22 State ROAD TRIP!

DISCLAIMER: This post may or may not have A LOT of grammatical errors! I am too tired to proof read it!! 

Our ROAD TRIP!!

Derrick and I had been planning on spending a week at camp Bartlett which is by Bear Lake, on the Utah/Idaho boarder. With Derrick’s foot broken foot, it would be nearly impossible for him to be mobile on crutches at this camp. We were sad…. but my spontaneous heart decided to go on a road trip. We both wrote down places we wanted to go see and I wrote up an ambitious itinerary! SO here we go! Bring on the craziness! Oh and my parents were out of cell service at camp so we choose to call my mother-in-law every night to check in. We figured that someone should know where we were and that we were safe and sound at a hotel each night! Derrick wouldn’t be driving at ALL this trip, I am not sure why that never alarmed me.... IT SHOULD HAVE! 

Day 1 Friday June 28th

Friday night after work we hit the road to stay the night in Denver. My dad was not happy about the arrangements. He did not want us to drive 500 miles that night. There is nowhere along Wyoming to stop. Denver is pretty much the only stopping ground heading East! I called my mom and told her we were really driving to Denver, it gave us a head start on a Friday night! On our drive we got a text from my dad that said I had forgotten to leave his van keys at the house… they were with us! AHHHH we found out later in the night that my dad found a spare set of keys! THANK GOODNESS!! I would have been in more trouble than imaginable; they were leaving for scout camp the next morning and had to drive the van!

This trip we are staying at Marriott’s every night because we had a family discount! We also made sure each hotel had a nice continental breakfast!

3 states today and this was our fist time into Colorado together.

500 miles

Utah,Wyoming

New: Colorado

Good Bye UTAH #1

HELLO Wyoming #2

Happiest Sign EVER Colorado #3
Never been to Colorado Together! 

Day 2 Saturday June 29th

We knew we wanted to see friends near Little Rock, AR…. But dang that was a LONG drive and there is barely anything to stop and see along the Kansas freeway! Although the corn and wheat fields were so beautiful! Due to the vast flatness, it was hard not to drive fast on the freeway when there was nothing! So we plugged on and drove 1000 miles today. Our drive into Little Rock was interesting, I didn’t picture it to be so wet and marshy, we drove over several bridges with water! I am not sure why I had pictured dry and ugly; it looked more like what I thought Louisiana would look like! It was so pretty to look over the water and watch the sun set as we came into Little Rock! We stayed with a family from my mission that had since moved to Arkansas! Kelly and Pam Higgins, what a great family! They were always so welcoming to missionaries and so good to me! I spent a Christmas morning at their house and they made sure we had a present for each of us to open! I love this family’s stink’n guts! When we got to their house, Pam bought us ice cream to eat and we sat around their family room chatting like good old friends and enjoyed our night! OHHHH I wish we lived closer to all our friends!! Boys will be boys and  our hubbies got out their guns! 

Our plan for tomorrow is to get up super early and head towards Jackson Mississippi, and maybe stay the night there or Birmingham Alabama!

Today we drove through 3 states, drove in Arkansas for the first time.

1,000 miles

We are now at 6 states.

Kansas, Oklahoma

New: Arkansas

PS I am happy I did not get a speeding ticket, I may have deserved one a time or two!

Longest DRIVE Kansas #4

Hello, Goodbye Oklahoma #5

HAPPIEST SIGN! 1000 miles makes 1 LONG DAY!  #6

Day 3 Sunday June 30th

Today we woke up and decided to attend church with the Higgins! Pam had cooked us a super nice breakfast! YUM YUM YUM I love that the church is the same everywhere you go! After Sacrament meeting we went back to their house and Pam had packed us a lunch to go! Sweetest lady ever!! Can not wait to come back and visit them! We hit the road south and had to drive on a highway most of the day until we reached Louisiana and then we hit the freeway again! DO you know how hard it is to drive 300 miles on back roads and drive the speed limit! I found out the hard way with a nice fat VERY EXPENSIVE ticket(only 8 over)! Booo. Once we hit the Louisiana boarder we pulled over at a place and shared a few chicken strips, fried okra, and something else YUM YUM YUM! As we drove through a few small towns, I was shocked at how unique some of the homes were and they looked like the old southern manor homes. Some homes made me so sad because they were extremely run down.

Next stop? Vicksburg Mississippi, an old civil war site! AMAZing! We drove on the North’s battleground and then on the South’s. I do not know how to explain it, but it was like we were hallowed ground. Each side fighting for what they believed was right and many dying for the cause of freedom! It was beautiful beyond words and honestly the whole time driving we hardly spoke a word. There was so much so see that I could have spent days exploring this site and the town. I gained a little more appreciation for our what forefathers of this country went through.

The ending destination of each night depended on how tired I was and where we wanted to go the next day. Every night we would call and make the hotel reservation maybe ½ hour to an hour before arriving. Tonight we decided to drive onto Birmingham Alabama. So wired to say that in 2 ½ days, from home, we were in Alabama!!! Today we saw MANY grocery stores called the Piggily Wiggily! I LOVE PIGS(do not collect)! I wanted to stop and get a shirt but we just didn’t for whatever reason…. hoping maybe in the next few days!

9 total states

New states: Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama

State #7 Best Chicken! 

State #8

 

SOOO tired by the time we hit Alabama #9

Day 4 Monday July 1st

Of course we got up super early again to make sure we would have enough time to see everything our ambitious hearts desired! This up early drive, site see all day, and then to bed really late, is taking a toll on me! I am so tired and exhausted but we are having the time of our lives! I love driving long stretches of road, where Derrick and I share our goals and ambitions in life. We have learned so much about each other just on this trip. We certainly have disagreements here and there but we work them out! I was mainly the logistic specialist of the trip. I could see every day’s activities with the whole trip in mind. That is hard to explain, but I am so logical to a default.

This morning was extremely frustrating!! Every night when we would arrive at the hotel and before we fell asleep, we would plan the next day and solidify driving plans, get any needed maps, and would finalize most of the things we talked about in the car. Derrick wanted to see a distillery and I was all for it if it was on our way to where we were going the rest of the day. As we drove out of Birmingham, Derrick gave me directions to head due north, odd…. We were supposed to be heading northeast. I am driving and not looking at a map. I asked several times if we were on the correct road and he said yes. Maybe 2 hours of driving and feeling something was wrong the WHOLE time, I asked for him to show me the map! WHAT THE HECK!!? Now looking back I should have taken the time to appreciate where we were but I could only think of where we could have been by now. After he heard what I thought on the matter, we dropped the subject, and he navigated us on an hour detour due east to catch the correct road we were suppose to be on. If we wanted to do the rest of the stuff on our list for today, than we needed to be heading in the right direction! We drove through a town that was called Coleman, AL. I knew the name sounded familiar at first and I am so mad at myself!! My grandma’s sister lives in Coleman. I wish I could have visited her and could hear stories about my deceased grandmother. I had been in contact with her about a year ago she sent me family pictures to scan in and send back to her. We really didn’t plan ahead very well. I was not able to find an address or phone number for her because my parents were out of reach at camp and I had no access to her contact information! I WANTED so bad to see her and wanted to hear stories about a grandmother I hardly knew!

We drove onward to the correct road and headed northeast as planned. We were on our way to Chattanooga Tennessee, and on the way we drove through Georgia! Once we drove into Georgia we decided to bag Chattanooga Tennessee and drive to Nashville. Needed to shave off a little time! 

First stop, Nashville

I have always wanted to go to the County Music Hall-of-fame!! It was really neat but really pricey$$$ for the short amount of time we had to spend there. While driving to through Tennessee we saw a firework stand. Derrick really wanted to stop but we had already passed it. I mentioned that if we saw another one, we would stop. Well no later than 3 miles down the road, we saw another one. SO we stopped. Derrick bought several BIG mortars that are totally illegal in UT! Oh well! It will be a nice 24^th of July show!

We continued on the Road towards Ft. Knox, KY. I have been wanting to show Derrick where I was born, what house I grew up in, and where SO many childhood memories came from. As we got closer we realized that we couldn’t go on base and make it to the Louisville Slugger Museum. Considering all the clearance to get on base, time around, not to mention we had a gun with us, it just wasn’t going to work out. I was soooo bummed! I guess just one more reason to fly into KY and visit. As we were driving into Louisville, it was raining pretty hard but not anything I hadn’t driven in. All of the sudden I start to see cars pulling off of the side of the freeway. I am seriously confused as to why, it wasn't that bad of rain?  Seriously, this waterfall of rain starts pouring on our car, I have so much rain hitting my windshield that I seriously can’t see a thing! GOOD LANDS, where did this come from and how did all those people on the side of the road know it was going to come? After a few good minutes of this, it cleared up and off we went! We found great parking near the Louisville Slugger. It has been over 20yrs since I had been there with my grandpa! So fun! WE were lucky enough to get on the last tour and they even gave each of us a free small bat. The tour is worth your money!  As we returned to the car, we were deciding where to go now, we knew a general direction but we would need to find a hotel for the night. Derrick then asks if we can visit Kirtland, OH. Uhhmmm NO, that is nowhere near here and where we were planning on going!! To my surprise he had been listening to my book on tape, The Work and the Glory #3. He had learned and heard all about Kirtland and now he wanted to go there. Ok why not? What’s 500 miles out of our way and back! Lol. We decided to stay the night in Lexington, KY and than head north east-ish in the morning. On our way to Lexington we passed Church Hill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is held, another time I would love to take a tour of that! Next Time! We had decided not to eat out very much on this trip because we were on a limited budget. Our hotel was right next to a Cracker Barrel, how could I not resist!?

11Total states

New states: Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky

 

Georgia #10

#11 Tennesse

Nashville

Uhmmm why?

Home of my Birth #12

DAY 5 Tuesday July 2nd

Off to an early start driving north-east, I had pretty much forgotten how much I love the green rolling hills of Kentucky. As we drove into West Virginia, the scenery changed, but still so pretty and so lush! We stopped into a small logging community for a few snacks. Thus far, I have loved something about every state and I have just came to the conclusion that every state is beautiful in different ways! We left West Virginia and went into Maryland. We didn’t drive far into Maryland before we headed north on some back road we found. This was one of the most fun drives thus far! The road curved left and right and up and down, and it was beautiful. When we crossed the boarder into Pennsylvania we saw a sign for a National Park…. In the middle of nowhere! Why NOT? We stopped and learned about the Road to Necessity and George Washington had a hand in helping the East and West connect. It was an interesting place and would like to go back sometime when we have more time! Here is where our time got tricky! We needed to be in Kirtland Ohio before their last tour at 4pm! Dang did we have to cruise along fast(obviously the 2 speeding tickets in the last 4 weeks didn't deter me)! Once we hit Pennsylvania, the toll roads began. We finally pulled into Kirtland like 3 mins before the last tour! I dropped Derrick off at the visitor center door and I found parking and then RAN. We were a little late and it was the last tour of the day and we drove 250 miles out of our way just for this! The Kirtland Temple was neat and I know some great things happened there. I was disappointed that the tour guide made no effort to make the tour spiritual, nonetheless, it was fun for me too see again and Derrick to see for the first time!  The CofCC owns the Temple now and the LDS church owns all the property at the bottom of the hill. Once the tour was finished we headed down the hill to the LDS visitor center! Can I just tell you how wonderful that place is! We not only were told of the factual events, we were told about all the spiritual ones too! I LOVE feeling God so close! The Newell K Whitney store was the neatest place! So, I normally drive with a hoodie on because of the AC in the car; I was sweating up a STORM while walking around in the middle of the SUMMER in a hoodie! OPPS We decided to drive to Toronto to stay the night! WHAT A FUN DAY! I loved everything about the day!

New states: West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio

Oh what a beautiful morning! #13

#14

#15 forgot to take a picture when we first entered the state!

#16

DAY 6 Wednesday July 3rd

WE have been to Illinois, but not to Chicago.  Little did we how horrible it would be driving to Chicago and from Chicago! This was the worst mistake of our trip (hindsight is 2020, we would have rather spent the time in upstate NY)!!! Driving in was in was just fine, albeit really expensive, and not a very pretty drive. As we were driving through Indiana, we decided to stop in South Bend and see Notre Dame! So fun to be there! And the yummiest Greek food was right off the exit! We drove north to see what was up there and realized we found ourselves in Michigan! Who knew we were that close! Once we got into Chicago, we headed directly to Navy Pier. It was fun going up on the HUGE Farris Wheel, what a beautiful site!  Overall the Pier was overrated. Maybe because we are not shoppers and Derrick was extremely tired from crutching everywhere! Oh and parking was like $27… we were only there a few hours!!! NOT worth IT! After eating a delicious Shrimp Cocktail, we got on the road to head Northish to Wisconsin. Little did we realize, it was RUSH HOUR! OMGsh I pretty much hated life for the next 3+ hours. The TRAFFIC so so bad, sooo many tolls$$$, several times the traffic was so aggressive they wouldn’t let me over to stop at a toll….. those tickets will just come in the mail! I guess the rush hour traffic would  not have been so bad if there wasn’t CONSTRUCTION!! The ORANGE death! Lol Once we got into Wisconsin, I took the first exit I could and decided to go grocery shopping.  The first on the trip! We had brought a cooler from home and my dad stocked it up with good stuff before we left! We only needed a few things and decided against getting a basket! OPPS we looked ridiculous with our arms so full and we even were pushing a pack of water on the floor in front of us! Bahahah After Walmart we headed SOUTH, we wanted to see Nauvoo the next day! UHMMM no roads really get from where we were to Nauvoo… The back roads of cornfields/whateverfields were fun to drive through especially with sun setting! WHAT A Perfect evening to a TERRIBLE driving day! As it was getting dark, the lightning bugs started to come out! Derrick was fascinated because he had never seen them before! WE pulled over to the side of the road and caught a few for him!  We stayed at a hotel in Iowa tonight! WHAT a long day! Can’t wait to wake up and head into Nauvoo… Sad our trip is on the down hill slide! I am SOOO exhausted though! 

States: Illinois, IOWA

New States: Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin

#17

#18

#19

Can not get away from the road construction!! WORST DRIVE OF MY LIFE!

WISCONSIN CHEESE #20

Back in Illinois
Taken out car window
#nofilter

#21, Spent the night here!

Day 7 HAPPY 4^th of JULY

We started the day off early, nothing new there, and drove into Nauvoo! It was just as I remember! I could even drive us to the Temple and the visitor center… hmmm it was been about 10yrs since I have last been to Nauvoo with my grandparents! This was Derricks first time! We went on a tour of the city on a horse-drawn carriage.  FOR FREE! We took notes of all the places we wanted to go visit in the city! Some of our favorites were the blacksmith, gunsmith, bricksmith! We actually spent more time than we had planned. We thought we could still make it to St. Louis in time to go on the Arch in time. This arch is one of the ONLY things I wanted to see before we left on this trip. We called to get reservations and realized they were closing early because of the holiday that I FORGOT about. We would make it in time for the last tour but not for the hour long wait in security! I may a cried a little when I realized we wouldn’t make it…. Well change of plans, we decided to head towards KC, Kansas and stay the night. Once we pulled into Kansas we went to find a restaurant that our friends told us about. It was kind of like the Rain Forest Café, but T-REX style. Well upon arrival it closed 5 mins earlier because of the HOLIDAY! BOOO, we did eat at Culvers, which we both enjoyed on our missions! After a yummy hamburger and shake we decided to stay the night in Topeka, KS, so the drive tomorrow wouldn’t be so bad! WE watch really good fireworks off the balcony! Fort he first time on the this trip, I went to bed before 9:30… I don’t even remember laying down! It was a fun day but disappointing too! I will have to go back to visit St. Louis!

Back to Illinois

Nauvoo Temple

Carthage!

#22

Next time we are going to eat here!

Front Row Seats! 

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

DAY 8 Friday July 5^th

We drove from Topeka, KS to Denver, CO without incident. Derrick took me to a restaurant that he had gone to as a child, Casa Bonita. UHMMM maybe it was neat in the 90’s. It now felt like a child casino with a moldy smell! There was cliff jumpers/divers and the food was VERY expensive and it was sooo run down! There actually was a line to get in, can not figure that one out. It was nice to go somewhere he remembers as a child but I’m thinking that was a first and last kind of a thing. We were planning on meeting up with Derrick’s family for a Warner family VACA in Steamboat Springs. Surprisingly I had never heard of this place and I have never vacationed here either. I can not tell you how happy I was to arrive at here and know that we were staying for a few nights! Between this road trip and the last, I drove in 25 states. We now are been to 44 states together! ONLY 6 MORE! SO excited for the last 6!