Road-Trip!

Where did we get to go this weekend?

It wasn't St.George, it wasn't Moab, it wasn't Boise or California or even Las Vegas. We got to go to WINNEMUCCA!!! Try not to be jealous.

Like most Mormons who make the trek from California to Utah and visa versa we had been through Winnemucca many many times but this was the first time that it would be the destination. We had a very good reason to go. Paul's younger sister lives there. She met and fell in love with Matt while they were both working as english teachers at the high school. On Jan. 27th they welcomed their second son, Kellen Joseph, and we got to go there for the blessing.

It was going to be a flying trip with most of the time spent in the car. We knew that we needed to be prepared are else the kids would be at each other's throats the whole time.

Our first stop? Red Box. We needed movies for them to watch in the car.

We had brought the entire collection of Dorf, a documentary on tigers and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as well but you can never have too many options.

We arranged the car so that Emma was in the back and Andrew was in the middle. They were on opposite sides to ensure that there would be no touching. It made for a lot less cargo room.
But we managed.
We ran into the grocery store and got a few extra treats because everyone knows, the best part of a road trip is the junk food! We were ready to hit the road.

Ipods were charged.

Paul was excited to drive, see.
But not as excited as I was!
We got two dozen donut holes, most of which I ate.
We had a fruit salad, wee brie, water crackers, Cherry Coke and my personal favorite snack, jerky.
Even with all that great food we had to stop in Elko for gas and Wendy's. We gave everyone a show while we stretched out front before heading off in the car again.
We got to our motel where we had some issues checking in. They only had a queen room or a room with two beds and no TV. Neither were an option. The kids were eager to run around and play with there itty bitty kites so I watched them while Paul worked out the room issues. It's too bad that the Ranch Hand Rodeo was in town or else we would have just gone elsewhere. Maybe somewhere that wasn't filthy and didn't reek of cigarette smoke.
Are these things cute!??!
About an hour after we got there grandma, grandpa, Ben and Tom arrived. The kids were happy to see their uncles. The kids love their uncles.

We all hit the local pizzeria.
Here is Paul with his brothers Ben and Tom.
There is no way to keep a straight face around these three.
Finally it was baby time!!! This is Kellen. He is so tiny and could have snuggled him for hours. Too bad others wanted a chance to hold him.

There is nothing hotter than a man with a new baby.
Big Yawn.
Emma loved the baby and his big brother John.

The kids got so excited by the lights downtown. They kept saying how cool it was at night.
We needed some late night fortification. It came in the way of smoothies, shakes and cheesecake. Gosh how I wish we had Jack in the Box in Utah.
We got back to our luxurious motel room and started to settle down for the night.



Around 11:30 p.m. some drunk cowboys showed up talking extremely loud, every other word was a cuss word. I could have sworn they were in the room with us. The walls in that hell hole were paper thin. We got to listen to them for a while and then they must have passed out or something. We did not sleep well. There were the sounds of toilets flushing, sinks running, toads, trains and snoring. Holy hell we were miserable. The sheets on the bed were so shot. The elastic was gone. Each time we moved they pulled up. Half way through the night Emma and I were in a sheet cocoon. We woke up way too early but on the bright side it left us all sorts of time to get ready for church.

Our group almost doubled their attendance in church that day. J/K ;)

These are Matt's parents.

And Mere and her parents. After I got the pictures on the computer I realized all the different groupings that were missed. I am particularly sad that we didn't get one of all five siblings together. The problem was there weren't many willing participants since everyone was hungry and eager to get home.

After church as we were heading down Winnemucca Blvd. Andrew said "a bull just got loose" and sure enough there was a truck pulling a trailer, the back of it was hanging open and a bull was standing in the road. (My dang camera was in the back of the car) We watched and laughed and followed them for a while. The bull looked very pleased to be out for a jog. The poor cowboy didn't know what to do. We watched this debacle for a while and then finally we just had to leave. It was pretty dang hilarious though.

We went over to Meredith and Matt's house to change and then we hit the road.

As we drove through the tiny Nevada towns I had the theme song from Deliverance running through my head. Can you imagine living in a town where there is a big BM on the mountain?

We got to hold our breath and make wishes while we drove through the tunnel.


After that it was a pretty quiet and uneventful drive home.
We made it back before 9:00 p.m. We were very grateful to find our house just as we left it and our Marius waiting for us. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go apply a facial mask so I can remove the great state of Nevada from my pores.