Colorado Trip Day 3

12:01am.  Zoe hits me and screams, "No, mommy! No nail polish!" This is when I realized that Zoe not only talks ALL DAY LONG, she also talks ALL NIGHT LONG. And I get to sleep with her for the rest of the trip :)

2:00am. Zoe's third bloody nose.

7:45am. We head down to the bar (a real, beer on tap, full selection of whiskey, pool tables and all bar) for our free breakfast.

8:00am.  Zoe discovers the hardboiled eggs and insists she have one. I peel the egg while Zoe excitedly exclaims, "I hope it's a dinosaur egg!" She was disappointed.

8:30am.  Swim the in the mineral water and dip in the hot tub while Jeff packs and repacks the car. AGAIN.

9:15am.  Zoe works on her 'beauty kit' before we hit the road again.

9:17am. Robert attempts to eat as many Fruit Loops from a styrofoam cup as he can before we leave. Then spills them on the floor while bouncing from bed to bed. Then crushes a few, just to make sure he left his mark.

9:30am. Jeff leaves an extra tip for housekeeping after seeing the hotel room post-Hoke children.

11:02am  On the wrong road. AGAIN.

11:20am.  As we drive through amazing scenery, "Would you like to live here Robert?"
Robert answers, "No"
"Where would you want to live?"
"Nowhere but Texas."
It appears that he's been converted.
  
11:30am. Found the @#$% atlas.

1:00pm. Passed a young blonde girl at the gas station on her cell phone. Her tire was nearly driving on the rim. When Jeff mentioned it, she was truly surprised. I momentarily felt sorry for blondes everywhere.

3:30pm.  Checked into the next hotel room. Robert squeals in delight, "Oh man! This is a NICE hotel room! Double lamps!"

Colorado Road Trip, Day 2

7am. First roadside pee break for Zoe. This was 15 minutes after leaving breakfast, and 5 minutes before the next rest area. But at least we made it 10 hours in the car before having to pee on the side of a highway. That's something right?

8am. Robert starts insisting that we drive ALL THE WAY to Colorado before stopping again.

2pm. Set up camp at Abiquiu Lake, New Mexico. Views from campsite are amazing, but stakes for tent are not so amazing. Jeff and Robert position large rocks over stakes, as well as inside tent corners.

2:30pm. Take exceptionally road-trip cranky kids for a swim in the exceptionally cold lake.



3pm. Hmmm... Does that look like rain?

3:02pm. Are those clouds black?! Do you see the dust rolling like a tornado?!

3:11pm. Tent blows over into a tree, upside down, despite the 150 lbs of gear and rocks inside.

3:31pm. Robert runs excitedly around our trashed tent, singing the Darth Vadar theme song... which for once is strangely appropriate.

3:45pm. Begin bribing kids with chocolate and cookies to get them back in the car instead of eating dirt at the campground.

4pm. Pack up the car, and begin heading north toward Colorado. Again. Also fulfilling Robert's one wish of the day- to get to Colorado.

4:59pm. On the phone with a hotel for the night, now that we've lugged camping gear across 3 states.

5pm. Zoe's first nosebleed. She is now wearing only a Princess Leia tee-shirt and underwear, and is covered in campground dirt, cookie crumbs, chocolate and blood.

5:11pm. Zoe's second nosebleed. She then cries, "I want to go home!"

5:15pm.  Enter Colorado. Kids start cheering. I attempt to get the cheers on video. Here's what I get instead

6pm.  I sneak a dirty, covered in chocolate and blood Zoe in through the side door of the hotel and straight into a bath. Although I'm not sure the girl at the front with dreads and a the Kermit the Frog tee would have minded.

6:15pm. Zoe starts singing, "I feel better! So much better!" while Robert bounces back and forth between the two beds.

6:20pm.  Robert says (of the mediocre, aging hotel,) "This department is REALLY nice."