1500 Miles to Utah

We drove 1500 miles from Houston to Salt Lake in mid-March in the name of a snowboarding/business trip for Steve. We left here at 4:30am on a Friday and reached my parents' house the next day at 6pm, with an overnight stop in Gallup, NM. The kids were great little travelers. Clark stayed awake the whole first day and entertained himself by watching trucks and trains. I entertained myself by knitting Lana a hat, Lana entertained herself by sleeping, and Steve entertained himself by staving off the ferocious NM wind gusts. Once we FINALLY arrived, here are a few things we did (in no particular order, says Blogger):

L to R: Mom & Clark at a gas station, Lana doing a fitting of her new hat, Mom riding in the back with Clark, Steve driving, entering NM

Lana met the whole Utah crew except Aunt Kara, which she was sad about.

Clark got to drive and ride Grandpa's forklift at his cabinet shop!

L to R: Grandpa putting Lansies to sleep, Grandma at her bday celebration, Clark grinning while walking with Grandma, Costco, Lana modeling her hat

Clark blew sawdust on us all when he learned how to use Grandpa's blower

Clark and his Great Grandpa Charlie.

L to R: Clark riding in my old doll stroller, eating a picnic, Lana getting grandparent time

Checking out Grandpa's house and ginormous front door.

Clark playing with his new beloved garbage truck, and Lana "playing" with the animals Clark thought she needed. 

Learning about static electricity. And really happy about it.

Throwing (s)nowballs with Grandma. Clark LOVES snow.

Lana showing off her cute face, and cute bald spot.

Reading bedtime stories with Grandma.

Lana enjoying Grandma's furniture and scenery.

Doing stickers with Grandma.

Steve, Lana, and I out on the town in Park City, Grandpa's black eye, visiting Great Grandma Helen, and eating fingers with Grandpa

Having fun with Grandma.

Digging in the (s)now. They were out there forever! Two of Clark's loves: diggers and snow.

Lana smiling for Grandma.

L to R: early on in the trip back home, Clark was MISERABLY ill, one bathroom break, at least Lana was happy, and finally back to Texas sky

Not pictured, but still immensely enjoyed were: cousin Luke's baby blessing, Uncle Ryan's incredible pulled pork, dropping in on my cousin and her kids, getting my biannual haircut, visiting with old friends, and Clark blowing chunks all over Grandma & Grandpa's new house. Wait...what? That last one was not so enjoyed. Clark got really sick the night before we left to come back home so the drive home was HORRIBLE. As in terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, want to move to Australia bad. He had a constant cough that kept him awake/woke him up when he managed to get to sleep. He ran a very high fever both days (and night) we were on the road, and all of us except Lana slept a maximum 2 hours in our stellar Santa Rosa, NM motel. ugh. Luckily there was only one minor puke incident in the car. I think I was traumatized a little by that drive since I refused to get into a car for 5 days after we got home. It took us a few weeks to get back on our feet after we all ended up getting sick (surprise, surprise!). Apparently it wasn't that bad for Clark since he occasionally asks to drive to "Grandma Utah's" house again. Sorry, buddy, you'll have to wait a LONG time for that to happen again!