We Drove to Vermont!

When our great friends Karleigh and Brandon moved to Vermont, we got the opportunity to drive one of their two cars there for them! It was a great long weekend, and we had a lot of fun taking pictures at all of the state welcome signs:)
We left early Saturday morning and drove almost to Omaha, NE the first day, then camped for the night. (driving through Nebraska takes forever, and doing it in the pouring rain didn't help:) )

Wyoming

Nebraska

Sunday, day 2, we drove through a bunch of states and stopped near Chicago to get dinner with our other great friends that had just moved there. I saw my first firefly! We stayed that night in a hotel in middle of nowhere Ohio.

Iowa

...the only real welcome sign we could find was over a bridge in the middle of the freeway... haha

World's Largest Truckstop! in Iowa. It was seriously huge.

Illinois

We had to run across a huge field to get this one:)

Indiana

That pole was directly in front of the sign... why?? so funny!

Michigan

Not exactly on the way, but it was only about 5 miles out of the way, so we had to!!

Ohio

I think it was almost 2am in this photo. the small bit of light is from our car headlights ha. 

Monday, our last day of driving, we made it all the way to Karleigh and Brandon's new home- South Royalton, VT, but not until 3am! First we drove through Pennsylvania, then New York. There, we took a jaunt over to beautiful Niagara Falls and crossed into the Canada side! Love that place:) Then we drove through old, kinda creepy, and super cool old towns in NY and then in Vermont.

Pennsylvania

New York!

Niagara Falls

Vermont! 

(This pic is actually from the next day.)

On Tuesday, we moved stuff into the Merrill's new house and then explored their gorgeous new little town, including Joseph Smith's birthplace, before heading to the airport in New Hampshire for our flight back home! It was a short, but fun trip across the country. And if we count the drive from Utah to Seattle in June, we've driven basically coast to coast this summer! :)

South Royalton town square

Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial 

New Hampshire.

Alaska!! Part 6.

Saturday we cruised during the day, and Kyle had his DWTS finale! He did a great job, and he and his partner got 2^nd place!! He only lost to a guy who was actually a really impressive dancer, and Kyle has never danced a day in his life. So I am pretty dang proud of him! Haha! 

Then at 5:30 we arrived in Victoria, British Columbia! I fell in love instantly. I wish I could move there today, it was so gorgeous and cute and Kyle and I were both just so happy. We both bought Canucks shirts (Kyle’s favorite hockey team.) and had a ton of fun going on a water taxi that we got on in this adorable little dock with water houses. We walked around the city, went to the super cool museum, and just had a ton of fun. We ended the night with dinner right on the water, followed by a ride back to the port in a sweet convertible.  It was such a wonderful night, that we didn’t want to end! But we had to pack and be off the boat by 8 the next morning, to drive home.

(all the impressively beautiful photos in all the Alaska Posts were taken by Kyle, of course)

It was seriously the best trip. We had so much fun and SO enjoyed the time together, especially with Masen heading to San Diego so soon. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have the rest of my siblings there! This was a trip I will never forget!!!! <3

Alaska!! Part 5.

Friday was our stop in Ketchikan! All 5 of us went zip lining together and had the best time. It was probably my favorite of our adventures. Flying through the trees, all together, in an amazingly beautiful rain forest was so much fun. Besides zip lines, we also walked across a scary suspension bridge, (Masen tried and succeeded in freaking Mom and Dad out by jumping across it and making it swing with them right behind him.) and did a repel as well as a crazy fast slide in burlap sacks down to the bottom of the course. It was so much fun!! 

We didn’t have a ton of time to wander after returning to town, but we managed to find Kyle his Alaska souvenir… some awesome “lumberjack” pajamas with a butt flap. Words just can’t describe….. they are hilarious. There was also this darling old-town area called Creek Street that was so adorable. Once we got back on the boat, it was our second and last formal night! Fun fun!! 

Alaska!! Part 4.

Thursday’s port was Sitka! Most cruise ships don’t stop here, so it was a real treat for us! We had to get from the ship to the dock on the lifeboats, because of how small the port is. Such a cute tiny town. They are famous for their reindeer dogs, so of course we had to try one. But, not before we had a lot of fun doing something that seemed totally crazy in the morning… snorkeling. In a dry suit, so we didn’t get wet besides our faces and hands. And it was surprisingly warm and really fun!! There were a lot of cool things to see, especially starfish and sea stars. I held a ton of both, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Masen and Kyle both had a Go Pro, and they took them underwater for some cool pictures! 

Afterwards, we met up with my mom and dad and ate the reindeer dogs, and walked around town. We found a lot of fun totem poles, one of which was probably at least 2 miles from where we got on/off the lifeboats. Kyle, Masen and I were running late to catch the last boat to take us back to the Oosterdam, so Kyle grabbed a biker with a passenger cart, and the three of us rode back on it. I probably had a little too much fun doing that. And the highlight of the day? Kyle found this awesome wolf hat. Just kidding, it wasn’t the highlight. But he sure loved it! Haha!