Thankful for this Trip?

I’ve been writing this post in my head for weeks. And, although we’re almost well over a week past Thanksgiving, I think that I should share it anyway.

We have been on the road for almost three months at this point, and we are TIRED. There are days that everyone feels like just sitting around the camper doing nothing. There are days I want to shove a ham sandwich right into someone’s pie hole.  And, there are days that we all just want to book it back home (Although, where is home?). We have been tested emotionally, mentally, and physically on this trip. And some days, it just feels like too much. But, on those days, I look at some of our old posts and pictures and I realize just how much we have accomplished in these three long… er, um… short… months.

States We’ve Visited
Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Texas (We’ve still got Arkansas left)

National Parks We’ve Visited

1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
2.  Mammoth Cave National Park
3.  Gateway Arch National Park
4.  Badlands National Park
5.  Wind Cave National Park
6.  Yellowstone National Park
7.  Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
8.  Arches National Park
9.  Canyonlands National Park
10.  Bryce Canyon National Park
11.  Capitol Reef National Park
12.  Zion National Park
13.  Grand Canyon National Park
14. Joshua Tree National Park
15.  Kings Canyon National Park
16.  Sequoia National Park
17.  Saguaro National Park
18.  Guadalupe Mountains National Park
19.  Carlsbad Caverns National Park

National Monuments/Memorials/Historic Landmarks, etc 

1. Mount Rushmore National Memorial
2.  Devil’s Tower National Monument
3.  Dinosaur National Monument
4.  Canyon of the Ancients National Monument
5.  Hovenweep National Monument
6. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
7. Sonoran Desert National Monument
8. Deadwood National Historic Landmark
9. La Brea National Natural Landmark.
10. Mesilla Plaza National Historic Landmark
11. The Alamo National Historic Landmark

State Parks We’ve Visited

1. Custer State Park
2. Great Salt Lake State Park
3. Goblin Valley State Park
4. Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
5. Dockweiler Beach State Park

And that list doesn’t even begin to sum up the experiences that we’ve had on this trip. We’ve seen prairie dogs, bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, coyotes, elk, turantulas, crabs, and three different types of deer. We’ve played in snow, and walked amongst the largest cactus in the United States. We soaked in hot spring pools and surfed on sand dunes. We’ve explored the longest cave system in the world and photographed the world’s largest tree. We’ve touched dinosaur bones, and visited an active Ice Age dig site. We’ve picked fresh oranges from our camper and visited the World’s Only Corn Palace. Calvin rode his first horse (and his first pony!). We swam in the Pacific Ocean, and had a bonfire on the beach at sunset. We visited a museum about aliens in Roswell, NM as well as the Space Center at the NASA Headquarters in Houston, TX. We watched the fountain show at the Bellagio Hotel and canoed the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area towards Antelope Canyon.

When I put it all out there like that, I realize how busy and blessed we really have been. For this experience, today and every day, I am so thankful. I am thankful that my husband’s job and skillset gave him the ability for us to take this trip. I am thankful for my son’s enthusiasm for trying new things and going new places. I am thankful for the conservation of so many National Parks and Lands for us visit. I am thankful that our family has had the opportunity to bond.

And while I’m not sure we’ll ever do a trip this long-and short- again (and if I never eat another ham sandwich it’ll be too soon), our Tabbs Be Trippin’ US Road Trip has been magical in so many ways!