Ten States Later . . .

On our epic trip across the country, we covered ten states: Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont.  Since Ryan was already gone for training, I had to pack up the house and travel by myself.  Thankfully, my mom was a lifesaver and made the trip with  us.  I couldn't have done it without her.  Also, my ward helped me load the moving truck, and I was overwhelmed by how many people showed up to lend a hand.  And I have to mention my friends Rachael, Jessica, and Christine who helped me pack and clean.  It touched me to see so many people reaching out to help me.  We will miss all of them so much.  ;'(

As I was saying, we covered ten states, and the move took SIX days.  We quickly learned that we couldn't have done it any faster with two kids and the multiple stops we had to make.  On the first day, I covered Idaho alone with the kids before picking up my mom on the other side of the state.  There was a lot of screaming from both children that first day.  

Since we had to go so quickly, we had to pass by a lot of sights, but we did get to see a few things along the way.  Here are some of the highlights.

Wyoming

This was the absolute WORST part of the trip!  Those of you who've traversed Wyoming on I-80 can surely understand.  Plus, I was tuckered out from taking care of everything back in Boise, so I couldn't keep my eyes open.

The oasis in the wilderness was my brother's house in Cheyenne.  We hadn't seen them in a YEAR, and they had never even met our precious Eden . . . so the visit was long overdue.

Bennett and Bowen are only a few months apart and were adorable together.

 

Lukas adored Eden and will be such a good big brother when his little sister arrives this fall!

All the kids!

Nebraska

The next day we traveled across Nebraska, which was slightly better than Wyoming.  Outside of Omaha, we stopped at the Winter Quarters visitor center and temple.

Even though moving across the country was a lot to ask this woman to do on her own, I gained perspective when I saw this memorial of the Mormon pioneers.  I'm sooooo grateful I didn't have to push a handcart into the wilderness like them.

Bennett pushing a wagon wheel in the visitor center.

 Iowa

I loved Iowa!  The rolling plains were soooooo pretty.  I actually think it was my favorite part of the trip.  A few times when Bennett had a potty emergency, we stopped at a roadside farm so he could . . . uh water the weeds.  

We stayed in Muscatine, where we lived when I was just a wee lass.  The condominium on the bottom left was ours.

The kiddos were sleeping when we got to Muscatine, so we were able to see our old hometown.

Church building in Muscatine that we used to go to.

Achatz family at the Mississippi River!

Boy meets Mississippi

The next several states went by pretty quickly (ha ha - when compared to the previous ones).  We bypassed Illinois, Indiana, and most of Ohio in one day.  There sure were a lot of toll roads, though. :(

Ohio

We did a quick sight-seeing tour in Kirtland.  I felt bad every time we had to tell the sweet missionaries that we didn't have much time, but once they were around Bennett for about 37 seconds, they understood.  After being in the car for so many days, that kid destroyed any possibility for a spiritual experience.

The room where the School of the Prophets was held in Kirtland.  So cool!

Kirtland Temple

New York

 Once we hit Iowa, the rest of our drive was really pretty.  Upstate New York was especially beautiful.  The kids didn't seem to appreciate the scenery, so we had to keep coming up with things to keep them from uprising.
 

 Something to play with in the car!

Freeeedom!

Us at the Hill Cumorah

Palmyra Temple.  This wasn't here last time I went! This was the only place we saw another car with Idaho plates.  :)

The Sacred Grove!

Bennett tried REALLY hard to be quiet.

Um wow

Joseph Smith's home!

My mom thought that Bennett would love Niagara Falls, and she was right!  I think he enjoyed the boats most of all.

Grandma and Bennett watching the boats at Niagara Falls

I forgot to mention that we went through 10 states AND into Canada (for about 30 minutes).  :)

 Eden liked getting wet at the falls.

Vermont

We made it!  We got to our new hometown just in time to watch Daddy load his airplane and take off.

Bennett was so excited to see Daddy fly.

He flew overhead on his way out.  :)

Vermont is an absolutely GORGEOUS place.  It reminds me a lot of one of my areas on my mission, Duncan: everything is green; there are lots of quaint little towns; it rains a lot; and there are rivers, lakes, and mountains.  I'm afraid that Vermont winters are going to significantly worse, though. :(

This is Lake Bomoseen, just 20 minutes outside our town of Rutland.

It was Eden's first time on the beach.  We hadn't planned to swim, so the kids wore makeshift swimsuits.

Eden must have thought the sand felt funny because she started crawling like this

 Little swimmer

This is a very typical view in Vermont.

Quechee Gorge

One of the many covered bridges in the state

Ryan and I taking a breather in Woodstock, one of the most adorable towns on the planet

Joseph Smith memorial at Sharon/So. Royalton Vermont

Joseph Smith's birthplace!

Another cute little bridge close to the airport Ryan flies out of.

So we made it!  We are suffering a bit of culture shock now that we are finally together in Vermont.  Things are a little backward here, like oil heat, (very) old homes (and almost everything else), and a bit of isolation from the rest of the world.  Our branch is awesome, though, and Ryan is of course very excited to be flying again.  We can't wait until we can move from the hotel (ugh) to the duplex we found to rent.  :)

Stay tuned for more adventures!