Day Three, Santa Rosa, NM to Yukon, OK

For us, Albuquerque is the tipping point.  From there it is easier to go forward to Oklahoma than to return to California.  So, forward we went.  Morning dawned, we had a great breakfast at our hotel.   The kids got to swim in the pool.  Things were much more optimistic in the light.  I reorganized the entire car in the parking lot. I got the tent collapsed enough to fit back into it's spot.   Anna helped and the boys watched TV in the hotel room.  Luckily, we were the only people left.  I am guessing that there isn't a whole lot of tourist action in Santa Rosa, most travelers are just moving on to the bigger attractions nearby.  It was hot, but finally around noon, everything was located and we were on our way to Yukon, OK.

Our first stop was in Amarillo, at the Braum's, which is one of our favorite parts of our trip across Texas.  They have their own dairy that they make into ice cream within 24 hours of milking their cows. It was a welcome sight to cross out of New Mexico into Texas.  We only have to cross the very top of Texas, so our trip there isn't  long. We ate lunch and stretched our legs.  We were aiming to have dinner with Aunt Velvet in Yukon, so we got on our way.

The last few hours in the car were a blur.   I was beyond clever, I was only going for survival. Anna objected considerably during the last bit. She attempted to escape from her car seat multiple times until I pulled her straps so tightly she couldn't wiggle an inch.  We managed by plying her with toys, a giant bag of chips she had been eyeing and asking for while crossing the last three states, and the best one of all (who knew?) a bag of pom poms and a yogurt container with holes cut in the lid.  She spent a good amount of time cramming the pom poms in the lid.  Loved it, I told her how I appreciated her help in putting them away. She was so happy to be of help.   This was going great, until in a fit of desperation and exhaustion, she ripped the yogurt container lid off and proceeded to distribute pom poms throughout the van (Thanks Mom for cleaning that up).

Anna and her Yogurt Container

Playing late at night at Aunt Velvet's 

Hank the Dog

The older kids and I spent the time in the car across the five states listening to audiobooks.  I had downloaded a number of them from the library to listen to.
We enjoyed Ramona the Brave, Pippi Longstocking, Inkspell, Frindle (the kid's favorite) and the beginning of Peter and the Starcatchers.   We also listened to tons of music from our eclectic collection, including a brief introduction to Journey and Johnny Cash.  Anna loved the Johnny Cash.  The kids had lots of questions about A Boy Named Sue.  I recall I had those questions too as a kid.  Finally, about 9 pm we made it to Yukon and Aunt Velvet.  We had dinner, the kids ran and ran around their giant backyard for about an hour with Hank (the dog) and then we crashed.

Or rather, the kids watched a movie and I tried to stay awake on the couch. In my typical fashion, I fell asleep during a conversation with Velvet.  We then moved everyone toward bed.  Then we all crashed.  Yes, we made it.