This summer was one of the best ones I've had in decades. Fortunately, my workload was small enough that I wasn't at all stressed about deadlines or juggling everything. We took a month long road trip all the way from Texas to Montana. I tried to keep most of the driving on weekends and keep my day schedule flexible so that work would come first when needed. We started with a stop in El Paso. I got to spend time with a friend that I made while living in Qatar. I haven't seen her since 1997. If it wasn't for Facebook, I'm sure we would have lost touch forever. Instead, our kids became friends. They really hit it off quickly just like we did years ago. Here is a picture below. Don't let the sizes fool you. My kids are tall and her's are short. The one on the left is only a little less than a year younger than Jordan.
Next, we headed to southern Utah for a family reunion with my mom's side of the family in Zion National Park. Zion is an amazing place to hike and see nature. We also got to see siblings, cousins, second cousins, and the kids even had third cousins there. We've been having these reunions every two years and they are always a joy. Here is a picture of my mom's grand-kids with all of the 6 year olds on the front row and 8 year olds in the back.
Next, we headed to central Utah. I have a good friend, Annette, there. I've known her since 7th grade. I just love her. We stayed with her & her family. We got to enjoy hiking in the area and celebrate the 24th of July. The 24th is a state holiday in Utah. It is also called Pioneer Day to celebrate when the pioneers came into Salt Lake. The state celebrates much like the 4th of July with fireworks, parades, and bbqs. Here is a picture of Annette and me at the Spanish Fork Parade:
Our next stop was Butte, Montana. My mom and step-father live there. My brother, his wife, and 5 kids live in the next little town. I have another brother that lives about 4 hours away also in Montana. We got to spend time with all of them. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about Montana. I think it is a beautiful place to be in the summer. I also find it sad how hard the economy has fallen since the mines shut down in the 1980s. I have never been in a place that has such amazing architecture and infrastructure from 100 years ago contrasted by extremely poor and fairly backwards current residents. It was quite depressing. I always felt overdressed, especially in Butte. I think the people of Walmart originated there, except maybe not as yucky/sexy/trashy more like constant sweat pants wearers. At least, they are all friendly. One of the things we loved was touring ghost towns. It is amazing that people would build up a beautiful town with town halls and then pack up and leave overnight.
kids with their cousins in a ghost town
with more cousins
When we were done in Montana, we made our way back to Texas with a few stops in Utah. We spent a few more nights with Annette before taking off. We also stopped at Arches National Park one day to hike for an hour.
We only stayed in a hotel one night on the way back. It was a lot of driving, but I realized that I was tired of being in the car and living out of a suitcase. Sadly, once we entered Texas we were only a little more than half way home. This is one HUGE state.
It wasn't a perfect trip, but it was certainly great.