Nebraska Road Trip 2010 (Part III)

After the zoo on Saturday morning, we got in the car to head back home. We left around 12:30pm and as soon as we were on the highway Joshua was asleep. This was actually his first long nap since we had been in Nebraska. I guess there was just too much stuff to do and see, who had time for a nap, right? Our goal on the way home was to make it to Oklahoma City or Norman for the night (about 9 hrs. again). On the way back I had told Dan that I wanted to stop at various places along the way to do some fun things and I also wanted to take pictures of the state signs too. Well none of that quite worked out how I had planned. I missed the Nebraska sign coming up and leaving and I missed the Iowa sign coming up too. Quick note: Technically you do not have to go through Iowa to get to Nebraska or at least not our planned route, but for some reason, the GPS thought it would be a good idea. So, in following the GPS we ended up going through Iowa on the way up and then ended up going through Missouri on the way back home. Not a big deal! Just allowed us to say that we have driven through those states...ha!

About those fun destination that I wanted to go to along the way, by the time we got anywhere it was already 5 or 6 in the evening and most places that I had mapped out had closed or were about to close. But, being as determined as I was I decided to just randomly pick signs that said state park or wildlife refuge. The park that I chose was named Air Navy Park, so I thought it would be fun for Joshua to see airplanes and boats, but it actually had none of that and it was the smallest park I have ever seen, so that was a bummer. Later on I see a sign for a wildlife refuge and thought once again how fun it would be. Well, after traveling down a long winding road we arrive to an office that is closed and when we get out to check out the map of the place; it is basically a place with walking trails and places that you can fish and hunt. Batting zero here! None the less Joshua enjoyed just running around and picking up rocks, so I guess it worked out. After the last attempt with a "fun" place Dan and I decided that we would just go somewhere fun and different for dinner, which we did and that was nice. We also were able to catch the Texas/Nebraska football game on the radio while traveling and that was a major plus and Texas WON! (Even better) We made it to Norman, OK around 11pm which once again we could not find a hotel, so we had to stay outside of Norman. Norman had a pretty good excuse for having no vacancy at the hotels because they had played at home that day. The next morning we got up and hit the road by 730 and drove the last 6 hrs home. We stopped off in Plano to visit with family and then we were home by 4pm on Sunday!!! We had a great time traveling and spending time in Nebraska, our only regret was that we could not stay longer!!

Grandpa, Grandma and Joshua before we left on Sat.

In Oklahoma at a scenic overlook. Gotta love self timers on cameras!!

The wildlife refuge! Yep this is about it as far as what we did while we were there

The one and only solid nap that he took the whole time on the trip and it was when we were leaving...

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful time! We loved every minute of it!

To sum up our travels: 6 states (TX, OK, KS, IA, NE, MO), 7 tanks of gas, 2 hotels,

28 hours(total travel time), 1,706 total miles and tons of lasting memories!!!