Day three of our journey started out with a delicious homemade breakfast by Grandma Carter - french toast and fresh fruit smoothie. (thanks!) It was way better than all the continental breakfasts, combined! Our goal was to head out by 9, knowing that with two kids, a nursing baby, and visiting with family, it would likely be 10. It was 10:15. BUT, just a bit after we started driving, Jacob's mom called (and our ringer was off, it was SO lucky I looked at the phone and saw several missed calls...all from her...I knew we must have forgot something). We forgot the diaper bag, which had my wallet in it. So, we turned around - she drove a little to meet us (thanks again!) and then we were really off, closer to 11...again.
So, I will freely admit that I don't think Utah is very beautiful. At least driving through the parts I am used to (Salt Lake/Provo etc.) I think the mountains are pretty when they're covered with snow...but otherwise it's just all brown to me. (Which is one reason I didn't stay there long at BYU - I missed the lush green and water of the PNW) Anyway...I had always heard Southern Utah is beautiful - and I'm happy to agree with the consensus: Southern Utah is GORGEOUS! Of course, I wouldn't want to live there. But camp there? Bike there? Oh YEAH! We drove through Moab, Arches, and edged by some other parks. As we drove around the corner and saw a place to pull over, I asked Jacob to pull over, quick! Sawyer and Hazel were asleep, and my sudden excitement woke Aspen up - so I asked her if she wanted to come on a little walk with me. So Jacob stayed with the other kids in the air conditioned car and Aspen and I took the camera and went for a little walk. I just had to!
"Look, Mommy! There's a hole in the rock!"
It was one of our longest driving days, almost 9 hours (plus stops). It was also the prettiest and most scenic day driving as we went through Southern Utah, a corner of Colorado (near Durango) - which was honestly my ultimate favorite part of our drive. Jacob and I made a mental note to come back and rent a cabin sometime in Colorado (we are already learning that just about everyone in Austin takes vacation - sometimes month-long vacation - in August when it's scorching here and pleasant elsewhere). We drove into New Mexico into a small town called Farmington that night...very late...again. It just happened to be the worst hotel of the trip, too. I booked them all fairly frugally - not the cheapest but pretty close. So each hotel (minus our elegant hotel in Lynnwood - you can't get a decent hotel for under $100/night in Seattle) was in the $85/range. But the super 8...got zero stars. The others were surprisingly nice for the price. Anyway, after checking into that hotel and being too late to swim (even though I don't think I would have wanted to swim in that pool!) I told Jacob we just had to get up early and go. So, the next morning we woke up at 6 and just schlepped the kids and our stuff to the car. We skipped the continental breakfast - the kids went back to sleep until almost 10, when we stopped near Albequerque for some breakfast burritos. The Northern part of New Mexico was also really pretty to drive through. Besides being tired of sitting in the car all day long, the road trip was rather fun. I love seeing new places and so much go by outside the window. It's kind of magical to see the sun come up and then watch it go down while on the road for so long. By this point I was still amazed at how well the kids were doing. I think they were doing almost better than I was!
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