Living Full on Life

A Goal (nearly) Accomplished!

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We have been trying to see all the states we can drive to. (In case that is confusing, that means 49 of 50 states. Try as I might, I just can’t see a way for our 15 passenger van to get us to Hawaii!) Three summers ago, we did a tour of the southeast. Last summer we drove to Alaska. This year, we didn’t do a big road trip (they usually take about a month). Both teens were working all summer and it just wasn’t the time to do the last of the states we have to see, mainly the states that make up New England. I was feeling pretty bad because we are so close! We have only a few sates left! Thankfully, Sam just got his mission call to the Cali Colombia mission and he doesn’t leave until December 4th! We are planning a 10-day blitz during fall break to see the rest and to visit family and some church history sites. I can’t wait! And I don’t feel like a failure anymore for not finishing our goal. Here was our route from last year’s trip to Alaska:

The Route TO Alaska

The Road Home

And THIS is where we are heading for 10 days in during fall break in October:

I CANT WAIT!!!!! This is my favorite part of the states. Grant and I were in Maine and Boston in May and had the dreamiest time together. It was so romantic, and beautiful and cool and we ate the best food ever! It was the perfect place to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We are so excited to show this amazing part of the world to our children. Lizi is particularly excite about New York City. I am excited for the scenery and fall colors and to see my brother (Zach) and sister (Alexandra) who both live in upstate New York now. And I am thrilled that we get to fit in one more epic road trip before Sam leaves for two years to serve the Lord and the people in Colombia!

The Journey

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We just got back from a trip to Arizona for Thanksgiving to spend time with family for the holiday. This week I have been reading a book called, “Don’t Make Me Pull Over! An Informal History of the Family Road Trip.” by Richard Ratay. The book chronicles the events of how family road trips came into being and what happened to them. It discusses the inventions useful for road trips like that of the car, seat belts, entertainment consoles in cars, handheld gaming devices etc, as well as the history behind roads, highways, fast food restaurants, and motels. The author fondly remembers his trips in the family station wagon in the seventies and eighties and in the final chapters he writes about the first time his family flew on a plane to their destination instead of drove. I love what he wrote because I feel the same way about driving places. This is what he wrote:
“The plain fact was that other than purchasing our plane tickets, we’d made no real effort to reach our objective, as those men had – or even we’d always had in the past. There’d been no hardships, no squabbles, no hours of tedium, not even a worry that we’d missed a turn…Our flight had allowed us to soar over all the things that once made a family vacation…a family vacation. We’d taken a trip but we’d made no journey. And somehow it felt as though we hadn’t earned the right to enjoy our final destination.”

Another quote:
“More than anything else what made the family road trip so special was the feeling of being inextricably bound together in a great adventure. An adventure based less on where we were headed, and more in the moments we shared along the way.”

I love the joy of the journey. That is why we drive places. That is why we drove 8,500 miles this summer to Alaska and back or toured the southeast last summer. My kids are champion road warriors who barely blink at a trip of a mere 10 hours like we took yesterday. We love what we see on the journey. Truthfully though, if  you gave me a plane ticket anywhere I wouldn’t complain! I love to fly too. I guess the heart of it all is that I simply love going places.

Our Summer Travel Itinerary

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I dream about traveling. Put me on a plane to anywhere and I would be happy. Stick me in a car with an open road ahead of me and I would be perfectly satisfied. Start an audio book on said road trip and I would think I’d died and gone to heaven. So, as one can imagine, I REALLY enjoy planning our family road trips – almost as much as I enjoy going on them!

So, what do we have planned for this summer? We only have three more summers before Sam moves out and our goal to see all of the states we can drive to. This summer we will explore the southeast. Here is a map of the way there: And here is a map of the way home:And here is the itinerary for the month:

Leave June 22nd, Thursday – AMARILLO
Drive 13 hours 22 min- Take I-40
See Cadillac Ranch – car sculpture
Spend night in Amarillo – hotel

June 23rd, Friday – NASHVILLE
Drive 13 hours 36 minutes
Spend night in Nashville – Airbnb

June 24th Saturday
Explore Nashville.
Possible places: The Parthenon in Centennial Park, Hatch Show Print Shop, Andrew Jackson’s home (The Hermitage), Historic Belmont mansion, adventure science center
Listen to live music either at Bluebird café, Family Wash, or Station Inn.
Spend night in Nashville

June 25th Sunday – SMOKY MOUNTIANS
Leave at 5 to drive to Cades Cove 4 hours 15 mins –bring picnic lunches
Cades Cove 2-4 hours
Rich Mountain Road
Abrams Falls 1 hour
Laural Falls Trail on the way to hotel
Stay in Pigeon Forge…

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Our Fabulous Fall Road Trip Part I – The Pilgrimage

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Screen Shot 2015-10-09 at 12.39.35 AMWith the exception of Wyoming, all the states we visited or drove through were a first for some or all of our family. Total driving miles: 3,600. Our itinerary before the trip was as follows (Changes to the itinerary and comments on the trip are in italics.):

October 10 – Sat
Leave at 6 am
Drive 12 hours to Hays, Ks (arrive around 8pm – with two hours of stops)
We really did leave at 6! However, we stopped WAY more than we thought, including a stop outside of Denver to have our tires rotated. Our big van drove like a drunken sailor, swaying and drifting all over the place and Wendell correctly thought that maybe there was some uneven wear on the front tires. So we switched them to the back and the problem disappeared! We pulled into Hays at 11 pm. (10 Utah time).…

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The Wild, Wild West

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I am putting together the itinerary for our trip to visit my brother, Isaiah in Las Cruces, NM for Christmas and exploring the options for a part of the world that I have never visited! I have so many tabs open in Firefox of places we could go see that I need to just put them all in a list so I can remember them! It is so hard to limit a trip when I keep thinking, “While we’re there, we should just visit ______ (fill in blank), it is only a couple of hours out of our way! So, for future family excursions here is my list of places I want to see next time we are in that neck of the woods… I’m sure I will be adding to it as time goes by!

Vermilion Cliffs National Monument

General trail information for Vermilion Cliffs here. The Wave is my top choice of these destinations. However, it is the top choice for so many others! Sadly, the BLM has placed so many restrictions for visiting that the chances of getting a permit are sometimes less than 2%. They have an online lottery that gives out 10 (yes, you read correctly, TEN) permits per day, year round, three months in advance. They grant ten more, again by lottery at the Kanab Ranger office daily. I like this site for explaining the system.  When we are ready to try our luck I will go the the BLM website to apply for a permit.

The Wave

http://www.scottwaltonphotographs.com

Photo from freeyork.com

White Pocket

For more information on White Pocket go here. The road to the trail head is very long with at least 13 miles of up to twelve inch sand! I’m pretty sure we won’t be attempting this route until we install a winch and some locking differentials on our van to get the back tires to spin together. Maybe next year? Permits are not required for this hike.

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Trip Planning and Family Vacation Rules

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I am starting to plan our next mammoth road trip due to occur in October. We are going to visit the LDS church historical sites in Nauvoo, Illinois, some Lincoln sites in Springfield, Illinois and then up to Wisconsin to visit Grant’s extended family. As I begin the planning stages I decided to take a trip down memory lane and share our family vacation rules:6a00e5502e47b28833017d3c9bcb8d970c-pi1. Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude. Talk about your blessings not about your bothers.
2. We use rest stops to buy gas, use the bathroom and stretch our legs. NOT to buy anything.
3. Fill it and spill it. When mom and dad fill up the tank, you empty yours. If you don’t have to go to the bathroom at least try.
4. When it is bedtime we go to sleep and stay in our beds. No arguing.  A sleepless vacation = a bad vacation.
5. No screen time in national or state parks. Period.
6. Pick up your trash in the car, in campsites, and hotel rooms.
7. We start each day with a devotional. Please help us do this.
8. Follow all posted rules everywhere we go. Including “Stay on Trail”
9. We do not ask other people to stop singing or whistling.
10. We do not sing or whistle to bug other people.
11. Car seats and/or seat belts must be used at all times.
12. Remember that any fun we have each day is a bonus. Please don’t expect it.
13. Follow the Golden Rule. Treat others as you want to be treated.
14. You are responsible for keeping track of your own things.
15. Be willing to try new foods.
16. Be kind or be quiet.
17. NEVER turn your back on the water when we are on the beach. Sneaker waves are common and deadly.
18. Always use the buddy system. Do not go anywhere alone.
19. When we set up or break down camp help THE WHOLE TIME until we are done.
20. No complaining about having your picture taken. (That means you too dad.)

Eating Out

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I love to eat out. It inspires me. When we eat out I want to eat somewhere that either serves food that I cannot easily cook – Japanese, Indian, Thai or food that would give me ideas for future meals. We don’t eat out at grown up restaurants very often but when we do I do all sorts of research and read tons of reviews on the restaurants. Here are some restaurants whose menus checked out that I would like to try in the future:

Special Occasion
Faustina
Ruth’s Chris Steak House- chain restaurant, some say it has great meat and seafood but indifferent vegetable sides.
Bambara – fancy bistro food. On the list of 10 best romantic dining spots in Salt Lake
Cafe Molise -Highly rated Italian food. *Update: we ate here on Friday night for our Anniversary. The food was great, the live music was great. My date was great! We thought that Cucina Toscana had better Italian food but this was a very tasty.