This was once on the famous Route 66 but now interstate 44 zips right past this all but forgotten reminder of bygone days. As a child on a trip to Maine I can actually remember stopping in this place with my family. I got a t-shirt that had the Mule Trading Post logo on it. Over the years I have had very fond memories of the Missouri Ozarks simply because of that memory of my first visit to this trading post. It was very inspirational to now bring my family here to form new memories. While we where there the girls got stuffed animals, Molly got an opossum and Neleha got a squirrel. Kristy signed the guest log before we left.
Our next stop was in Ozark, Missouri. This is a small town just outside of Springfield. We were doing some apartment hunting and even looked in one apartment. However we concluded that life may be a bit easier if we just lived in the Forest Institute student housing. We made some calls and in 10 minutes secured our new apartment.
With the girls approval we sealed the deal with a quick stop at the playground and it was back on the road for us.
We arrived in Lubbock, Texas early in the morning after about 18 hours of driving.
The girls got to meet Jarred and Johna for the first time and we had a very relaxing couple of days.
We even got to visit Jarred at work. He is the Assistant Manager of the local Denver Mattress.
The girls loved the idea that this store encourages everyone to jump on the mattresses. It did not take them long to fit right in.
We fell in love with the many mattress options available and the girls especially loved the thought that some of the beds came with remote controls.
Kristy was soled on the spot when she experienced the adjustable massaging bed options.
We all had a great time just visiting with Jarred and Johna. One night we were able to stay up and just catch up with life and things, a very good start to our vacation.
We soon headed on back down the road and arrived in Safford, Arizona 18 hours later just as the moon was setting behind Mt. Graham.
