Road Trip: St. George

 I'm writing this post about four months after our travels were done. And looking back, I can't believe everything that we did! We packed so much into those four weeks. It's somehow both exhilarating and exhausting to relive. I'm so grateful for all that we got to experience across the country. The world really is beautiful. And I'm thankful for all the family that we got to spend time with.

After our four fun-filled days in Oregon, it was time to say good-bye to our family and start the long trek home. But I really wanted to spend more time with B, so after dropping everyone off at the airport, Care Bear and I headed down to southern Utah.

Caroline and I thought it was crazy that we were

driving BELOW sea level!

Look at our elevation on our GPS: -74ft!

Good-bye, beautiful Pacific Northwest!

Hello, Nevada!

Land of expensive gas.

And as we left the coast, we drove back into the 

smoke from the wildfires.

It makes for pretty sunsets.

We stayed overnight in Battle Mountain, NV.

There wasn't anything fun to do between Portland and

there. So we got our dinner at McDonalds and headed to 

a park to eat it. It was super windy, but still pretty fun.

Smokey grasshoppers

I thought this tree was crazy.

It has curly-cues growing on it.

Our fun stop the next day was supposed to be at

Great Basin National Park.

We didn't have fun.

We wanted to do a cave tour,

but they were all booked up.

So we went on a scenic drive instead.

Isn't it scenic???

The smoke ruined it.

We were disappointed.

After we left Great Basin and were heading to

St George, we saw the craziest thing.

The actual line where the smoke stopped!

Isn't that weird!

It moved into St. George while we were there,

but we enjoyed one smoke-free day. :)

More expensive gas.

We made it to St. George in time to catch the sunset.

Gorgeous!

We stopped at Pioneer Park to take in the views and enjoy the red rock.

I like St. George.

Kyle and JoEllen let us stay with them for a few days.

JoEllen's sister and her husband stopped by with 

their brand new puppies.

Oh my gosh, they were adorable.

Care Bear also got some good snuggles in with their cat.

How can you not love faces like that???

The next day, B had to work,

so I took Care Bear and Maddie to climb at Contact.

We had never been there.

It is a gorgeous gym!

And it was so fun to see B in his element.

We got to meet some of his co-workers,

including Jacquelyn who is the GM and co-founder.

She was so nice to us.

We also got to meet Nixon, the gym dog!

I forgot to get a pic of him.

During his break, B got to climb a bit.

He's so strong.

I never get to watch C climb at home,

so it was fun to see her climb again, too.

She's strong, too!

Not sure where they get their upper body strength...

B is a really good climbing coach and it

was fun to see him help C out on a couple hard routes.

Including this yellow one that she didn't think she could finish.

Boom! Sent!

(And look at those muscles!)

We got to visit with Morgan for just a few minutes.

I wish we could've spent more time with her.

I asked them to look professional for this pic. :)

Maddie introduced us to Bahama Buck's shaved ice.

Wow. It was amazing.

The girls got Oreo flavored, which we thought

would be weird, but they both really liked it.

When B got off work, we went downtown to grab some dinner.

We walked around Green Gate Village,

where Andrew and I spent one night on our honeymoon.

It's not a Bed and Breakfast anymore,

but has little businesses instead.

It's still cute.

We ate Rigatti's pizza in a little park area.

It was yummy and so fun to hang out with B.

That night, he took us night climbing.

In St. George, it's too hot to climb outside

in July. So you wait until the sun goes down

and then you can go climbing.

Sounds dangerous, doesn't it?

He took us to Cougar Cliffs, just outside of town.

We only saw one rattlesnake on the walk

from the van to cliff.

(Aaaggghhh!)

Care Bear has hardly done any outdoor climbing,

but B was patient and encouraging.

And off she went!

She did awesome!

She flashed the route and only

saw a few terrifying bugs on the ledges as she went.

(Yikes!)

Success!

B knows what he's doing and this felt very safe.

But then he had C and I belay him while he

lead climbed this same route.

Um. That did not feel safe.

C hadn't belayed for a lead climber before.

And he gave us good instructions, but

we weren't quite ready for what we were getting into.

Luckily, he didn't fall! :)

Climbing models

Cuties!

It was such a fun night to spend together!

The next day we went to church with the Wells.

Maddie drove us there in a golf cart.

A first for me!

I'm so grateful for Kyle and JoEllen.

Even though B hasn't done a good job of staying

in touch with them since he moved there,

I love hanging out with them every time we visit.

They are so fun.

We played some Jackbox on Sunday night, which was hilarious.

They like  to do the rap battle where you have the computer make

up the lyrics and then you have to rap them like you really mean it.

"You look like you were dressed by a dentist..."

Hilarious.

And after a quick couple of days, it was time to say good-bye to B and start the rest of the trek home. I'm sad that B's not in school right now, but I'm proud of the hard worker that he is. He's off our payroll and is providing for himself. He works hard and likes his jobs. I'm glad we could spend some time together since we won't see him again until Christmas. Love that boy.