Bad Roads - Good Visits

So what if I stole my title from my 4th graders report on what he did for Christmas break? It was my idea in the first place.

But really, the roads were terrible. We left on Saturday the 27th to head to Elko, NV - normally a 9-10 hour drive. We were stopped in La Grande, OR for 6.25 hours while the highway was closed. We killed a little time at McDonald's, but waited 9th in line to get back on the highway the rest of the time.

It was a very long wait. But, at 5pm they lifted the barricade, and through it we went. I still have no clue why they opened it, only to let us go into a blizzard through Ladd Canyon. I'll just sum it up with - I prayed the entire way. Out loud. They were the worst roads I have ever seen! So, it took us 13 hours to make the long drive to Boise, ID.

After a phone call with friends who were driving from UT - we decided to stay the night in Boise. The next morning, we were happy to be back on the road again.

The roads were fairly bad to Twin Falls, and then once we got off the main highway, onto a 2-lane highway, they were wonderful. We finally arrived at our first destination on Sunday afternoon:

Mel's Dad runs this hotel/casino in Elko.

The rooms he had for us were wonderful - the kids thought they were in heaven.

And, compared to home - and Motel 6, they were.

We had such a good time with Mel's Dad. We don't see him often enough, and the kids adore him, so it was a wonderful visit.

Oh, and for some reason, the cleaning crew told my kids it was ok for them to ride on the luggage cart. They were all over pretending to be in an episode of The Suite Life of Zack(Ty) and Cody(Nick). (Zoe was Maddie?)

On Monday, we drove on to Bountiful, UT. If you've never made the drive on I-80, here is the highlight of the drive:

Metaphor: The Tree of Utah technically wasn't the only highlight, the Bonneville Salt Flats were very intriguing, as were the names of different towns along the way. And just in case you didn't know:

Thanks for the reminder UTAH!

We got to my sister, Shannon's, house in time for dinner and just hung out there for the evening. My sister, Suzanne, and her family and Megan came up to visit too. It was just so nice to relax and chat and for the kids to play a rousing game of Hide and Go Seek. Can you spot my sister and Zoe in this picture?

(They were tricky and hid behind the pillows - best spot of the night.)


So, Tuesday morning, everyone came up again, and we successfully crammed a week of fun into 1 day. First we were treated to a fantastic waffle breakfast. Then off to the perfect sledding hill for sledding, a snowball fight, and building a snowman:

(My BIL, Erik, with Nick)

(The kids' cousin, Daniel, with Zoe in front of the snowman they built with Megan.)

After snow time, we hurried to a matinée of Bolt.
And then, directly to Temple Square. We burned the remainder of daylight in the Church History Museum - which had a great exhibit for children as well as a very educational exhibit on the building of the Tabernacle. Fun and learning for all. (I have to admit I was a bit grumpy at this point because I didn't know we were heading straight there and wore the wrong shoes for walking - I was in pain!) Once it was dark, we walked across the street to look at the lights. Mel and I have never seen the lights at Christmas time, so we were all impressed. I would show pictures, but once again, I didn't know we were heading straight there, so my camera was safely at my sister's house. Suzanne has some that she took, so I'll get those from her someday.
After taking in the wonderful atmosphere of Temple Square, we headed to Cafe Rio for dinner. Just one word: YUM!

Then back to Shannon and Erik's house for pictures of Megan's trip to New Zealand and a rousing game of Nertz that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.

Not kidding, we outlasted the boys who fell asleep on the couch.

On Wednesday morning(not early like we planned) we left our haven in Utah, and started the very long, painful drive home. To break the trip up a little bit, we stopped in Twin Falls, ID - we had never actually been there before this trip, so we thought we would take some time to explore a little. We were impressed. Here's a pictures of Shoshone Falls which is not far from town:

The roads were great until we got to Ontario. I guess they weren't as bad as the way down, but we did see several people off the road and one guy passed us and then spun out right in front of us. We arrived home late, in one piece, and tired. The New Year was rung in with our eyes closed and in bed.

I am so glad we went though. It was exactly what we all needed. Things have been 'difficult' with the little family we have locally, so it was especially nice to be with people who love us unconditionally and want to see us.