We wanted to record every state through which we drove so we stopped as often as we could at the state signs.
We left Boise in the afternoon and found a spot to camp just over the boarder in Evanstan, Wyoming. (We missed the Welcome to Utah sign.)
This is the playground at the RV park where we camped in Evanstan.
We stopped at the famous "Little America" rest stop in the middle of Wyoming for breakfast.
We stopped and had dinner at Mom and Pop's house in O'fallon the second day. We decided to keep on driving that night and try to get to Birmingham by the morning of Day 3.
This says "Welcome to Illinois". It was right on the bridge as we crossed through St. Louis so we couldn't exactly get out and stop. We faced the same problem going through Kansas City on the way home.
It was about midnight so the girls were asleep for this one.
Waking up to a super humid morning in Kentucky.
After we got to Alabama, we helped get ready for the wedding which would be the next day. We got to spend time with most of Tristan's family and for the first time on out trip, sleep in a bed.
Here is Megan and Sam coming out of the Birmingham temple.
Us with Megan and Sam
Tristan's cousin Michael and his wife Megan.
Tristan's cousin Mark and his wife Kelly.
Taran and Maelynn. Stanley couldn't make this trip.
Tori and Skyler. Josh couldn't make it either.
Amy enjoying the reception.
Skyler at the reception.
After the wedding we all went over to Mike and Laura's house. The girls got to ride Laura's horse Dude. They loved it. While we were down there we got to see some of the devastation done by the tornados from earlier this spring. It was humbling to see what some people have to go through.
Next, we were headed to Pensacola to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Slezak for a couple days at the ocean.
Amy and Maelynn.
After fininshing the week in Florida, we headed back to Missouri to spend some time with my family. We ended up staying up there for almost two weeks. I was trying find a job all summer and I had applied to teaching certification in Missouri in addition to Idaho. I looked for jobs all over Missouri in addition to seeing most of my family.
Amy swimming in Mom and Pop's back yard.
The girls had fun seeing all of their cousins on this trip. Here is Tori and Shonia and Anjo.
Saren and Lucy with their buddy Anjo.
Here is a picture of all but one of my parents' nine grandchildren. Not everyone wanted to cooperate.
Oksana and Joe came over for a couple of days and we visited some St. Louis tourist areas with them. We went to the Butterfly House and Grant's Farm. The kids loved the animals.
Ben with a butterfly perched on his arm.
Joe and Kate with a Budweiser clydesdale.
Oksana and Kate at the park.
Pop and Lucy.
Lucy and Saren with Pop.
My girls at in the Butterfly House.
We visited Rui and Keshia at their house one day. It was the first time we got to see their youngest, Amorlicia, who was born just a week before Amy last year.
Me and my bro with our baby girls. It was kind of fun to have a child the same age as my brother.
We had to stop downtown and show the girls the arch.
While we were their Tristan's good friend Sheri had her first baby. It was perfect timing for us. We got to see them before and after the baby was born.
Tristan with little James Pulley.
We took Ben and Saren to go miniature golfing one day.
The mini golf course was right across the street from Tristan and my high school. Tristan still had a coupon that she had gotten in high school with her. We asked if it could still be redeemed and the man their told us that if we had hung on to it that long than he would still honor it.
Here is Amy with Tanya's little Charlie.
The girls found a new friend this time in Mom's old dog Daisy. They loved dragging her around the yard on her leash. I think Daily liked the attention.
We said our goodbyes and headed back to Idaho. We decided to go through Kansas and Colorado instead of Nebraska this time.
On our way home we stopped to camp by a lake in Kansas. It was the day before the Fourth of July so we had to swim in our patriotic swimsuits.
We drove through Colorado with the plan to get to Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming that night to camp. That is the park where Tristan and I spent our honeymoon.
We couldn't get into Curt Gowdy, since it was a holiday weekend but we found some free camping in the nearby Medicine Bow National Forest.
We saw this monument to Abraham Lincoln on the highway in Wyoming and had to get picture. Quite a likeness. (We stopped for church that morning in Laramie, that is why I'm wearing a suit.)
Almost home.
The scariest thing was that as we were just a couple of hours away from home we noticed the car running really rough. We saw some orange embers falling off the back of the car. We stopped to look under the car and the catylitic converter was red hot. We thought our car was going ot catch on fire any minute. We felt like we should keep going and just get home despite the danger. We figured our car has served us well and this was it's final run. We parked it as soon as we got home, and couple of weeks later we sold it for $540 dollars on craigslist. We loved that car, but it was time for it to go. Adios amigo.
Wow! Looks like you guys had quite the trip. I am a bit jealous that you were able to have a family vacation and a month long one!
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