Another Road Trip?

I am logging some major miles in this summer 😂

Bryson went to his first year at EFY, so we piled up with his friend Ian and headed down to Rexburg! 

Just as we rounded a corner on 4th of July Pass, we came upon an accident- my immediate thought was that it must have happened some time before and they just hadn't moved the car (which was completely blocking one lane of traffic) and then I saw people getting out of their cars and realized that it must have just happened- I felt a definite need to stop to see if help was needed.  Can I just say what a burden it is to have medical knowledge and training when you have no idea what it is you might be facing in a situation like this?

I pulled to the side, told Bryson and Ian to stay in the car, ran across two lanes of traffic and jumped the center dividing barrier (those things are high!)... As I approached the scene, I heard an onlooker cautiously looking in the car and saying, "I think we might need a tourniquet..."  

It was just two weeks before that I had been up at my brother Dan's scout camp teaching 12-15 year olds first aid... their comical response to every scenario we discussed was "APPLY A TOURNIQUET!"... bee sting??  Apply a tourniquet! ...  sprained ankle?  Apply a tourniquet! ... headache?  Apply a tourniquet! ... oh teenagers....

So fast forward 2 weeks to this car accident and I hear someone remark that we needed a tourniquet and I for sure think "no, I'm sure we just need to apply pressure," as I open the door and see that the drivers arm completely severed from just below the shoulder down and "oh my gosh, we need a tourniquet!"

It was a pretty sobering experience to say the least.  When, a few hours later I returned to the boys in my car, I had a real life story of why you should never drink and drive!  

Once we were back on the road, I had such a hard time obeying the speed limit- my adrenaline was still pumping and I constantly kept finding myself going 95mph, despite cruise control 😕

We met up with my sister Kim in West Yellowstone, where her family was camping, and stayed with them for the night.  I looked up the accident and found a video someone had recorded because they'd seen the car weaving in and out of traffic and ended up capturing the entire accident- I was shocked that car had rolled 6 or 7 times before coming to rest right side up...

Frankly, I think the car held up remarkably well for how much it rolled!

In the morning, we added Karlie to our numbers and were off for BYU-Idaho!  All three kids were beyond excited- it was palpable-

After disposing of the kids, I had lunch with my college roommate Sharla, who now lives in Rexburg.  We went to Millhollow which is where Nathan and I went on our very first date!  I think we even sat the the exact table 💗

I am pleased to report that my drive home that afternoon was quite unremarkable, thank goodness! 

 

To Close for Comfort!

Sheesh!  This summer is shaping up to be memorable indeed!  I looked out my bedroom window in passing yesterday and saw smoke... a LOT of smoke... and it was CLOSE!  I ran outside and up the hill and realized it was WAY too close for comfort-

After an initial feeling of panic, I was reassured by several things- the wind was fairly mild, it was definitely blowing away from us, and there was already an air response for the fire... and we had a front row seat 😑

Well meaning friends told us we needed to evacuate, but we were keeping a close eye on the fire and how it was spreading and felt very sure that we were ok.  After a bit, we even drove down to Belmont and watched the response a little closer- it was pretty amazing!

Apparently it was started by some guy shooting tracer rounds at the gun range off Belmont.  What??  In the daytime?  During fire season?  Genius.

In all, we were very fortunate- less than 100 acres burned along with a few out-buildings but no homes.  We're feeling very thankful for the wildfire fire fighters and their amazingly fast response!

 

Epic Road Trip - The Final Stretch

Because of our stop in Colorado, we had a 16 (sixteen!!) hour day in the car to get to Vale.  I found myself up at 4 am and figured it was as good of time as any to get going.

Nathan flew down to Boise and spent a few days golfing with Bob so we only had one car there and could drive the last 6 hours home together (after only 70+ hours of travel 😏)... 

The kids got to shoot some bb guns...

...and Jace may or may not have shot a robin... which turns out, is protected by the federal migratory bird act... who knew?!?

Brooklyn's bunnies had a litter and the kids loved holding the tiny babies!

When it was time to leave Vale, I was perfectly content with letting Nathan drive the last 400 miles home.

And that's it!  Almost one full month, 14 states, over 7,200 miles and lots of great memories.  An epic road trip indeed.

Epic Road Trip - Colorado

When you've already been gone a month and traveled thousands of miles, what's a few more??  We decided to stop in Colorado to see the Bairs!  We got in late at night and woke up to make Aunt Kristi breakfast for her birthday! YAY!

 

We celebrated her birthday by going to a great waterpark.  As usual, even though Jace could swim laps around younger kids who were taller than him, he was too short for the waterslide, which was a bummer... but he was allowed to jump off the diving board into water that was 10 feet deep... go figure!

Not exactly sure what was going on here, but it was definitely some girl cousin bonding...

We only got to stay a couple of days, but it was so worth it!

Epic Road Trip - Kentucky!

We were so happy to make to it Kentucky and see Grandma and Papa!  Though we miss the farmhouse, their new home is beautiful and a slice of Kentucky heaven 😊

Papa decided that he wanted to build a tree house with the boys while we were in town and they got busy right away!

Eli felt mighty big getting to drive papa's lawn mower tractor with their building supplies and tools in the cart behind:

The only thing about the south (besides the humidity 😖) is the BUGS!!  Yuck!  Jace was so sweet and made sure my feet would remain unbitten 😎

It was amazing how quickly they got the tree house built!

We got to go to a great pool on the 4th, which was fortunate, because it was H.O.T!!!  There was hardly any one there, so we got to be pretty crazy without fear of bugging other people.  

After swimming, we enjoyed a yummy dinner with the Taylors and Lee Kongs:

And then the fireworks!

Light saber fun:

My kids all thought this was a great sign:

We all went downtown one day and played at the splash pad and then walked across the bridge to the cutest little candy shop... water play and candy, what could be better?

We were sad to leave, but home was calling!!

We stopped in Kansas City on the way and stayed and played with Alan and Brandi and their kids-

And there decided, a little last minute, that stopping in Colorado wasn't REALLY that far out of our way...