A bit more...

...on the backtracking end of things!

Before we moved back down south in February, there were a few things that we wanted to do.  Actually, there were a few states that we wanted to visit.  Or step our toes into.  Or just drive through.  I digress...

Our first small road trip took place on a Saturday.  We drove to Niagara Falls.  Crossed over into Canada, and took in the sights.  I hadn't been to Niagara since high school, but this was Billie's first time to see it, as well as the girls' first sighting.  They were blown away!

One goal that we have is to set foot in all 50 states.  Before JK leaves the house.  She'll be graduating in 6 years, if not a bit earlier.  That's not long.  So our second road trip of January 2013, was to drive through the New England states.  Yep.  All of them.  This insane road trip put us to 27 states so far!  Now to hit the western half of the U.S.

Here are the states that we saw in 5 days time.  West Virginia isn't marked, but it was #13 on the list!  Tired is an understatement!  We also managed to completely miss the massive snowstorm that hit the very weekend that we returned home.  Thank God for that!

We planned a little fun into the trip!  A wonderful deli in Maine:

 A little stop in Plymouth, MA (I could live here!):

The best part of our trip was our day in NYC!  This was a first for Billie and the girls again, and I was just glad to be back!  We stayed in the city for one night and took off exploring the next day.  We rode the subway, went to Times Square, saw the Statue of Liberty (from a distance), ate pizza in Grand Central Station, went to the the 9/11 memorial, spent time watching people skate in Rockefeller Center, walked up 5th Avenue, went to the American Girl Store (of course!), and played in Central Park!  We were exhausted at the end of the day, but we are all excited about trying to go back in a few years!

 After we left NYC, we started our journey home.  Our last real stop was in Philadelphia.  We wanted to see the Liberty Bell.  It was amazing to stand in such a historic place and see the original Declaration of Independence.

 This truly was an amazing trip for us.  It was fast.  It was exhausting.  It was cold.  It was freezing at some points.  We put 2,000 miles on the van.  It was worth it.  I'm so thankful for the opportunity to give these experiences to the girls.  We had an amazing time as a family.  Lots of laughs.  A bit of fussing (driving in Vermont...in the dark...during the start of a snowstorm...waiting for the Abominable Snowman to show his face...but it was a shortcut...).  A lot of fun.  Something that I will always remember!