Destination State -- UTAH!
I had a surprise treat waiting in the back of the travel fridge for this moment and we celebrated with a rootbeer toast upon crossing the border. Cheers!
We made it! It is no small feat getting this van over the Colorado Rockies. I had good company behind semi's in the ultra slow lane.
We posed like this:
But we felt like this:
Because we had just gone through hours of this:
Hours of Bridger screaming, kicking and thrashing for reasons unknown. His special vest keeps him from trying to hang himself with the seatbelt and kicking the windows which he is fond of doing when he has meltdowns like that. When we pull into get gas and everyone of us steps outside of the car to breath for a minute. I don't think all of those other easy traveling gas fillers has any idea just how hard it is to move this cute little boy across 11 states. I envy those other gas station patrons whose biggest travel obstacles are dealing with grumbling, bored kids, or annoyed kids that fight because somebody touched them or breathed on them wrong, or kids that have to go to the bathroom too often or who spill their drink, or who just threw up. I would take a vomit (dozens of vomits even) any day over hours of these ear piercing screams and car rocking body thrashes. His sensory system is overly taxed, his little body is uncomfortable, he doesn't understand. . . lots of reasons. Any other traveler with us would have jumped out of the window just past Denver. But my little travelers are beyond patient. I am so grateful for their examples of tolerance and long-suffering that extend well beyond a 11 states of travel.
He was finally calmed by his noise cancelling headphones playing, ironically, "Let it Go" on repeat mode while he ate bites of a honeybun (one of his 5 foods that he is able to eat - which makes eating on the road even more challenging).
Let the fun begin! First stop, Moab and Arches National Park.