Well, if you guys don't mind... Here's a quick rundown of the trip picking it up!
So, the family decided they all wanted to come and turn the truck purchase into a family road trip. So, we woke up at 3am on a Thursday and got a ride to the airport to fly out to Colorado. For some reason, the kids were really excited at the start... I was sure it would wear off soon.
I was surprised how much fun they had on the plane. The seats always seem a little to narrow for me... so I was uncomfortable for the whole flight. Luckily, it was only 5ish hours of flight time.
When we landed, we had to take the DIA subway over to the terminal with 3 bags and 2 car seats... That was fun. But, the kids were having a great time.
From there, we had to lug our... well... luggage, over to the bus stop to take us to the rental car terminal. It was a short bus ride and the family was in high spirits.
From there, we grabbed our rental. It was a boring Kia... but it had a center diff lock! .I pondered taking it out on a quick trail but decided against. Instead, we swung by and visited our old house. Great memories there... but surprising how suburban the old neighborhood feels compared to our current house.
From there, it was time to pick up the truck. A storm was coming in and I wanted to get car seats moved over and luggage packed before it started raining and snowing. We rushed over and I met the owners. We had a quick chat, I handed them a check, we completed the title transfer and hit the road. I followed my wife back to the airport to drop off the rental. From there, we hit I70 and headed east. We got out to Limon (eastern Colorado) before we had to call it a day. I didn't want to wear everyone out. We stopped and got some surprisingly good Mexican food in a random little restaurant outside of town.
From there, we headed over to the hotel and called it a night. In the morning, I got up around 4am local (2 hour time difference from eastern time) I had a cup of coffee and headed out to the truck. I just had to get a picture of the lights... I think they look really cool. Also, those little fog lights in the bumper are really aimed to the side... kind of like ditch lights. They actually make a pretty big difference. You can see them lighting up the bushes in this pic:
The family got up and we hit the road around 7:30am. Turns out we didn't get much snow, but I'm glad we brought our old roof top cargo bag:
We headed east across the great plains. I know that Kansas doesn't have scenery that is worth taking pictures of... there are just miles of fields, pasture and prarie. But, for some reason, I find that state really relaxing.
We stopped for lunch in Quinter Kansas... population 918. We ate lunch in the only open restaurant we could find... a Dairy Queen. Seems like a good portion of the town ate there. There was an interesting mix of traditional cowboys (they loved the truck), Mennonites, and local families in there... a real cross section of people. Everyone knew everyone else and greeted each other by name. The owner would say "Hey Joe... what'll you have today?". Anyway, everyone was friendly. We enjoyed watching them and enjoyed the view of an abandoned pizza restaurant out the window:
As we were finishing our food, the owner walked over to the table and gave my wife a wink. She said "Hey kids. If you finish your food, I'll let you come behind the counter and make your on icecream cones... with sprinkles." The kids scrounged their food down and she took them behind the counter. A line was starting to form and she said "sorry guys... you'll have to wait a minute. I have some important training to do here." They got ice cream and toppings on the house. Everyone in the place was entertained and happy... no one was impatient. It was a cool experience. Quinter Kansas, I'll be back.
From there we headed east and got almost to the Missouri boarder. The next day we crossed Missouri and stopped for dinner in the southern tip of Illinois. We were in a really small town and I can't remember the name... but we say a roadside billboard that advertised best fried chicken and foot tall meringue pie. We had to stop. It was a cool diner that looked like it hadn't changed in 100 years.
I ordered the fried chicken. It was the best restaurant fried chicken I had in my life... hands down.
I had to go see what pies they had. I like cream pies... but I like fruit pies better. They had quite a selection up front:
In the back, they had racks of pies that were baked that morning... it smelled good. I got a blackberry pie and my wife got cherry. We shared with the kids and everyone was impressed... good stuff.
Anyway, we left Illinois and stayed the night in Indiana. We continued east the next day, seeing what sights we could see from the road and trying to only stop when we needed to. Sometime we'd let the kids get out at a rest area and stretch their legs: (not sure which state this picture is from)
We stayed the night in Ohio that night. We had White Castle burgers for the first time... I liked them!
The kids said they were having a lot of fun. I couldn't believe it... no fighting or complaining the entire trip so far. My wife commented that the truck almost felt like a camper, the cab was so big. She also admitted that it was more comfortable than her Lexus. I'll take those compliments all day!
The next day, we met some friends for breakfast then left Ohio behind. We crossed through a narrow tip of Pennsylvania and headed into upstate New York. I should have taken pictures here... fall colors were coming in. Anyway, we almost made it through New York but spent the night there. The next day we tackled Massachusetts and made it up to New Hampshire in the early evening:
For some reason, we weren't all that tired and everyone was in high spirits. So we went to town hall and got it registered! Shorty wanted to help, so he installed the plates:
Well... that's the trip. The family loves the new truck and I think it unlocks long road trips for us. Not much vehicle content in this post, now that I think about it. But, a sort of trip report none the less.
