Day 11 Hendersen, NV - Morro Bay, CA 8-17-08

The last leg of the trip. Tonight we will be home in our beds.
Our goal today was to be on the road by 10 & we were pretty close to it. We did have a few delays trying to leave the hotel. While Michael was loading the car, Matt & I were down getting some juice & breakfast items & Lindsay had Maddie in the room with her as she was trying to get ready to go. We were all back in the room drinking our juice & eating the breakfast items, when there was a knock on the door. It was maintenance. They said they had a flashing light from our room. I guess Maddie pushed a button on the phone when she was playing with it. Oops. Well, that was taken care of.
Michael had another trip down to the car & when he came back up, he commented that there was a police car out front & an officer standing by the front door. Wonder what’s going on? We’re soon to find out. Another knock on the door & we’re greeted by 2 of Hendersen’s finest police officers! I guess the emergency button on the phone had been pushed & the line had been left open, so the police have to follow up on every call. Oh my goodness! Maddie must have pushed that button too! We apologized about it & they were very understanding about it. Quick, let’s leave before anyone else shows up!
After stopping for Krispy Kreme donuts & gas, we are finally on the way. It is about 11 & we have just over 400 miles to go until we are home. This will probably feel like the longest stretch-you know, the closer you get to home, the longer it seems to take to get there!
We are almost at the end of our eating out at different places then we have at home. (Lindsay can’t wait to have BK again!) We went to Del Taco today in Barstow. As we were leaving there, Lindsay yells “mom!” & I look back & Maddie has blood all over her face & hands. So we pull over real quick in the parking lot & we get her cleaned up. She had a bloody nose. Her first one that I can remember. We get about 10 mins down the road & she starts gushing again. Really gushing. We had to pull over on the side of the road to try to get it to stop, clean her up & get going. I switched seats with Lindsay so I could sit by her for any more. I think we had a few more, but not quite as bad. She wasn’t real fond of me trying to hold a tissue on her nose, or having blood on her arms or hands. Will have to definitely change her shirt if we get her out anywhere! Thank goodness she fell asleep, so we didn’t have to worry for awhile, at least. But it only lasted about an hour. She had nose bleeds off & on the whole way home. She was quite the sight when we got home.
We stopped for our last meal at In & Out in Atascadero. We went through the drive thru so we wouldn’t have to get Maddie out of the car. She seemed to be doing pretty well-especially if you kept the dvd’s going! She is liking the Elmo goes potty DVD! (Sorry Rachelle, it’s not Barney! Lol)
She was so excited when we got home. It was about 7:15. She wanted to play in her sand table, so we let her as we unloaded the car. Then it was bath time. The cats seemed to be happy that we are home too. Pepper seems to be limping, so we’ll have to keep our eye on him.
Now it’s time to get back to the real world! The kids have school registration & pictures tomorrow in the morning & Matt starts football practice tomorrow afternoon. Got to get the laundry done so they have clean clothes for the pictures.
It was so wonderful to get this opportunity that we had to go visit some very special friends in Nebraska. To see some of the country & appreciate God’s handiwork. A question for God though, why does he bring special friends into our lives that live so far away? Already Matt is trying to figure out when we’ll see them again.
I will try to get pictures up as I get the pages done. Thanks for following us on our adventures to Nebraska! We had a wonderful time. Thanks SO MUCH to Mark, Rachelle, O’Cessa, Ethan, Cole, Ellie, & the 4 kitties for a great time. For giving up beds, for sharing rooms, showing us how things are on a farm, driving, fishing & shooting lessons & the gift of friends. We love you all & miss you.