Would you call this a Vacation?

It took Mom, Dad, and I about 2 days to reach Idaho after we left home in Mesa, AZ. The following pictures are in order of the adventures we had on that road trip. Its been so long since I was on a road trip that I was so happy, it was my first vacation in a long time.


Dad didn't want to stay in hotels and the road weren't supposed to be too icy, so we took the trailer. Dad was really quick at getting it loaded and set up and we were on our way about 9am. Granted we didn't get very far since we stopped for breakfast at Chick-fil-a at Mesa Riverview.


Our first gas refill was in Flagstaff, this was the time we realized just how cold this trip was going to be. Plus, it was super windy. But I just loved the San Fransisco Peaks behind Frys roof. Dad let me stand on the roof of his truck to get the Peaks and not the Fry's sign. But alas, I just wasn't tall enough.


Second stop was in around Page, AZ just south of Lake Powell. We stopped at Sonic and got some ice cream (which is strange since we were all so cold). There were 2 ravens that were sitting near us, before we left I snapped a photo of them and immediately they flew off.


Lake Powell was so pretty, that blue color. Unfortunately its really hard to photograph in a moving car.


After we crossed into Utah, we crossed right back out because Dad remembered a gas station in Fredonia, AZ from their previous road trip last summer. However, it was actually more. So as we crossed back into Utah, Dad pulled over and let me snap a photo of The Utah sign, its so pretty.


Pretty Rocks. Blue Sky.


First sight of snow, hidden in the shadows of Utah forests.


We stayed the night in Richfield (our destination had been Nephi but we didn't get far enough). It was freezing when we out of the car at 9pm for dinner at a Chinese restaurant that Mom and Dad had found previously on their adventures. It was so late that we decided to just stay in the Walmart parking lot down the road. When we woke up, it was below freezing outside, everything was coated in ice, I had to yank to open the truck door, Dad froze his fingers trying to clear the windshield, this is what we could see before he did that.




As we traveled it was very foggy and the clouds were on our level rather than in the sky. The last one is one such cloud that was hanging over a field.


Took a picture of myself in the truck, its kinda boring surrounded by low clouds.

Finally about 10am on Friday, we reached Salt Lake. It was scary driving on the freeway , even without the trailer. It reminded me of California, and if you know me you know how much I hate driving in California.

Before we left, while we were planning the trip, I asked if there would be time in our schedule to see Salt Lake City and Temple Square. Dad said definitely. Though everyone tells me that I've been there before, I was much too young because I certainly don't remember. So we went exploring, first to the General Conference Center.


Street view of the General Conference Center.



I'll admit, I wasn't so impressed by the Conference Center because I've seen the I-Center at BYUI from the top floor so I could really look out into the full expanse of the auditorium. Maybe if I had seen the Conference Center from the top floor as well I could have been stunned even more. The pipes were incredible though, so I had Mom snap a photo of me with them before we had to leave for a organ recital.

I just have one question, how are you supposed to pose when its just you standing there alone?


We were able to go on the roof, the skylights were amazing and I loved the variety in plant life. This house is from Mom's history, I can't remember what its called though...


One of those examples of I not knowing how to pose, so I jumped and presented the Temple, Mom and Dad both thought I was weird, but its actually my favorite of all the pictures of me standing in front of the temple.


The lion house, Dad seemed really excited about this place, so I had to get his picture in front of it, took a couple shots to get him to smile.



We ate lunch at the Rooftop Cafe on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Building. There was the most perfect view of the Temple up there!


After lunch we visited the North Visitor Center and saw the Christus Statue, Mom thought was bigger than the one in Mesa, but I don't think it was, but it was cool though.




I took several dozen pictures of all the flowers and blooming trees. The best part was the cherry blossom orchard. Again, if you know me you know I love cherry blossoms, they rival for my favorite flower. I had to run through them, Mom took my picture and laughed. Then I snapped several of the Temple through there branches.


Several hours later we passed into Idaho. Hello Idaho sign.


We spent Saturday moving me in and exploring Rexburg and the BYU-I campus. We went out for dinner at Applebee's and afterwards Mom and Dad were insistent to get my picture taken by the temple. Unfortunately pretty much all the pictures were blurry.

Thank you Mom and Dad for bringing me up here and giving me one last vacation. Sorry it took so long to upload the pictures of that adventure.