Many months ago, Kris (mother-in-law), Katie (sister-in-law) and I had the idea of a road trip to Kentucky to visit Jenny (other sister-in-law) and her husband, Judd, and their new baby Ethan. No one (Joey) thought we’d actually do it….but we did. Oh yes, we did.
The trip got off to a rather rocky start when a cop pulled me over just outside of Evanston. I was not aware that it’s a law to change lanes when there is an “emergency vehicle” pulled off to the side. I just slowed down when I passed him. Several minutes later, there he was pulling me over and yes, giving me a $100 ticket! I was not a happy camper….still not, really. But…the road trip went on.
We drove through Wyoming which was not very impressive and it was very windy. Next, we hit Nebraska, where I first saw the largest statue of Jesus I’ve ever seen….and it was in the middle of a giant field. Very wierd. We made it to Kearney, Nebraska the first night and stayed in a nice hotel for some much needed rest. It was a long day.
The next day we drove through some really heavy (and scary) rain storms through a bit of Ohio and then into Missouri. We got to out hotel early enough for the kids to have a good swim….which they really needed after being cooped up in the car all day.
We stopped in St. Louis on day 3 where we got to go to the top of the “gateway to the west” arch in these little “pod” elevators. If you ever get the chance to do this….don’t. It really wasn’t worth the time that it took. When we got to the top, there were just some tiny windows in a very narrow hallway. Pretty lame. The arch was cool to see though, and they had a cool museum.
We took some back roads through Southern Illinois due to a huge traffic jam that we ran into and visited an Amish village in Indiana where we ate a delicious dinner. It was delicious for everyone except Nate, that is. He absolutely HATED it and had a scowl on his face the whole time.
We finally made it to Kentucky very late at night…but that didn’t stop us from cuddling a bit with cute baby Ethan. Jenny, though very sleepy looking, seemed happy to see us and to show off her beautiful new baby. Eventually, we did get off to bed and rested most of the next day, which was Jenny’s birthday.
One of the funniest moments of the trip was when we were getting up to leave Texas Roadhouse, where we had eaten Jenny’s birthday dinner. Jenny went to grab her purse and much to her surprise, there was a giant rib stuck to it! It was Nate’s. We all had a good laugh about it.
During our exploration of the Kentucky/Ohio area, we got to go to a lot of neato stores. I love love love to look at stores, so it was very fun for me. We hit some outlet stores, a GIANT store called “Jungle Jims”, The Container Store, Crate & Barrel, and Trader Joes. It was a lot of fun to get to go in stores that we don’t have in Utah. We also had a great photo shoot with all four kids which turned out really great.
After all the shopping, we decided to do something the kids might like, so we decided to visit the Cincinatti Zoo. Unfortunately, I had the WORST headache of my life (it lasted nearly 24 hours) so I wasn’t able to enjoy the zoo to the fullest extent….but, it was a really cool zoo. They had a lot of animals that I’ve never seen before….like bonobos….very similar to chimps. Tessa loved petting the snakes and was the only one brave enough to do so. As we walked in to see the Manitees, Nate asked, “Are manitees a species of aligator?” Cute kids.
On our last day in Kentucky, we decided to walk along the “purple people bridge” to say that we walked from Kentucky to Ohio in one day. I thought that the area around the river was really beautiful. I also liked to look at all the cool buildings and places around Cincinatti. After the bridge, we stopped for a light dinner and then off to the Aquarium. If any of you know of the aquarium that we have in Sandy…this aquarium was MUCH better than that one. I was very impressed with it. We got to feed nectar to some birds. Just as one bit Tessa on the finger, another one pooped on my foot. We tried hard not to laugh because Tessa was upset, but come on…pooping is funny, even if it was my foot.
We even got to pet some sharks! Tessa and even Averi both got into it and loved it. A very fun aquarium…so glad we went.
Our stay in Kentucky was so nice. Judd and Jenny made us feel so welcome and were such great hosts. Judd was even nice enough to cook for us and entertain Nate by playing video games with him. I loved his hot wings, they were delicious. He also made some “goeta”..this weird sausage stuff that Kentucky-ans like to eat. It was pretty good. And, best of all, they fed me strawberries. Lots and lots of strawberries. (I usually hate them, but this baby loves them) So, thanks Judd and Jenny! I had such a fun time.
The long 24 hour drive home was basically un-eventful except for the really terrible rain storm that we drove through (again). Only this time, we had lots of lightning and thunder added to the enormous amounts of rain. We stayed in Newton, Iowa and then Laramie, Wyoming.
There were a few things that really saved me on this trip: My iphone, to keep in touch, connect us with the internet, and to help waste time in the car. My navigation system, what did we ever do without it? The DVD system in the car with about 24 kids movies, enough said. And lastly, really great traveling companions…I love my in-laws!
This was the longest I think I’ve ever been away from Joe Joe…and it sure was nice to get home to see him again. The kids especially missed him and I think I learned to better appreciate his company. I think he missed us too.
We have been wondering and discussing the sex of this baby for quite some time. Because there is a history of heart problems in my family, I always have to wait an extra 4 weeks to discover the sex so that the specialist can then examine the heart at the same time! It is horrible to wait! I really don’t know how some people wait till they give birth….I couldn’t do it. 
We’ve been lucky to have a backyard pool for the past three years. It is sometimes a pain in the but to keep up, butt for the most part, we’ve really enjoyed having it. Our favorite times we’ve had are when friends and family come and join us in the fun. Sometimes it’s been hard to get them to drive all the way to Bountiful and to set foot in an un-heated pool, but occasionally, we talk them into it.
I drove down Main Street Bountiful on the evening of July 22nd and was shocked to see hundreds of people “staking their claims” for the parade that didn’t start until 6:00 pm the next day. They were all completely ignoring the MANY big signs posted saying that they were not allowed to stake a claim until 7:00 am the next morning and that their things would be confiscated. I’m not sure if the city actually followed through with their threat because when I returned to try to stake my claim at 6:55 am the next morning, there were hardly any spots left. It is unbelievable that so many people go to such great lengths to see a parade. When I was a kid, I don’t remember it being like that at all. We just walked down and found a spot. Those days are gone, sadly.
