XC x 2 - Back to Utah

We left on a Monday afternoon in August, with the deadline of arriving in Utah in time to acclimate to the time change, shop for school clothes (the kids have to wear a generic uniform), and get settled at my aunt's house before school started for Cat the following Monday.

So as you might imagine, we were more aggressive with our driving on this trip than we were our first Cross Country Trip weeks earlier.  Therefore, I don't have a lot of pictures to show for it.

Dinner at Zaxby's on our first day of driving.
We had to make time for some good fried chicken before leaving the South.

Saturn Launcher at the Alabama Welcome Center.
No, we didn't stop to check it out, but it was cool to see a rocket on the side of the Interstate.

We drove through Nashville and stopped to eat at a restaurant from "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
This place was definitely a dive, in an industrial part of town, and very small.  We were worried
about finding a table where the 6 of us could sit because it was really crowded, but it worked out,
and it was definitely worth it because the food was AWESOME.  After lunch we drove around
Nashville a bit, checking out the downtown, the riverfront, and Vanderbilt University.

Toe-nay-does at Arnold's.  Jack was happy.

We drove through St. Louis and called my cousin to see if we could meet
up for dinner and she did us one better - offered to make us dinner and for us
to stay with them.  So nice!  We loved getting to hang out with Stacie
and her family, and it was such a treat for the kids to be able to play with
cousins and enjoy toys and a playground.  We had a great time!

Jack, Aaden, Abbie, Cat, and Eliza.

Once again, we called friends near Kansas City to see if we could meet up somehow
and they offered to host us for dinner.  This is a sweet family we became friends
with during the MBA program and it was so fun to see them in their new home
and get caught up.

Elena even set up this cool slide & pool for the kids in the back yard.
They loved it!

Our family with Elena, Giglio, and Evelyne.

Look!  A truck!  At a rest stop!

Then Jack took about a dozen pictures that look like this.

And a few more that I like much better, which look like this.

We ended up with a few hours to spare in Colorado, and after poring over
tourist info from the Welcome Center, Ben requested that we go to the
Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave in Golden, CO.  It was really interesting to
learn more about Buffalo Bill's life.

And there were some fun things for the kids to do there too.

The view from the grave site.  Not bad, Mr. Cody.

Buffalo Bill's grave.

Ben and Cat were the only two brave enough to swim in the pool
at our hotel in Ft. Collins.  That water was COLD!  I stayed dry with Luke
while Jack and Eliza preferred the hot tub.

Lunch & running around at a rest stop in Colorado... or Wyoming...?

The Little America truck stop in Wyoming had a fun little
playground and 50 cent ice cream cones.  Perfect!

And we arrived in Utah on Friday afternoon.
(I remember distinctly the sinking feeling I had when we first
arrived in Utah in 2011.  I didn't feel much better this time...)

But I have to admit that those mountains make pretty great backdrops.

"Our trip is almost over!  Woohoo!"

Dinner in Midvale, UT.
You know you're in Utah when there are a gazillion high chairs
in an average-sized fast food restaurant.

It was much harder for us to leave the Southeast this time than it was back in 2011.  When we left back then, we expected that we would be in Utah for less than 2 years - just long enough to have an adventure and explore a different region of the country.  Ben's MBA program provided all of us with great experiences and we are very grateful for all of the blessings we received because of it.  We always knew there was a chance that we'd stay in Utah, and we came close to doing just that, but we hoped all along that we'd be able to move to the same region of the country as most of our family.  Certainly, when we left Utah in search of a job we had every expectation that we would end up in the Southeast.

The decision to move back to Utah made so much sense, and we felt that it was what the Lord wanted us to do, but that didn't make it easy.  The drive back was emotional for me - beginning with tears as soon as we got on the Interstate in Tallahassee.  It took me several weeks before I was anything but annoyed and disappointed about the whole situation.  Thank goodness, I feel better now.

As much as I talk about missing the climate, the greenness, and the beaches of the Southeast, it's really the people who make it special for me.  I feel so blessed that we had so much time with loved ones over the summer before coming back to Utah.  It was hard at the time, to be gypsies and wonder where we would end up, but we were very much aware of the unique privilege of Time with family and friends.  Conversely, my biggest regret is that we didn't see a lot of people who are very special to us, including a few family members and our dear friends in Georgia.

We will always cherish the memories from our Cross Country Summer, and I'm sure they'll help to sustain us in the event of another long stay away from the very special people and places in the Southeast.  But I'm going to be optimistic.  Fingers crossed... it won't be another 2 years before we're all back.  Even if it's only for a visit.