Thankful Thursday: Road trip wrap-up

...as I was saying...we got back on the road on Sunday but broke up our long, long drive by stopping at Nathan's parents' home in Montana to visit for the afternoon and evening and spend the night. We then finished our journey home on Monday, taking a different route than we've taken before with a small detour to see another wooden troll. She's named Mama Mimi and is just outside Jackson, WY.

We got home late on Monday...2240 miles later. Whew.

So, things I'm thankful for:

• Our rock star 2008 minivan. So thankful that Vinnie continues to reliably get us all over the country. While we'd have loved to drive our new EV, it just didn't make sense for this long a trip so we appreciate still having the option to drive Vinnie.
• Vehicle motion cues on the iPhone. I've never been able to really read in a moving vehicle...I get motion sick. But. I recently discovered a feature on my iPhone that uses little dots to somehow magically help with that. Game changer! I'm still not reading books or anything (I almost never read whole books on digital devices anyhow) but being able to read my emails and such while being a passenger was fantastic. (If you don't know about this and want to...go to settings, accessibility, motion and turn on your "show vehicle motion cues" toggle. You're welcome.)
• Gas station hand soap that smells nice. With all our stops for gas or to stretch and switch drivers or to eat or a combination of those, I ended up washing my hands a lot on our road trip. I truly appreciate those places with soap that smells nice and not like disinfectant. It's a little thing but makes a difference.
• Extra drivers. Yup, it's nice having everyone able to drive. We have our road trip process pretty well down by now and the extra people to switch off is good. (In case you care, if I'm not driving, I almost always get shotgun because I get sick in the back. So, for me, it's particularly nice having someone different to talk with every couple hours. On this trip, it was also useful for Nathan to be able to sit in the back and prop his ankle on the cooler to elevate while others drove.)
• Family lodging. Sincerely thankful for being able to stay in Cassy & Charlie's cabin and at John & Nancy's house during this trip! Not having lodging costs makes a world of difference.
• Family food. So grateful for the plentitude of food all different family members provided along this whole trip, too. I ate too many cookies and kifle but also ate pretty well with all the bulgogi and lumpia and grilled chicken and salmon and watermelon salad and burgers and fresh fruit and ceasar salad and egg salad and just everything. Yum!
• Air conditioning. We didn't have any issues with AC during this trip but I'm always appreciative for air conditioning...such a fabulous invention. 
• Adorable niblings. I got to visit with thirteen of my sixteen niblings (nieces & nephews) during this trip and they're awesome. It's lovely chatting with the grown niblings and hearing about their lives and so much fun playing with and talking with the little ones. Thankful to have so many wonderful niblings!
• Watching my boys with their cousins. It's not often enough but I love watching my boys with their cousins, particularly the ten little ones. Micah does a great job of getting them all riled up and letting them climb all over him and Asher does a great job of keeping them all safe. Happy sigh.
• Trying a different route home. Even though it added about an hour to our trip, we tried a different route home from John & Nancy's this time. Much of Wyoming was still pretty uneventful to drive through, but the different route offered some terrific views for a portion of the drive (in the Grand Tetons area). Plus, we got to see Mama Mimi. :) 

And that concludes my tale of our reunion road trip. :)