Road Trip - Utah to HOME

On Monday, June 9th, we were 1,000 miles from home.  It was going to take us 17-18 hours to get back.  The last leg of our journey!  Why does it always feel like the longest? 

We were sorry to have to say good-bye to family again, but we needed to get home.  We'd been away a long time.  We left Oregon on May 23rd and would be getting back in the wee hours of June 10th.
 

Two and a half hours into our trip we entered Nevada again. 

 

It took us about 7 hours to get across Nevada.  We went through Sparks/Reno, then headed North,

into California.  The State sign turned out too blurry to post.  This is Mount Shasta though, with the moon high in the sky. 

Mt. Shasta, with the shadow of James' bike on the roof of our car. 

Five hours, it took us to go across the top eastern corner of California.  

Finally, finally, we were back in Oregon!!!  You can believe we were excited about that!  We were only 4 hours from home!

We stopped in Medford for dinner and to fuel up, one last time.  

We drove into our driveway around midnight.  We brought the kids and the bike in, and then just crashed.  All we wanted to do was sleep for as long as possible.  

We had driven 6,400 miles and been to 15 different states during our little vacation!  We were able to see 3 different families, 4 waterfalls, 1 Ancient American fort, 1 Civil War site, 5 temples, attend church in 3 different states, drive through the night twice, see Nauvoo and have countless hours of "family time."  

The next would be another busy day.  There were boxes to unpack, plus there was no food in the house, so I would need to go grocery shopping.  There was much to look forward to on the morrow.  Ha ha.  

But again, my priority right now, was sleep.    

Utah Visit

Our time in Utah was spent with family we only get to see about once a year, so it was great to be with them again.  

The kids played with cousins all day long.  They were in heaven.   Logan and his 12 and 9 year-old cousins, naturally grouped themselves together.  Logan wanted to do everything his 12 year-old cousin did.  And he just loved having other boys his age to play with.  

Taylor and her 6 and 4 year-old cousins were attached at the hips.  She had a grand time, finally being the oldest in the group.  It was so sweet to watch them play and get along so well. 

James got to hang out with his brother, who is also one of his best friends.  In fact, they went on a Brother's Weekend bike trip during our stay there.  They had been wanting to do this for years, so they took off for a quick 2 days in Moab. 

The first day, they rode near Moab, on the familiar red dirt and rock.  I know it made James happy to be back in Moab.  It had been about 4 years since he'd been there.

 James' brother rides a "fat bike."  It has enormous tires.

 The temperature that day was in the upper 90's. 

At the end of the day, they ate at Eddie McStiff's, of course and then camped.  

The next morning, they took a shuttle up the La Sal Mountain, to a trail called The Whole Enchilada. 

This is the first time, in all their years of going to Moab, that they rode this trail.  So they were able to see some new sights and ride new trail. 

 They had a great time and I'm glad they got to do this. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... the kids were still having a great time, playing with their cousins. 

I took Logan & Taylor with me on little outings each day, just to give their cousins and Aunt a chance to have their home all to themselves for an hour or so.  

I took the kids to see a few temples that are close by.  

The Mount Timpanogos Temple was first.  

 It is located in American Fork, Utah.  It was dedicated in Oct, 1996.

 It has beautiful lines, and windows.

 

 

There were 2 different wedding parties there, getting all the photos taken.  Taylor was so excited to see the pretty brides. 

And I was happy for the chance to point out how important and special it is to get married at the temple.  I hope the sight made a lasting impression. 

The next temple we went to was high above the Utah Valley.

It was the Draper, Utah Temple.  It was dedicated in March of 2009. 

Another beautiful temple.  

The neighborhood surrounding the temple is ridiculously and outrageously wealthy, judging by their homes.  This is someone's home, not a hotel!   

The homes up the hill from the temple were beyond anything I'd ever seen before.  This home looks like a castle. 

And I think this might really be one.  

Not all the homes were quite so gigantic, but they all looked huge and very nice.

This beautiful and still large home, has a wonderful view.  

It looks something like this. 

The next temple we visited was the Jordan River Temple.  It was dedicated in November of 1981. 

We were visiting these temples on a Friday and Saturday in the very beginning of June.  There were brides and grooms at each temple we went to.  So Taylor got to see plenty of brides, from afar.


 

The last temple we got to go to was the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  It's pronounced, Oh-ker Mountain.  

It's located in Jordan River, Utah, the first city to have 2 temples in it. 

It was dedicated in August 2009, just a couple of months after the Draper Utah Temple. 

 Each temple was unique and beautiful. 

We really enjoyed being on the grounds of all these temples, including the Nauvoo Temple a few days before.  It's a very special, peaceful and sacred place.  I love taking my kids to see the temple.  It gives us another opportunity to talk about its importance.  

James and his brother made it safely back from Moab.  We were all thrilled to have them home again.

The next day would be Sunday.  We'd attend church with family and then on Monday, start the long drive back to Oregon.  Another 4 days had past in a flash.  The kids were going to be heartbroken to leave their cousins again, but it really was time to be getting back home.  There was lots that awaited us there.