Family Road Trip

 Our road trip was so much fun. I made this compilation of the best clips from the trip. We were gone just less than a month, but had SO many adventures. There are a few places we loved enough to go back to visit again. Thanks to all of Paul's various family members for their part of the trip, it was so nice to meet all of you (some for the first time, and some again).

Road Trip - Shoshone Falls, Declo, Albion, City of Rocks

We made the stop to see Shoshone Falls and although it was BEAUTIFUL, you could only look at it from high above. It wasn't our favorite, but I'm still glad we got to see it. 

We stopped and saw lots of places in Declo and Albion where Great Grandma Berg and Great Grandpa Berg grew up. We ate lunch in the grass in front of what had been Great Grandpa Berg's elementary school, but is now a restaurant. So fun! 

We stopped to clean up the cemetery plots of all the Brackenbury family. The kids pulled weeds, replaced wind blown flowers, and did such a nice job. 

Car naps, as usual, on our way to another adventure. 

City of Rocks is a great place for rock climbing and so pretty in every direction.

The kids can set up their own tent now, with very little adult help. It's so nice!

The camping spot we got was so great! lots of places to climb, and perfect little nooks to set up tents, and the views! Wow!

Setting up the fire, someone left it super hot, so we didn't need to do much to get it going again. 

More climbing at the campsite.

While we slept, a large mountain lion or cougar came walking around our campsite. Paul and I sleep in a separate tent from the kids, so Paul and I had to go check on the kids. They were all fine, and still sleeping. The big cat, whatever it was, left as quickly as it came. So scary.

The next day the kids tried out the new climbing gear Paul got for them. It was fun to watch them conquer their fears!  They got really good and had a great day!

Family picture before heading back to Utah. We had such a great road trip! We went to 6 different states and had countless adventures. So much fun. 

On the way home, we drove past a motorcycle accident.  I pulled over and Paul ran out, checked that the man was stable and pulled him out fro m being pinned under the motorcycle. It was scary to watch. He had blood all over his face. Paul had some of his doctor tools with him and kept the driver safe until the paramedics go there. He wasn't wearing a helmet, so you can image how bad it was. I am so thankful for Paul, his quick thinking and acting, and his doctor skills. He's amazing. He saved this guy.

Last sleeping picture from the trip... and just for fun, a little compilation of the sleeps I caught. There were more, but I can't get video clips if there are other cars near me in traffic. 

Road Trip - Portland again, Aunt Deb and Julie

We met up with Paul's Aunt Julie and her husband, her daughter Lauren and her husband, and their kids, back in Portland. We walked around the rose gardens and played at the playground and had a picnic dinner. It was so nice to meet everyone and hang out for the evening. 

Hawken found a bracelet that someone had hidden (like the painted rocks thing), and helped Evie to find it. So fun! She was stoked. 

Group picture! We had so much fun, thanks Julie for the dinner, and everyone for the great company! 

Good bye to these cousins! We had so much fun!

We drove on to visit with Paul's aunt Deb and uncle Rob and stayed there for one night. Paul also got to reconnect with his cousin Jeff and his wife and kids. They came in just to see us, so nice! 

They have this enormous playroom upstairs and the kids loved playing there. In fact, they also cleaned and organized it for Deb and Rob. Ha ha ha. 

The next morning, we were treated to a FEAST from Rob for breakfast. We really loved our time in Oregon. Such happy, fun memories. We left Oregon, and headed for Idaho.

In the middle of nowhere we found this HUGE waterfall in the desert and stopped and explored there.  We hiked down to the bottom, and played for hours. The kids love to be outside, and wild, and free.

After exploring the falls for a while, we headed on and got a hotel.  Because of covid restrictions, we had to "rent" the pool and hot tub for just our family, which was perfect.  The kids loved having the whole place!