Road Trip 2018: Driving NC to UT

June is one of my favorite times of year. Road trip time!!! There was a lot of uncertainty in my planning this year. I wasn't sure if Grandma Cuca would be able to come with us. I wanted Brandon to be able to tour BYU-Idaho and wasn't sure how to make that happen. Both Brandon and Whit needed to fly home early for other commitments. It was all very last minute, but ended up coming together just fine.

We left on a Sunday after church and just drove down to Atlanta.

It was the perfect little start for the day.

Our first fun stop on Monday morning was favorite ninja gym.
It used to be called Slingshot, but was bought out

by a new company and had just BARELY reopened the

week before. It's now called Nitro Zone.

The facility has a lot of changes, but most of the 

ninja stuff was the same.

Brandon and C had a great time checking out the obstacles.

They also had some new things,

like this jousting beam.

And a new game they call Bazooka Ball.

They had a manager working that day who had never

tried it, so he invited us to try it for free.

It's kind of a cross between laser tag and paintball.

It was fun. And hot. We liked it.

We hope to come back again next year!

We had some pretty driving weather.

Some time to swim in the hotel pool.

The next day we stopped at Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, TX.

Caroline's choice. We stopped here last year, too.

Gorgeous white tiger

Our favorite part was the aviary.

They had food sticks that you could buy for $1

and the birds would land on your hand to eat.

So fun!

We also TRIED to feed the giraffe.

He wasn't AT ALL interested in our lettuce.

Even when we danced to get his attention.

Boo.

That night we made it to Aunt Irene and Uncle Bill's house.

Yay! We REALLY missed visiting with them last year.

We were so happy that our scheduled aligned this summer.

And we ALWAYS love seeing Grandma Cuca!

She didn't feel up to traveling with us this year, 

so we enjoyed a couple of days with her while we could.

Chicken foot

Puppies!

The next  day, Aunt Irene took us to the coolest aquarium/zoo place.

It was called SeaQuest.
Super hands on.

We got to feed iguanas.

Saw fish unlike any we'd ever seen.

We got to pet CAPYBARAS!!!

What???

We've visited MANY zoos and have never even SEEN

capybaras. We LOVED getting to hang out with them

and pet them. They're kinda like giant guinea pigs.

We got to feed ducks.

It was kind of scary.

Aunt Irene wanted it documented that she took 

us to the Great Wall of China

AND the Egyptian Desert. :)

This chameleon was awesome.

Their feet are really unique.

Here's our whole crew!

We had such a fun day with them.

Irene even got us the super-premium

behind-the-scenes tour. No pictures were 

allowed, but it was fascinating to learn all about

how the aquarium works, especially for Caroline,

our aspiring marine biologist.

We also got to feed these stingrays.

They were crazy, almost swimming up out of the water.

Such a fun day with our family!

Afterward, we had a yummy cookout.

Ron and Ruthie joined us,

as well as Bill's Mom, Ruth.

Ruth loved Caroline.

It was cute to see them together. 

And just like that, our visit was over.

So glad we could see Aunt Irene and

Grandma Cuca, but wish we could

spend more time with them.

Back on the road.

We had two fun stops.

First at the Amarillo Museum of Art,

on the campus of Amarillo College.

They had a great little collection.

We had fun looking around.

This is what happens when I ask my kids to

"pose however the art moves you." Ha!

So fun to hang out with these cuties.

The road trip is just the best.

Our second fun stop was at

Cadillac Ranch!

We've stopped here once before,

but we actually brought our own spray paint this time.

CTR

Care Bear is a Kylo Ren fan.

I don't get it.

Very unique installation art.

Glad we could add our touches to it.

We stayed the night somewhere in New Mexico. I think.

The next day we stopped at Explora, 

a science center in Albuquerque.

Care Bear got to ride a bike two stories up in the air.

It was intimidating.

Letting their creative juices flow.

B and W worked together to make this vase 

and flowers. I like it.

C created a little fish bowl.

Welcome to Arizona!

My homeland!

Made a quick stop in Holbrook at the Wigwam Hotel.

Our next stop was Snowflake to visit with Paul and his kids.

Yay!

We hadn't been to their house in AZ yet.

We made it in time to go to a Japanese drumming performance.

Some of the kids got turns to drum, too.

These two had a great time playing video games and longboarding.

The view from their front yard.

What??? Gorgeous!

The next day we went to the Petrified Forest,

the first time we got to use C's pass to get

into National Parks for free. Woot.

Our hiking buddies.

We hiked out to this house made of petrified wood.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we had so much fun.

We saw more than twenty of these gorgeous lizards!

Not often that you see payphones anymore.

The kids wanted to go swimming after our hike.

I volunteered to drive them to Show Low.

My phone does get data in that part of AZ, so it

was hilarious trying to find the pool. 

We made it there eventually.

The rodeo was in town that night.

We didn't make it, but we did enjoy the fireworks afterward.

The next day we got to go to Sacrament meeting in Winslow.

I love visiting my hometown!

Mark and Taylor were not in town, so we didn't get to see them.

But I did get to see Ella, my 4H teacher in my Jr. High years.

Oh, how my friends and I loved having her as our teacher!

Then we were off to drive through the desert.

Oh, my heart.

I wanted to stop and take pictures all the time.

I tried to re-create this pic that

Andrew and I took circa 1997. :)

There is just something about the desert 

that vibes with my soul.

After driving through AZ, we made it to St. George, Utah that night.

Our good friends, Kyle and JoEllen live there.

We met at the UofA and have kept in touch over the years.

Brandon is thinking about attending Dixie State University,

where Kyle is the dean of the school of business.

They were kind enough to host us overnight,

give us a tour of campus, and introduce us to the

dean of the college of science and technology,

where Brandon would most likely end up.

Most of our kids had never met,

but they became fast friends.

Yee-haw!

We even got to tour the underground tunnels that connect the buildings!

Ooooooh, VIP's.

The kids splashed around in the fountain.

Not sure that was its intended purpose,

but they had a blast.

Such a fun family!

I wish we could hang out more than once

every ten years! Ha!

Maybe if B ends up in St. George, we'll see each other more often.

These awesome kids woke up EARLY in the

morning to go to the temple before our

appointment on campus.

JoEllen is awesome. She took the kids to a

fun children's museum while B and I met 

with the dean. They had so much fun.

Maddie was ready to join us for our family reunion. :)

One of our favorite sister missionaries that served in NC

is also from St. George. She works as Sports Clips and

offered to cut B's hair. He took her up on it. Yay!

Super fun to catch up with Teshe.

And then it was just a quick drive up I-15 to make it to Salt Lake.

Road trips are the best.

So happy I get to have these adventures with my kids 

and our friends and family across the country.