The title alone is enough to tell you...that this was a one-time occasion ;)
We decided that taking the economical route - driving to and from WA - was preferable to a shorter, less traumatic 3-hour flight. So near the end of July, the five of us piled into our initially clean van and headed north!
In spite of our sleep and meal schedules being nowhere near the clock, we were having fun and excited to see the Grand Canyon at sunrise. It had taken us a while to realize that we were on the wrong route... (Tim printed out directions to where he and the Boy Scouts had gone on their hike a few months earlier, but typing "Grand Canyon" into our GPS was clearly not the same thing.
Hehe, my bad!) It threw us off schedule by three hours and had us facing a different part of the Canyon...but we were still giddy to be up before the sun, and our view was still breathtaking.
We headed out after breakfast and drove through miles and miles of what looked like the same landscape (we were still a little bummed about our unintentional detour) until we came across this part of the Canyon. What a beautiful place to stretch our legs!
A little behind schedule, we finally made it to St. George, Utah. And for us, St. George means the St. George Temple, which happens to be the temple I thought was the prettiest ever since I saw a picture of it while still investigating.
Our main reason for traveling through Utah was to visit Tim's cousin, Allura, who was gracious enough to let us stay with her even though she had never met the kids nor I, and hadn't seen Tim in over a decade! Before our trip, I had only met her through messages and knew she was a wonderful person. I wanted to meet her, but honestly didn't think I'd ever get the chance. We finally met on this trip, and I got absolutely no pictures of all of us together. Clearly, pictures were far less important than catching up and getting to know each other. It was a great sleepover :)
Just a few minutes north of Allura was the Salt Lake Temple. Tim and I had always talked about taking a temple road trip...and although we hadn't intended on this being it, that's what it kind of became!
We drove and drove and drove, determined to make it to my aunt and uncle's in Richland, WA by dinner. We knew my parents would be there waiting for us, too, and we wanted, for once, to be on schedule. So we endured the longest stretch of our trip for some extra hours of family time ;)
The next day, my parents agreed to take the kids with them to Seattle so Tim and I could visit friends in Yakima. I wish they could insert their story below because it sounded HILARIOUS. Imagine my parents in their jeep, all three kids - ages 5, 4, and 1 1/2 - elbow to elbow in the back seat, on a 2 hour drive to their house. If I remember correctly, they had turned around to stare at my screaming children and then looked at each other, wide-eyed...before pulling over at the first rest stop. I love my parents :)
SEATTLE means lots of things, but mainly this.
We celebrated her 6th birthday a day or two early instead of on Aug. 3rd...because we had to head out early enough to make sure we made it home before school started - on Aug 6th!
Our last picture together before jumping in the car for our trip home!
Oregon, to us, means only one thing...
This was actually our first time at Voodoo Donuts. We didn't much like that part of Portland, to be honest...but we loved the food! We got our donuts first, and then decided on a Mediterranean restaurant for lunch. I don't even remember what we had, but Tim and I agreed that it was the best Mediterranean food ever.
From there, we headed to the Portland Temple...where we thought we'd snack on our donuts only to find the bacon-topped one missing. Not cool, kids...not cool.
The temple, however, was lovely :)
One more Oregon temple stop before reaching California!
We reached our campsite in northern California at 11 p.m. We were so tired, but thankfully the kids passed out in their tent with hardly any fuss. For the record, this was also our first family camp out, and my first time camping - ever. It was actually my idea to camp out in California instead of booking hotel rooms, but just before reaching this campsite, I recollect suggesting we just check into a nice, safe, well-lit hotel instead. But Tim was on a mission to find this campsite, and when we did, I was terrified. It was the middle of the night and the trees were tall. And we were about to sleep on the ground. Tim took care of everything, though. My only job was to hold the flashlight while he set up the tents and tucked the kids in. Looking outside my tent that night at those tall trees, and hearing almost nothing, was the most serene picture to fall asleep to.
Our main reason for driving through California was to visit friends in Santa Monica. On our way there, we stopped at the Oakland Temple.
We had camped somewhere outside of LA, too, but it wasn't as fun. It was a really busy campsite that looked like a park. I felt like I was camping in someone's backyard. The kids were super cute, though!
Finally, Santa Monica with friends :)
And then...home :)
