Highlights of the Road Trip

There are so many thoughts going on that I want to remember that I am struggling to organize. So I'm just going to list them.

*We played the license plate game. We saw license plates from 45 states, plus U.S. Government and D.C. ones and 4 Canadian territories: British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba. The only ones we didn't get were Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. 

*Dad speeding up as fast as he dared to make sure we really had seen a New Hampshire one.

*Derrick and I determining that the only difference between Nebraska and Iowa was the hills. And the only difference between Iowa and Minnesota is the lakes.

*Passing our first lake and Derrick saying, "One down, 9,999 to go."

*As we drove over the Missouri River I was blown away by how big it was. Our "rivers" are nothing in comparison.

*Dad repeatedly asking why in the world anyone would fight over the land in South Dakota (referring to Custer's Last Stand). 

*Eating lunch at Dairy Queen in Mason City, Iowa and discovering to our dismay that they had no fry sauce.

*All of us dripping with sweat after spending about two seconds in the humidity of Minnesota. I officially hate humidity.

*Dad and Derrick scoffing at my desire to have them remind me how much I hate humidity when I'm deciding where to go for graduate school. They seemed to think I had very little chance of not encountering any humidity.

*Dad asking the girl at Sports Grill if they allowed smoking inside and realizing we didn't even think about that.

*The GPS sending us in a complete circle to get from one possible hotel to another. Silly GPS.

*The one cool thing about Wyoming is that most of the time during the drive you are at the highest elevation in the state, which means you sort of feel like you are as close to the clouds as you ever could be.

*Driving across Wyoming we drove right through a thunderstorm. I was driving and although it was only bad for about 30 seconds to a minute, it was terrifying as it was happening. But, I did pretty well if I do say so myself.

*We had great weather at Mt. Rushmore. It was cool and dry. Just my kind of weather.

*As we drove across Nebraska Derrick asked multiple times where the heck all of the people lived. We decided in Lincoln or Omaha. We saw very few other people/houses.

*Seeing a crop duster plane. Pretty much the only time we saw anything going on in the fields.

*Dad asking the lady at the hotel in Omaha if by smoking she meant tobacco or the smoke from the popcorn he burns.

*Dad giving Derrick the blessing. In that moment, I was struck by the incredible power of the two men in the room and the Priesthood they both hold. The Spirit was so strong. They both are so amazing. It was a moment I will never forget.

*Dad being the experienced one at Ikea. That was weird.

*Wanting to jump up and down when I saw the mountains and red rocks as we drove back into Utah. Wyoming is dreary landscape, other than the windmills.

*Dad and Derrick having a fascination with the windmills.

*Saying a prayer together every morning and night. I hadn't realized how much I missed having family prayer since going to college.

*Laughing with Derrick at the names of some of the cities. Kemmerer? Why the extra "er"?

*Derrick asking why Nebraska is the Huskers when there seems to be more corn in Iowa. Because Nebraska has nothing else? Probably.

*Did you know there are a lot of semi trucks that come from Indiana and Illinois? Yep, that's real.

*Dad saying he hoped I'm not afraid of heights when we were put on the 14th floor of our hotel in Minneapolis.

*Being reminded of driving around Arizona looking for a hotel after Spencer and Amy's reception down there but not finding one because of graduations and an alien convention as we tried to find a place in Minnesota during the state fair.

*Wondering aloud how our old neighbors handled living in Mason City, Iowa. Talk about the middle of nowhere. At least the city itself seemed to be thriving.

*Derrick living up to his title of Cold-Hearted-Fool as he didn't even seem to be sad to see us go. To make myself feel better I tell myself he was just waiting until we left.

*Talking to Dad about how he turned 9 on Monday (6+3).

*Dad falling asleep for a few minutes each time I drove. I feel pretty good if he was comfortable enough to sleep.

*Listening to Wicked! a few times in between the Tennis Shoes books.

*Listening to the Utah-Utah State game the last couple hours of driving.

*Dad having a great Road Trip attitude and telling saying we weren't sure when we were coming back or where we were going because we were on a road trip, obviously.

*Being exhausted after driving all day. It's amazing how much driving drains energy.

*Talking to Mom and Shannon every night.

I'm so grateful for the chance I had to spend some extra time with Dad and Derrick. The past few months I've been struggling with the concept of leaving my family in the next year to go to graduate school. This is probably the last chance I'll get to take off with my family in quite the same way. And I already miss Derrick, so I'm glad I got to spend the extra time with him driving to Minnesota. But, I know he's going to kill it in Minnesota. I'm so proud of him. It was just what I needed for my summer break!