Thursday, June 11, 2009

In mid-May my mom flew up to visit for a few days. We saw some of the local sites and then got ready for our big drive down to the lower 48.

It took us 5 long days! But it was fun. And we saw some wild animals and amazing beauty.
We got to Wisconsin where the kids got to play with their cousins and meet a new one. We were only there for a few days.
We loaded up our pop-up camper(which was in Wisconsin) and headed out west. We picked up Curtis in Omaha, where he took over driving(thank heavens!) and pushed in on through to Utah.

Nancy and Kevin's wedding was on Friday, the 29th of May in Manti. We finally got to meet our new "uncle and brother-in-law". It is ok, Nancy, we approve!

The wedding was of beautiful, of course. The day was warm and pleasant.By the end of the day, we were all a ragged mess, tired and ready for bed.We got to spend another day with all our cousins and family. We even got to meet a couple new babies. We made rootbeer and smores.
Before long it was time to head back up to Alaska. It is too bad that the drive takes so long, it takes time from visiting family.In Montana the boys ran through the fields relieving some energy before back to the car.
Right inside Canada, there is a rest area/tourist area that shows off their land with lots of dinosaur bones. The drive was again beautiful. I definitely suggest that everyone does it once in their lives. It is something that you have to see.
There was a forest fire somewhere in the Yukon. We could see them putting out part of the fire that was near the highway. We made it through as one of the last cars before they shut down the road. In Canada they don't seem to believe in treating their guests with flushing toilets. It was always an adventure to have to go to the bathroom. Megan learned to hold it for hours at a time waiting for a gas station to appear.She also learned to entertain herself in interesting ways. Here she developed a way to eat with her toes.

But we needed some more excitement in our drive. So a rock flipped up between the camper and the car and shattered our rear window.We improvised and got back on the road.Megan doesn't like mosquitoes or any bug that flies nearby. She lives in the wrong part of the world for that problem.Finally, home sweet home, or at least the Alaskan border. Five hours later we were home and happy to be there. I don't know that I want to go anywhere for a while, so you will all have to come visit us!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow what a long but exciting trip! Kiddos sure are cute! LOVE your new top photo. Emma has the same dress!

The Roderick Family said...

So, amazing talets like that must come from Curt's side, right? Oned ay we will try to make the trip. I need to train my kids to sit better first!

Emmy said...

Great post, Cindy! Your family is adorable and I commend you for traveling all over the place to see and visit family. It actually put me to shame as I am flying my family to Utah because I don't want to drive 15 hours to Bear Lake. (hangs head low) I am such a wimp . . thanks for your great example!

The Obstinant Family said...

WOW! What a long vacation. I too was in Utah for my brothers wedding on the 29th of May. He was married in the Logan Temple though, darn it. We could have seen each other if they would have just picked the right temple. LOL I'm glad you guys made it back okay though.

Hillary said...

Wow that looks like quite the trip! 2 trips across the U.S. has gotta be enough for one year, but it looks like your kids travel well. Megan is so cute with the carrot between her toes! :) I'm glad you got to see some family, I'm sure the visits are few and far between.

Jessica B Photography said...

Seriously, you have the best life. What an adventure! Your kids are so lucky.

I love road trips... They are a bit different with children though...

Kari said...

What an adventure and a trip! I love all the pics from all the different stops. It looks like you guys had fun. I'm gald you're back though, I'm needing me some Cindy time!

Amanda said...

We are glad you made it home safe! Thank goodness no one was hurt in the blast! We loved spending time with you all!

Camara said...

Megan's hair has gotten so long! Seems like you had a fun/crazy trip....Im sure nothing came as a surprise traveling with 4 kids! I can't believe your window shattered...weird! Glad you got to visit and made it back home safely.

the andersons said...

it was so good to see you! i can't believe how big your boys are!cute cute family

Cheri said...

I LOVE the pic of the boys in the tree upside down and little Megan standing below, so perfect and funny!

Megan cracks me up! The food between the toes is hilarious and she has the same phobia to bugs as Grace. Grace however is learning to accept that this is just the way Alaska summers are, full of bugs!