Do You Road Trip? We Do, And We Did!

While most of us are used to winging from coast to coast in a few hours by plane, in my opinion, there's still something romantic and carefree about a cross-country road trip. You get to stop and see the sights along the way, and take the charming byways - rather than the highways - and once in a while you can experience America's small towns and back roads.

Two weeks ago, I made a long - correction, very long - road trip with Paige and Taylor (and their grandma from VA) from the West Coast to the East Coast. On a fine Saturday morning, we loaded up the car and began our departure from California. Six days later, we arrived in Virgnia. It was a vacation. It was a mission. It was an adventure. It was memory-making. It was the first mommy-and-me excursion cross-country with the twins, and I loved every minute of it. Well, almost every minute of it. The days were long, averaging 10-12 hours per day in the car, and by the end of each day, my back was pretty sore as was my moms who occasionally alternated driving with me to allow me a quick nap as we rode along mile after mile.

Some of my friends had given me such a hard time, teasing me, telling me I was crazy to want to travel across the country with toddlers. Maybe so. But we were doing it. And, I'm so glad that we did. We saw so many spectacular sights and attractions along the way, and the drive especially through California, Nevada, Arizona as well as Kentucky and West Virginia were especially beautiful!

And, the girls? Well, they were nothing short of AMAZING travelers! They'd watch movies on their DVD player in the backseat, and when they were not watching movies, we'd all play the "I Spy Something _____" game as we rode along. We'd talk about the large semi-trucks driving down the roads, and would imagine where they were going and what they were delivering. We'd talk about the adventures of our vacation each day - our visit to the Grand Canyon, our tour of the city lights of Vegas at night, our afternoon at a Texas Roadhouse where the girls told me they wanted cowgirl hats, our trek through the St. Louis Riverfront and the tour of the St. Louis Arch and so much more. And, lastly, a backpack filled with small toys, books and puzzles made the trip go more quickly for the kids too. I also purchased some "surprises" to hand out at set places in our trip to give the girls a little something to look forward to as we drove from state to state.

And, while I'd be lying to say that there weren't times when the days were extremely long and tiring, I will always cherish that cross-country road trip with the twins. We travelled more than 3,000 miles over the course of 6 days and we made some pretty fantastic memories along the way! I might even be brave enough (or crazy enough) to want to do it again someday...

P.S. Be sure to check out the slide show above for a few of the pictures taken during our road trip.