2,169

2,169... the number of miles we needed to get through (it was a bit more due to a detour to see Yellowstone National Park) in order to pull up to our new home in Gig Harbor, Washington. I was just around 29 weeks pregnant with the twins when we made the trek. We left Pittsburgh, PA (we drove back east to visit with family, before we drove out west) on July 15th... we travelled through West Virginia (just a few miles), Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.. crossed the Mississippi River... Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and the finally made our way into Washington on the 18th. It was a grueling 4 days of travel... but we learned so much on out travels. We learned how "far" the kids could go before they need a pitstop (stopped at playgrounds, Farmer's Markets, and other short attractions where we could all stretch our legs for a few minutes)... learned that putting the windows down to "blow" them out in the back is a method for getting them to stop screaming that they didn't want to drive anymore... learned that NO woman carrying twins should EVER endure that distance while 28+ weeks pregnant (I complained more than the kids, and asked to stop for pee breaks more than the kids)... learned that a cat can survive in a van over night if a hotel doesn't let you bring a pet in (covered litterboxes are the way to go for long distance trips)... and learned that we were missing out on a huge chunk of the US as we drove through each of those beautiful states (jotted down in our memory banks what we'd love to return to see again). It was a beautiful trek across the country, but it felt SO good pulling up to home when we got there.