Denver - Kansas City - Louisville - HOME!

Let's wrap this up, huh!?!

Matt and I made it home around 7pm tonight. Approximately 6.5 hours drive from Louisville, KY. I think it's important to note that out of ALL of the states 
(Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia)
we have driven through OHIO takes the cake for the WORST DRIVERS across the nation! No, I'm not surprised. Just reconfirmed my previous suspicions.

However, we made it home successfully. No accidents, speeding tickets, bumps, cuts or bruises on Newt. Pretty impressive for a 7,100 +/- mile trip!

Okay .. let's recap:

Denver -

Breakfast at the Denver Biscuit Company. I opted for a cinnamon roll and scrambled eggs as I'm not a biscuit fan. Turned out the cinnamon roll was the size of 3-4 biscuits! E-gads! There was enough icing on that thing to save the south from any future droughts. I ate as much as I could before crying for a box to go. Matt and Abby gladly devoured most of their biscuit breakfasts. And then it was time to depart Denver.

"Creeper" :)

Abby was an amazing host / tourguide of the city. Something tells me we'll be visiting again in the near future! Thanks again for the great visit and hospitality! (p.s. ... Matt wants to hire you to decorate OUR apartment. Please schedule us in for a session when you return to PA in November).

Driving through Denver (no snow!)

Why so serious?!?!?!!
(guess I should have smiled in this pic)

Typical Kansas scenery (at 85 mph)

Lotsa windmills! Kudos Kansas.

 Kansas City was just a quick layover to HOME! We made it into the city after a brief altercation with a toll troll who explained to us our PA EZ Pass did not work with the Kansas Toll System. WHY? Our pass cooperates with all other states. We were happy to depart Kansas as soon as possible.

Great morning bites at the Happy Gillis Cafe & Hangout in Kansas City
I'm sure Matt was happy to have a Meatloaf sandwich as his wife has vowed to NEVER MAKE MEATLOAF AS LONG AS SHE WALKS THIS EARTH. Such a disgusting idea! A loaf of meat. ugh.

A delicious marinated salmon sandwich with boursin and frisee. YUM!

A drive by image of Kansas City

En route to St. Louis

The Arch!

A very ghetto Starbucks we found on the drive. We were very happy it was at least open though!

I liked this old building .. thought it would make for a good picture for the kitchen. Mayhaps.

Matt has/had a habit of lopping off the top of photos. I think you get the idea though.

And if you didn't get the full picture before .... 

BEAUTIFUL DAY to visit the St. Louis Arch

The photographer at work

We were here on a Saturday. A beautiful Saturday and saw quite a few wedding parties mozying about preparing to take pictures with this structure THAT MATT'S COMPANY BUILT!

Bridal party snapping beautiful pictures of their big day!
I wonder if the bride and groom will celebrate their 3rd year anniversary with a 3-week roadtrip! :)

That's right! You heard it here first. Matt's company actually built this structure. He was very proud to visit this monument and was just dieing to share his story with any willing participant who would listen. Unfortunately Matt's cruel wife did not allow him to educate the innocent bystanders roaming about. Poor Matt had to accept the fact that he could only educate his wife on the building and planning of the Arch. Hey, Matt. Maybe you can tell your story on the blog in the very near future. For now .. it's on to the next picture. (stay tuned willing participants!)

The "Free Hugs" crew were out in full patchouli force!

I succumed to one of the "free hug" monsters.

And on through Missouri

 Next stop: Santa Claus, Indiana.

YES! This is actually a city. Can you believe it? I had to stop here for Ms. Holly even though my husband scowled at me for driving 20 miles out of our way - late at night - on our way to Louisville.
Unfortunately, the santa claus store was closed (as it was 8pm!) 

Silly Santa.

And yet, Matt still put on a happy little smile with Santa. :) 

Old Tyme Liquor (in Santa Claus, Indiana) selling Turtle Soup by the GALLON!

 Finally arrive in Louisville, at the Galt House and Hotel. Hello, Madness!

How appropriate to find a horsey in our hotel room.

 We had a late night dinner at the Troll Pub Under the Bridge. Much better than my idea of having room service in the hotel!

Dragon bike racks. Impressive!

Matt trying to navigate this massive hotel.

Final stop at the Bourbon Bar.

Me and my jockies!

The mid-wests obsession with PBR is a bit unsettling. 

Matt at his wits end - making fun of me for taking pictures of EVERYTHING.
Here he demonstrates opening a drawer and posing while opening said drawer.

Never expected to see Michaelangelo's David in Louisville. But, hey, why not??

A bedazzled limo. Never. Thought. I. Would. See. Such. A. Thing.

Now this is true comedy!

This is Matt's favorite seasonal brew (Pumking). This stuff sells out by September in our area. We wandered in to an organic supermarket in Louisville and found this madness in their brewsky section. Unfortunately, we found it at 11:00 AM! (And the sign clearly says no sales before 1pm).

After getting a salad for me and a sandwich for Matt at this supermarket it was closer to 12pm. We opted to gas the car and gas ourselves with Starbucks in hopes to get that much closer to 1pm.

We made it back to this Mart to purchase 3 bottles of this pumpkin gold. Hooray for celebrating Halloween the best way possible.

So, 6.5 hours later we were ... HOME!!!
We were practically possessed from our excitement to make it all the way home and bypass any stops between Louisville to home! Long drive. Horrible drive through Ohio (land of the LEFT HAND DRIVERS) rain, wind and squinty eyes from shooting nasty looks to all the drivers I had to pass in the right hand lane.

FINALLY HOME!!! (7,185 miles later!)

OH So much stuff to unpack (tomorrow)! 
Great trip and I'm so thankful I don't have to transport any bags tomorrow.

Once again, we couldn't be happier to be home! 

We had an amazing trip and are so thankful to arrive home safely. America is quite a vast land to conquer ... we made a great dent! Thanks to all of those who participated and accommodated us on our journeys.

We both feel this 3-week roadtrip was the ultimate test for a marriage. Tomorrow will be strange when Matt's at work and I'm home unpacking, cleaning and resting. We've practically become siamese twins in our travels. I think we now know that we'll be successful in our travels into old age together. Come on! Anyone that can survive 7,000 + miles together in a car can survive the worst of storms.

:)