7,369 Miles - Made It! Baby Rag Quilt

While on vacation this spring, I had so much fun making two baby rag quilts for some special little girls. I also made the girls matching elephants, which can be purchased from Doodlebug & Friends.

I found a Rag Quilt Tutorial on Beverlys.com that explained exactly what to do and vas very easy to follow. Both quilts were cut out and sewn together in about 6 hours. The tedious part for me was cutting the edges. These little quilts are super soft and warm. 

7,369 Miles - Sewing Projects

When traveling 7,369 Miles, 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 4 Days, 10 States, with 1 Suitcase, 1 Duffle Bag, a Toddler and an iPod you may need to sew something. I'd suggest just packing an emergency sewing kit, but in my case, I packed my sewing machine, a bag full of fabric, cutting board, notions and a bunch of patterns. 

David's family was very gracious to allow me to turn their dinning room into a sewing room while we were visiting and I had a blast being creative!

The first thing I sewed was Caden's shorts, the seam fell apart in the wash!

Next on my to do list was make these adorable elephants from Retro Mama.

7,369 Miles - The Food We Ate

When traveling 7,369 Miles, 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 4 Days, 10 States, with 1 Suitcase, 1 Duffle Bag, a Toddler and an iPod you will need to stop for food. 

We had a small soft sided cooler to keep snacks, juice and sodas cold. And a 2 gallon water jug, at night we would fill the water jug with hotel ice, we never ran out of water and it tasted decent.

Most mornings, I would get up before the boys go to the hotel lobby and bring several plates of food back to our room. Having breakfast at the hotel saved $10-15 every day, so it was a win in my mind, especially since I love waffles and pancakes for every meal.

Lunch would be a stop at a drive through or snacks and fruit from a grocery store, a favorite was cheese and crackers or lime chips. David was always on the look out for fish and chips. I'm not a fish person but the fish was really fresh since we were so close to the ocean and very tasty.

Dinner was hit and miss. Some days we drove longer than expected, other days we found something right away or were wanting something in particular. Toward the end of our trip David discovered that extra cheese and pepperoni on a pan style pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut was fantastic, we would order a medium for $10 and have left overs for breakfast or lunch the next day.

Our Favorite Places To Eat:

7,369 Miles - The Places We Stayed

While nothing beats staying with family and friends, you might need to stay in a hotel every now and then when traveling 7,369 Miles, 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 4 Days, 10 States, with 1 Suitcase, 1 Duffle Bag, a Toddler and an iPod. 

Here's what we learned along the way....

Before our trip I downloaded some apps thinking they might come in handy. They did! The one we used almost every night was Trip Advisor. If we were in a big city we used Hotel Tonight. What we loved about both of these apps were the reviews, pictures of actual rooms and the prices. 

Trip Advisor advertises as, reviews and advice on hotels, resorts, flights, vacation rentals, travel packages, and lots more! 

Hotel Tonight advertises as, a last minute deal for unsold rooms, with discounts up to 70%. 

If you find a hotel chain that you love sign up for their loyalty program, if you stay with them long enough you can turn your points in for free nights or gift cards.

Here's what most nights looked like for us:

7,369 Miles - The Packing List

For several years we've been dreaming of taking a long vacation, going to some of the places we traveled as kids and visiting new places together. On April 4th, 2013 we took the opportunity! 

David has been studying for months to get his CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician), which he received in March. In April he quit his job and we headed out on our big adventure.

The plan was to visit family in New Mexico and Arizona, take a consulting job in Nevada, then on to California for a few days to vacation and check out a couple job leads.

After 7,369 Miles, 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 4 Days, and 10 States, with 1 Suitcase, 1 Duffle Bag, a Toddler and an iPod. I have a few things to share with you!