Road Trippin'

Where have you been for the last week? We're in California, of course. Visiting old school friends and now enjoying a family reunion. The entire family was together today for just a few hours. All 26-1/2 of us. (#27 due in 3 weeks.) One brother's family came back in town early this morning from another family reunion, and another had to leave this afternoon for their oldest child's first day of kindergarten in Arizona tomorrow morning. But we had just enough time together to go to church, attend the ordination of the youngest brother to the priesthood (explanation required if you're not LDS: we are a church of unpaid/lay clergy, and part of that means all males who qualify are able to receive the priesthood), get a family picture, enjoy a family meeting and meal, and bless the newest grandchild in the family. Brandon and I also also slipped out for a bit to attend the missionary homecoming address of our friends' son (he was in Italy) - so today was kind of a Mormon bonanza.

I already have gobs of pictures of the kids with their school friends, a day at the beach, a day at Knott's, a day swimming at my in-law's house where we're staying, and then the pictures from today. So I'm hesitant to start at the very beginning for fear that I won't get to the good stuff. (Especially since I still have pictures backed up from spring in Utah - even pics from our Arches trip back in April for crying out loud!) BUT, the all-or-nothing part of me can't help myself, so here are the pictures of the road trip, starting in southern Utah. St. George to be exact:

Heading into the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona. When you drive 1-15 south from Utah to California, you only spend about 7 miles in Arizona:

Welcome to Nevada . . . what is this? Does someone live in there?

Bug guts:

Remember, I was doing this trip alone, so I didn't feel guilty plugging everyone in to keep them happy:

Kate had the toughest job since she was sitting in the "mom" seat. You know, she had to get people snacks, change the movie when needed, and put out any and all fires. She still managed to finish her book:

Winter is no fun in Utah, but I think I'll take our summers over Nevada's:

Sin city:

We always stop here for gas and a potty/snack break:

Nine hours felt like nothing after the road trip to Iowa, but there were still some pretty long stretches with a whole lotta nothing:

California:

I've made this trip many times, but I finally decided to stop at Alien Fresh Jerkey in Baker, CA. I highly recommend it:

 

It's a must see if you're driving thru. Definitely on my list from here on out:

More bug guts:

Inland California ain't so pretty:

But a good sunset never disappoints:

 

We made it! I love L.A.: