For the month of April I have been a busy woman. I finished my job in Vail Colorado and started my month long road trip.
My last day of work I ended early, so I went home and started packing. I took a break from packing my life up to got out with some friends to eat and hang out. My friend Joe showed me some amazing lookout spots around the valley. It was so beautiful. The pictures don't give it justice. But it was an amazing last night in a beatiful place like Vail, Colorado.
The next morning I finished packing, but by the time I was finished loading my car, checked out and ready to get on the road Vail was in a full out blizzard. I only got to the next town before I gave up trying to drive 15 miles an hour in a blizzard. I called my friend and said I was coming over and he was to entertain me. Finally around 4:30pm I deemed the weather and the roads okay enough for me to get back on the road. That started my month of adventures.
My first stop was to my friend Dani and Shawn's apartment in Provo, Utah. I didn't get to their place until about midnight and was super exhausted. I stayed up as much as I could talking with Dani, but I had gone to bed late and woke up early so I was exsausted.
The next morning Dani and I went out to lunch with our old roommates from Disney World. It was a small reunion.
After that I headed off to take pictures with all the temples in the area (for my 25th birth year list, pictures for that will come later). I stopped at my Grandma Beth's house and even got to see two temples with her.
It was fun seeing my grandma again and chatting with her. We went out to dinner and just visited. After that I headed on up to Idaho Falls to my sister Lori's house. I stayed there for a few days and played with my two nieces and my two sisters.
After that I was on the road again.
(Insert song: "On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again...)
As you can see it snowed again as I was leaving Idaho. This is the point in my journey that my lesson I learned this month really come in full force. Long road trips and small blatters don't mix. I think I stopped one and a half more times to use the restroom then I did for gas.
That day I saw two new (to me) temples. Billings Montana and Bismarck North Dakota. I stopped in Bismarck, North Dakota and stayed in my very first hotel by myself. It was nice. The next morning I headed on up into Canada.
Going through the boarder patrol was one big adventure in and of itself. I was stopped by four different boarder police. The first was as I was driving in, the next was at the booth, the third was in the building so I could get my car searched, and the last was the customs check lady. The third person I talked with multiple times. Telling my life as it is made me seam like a sketchy person. Passport from one state, car registered in another, not having a home as of right then, and only having Facebook to content with my friend Candace in Canada. Although when they found out that it was a girl rather then a boy they cooled off a bit. They probably thought I was going to marry someone to become Canadian.
My few days in Canada were jam packed with fun and site seeing. It was a balst to be on Candace's turf. Here are a few photos that describe all that we did.
The Manatobian museum
Canadian poutine
Cake pops and lots of geocashing
Games
Dinner with the family at the local culinary arts school's new Resturant.
Eating like hobbits (breakfast, second breakfast, elevenises, lunchon, afternoon tea, dinner and supper.)
Plus a few snakes we couldn't miss
Candace showed me the real Winnie the Pooh statue.
On our travels we found a big chair...
And a 'before I die...' board.
All in all Canada was awesome! But at last I had to leave. :(
Going back through the boarder was again another adventure, but as is everything I do in my life now a days. I made it all the was to Rapid City, South Dakoda that night. The next morning I set out to go see Mt. Rushmore. It was smaller then I would have thought.
Later I stopped in Chyenne, Wyoming to visit an old college roommate. I also stopped in Denver to check some more 25th birth year list off. That night i stayed in Vail with my old roommate. We did like old times and watched a movie and painted our nails.
The fallowing day was one of my shorter driving days of the trip. ( but yet I still had to stop to use the restroom more times then I would have liked to). I stopped in Ceder City, Utah at my Grandma Palmer's house. We got my car check and oil changed and then went out to eat at a Thia food place she had been wanting to go to. We then went home and played games. It was so good to hang out with her.
The next day was the last day of the month but not the end of my road trip. I stopped at a few more temples and a friends house then headed to my sister Brittney's house to help with the newest addition to our family that arrived earlier that day. Crosby Scott Jones.
I stayed at Brittney's house for the next ten days. (This is technically the end of the month, but seeing as my road trip is not over, I will continue.)
I mainly cleaned house, cooked, helped watch Porter and Annie and sometimes help Crosby. Here is a picture run down of my stay.
Going on walks with Porter and Annie. They lived right by the railroad so this was a commen acurance.
Going to the park
Holding Crosby.
Jumping on the trampoline.
Snuggling.
Movie and popcorn nights.
Swimming.
Annie was a social eater. She always shared your food. This is our ice cream bar.
Lots more snuggling.
And adventures to the grocery store.
I then had to leave to start the last leg of my journey to my new job in the Tetons. When I left Brittney's I took the fun adventure of finding the temples in the surrounding areas. When driving back up from San Diego I was so close to the beach my Californian heart called me to stop to dip my feet in the beautiful water.
I stopped that night at my parents and stayed a day to spend time with them. My mom and I went to Oakland to see that temple.
Then we went shopping on our way back home. For lunch I met up with Jasmine, my old high school friend. Then that night my parents and I went out to eat and to watch Iron Man 3.
But at last the fallowing day I had to leave yet again. That day I saw my last three temples. I made it to my sister Lori's house late at night. The next morning was Mother's Day so I made Lori breakfast in bed. Then I went to sacrament meeting with my sister Christina and then headed off for the very last drive of my trip to my job in the Tetons at Jackson Lake Lodge working as a pastry chef. Thus ended my long road trip with a small blatter.
Road trip stats:
3 siblings seen
Both grandmas seen
My parents seen
8 friends seen
24 temples
10 states
2 countries
Roughly about 6,000 miles put on my car
And countless bathroom breaks.
One big adventure!
