Thursday, January 10, 2008

Christmas Trek West (then back East)

So Sherrie has been giving me a hard time for reporing on the overly reported Iowa Caucuses (overly reported in Iowa, but I am doing this for the benefit of posterity and history, right?). I guess this blog is for the family, I should let people know what has been happening.
Since our summer plan are up in the air with the baby coming, we wanted to make our trek west to Utah and Idaho. So with the van loaded with Christmas and the kids all googly-eyed with the pre-Christmas excitement, our trip begain. We headed out at 3:00 AM the Friday before Christmas and made great time...but we ended up in Laramie, hanging out at a truck stop for 4 hours while the roads west were closed. The kids were remakably patient, especially since we didn't move for a while. Our friends the Parks from Waukee were in the same situation, and it is nice to see good friends even far from home. We luckily got a hotel room for a warm night's rest. It was near zero in Laramie, and with the wind this is a real blessing. We made it to Utah by noon the next day. We had a wonderful time with Sherrie's family, and stayed there through Christmas day. We headed to Idaho on the 26th and were able to take some tractor rides play with cousins, and relax. All my siblings were around so it was good to be with them. Suffice it to say grandpa and grandmas house was full and noisy, but they wouldn't have it any other way. We went down to Lisa's on the 31st and passed the New Year's celebrations by resting for a long drive. The drive home was much more pleasant weather-wise and we made it back a day before I had to be at work and Cole had to be at school. How great it is to be with family, but always nice to be home. Happy New Year to you all!

2 comments:

Lani said...

Some of those cross country trips can be white knucklers in the winter. We have hit horrific weather in March and April going from Minnesota to Utah..... it literally takes years off your life. Much more predictable to go in the summer...

Daniel, Kari and Co. said...

Not on subject - but I believe your Christmas letter had a teaser about finding out the gender of the newest Iowa Spud. We keep checking to see if you're announcing yet . . . :)