Traveling Interstate 40

We woke up and packed the van, ready to head east on Interstate 40.  We drove back through Tucumcari (where we spent the night) to see some of the Rt 66 signs & buildings.

On the road, we gave the kids a goal for the day - have 25 semis honk at them.  They thought that was a far fetched goal, but they ended up reaching the goal with plenty of time to spare.  It became a family project as we made signs, took turns in the "honker seat" (middle seat behind passenger seat) and gave hi fives when they would honk at us.  We racked up quite a few honks when we stopped for the "welcome to" state signs.

We reached Amarillo and immediately loved the tacky, tourist things to get pictures of! 

We spent a few hours at The Big Texan (total tourist trap!) for lunch, shopping, photo taking and letterboxing. 

Lamborghini parked out front! 

The kids received cowboy hats with their meals...Will promptly pulled the sides of his hat down to look like a sun hat.  The girls followed suit.  Had all of us laughing!

Matt donned the 72 oz steak hat for the kids to take a bite of.  Notice Will's fake gun pointed at Matt. 

The Big Texan is the home of the 72 ouncer.  If you can eat all 72 oz in one hour, you get it free!  While we were eating, there were 5 people trying to do it.  Only 1 succeeded.

Back on the road, we traveled through Northern Texas on our way to Oklahoma City - our stop for the night. 

A few more "welcome to" state signs for the end of the trip...

We made it to Oklahoma City around dinner time (early evening) and ate at Whattaburger - one of Matt's favorites from when he lived in Houston.  After eating, we decided to drive downtown to see the Monument at night (Sunday night) as opposed to Monday morning with the work crowd.  We were moved by the monument in a way we didn't think possible.  It is a solemn area.  It was especially touching to visit it at night as the silence of the city engulfs you.

 

The next morning, we hit the road for Iowa - passing through Kansas and Missouri and making very few stops!

We arrived at our Des Moines hotel after an early dinner and let the kids swim for an hour before bed.  The next day was going to be the best way to end any vacation... Adventureland!!