24:28

We've arrived in Austin. We rolled in this morning at 6:28 am. Our total travel time was 24 hours and 28 minutes. It wasn't a terrible drive. The kids were traveling superstars. Odelia didn't start asking if we were at the hotel until we stopped in Iowa to eat lunch with my sister. The good news was that telling her it was another 15 hours after we leave Des Moines didn't really sink in either. We did continue to have several conversations about the hotel, even upon arriving at the actual hotel and napping for four hours she was still inquiring about when we'd get to the hotel. We went to sir Chuckies last night in Topeka. Sadly the kids were so excited I'm not sure the Alamo or Grand Canyon will compare in their eyes. I smoked Milo 5 times in skee ball and it was quite fulfilling. The drive through the night was peppered with some two bit brewing podcast that Mark was engrossed in. It was filled with lots of 14-year-old boy humor that managed to keep me awake despite my best efforts.
As a Horner it's a genetic impossibility to get excited about doing anything after 9pm. We are a family of early birds, seeking out glorious sleep quite early. With that said I didn't approach the overnight drive with excitement. I was sure my restless legs and genetic pre-disposition to slumber would soil any hope of helping with the long night drive. Alas, I surprised myself. Not only did I drive in the middle of the night but I took TWO of the legs and was the the one to bring us to our first destination in Texas (see large donut).  Ben Folds Five accompanied me from 4:30-6:30.  Thank you, Mr. Folds.  Today was a typical Holdhusen vacation day. Local park, hotel swimming and amazing Mexican food for dinner. We are all still sleep deprived. Hopefully tomorrow's blog entry will be a little edgier but for now this sleep-loving lady can't muster an ounce of creativity to enrich your reading pleasure. Eyes drooping. Buenas noches!

We departed at 6:00 am on Friday morning and arrived in Austin, TX at 6:28 am on Saturday morning.

We stopped for a picnic lunch with Jen and Benjamin in Des Moines.   

The cousins were wearing matching t-shirt...didn't even plan it.

Launched some rockets thanks to Benjamin's super cool mom and her birthday gift buying prowess.  

Chuck's in Topeka.  Complete with disgusting food and overpriced games.  The kids LOVED it.  

Here's photo documentation of me killing Milo in skee ball.

Just gross (and cute).

Round Rock Donuts, arrival 6:28 am.  I drove TWICE.  TWICE.  Milo opened his eyes when we arrived here and said, "Where is Texas?"

You'll see...

GIANT TEXAS-SIZED donut.  Delicious.

He's thinking about his brewing podcast and all the fart jokes he committed to memory.

We will photo shop out the little fella in the background and it will be a priceless pic.  (Though I'm sure he's a nice kid).

Hot in Texas at 10:00 am.

The playground had gravel in it.  The kids were enthralled with finding rocks to add to our collection.  The only problem was they also found lots of things that looked like rocks too, including a wad of NERDS, broken glass and a cigarette butt.  I gently declined adding these gems to our collection.