Summer Road Trip and a Reunion

 We once said to ourselves that we were done driving to Utah. No more of that. Airplanes for us. All the way. Well, we've driven to Utah and back twice since then. I guess sometimes it still makes sense (before we start the trip) to make a 20 hour road trip. Looking back now, I can't quite remember our reasons. Rental car prices were part of the reason, but in my post-20-hours-of-driving mindset, no price could have been too high. 

Anyway...we drove to Utah. It was a long trip. Not so much the driving there, but the driving back. But it was lots of fun to be there. 

We also made a few stops on the way. First of all, we went to this place we have driven by millions of times. A restaurant called Dariland. It wasn't that good, but look at that cow. So cute, right? 

We spent the night in Aztec, New Mexico with the plan to go to Mesa Verde the next day. And we executed that plan, but first we stopped to see some really cool ruins in Aztec itself. These were 800-1200 years old. And they had a little free museum with lots of interesting artifacts. Lots and lots of pots and also sandals. And now I know why my Chacos are called Chacos! The people who made these things were the Chacoans.

This place was really cool because they actually let you walk through the ruins. Which we did. Backwards. (We're homeschoolers, so we like to go against the grain.) It was actually kind of annoying. Just didn't realize what we were doing.  

Mesa Verde was amazing! But it was definitely more of a look, don't touch kind of situation. So we were glad we to have stopped here first. Mesa Verde is more off the beaten path than you realize because once you reach the park entrance, you still have to drive another hour to see anything. But drive we did. It was the theme of this trip. The roads were windy, so we felt a little woozy, but no barfing. We saw cliff dwellings and petroglyphs. The petroglyph hike had some real-life bouldering. We recently tried fake-life bouldering for the first time, so we all knew what to do. We hiked up on the way there, but then we walked back on the flat mesa top. I've never done a hike where the return trip was flat, but it was pretty nice. Especially since, for a few years now, I have been the slowest hiker in the family.

It was really cool to think of people raising their families and doing life here. It would have taken a lot of grit and creativity and determination. 

After our full, hot, fun day at Mesa Verde, we drove on to Utah. We drove to Price and stayed in a hotel there. But on the way, we stopped and got out of the car and looked at the stars because we could see the Milky Way. During Covid, Aaron and I took an astronomy class through Great Courses. And our family has had a stargazing need ever since. It is very hard to find a truly dark place. We tried several times. Up until this point, Idaho had been our best stargazing. But this time, in Nowheresville, Utah, we really got a good view of the Milky Way. It was just as amazing as we hoped it would be. And it's not something you can really take pictures of. We just had to enjoy it. 

The next day we stopped to see Alan--always a pleasure--and then headed up to Bountiful. We took Aaron's parents to see Oliver! at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. It was an excellent production. Always so cool to see what they do with that tiny space. We also went out to eat at an Argentinian restaurant before hand. It was delicious, and Aaron left his credit card there. It did not get stolen. Back when we lived in Utah, dinner and a play was our go-to gift for John and Julie. So it was fun to be able to do it again.  

While in Utah, we made the rounds to see Aaron's siblings, had a family dinner, went to a nephew's birthday party, shot the bow that Alan made, played with cousins (including a quick trip to Orem to visit the Lewises and my writer friend, Kent), and EVERYONE drove the souped-up kiddie car that Grandpa got for the grandkids. Julie also helped me go to Costco and shop for all of the McCombs family reunion food. Bless her! We (Annie, Scotty, and I) also fell in love with Rachel and Russell's dog who just happened to be pregnant... And she (the dog) fell in love with Aaron, the one human at the party who wouldn't give her the time of day. Aaron and I also celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary by going to the Bountiful temple together--where we were sealed:) 

It was a lovely time, but we did have the looming stress of hosting the reunion. We had planned thoroughly, but you just never know how things are going to work out. But it did all work out! Aaron and I had read The Art of Gathering this year. And it helped us in figuring out what kind of activities we wanted to have at this reunion. I think it went well. I think people connected, and I really liked the house we stayed at in Bear Lake. 

My Dad had a heart attack and open heart surgery and a stroke during surgery a few weeks before the reunion. That was a scary thing. And he and my mom came to the reunion just a day or two after he had gotten out of rehab. That was rough. They were troopers. I was very grateful to have them there. 

Of course there were little glitches to the plan here and there. But overall, it was a good time. And I got to actually talk to people instead of just running around like a crazy person. One thing I loved about the house was that the basement was full of fun things for the kids to do. So the adults got to chat upstairs while the kids played downstairs. And all of the bedrooms were upstairs--away from all of the noise. It was a perfect setup. 

We went up to Aberdeen for a few days after the reunion. Phil and family were there, too. The weather was amazing. This summer in Texas was almost unbearable. (I actually know two families moving to Idaho, one specifically because of Texas weather.) Anyway, it was nice to be with my parents, to have some one-on-one time to connect with them. What amazing people they are! And while we were in Idaho, it was cool to see that my dad was making progress with his rehabilitation. I could see the progress in just a few days. And now, I am happy to report that he is doing much, much better. He came a long way. Way to go, Dad!

And look at these cute girls! They have all grown up so much. Grandma (aka, Wonder Woman) managed to organize a musical number for church the Sunday after the reunion. Liz and Darren, Phil and Kelsey, us, and Mom and Dad all sang "Families Can Be Together Forever." We McCombses can't help but sing together.

I bought matching clothes for all of us. I don't think we've really done this before. It was about time. 

The girls tried on Grandma's wedding dress and a bridesmaid's dress.

We love cousins!

After all of the excitement, we drove back home, and just went a little bit crazy. Our final meal, from a gas station, was beef jerky, popcorn, and bread because we didn't want to stop at another restaurant. Just wanted to get home. 

Nice to be away and to be with family. And nice to be back. We are truly rich in our family connections. What an incredible blessing!