Epic Road Trip Day 1: We lounged in bed for a bit and let the kids watch cartoons. It was so nice to not have to jump out of bed and get right to work! Once we felt somewhat awake, we got ourselves out of bed and started loading up luggage, food and kiddos. We have a LOT of food – we didn’t expect to rent out quite this quickly so our pantry was still quite full. We ate what we could last week, brought what fit, and left a bit for our renters. Last minute we decided to bring my guitar too – I’m hoping to have lots of time to practice over the next few months.
Our friend Brian prepared a road trip playlist for us and left it on our windshield 🙂 Such a fun and thoughtful gift. He has a quirky perspective on life so I was looking forward to his selections. We texted with our life group as we headed out of town – our Sunday morning tradition since we entered quarantine. A punk rock cover of Country Roads, a gypsy kids band and Johnny Cash were the highlights of the playlist.
White River National Forest is one of our favorite places in Colorado – stunningly beautiful rock cliffs covered in trees and I-70 just winds its way through it following the river. We planned to stop there to hike for a while and enjoy the fresh air and scenery. There was a funky mural under one of the bridges, and the kids played on their scooters and got in lots of people’s way while we hiked along the river path.
Someone was very clever with a burnt down tree in their yard, and Javi and I are considering taking pictures of all of the differently colored fire hydrants we see on our trip.
It was super hot and sunny, and both the trail and the river were just absolutely hopping with people. After a long, sweaty walk, we found a secluded picnic table under a huge pine tree and ate our lunch there. Our neighbor sent us with special lunches for the kids, and they were a huge hit!
On the road, the kids asked about the big orange balls on the power lines, about how power reaches the electrical lines in the first place, and then over lunch we had a long discussion about the difference in speed between light and sound. They were a little lost until I reminded them of the jets that frequently fly over our house, and then they were able to put together the difference. I have really missed teaching the kids as we travel, and answering the questions that come up naturally!
We got back on the road and finished our trek through the mountains, and it always amazes me how quickly the scenery changes once we cross over into Utah. Still lots of mountains and elevation, but it’s so different from our mountains. We stayed the night in Green River, UT, a favorite rest stop of ours. There was a strange weather/storm/cloud/wind pattern blowing through as we drove – it was scorching hot but really pretty!
We rolled into our motel and got unpacked, ate some food and relaxed for a bit and watched the second half of Thor Ragnarok on TV. Lover and I could have stayed on the bed for the rest of the night happily, but the kids still had energy. So we loaded back up and found a park and…. the playground was OPEN! The kids were ecstatic. They climbed up the slides, conquered the monkey bars and swung as high as they could. Such a fun night. Cassandra stole her sister’s shoes because “the pokeys (mulch) keep getting in my sandals!” All in all, a great start to our adventure!
