Yesterday we left St Augustine, Florida and arrived at the one and only Miami. It was a short trip; only 5 hours. It felt like an eternity. I was so anxious and excited to get home, and the van just would not move fast enough. I just wanted to be home.

A small detour postponed the arrival to our house. We had to pick up the dog from my grandmother’s house. We had lunch there at abuela’s and she was so excited to see us. My grandfather was thrilled that we actually made it all the way across the country and back, though I’m pretty sure he wanted to keep Mac (our dog) for the rest of the year. We ended up running to the van in pouring rain, which I missed terribly, and we finally made it home.

Being able to stay in my own house, my own bed, eat Mom’s homecooked food, made me realize how much I truly missed being home. But as much as I missed being at home, the trip was indeed the trip of a lifetime. I’ve been asked, “What was the highlight of the trip?” or “What did you enjoy most from this trip?” and in response to both, my answer is “Everything!”.

I mean, think about it. You’re asking me to pick and choose the best and worst of the trip? Honestly, there was no worst. Did I like all the cities I stayed in? Absolutely not. But does that mean that there wasn’t anything at all to enjoy there? Of course not. Within all those cities, there was something that made being in that city so awesome.

It was all the amazing food. As a family, we decided that we wanted to try new fast food places on the road. There were winners and losers. By the way, the ultimate winner was In-N-Out Burger. If you haven’t had one, get one sometime in your life. There were also some great restaurants we visited. And then all of the food in the car? My goodness, we were always eating. And it was almost always great.

It was the new experience of the different ambientes, or atmospheres, of all the cities we visited. There’s just something about hanging out in a new city that you just know whether you like it or not. Some cities just make you feel at home, while others give you a sense of adventure. All of the cities we visited had such different atmospheres and the majority of them were awesome.

It was being with the family. Believe it or not, we get along so well. We joke, we laugh and even if we start getting attitude-y on each other, its easy to break the tension with a quick witted remark. Being with my family and genuinely hanging out with them, because, obviously, there was no one else to be with, made the trip incredible.

There are so many things that made this trip amazing and bearable. Even when the going got tough with long car trips and finding a bathroom along the way and the GPS deciding to navigate incorrectly, we got through it. If any trip is going to stay imprinted in our memories forever, its this one. Everything about it made it extra special. Everything about it made it fun to be on. And everything about it made this trip completely unique, because its ours: The Cuevas Family Road Trip of 2008.

You know how they say, “home is where the heart is”? Well, since our hearts are set on Heaven, and that’s our real home, it makes it easier to leave on a trip like this knowing that we’re just on one big road trip anyway. I hope, we all hope, that this blog has made you see, if you ever doubted, that family vacations are possible. And they’re possible without needing a second vacation afterwards. Thanks so much for coming on this trip with us. It was truly a blessing to log on after a long day of driving and see that our hard work on this blog was not in vain. If anything added exceedingly and abundantly to this trip, it was the fact that we had all of you with us. And we thank you for that.

with much love,
aimee nicole
<3 

Today we arrived at St Augustine, Florida! Yes, we are in Florida! Its really good to almost be back, and its feeling like home already.

If you don’t know, St Augustine is the oldest city in Florida. It also happens to be the oldest city in the nation. So everything here is pretty… well, old. Historically, its a city that was a fort for the Spanish. There’s a fort with the original cannons and it used to have a moat and everything. Some of the original streets are paved with brick that came from ships. One of the many words that can be used to describe this city is “quaint”. Its just really cute and there are bed and breakfasts all around with little “vacancy” signs.

Tomorrow is the last day of our road trip. We end up in Miami. I’m so excited to get home, but at the same time, I’m sad that its almost over. But its not over until tomorrow!

with much love,
aimee nicole 

Today we arrived in Mobile, Alabama. The trip wasn’t half bad. I’m telling you: after 2 weeks of varying times in the car, you just get used to it. Again, this is coming from the perspective of a passenger. Now Daddy driving… ah, well. Ask him how he was doing.

The trip was around 8 hours long. We left San Antonio at around 9 in the morning. The trip out of Texas was long. Remember, its a huge state. After we passed that, Louisiana wasn’t a big deal. And Mississippi and Alabama were easy. We decided to take a picture by the “Welcome” sign because, well, let’s face it. We forgot to take a picture going to California. So we did that. And then the hotel was right off the exit. We got there relatively quickly. And again, I was asleep for about 6 hours. No lie, no exaggeration. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to sleep at night.

We ate at Carrabas, which was delicious. And right now, we’re just relaxing in the hotel. Its been a good day. It went by really quickly, and we’re almost home which is really exciting. I can’t wait to see you guys!

with much love,
aimee nicole

Today marked the beginning of our journey back home. We leave California behind and go back to Miami, Florida. Honestly, I don’t want to leave at all. But since we’re taking a different route back home than the way we came, there’s still a lot to see and experience.

This morning we went to church. We went to Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside. Its just such a cool church to visit. Harvest is one of those churches that you walk into and you feel like you’ve been a part of the church since the beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie is a great teacher of the Word of God, and he has an incredible way of relating to his congregation. Its just a really awesome church to visit, and it was refreshing since we haven’t attended a church service in a week.

After that, it was heading to Tucson, Arizona. This is very different than Williams, Arizona, which is where we stayed on the way to Cali. Williams, being in the mountains, was cool… actually, cold. In Williams, its hard to believe its summer. However, the direct contrast would be Tucson. Its incredibly hot. You think 90 degrees in Miami is hot? Well, 110 degrees (literally… not exaggerating) is even hotter. And then the fact that its really dry makes you feel like you stepped in the direct aim of a giant blow dryer. Needless to say, the AC in the car, and now the hotel room, is cranked all the way. Believe me, its hot.

Tomorrow we have a very long journey ahead of us. Its 12 hours to San Antonio, Texas. Plus, we lose an hour once we get to Texas, so its 13 hours in the car. We plan to spend a little bit of time in Las Cruces, New Mexico with some good friends of ours, which is going to be fun. And when we finally arrive at San Antonio, we’ll spend another day there, just like we did in San Francisco. Its going to be awesome!

Pray for us, as we need safety, and patience, to arrive in San Antonio. Believe me, we need it big time.

with much love,
aimee nicole 

This morning we left San Francisco. I was sorry to go, because the city was alot of fun to be in, but I was dying to get to LA. I’ve always wanted to come here and see it. And though I won’t be able to hang out in it much, the drive into it was an experience altogether.

Anyway, we took the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) down here to the LA/Anaheim area. It was a long journey, and we stopped alot along the way in order to take in the whole view. San Francisco is typically foggy, so the fact that Alcatraz and the Golden Gate were covered in fog wasn’t very unusual. We drove on the Golden Gate Northbound (sans toll) and snapped a couple of pictures, then we had to turn around and go back south in order to get to Anaheim. And to go southbound you have to pay a toll. I don’t really understand that, but there’s California for you.

We ate breakfast at a Starbucks and then continued on our journey. We stopped at Monterey Bay which was incredible. If I had to pick between the places I’ve visited so far on this road trip to live in, it would be Monterey, hands down. Its just a really cute city. Its a city with a beachside small town feel to it. I believe we have a couple of pictures of it, so hopefully you’ll be able to see what I’m talking about. 

After that, we went on to Pebble Beach. Apparently, its a super upscale, high class living place. I’d rather live in Monterey that’s a lot less secluded, but if you like seclusion, this is the place for you. Pebble Beach had mansions with ocean view, not necessarily ocean front. It was really beautiful even though you had most of the golf course in front of you. I’m pretty sure you’ll see a video of Pebble Beach here too.

After that, it was all the PCH. The first couple hours weren’t bad. They were really beautiful to look at. Then the fog rolled in, and then we got a little farther, away from the fog. There was a surprise waiting down the line, which you’ll see in a video later on too. Those last few hours were really boring and tedious though.

Finally we arrived at LA. Since it was a really long journey, we got here kind of late, so there wasn’t much to see. We’re all really tired and we just wanted to eat, update this thing, and go to bed. Hopefully we’ll get to updating video later on. But for now, enjoy the post, and try to visualize it. You’ll be surprised at how different your perception of California will be.

Tomorrow we’ll be going to Harvest Christian Fellowship for a Sunday service. After that, we head back home! As much as I miss everyone, I don’t really want to leave. So if we don’t come back, you know we’re kicking back and chilling in Monterey Bay. However, if we do decide to come back, which I believe is going to be the decision, then our trip isn’t over until we get back to Miami. Keep checking with us for more updates soon!

with much love,
aimee nicole 

We have officially arrived in San Francisco, California. What is amazing, and completely coincidental, is the fact that we’re here when the WWDC is here. For those of you non-Apple users, or people who are not technically savvy, the WWDC (World Wide Developer’s Conference) is where and when the Apple, Inc. announces the new products, or updates on products. So, just as a lesson to all you Apple customers, wait until after the WWDC to buy any brand new Apple product. Just a rule to keep in your back pocket.

Not only are we in the same city as the WWDC, but we’re across the street. We can see the Moscone Centre from our hotel room. You can’t miss it. There’s a giant Apple on the side of the building. We walked down there and it was pretty happening. Security was really tight, but the Apple shirts that people were sporting were incredible. I happen to want one, though I haven’t had the chance to inquire where to purchase one.

So before we arrived in San Francisco, we visited the Sequoia National Forest. Actually, our first attempt took us to a random street corner thanks to our wonderfully genius GPS, and then we got to the actual forest. But anyway, you’re like 7000 feet above the ground. Remember how I said I was freaking out at the Grand Canyon which is a mere 5280 feet off the ground? Well I was pretty much hyperventilating here. On top of that, we were in a car, with hairpin turns, sometimes sans guardrails. It was so scary. Half the time, I refused to get out of the van. After we got into the actual Sequoia Forest, it was better. All you see, and smell, are redwoods. Its really cool (temperature) and the trees are huge. Actually, “huge” seems like an understatement. They were gigantahumungabiganormous! And even that can’t even begin to describe how massive these things were. It was beautiful though.

Tomorrow, we’re still going to be in San Francisco. We’re going to be hanging around here for another day or two and it seems to me like there’s a whole lot to do here anyway, so I’m hoping its going to be really cool.

with much love,
aimee nicole

PS: if you haven’t had the pleasure and privilege of eating an In-N-Out burger, do me a favor: fly to California, eat one, grab the entire eating establishment and fly it back to Florida. Miami needs In-N-Out!

PPS: sorry that these posts keep getting longer. there’s just so much to share with you guys. i hope its ok!

Yesterday we left Dallas, Texas. With that, we left the Kruegers. They were so much fun to be around and are incredibly hospitable. By the way, our Connie-tinental breakfast turned into a Marty-nental breakfast. Awesome pancakes, a great fruit salad and some good Canadian bacon. We had another 9 hour journey, so it was a great send-off.

I think our family is already getting used to the long journeys. 9 hours doesn’t seem as long anymore… well, atleast if you sleep alot like I do. Its pretty crazy how we keep gaining time, so we had day light until about 9 at night, our time. Remember, we’re 2 hours ahead of Miami time.

Today, we’re headed to the Grand Canyon. Yep, THE Grand Canyon. We’re already up and at ‘em so we figure we’ll eat breakfast then get to the canyon by the afternoon. We want to spend some time there and also take a ton of pictures. Hopefully by tonight (if we can get some wifi access), you’ll be able to enjoy some of those pictures.

But for now, we leave you with a run through of Dallas to Albuquerque.

much love,
aimee nicole

PS: above is a 360 view of our 2000 mile mark on the trip. if you print it out and put it around your head, you can see what we saw!

Could not resist to use this video for testing the upload service. Let me know what you think.