San Francisco to Denver

[UKCraig]

Well we are still here. Just! It has been a hard trip in truth... teenage boy kicked off even before we left London and clearly doesn't want to be with us. The feeling, currently at least, is mutual! Currently at Great Sand Dunes Lodge sitting doing very little which is nice. A well earned rest although I can't help but think I should have taken that opportunity for us all to headp home early a couple of days back. There will be no more family trips like this again... next time I will be travelling alone for certain.

[AZBuck]

... is a learning experience, else why take them?

AZBuck

[Southwest Dave]

Oh boy, that's a tough one to take. Hopefully taking a little time out, and giving each other a bit of space, will improve the situation. I hope you can all get something positive from the trip going forwards.

Dave

[Mark Sedenquist]

There will be no more family trips like this again... next time I will be travelling alone for certain.

Well, that is a big bummer. Sorry it hasn't been the fun you hoped for.

As SW Dave suggested, maybe things will turn around nicely in the days to come.

Mark

[Midwest Michael]

Traveling with teenagers can be hard. 10 years ago we did a big extended family roadtrip around Iceland and our at the time 15 year old seemed like it was her goal to ruin the trip for everyone else. Some for the good days were when she just sat in the car and sulked while we went off exploring. Obviously, this is a girl who had been taken on roadtrips her entire life, so it wasn't like she didn't know what to expect, it was just a teenager being a teenager.

That said, a decade later, she does seem to appreciate the fact that she got to go and I think she has some regrets about how she acted, so thing do get better.....

[UKCraig]

I think you nailed it, Michael. Sounds exactly the same as our situation.

Thankfully we are home now. No disasters along the way, no car-crashes, no messed up hotel reservations, no flight delays, no queues at immigration, even our bags were waiting for us on the carousel as we entered arrivals. Never doing it again though. As before, next time will be like the old days with just me alone.

Thanks everyone for your help in the planning process. I am happy to answer any questions on the places that we visited if I can but please do excuse me if I don't write our a daily report... it's all just a bit too raw right now!