The Gang's All Here!

The Gang's All Here! Eagan, MN

Eagan, MN

We had hoped to leave around 7:00, and hit the road at 7:45 a.m. ET (not bad for us!). We drove 3 cars (yes, 3!) over to Merrillville to meet both sets of grandparents at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, and to drop off our dog, Jolie, who will be spending the next couple of weeks with Grandpa & Grandma H. From there we said our good-byes, and then headed up to Linda's sister Beth's house to drop off one of our vehicles (Seth & Maddie will swap cars there next week on their way home).

We continued on our journey which was fairly uneventful. Leah drove for a few hours as she is trying to complete her 50 hours of supervised driving prior to getting her License. Seth & Maddie also took turns driving, and both Tom & Linda spent some time at the wheel as well. Chloe, the only non-driver, helped our two cars communicate via texting and phone calls. After a few downpours in Wisconsin, we made it to our hotel in Eagan, Minnesota, at 6:00 p.m. CT on the nose, the exact time we had been shooting for! (Trip time: 11:15.) We were excited to see Jared again, who had flown from Seattle after traveling for four weeks with his friends all around the west. He had taken the hotel shuttle from the airport and had arrived a few hours ahead of us.

It was great having the whole family together again! We were now traveling with seven: Tom & Linda, Jared, Seth & girlfriend Maddie, Leah & Chloe. Our first order of business was a family dinner out to celebrate Leah's 16th birthday (the day before). We went to El Loro, a Mexican restaurant right near our hotel. Then we headed over to REI for a little shopping. After a long day of driving, a big meal, and an hour of shopping, we were all ready to hit the hay!