As I mentioned before, Dan had to travel with work during the month of August. He first was in Minneapolis for 2 weeks, then the plan was for him to fly in on Friday and fly out to SLC, UT on Sunday. Well we decided it would be so much fun if we could go with him out to Utah so I got us all packed up, picked Dan up at the airport, and straight from there started our journey out to Utah.
Dan's parents were kind enough to have us stop by their place on our way out for dinner. It was perfect - we were all able to eat and relax a bit, then we got the kids in their pj's and left right as it started to get dark. We wanted to do most of our driving in the night while they slept. Dan and I took turns driving/sleeping and it worked out really well.
When the sun came up we were already in El Paso (yes, it takes an entire night of driving just to get out of Texas!!). From there we went up through New Mexico and then cut across Arizona. Since we made such great time we pushed on to Kanab, UT and stayed that night with Dan's uncle's family. They were so nice to accommodate us at the last minute - and the kids absolutely loved staying with them. Their boy's room is painted like the solar system, their bathroom is a rainforest with animal murals, and they have a huge backyard with.... kittens! Oh yeah, my kids were in heaven. And the best part - David made the best biscuits and gravy I've ever tasted in my life for breakfast Sunday morning. Nothing better than homecooked food after being on the road 24 hours!!
From Kanab we drove the rest of the way up to West Jordan where Dan's brother, Matt lives. He was so incredibly generous and allowed ALL 5 of us to stay with him for a week. I'm pretty sure he didn't know what he was getting himself into! ;) We had such a great time with Matt - it involved lots of eating (he showed us some great places where we'd never been), playing some Rock Band (first for me!), and going to the nearby park with his dog. Unfortunately, I realized I didn't get many pictures while we were there (got lots of the dog, but none of Matt! sorry!!) We were really just so happy to spend time with Dan for that week, even though he was working.
On our last day there Dan's grandparents took us out in their boat. We told the kids we were going on a boat and they were so concerned: Natalie wanted to make sure it wasn't going to tip over (like the bad experience she had with a canoe several years ago), and Nathan just flat out didn't want to go on it. That was... until they saw the boat!! Now that is all they talk about when we ask them what they liked about Utah - the boat!!! Dan, Natalie, and I went out on the tube (of course I was terrified but I tried to suck it up in front of Natalie). And guess who was the first one to get off? Yep - me. I used Tyler as my excuse (he needs me!). But let's face it, my arms were killing me and I had had as much thrill as I could take. Natalie stayed on quite awhile until Dan's grandpa, Dave, finally threw her off - it's his goal everytime he takes the kids out. So then it was just Dan and no matter how hard Dave tried, Dan stayed on! It was so fun watching!!! Which is of course what Nathan and Tyler did - they wanted nothing to do with the water, but loved being on the boat. The only downside? I got motion-sick. How lame is that?? I know. Lame. But I still had a great time! :)
We left the next day and headed back to Texas. We drove home the other way - through Wyoming, down through Colorado, across Kansas, and then down through Oklahoma and Texas. It was really interesting seeing all the different states we drove through - I really enjoyed it. We got home in the wee morning hours on Sunday, giving us the day to rest right before Natalie started school...
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