road trip!

paul and i have returned from a two week road trip. we covered seven western states, saw four of our five children, visited our parents and drove nearly 5,000 miles. gulp. it was awesome. we did a big circle of sorts, from boulder through wyoming to utah, onto nevada (insert possible corner of arizona as i could have missed it while sleeping) through to california, up to oregon, over to idaho, back down to utah and home. phew.

we pulled our campa (check it out) along behind us. the campa is a legend and paul's pride and joy. it's obviously designed for long range expeditions like safaris and other hard core adventures but so far we've just used it for simple weekend camping. whenever we do go camping with the campa, i give it about 10 minutes from final set up for a swarm of males to show up and want to talk about, explore and learn the specs etc. of this off-road camping rig. it's my self chosen cue to wander off and let paul do the talking. it happens when we stop at gas stations along the way as well. the campa is some sort of dude magnet, i don't get it.

like i said, our first stop was utah, arriving 4th of july eve. we hung out with gabi as well as sebastian and madison and spent time with my mom. we stayed with paul's mom and dad and awoke independence day morning to music blaring, sirens ringing and an enormous crowd just outside our window cheering, waving, running and clocking their time at the finish line of a 10K race. what the? we quickly threw on some clothes to see the spectacle happening out on the front lawn. happy fourth of july, i guess. yawn.

the next few days were a bit of a blur for me as we headed to california to meet up with nicole in los angeles, then margo in pleasanton and more family in bakersfield and santa cruz. i picked up a stomach bug or some such along the way (i think at the nevada border fast food stop) and spent a miserable 4 or 5 days following. i loved being with my girls again and jo and heidi and lynn, megan and sara but was definitely a bummer to be around. sigh. i do remember riding bikes with paul along venice beach though and wanting to take photos of the beautiful group of amish friends enjoying the sea and surf fully clothed. random.

saying goodbye to family and our dear friends jennifer and clay, we headed up the breathtaking pacific coast highway 1 to oregon finally stopping at the first town of brookings to set up camp under the redwoods. that whole day was one magnificent, mouth wide open - awe!!! wow! beautiful. we spent the next three nights camping through southern oregon and then headed onto idaho with a stop at crater lake national park. wowza! this is a must. the colors and magnificence of its formation are not to be missed. bring your camera!

we spent a day in the endearing town of boise then headed back down to utah to check in with family before finally heading home. i think we both were ready but what a fun couple of weeks paul and i enjoyed together camping and exploring parts unknown. 

we have gabi home for the rest of the summer now as she has decided to transfer to byu in the fall to further her studies in broadcast journalism and dance. we are loving having her home and spending easy going summer days together. i truly hope you are finding quiet, reflective, unscheduled hours amongst these long, comfortable, lazy days of summer. 

Life is a balance

of holding on

and letting go.