The Long Way Home

Friday, Day 1

3 hours in the car didn't even get us out of Orange County. Because this happened:
Blown up Semi.
91 shuts down causing all other out going freeways to be equally ridiculous.
So we went home.
Brady bought us candy and ice cream to make us feel better.

Saturday, Day 2

Left at 4 am to miss Memorial day weekend traffic. But just after Baker, this happened:
Blown up Explorer.
So we sat on the side of the road. In the middle of the desert. For a couple of hours. We got farmers burns. Bear Twinkie Grills dug a hole and slept in it, in our shade.
We don't have AAA so we were getting quotes for $1,000 tows to Vegas, not to mention the $4,000 to fix our busted transmission. So we sat in the dirt for a couple more hours. But I guess God knows I exist because something sort of miraculous happened.
We were hiding in a ditch/some bushes because Bear Twinkie told us it is safest to get as far away from your car as possible when its broken down on the side of the road. But a cop pulled up so we ran up to the car to tell him what was going on. After finding out we weren't serial killers, he left and before we could get hidden back in the tumbleweed jungle my cousin Carolyn comes walking up. She and my aunt Sue spotted us and pulled the 16 foot moving truck they were driving over to the side of the road. The tow truck we called (and had no idea how we were going to pay for) pulled up minutes later. Because my aunt is a AAA member and was there, our car got towed to Vegas for free. Trailers are not covered by AAA, but low and behold, 16 foot moving trucks have trailer attachments. So that was free too. Sue and Carolyn followed us to Vegas and then used their AAA card to get us a discount on our very own 16 foot moving truck.

(He's actually really happy to have this truck)

We unloaded the trailer, returned it, and left the Explorer at a mechanics. Our transmission was still under warranty in CA, so that repair was covered too!

trailer that killed the car

Ciao bella : (

With such a rough start, I'm thinking my family and friends were using the Secret and its laws of attraction to keep me in CA. But thankfully, somebody up there got me some assistance- even though I almost ruined it. I tried leaving a day early, but had to turn back. Then the next morning when we left I woke up an hour later than I wanted to. Without telling her this, my aunt Sue told me she decided she needed to sleep in an hour later that morning too -- ensuring she wouldn't miss me in that 5 minute frame I came out to talk to the cop, making myself visible on the freeway.

And, I am actually tremendously relieved I have no car here in Chicago. Parking is ridiculous, and public transportation is half a block away from my apartment, and really easy and fun to navigate. Amazing how God really knows better right?

Sunday Day 3

Day 2 got us all the way to Richfield, Utah on the 70. Richfield happends to be where my great grandparents, The Lotts, are buried. We visited them that morning.

That's Grandma

Then we made our way 10
miles over to Monroe- land of my forefathers. My ancestors on my mom's side established this place. Thankfully two high school kids living there fell in love, treked over to BYU and then escaped to Inglewood, California where they produced a certain Shari Rasmussen. Had they not been so brave, I would be a very different girl- here- in Monroe, Utah.

First we went and visited the Rasmussens

Flowers look good right Grandpa?

That's Grandpa

His brother

Then we visited the house he grew up in

His dad worked for the bank.

Grandma's dad owned a farm.

We couldn't find her house : (

Where they went on dates to the movies

I called them and they gave me a tour. It was a lot of fun. I've always wanted to pay this place a visit. What a great way to accidentally spend a day of Memorial weekend.

That night we made it to Denver, Colorado.

Monday, Day 4

I'm not quite sure why, but I always imagined Denver to be this off the hizzay place. But it was actually my least favorite stop of the trip.
Reason #1
Elevation 5,000+?!?! Seriously?! Provo is 4,000. I get elevation sickness in Provo. So I didn't sleep in Denver/had a migraine every waking hour.
Reason #2
Shopping not good
Reason #3
Art experienced, not good. I was planning on going to the Denver Museum-closed on Mondays. Leaving 2 days late will do that to you. So I made Danny go to Denver's annual art show. And it really sucked. But. We got a free smoothie and took this picture.
No I do not know why there was a banana stand at an art show. But it was the best part.

My sailor tattoo

Danny had a tramp stamp of a bunch of bananas.

We avoided all the roasted dirty buffalo chili extravaganza restaurants and ate at our new favorite place: McCormack's. Eat there. They are all over.

Oysters : )

Tuesday, Day 5

Left Denver. Drove FOREVER. First stop: Omaha Nebraska.

Danny's dad's foundry in Alpine casted these. Really neat. Really huge. It starts as
a long wagon train,
then becomes a buffalo heard,
then ends with birds taking flight covering a couple of blocks downtown. Omaha was funny. It was pretty. Skyscrapers and all. But at 9 pm, the streets were desolate. Omaha doesn't like to party I guess.

Then we decided to drive FOREVER again to Nauvoo.

Wednesday, Day 6

I remember liking Nauvoo a lot as a kid. This time it was kind of funny. Except Carthage. Not funny. Awkward to take pictures. Don't want to smile, but also dont want to ruin the pictures with an attempted somber face.

The front

Cell they were locked in at first

Jailer's bedroom he let them stay in

The window Joseph fell from

The bullet hole that killed Hyrum

This picture is looking through the bullet hole at the window where Joseph was killed. Our senior tour guide showed us this trick. Artsy.

Well...Nauvoo:

I've always loved the Mississippi

Somehow I didn't remember how redonk the shows were.

"Redevous in Old Nauvoo!"

Put on by the senior missionaries. They really struggled speaking/singing in sync. This one guy kept getting tired and would just stop singing in general. bahahahahah I loved it.

As Ive mentioned in previous entries, out of respect, I always try to dress appropriately for the cultures I visit. So naturally, being in the midwest, I bought Bumpits™. My hair has never received so many compliments.I guess I could have put more effort into the outfit.

Highlights:

Dinner at Dottie's Family Dining on mainstreet Nauvoo. And I thought movies like Sweet Home Alabama were a joke. As we walked in the door literally everyone in the restaurant turned and stared. We were the only ones to order off the menu- everyone else had it memorized. It was basically a bar, except with children present. Round red-faced men in over-alls shared a cold one.

Caught me!
Quick take my picture so they think we are taking pictures of each other and not them!

Then we walked over to Annie's Frozen Custard for desert. 2 choices: Chocolate or Chocolate with marshmallows. That's my kind of Annie.

Twinkie was happy when we made it back to the hotel. And so were we.
Thursday, Day 7

Drove for 5 hours and finally made it home to Chicago!
Unloaded and crashed. (On the two twin mattresses stolen from my parent's attic.)

Razzle freakin Dazzle