There and back again - A Holly's Tale

In preparation for our trip to the West Coast, Mariah and I learned a lot about Lewis and Clark. We didn't go exactly the same route (I don't like pulling boats up the Missouri River), but we did manage to go roughly through the same areas. Here are a few comparison:

The Corps of Discovery crew consisted roughly of 33 people. There were two captains, one slave, a french trader, a woman Indian guide, her baby son, and a dog.
The Webb crew consisted of 5 people. There was a crazy father, a tired mother, and three giggly, excited and happy little girls. No dogs, but we all brought a pillow and a blanket and at least three stuffed animals that made our car feel like there were a lot more people in it.

Lewis and Clark traveled more than 8000 miles. We went 4672.5

It took them 2 years, 4 months and 10 days to complete their journey. We were gone 19 days (our car made it home in 23 days, but more on that later) and were in the car a total of 80 hours and 40 minutes.

We traveled through Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Colorado and Kansas. The Corps of Discovery went through the Dakotas and we did not. However, on the way home we passed so many bikers coming from Sturgis, SD we can almost count it.

One of the major goals of the expedition was to find new wildlife. While we didn't discover any new animals known to man, my girls did get to play with and see cats, dogs, horses, chickens, fish, deer, Cockatoos, and pigs. It was basically foreign land to them.

It was a great trip with a lot of good memories. We got to see a lot of people that we love and also see some very beautiful county! It was truly a trip to remember.

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WESTWARD HO!
Trip part 1 - Oregon

Somewhere in the middle of Wyoming...This statue was at a rest stop. I cannot even remember why, but I think it had something to do with the name of the highway or something like that.

We traveled from Missouri to Oregon without stopping for the night. It wasn't planned, but it ended up working out great. It took us 27 1/2 hours and we were very glad to arrive! Here is just a small sampling of the things we did in Baker:

Picking Raspberries. Lindsay LOVED them. It didn't matter what color. It seemed like she ate a lot of green ones without noticing.
Riding the Quad with Uncle Jesse and cousin Lee.
Family Hike into Summit Lake. It was amazing. Matt has talked about hiking into the Lake since we got married and we finally did it. One of my favorite things about visiting Matt's family is they always have somewhere new to take me and they are always beautiful places.
Lindsay hanging out by the food.
Horse riding. Mariah really wanted to go but only lasted about 2 minutes and had enough. You should be able to tell how much fun she is having by the look on her face.
Matt showing off his very best horse helper look.

Lindsay, Matt and Ruthie.
Huckleberry Picking.


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The Great Northwest
Trip part 2 - Washington

How did my children feel about being back in the car after 5 glorious days in Oregon with Grandparents and cousins?
Actually, these are a little deceiving. The girls did great and traveled amazingly well. It is amazing how good they can be with a portable DVD player and a Leapster (also the only two things they fought over).

We arrived in Washington along with the heat. Our first night the highest temp ever recorded in western Washington occurred (104 or something). It wouldn't have been too bad if anyone had air conditioning. We just stayed up late most nights to wait for it to cool down enough to sleep. Here are a few things we did in Washington:
Naomi's Birthday Party.
Fishing with Uncle Monti. Uncle Monti made Ruthie's wish of fishing in a boat on our vacation come true. Thanks Monti! For months whenever you asked Ruthie what we were going to do in Washington she would say fishing with Uncle Monti. I have no idea where she came up with that, but she got to do it. Notice Mariah's great pirate face.
Notice she is not touching the fish...
Feeding Babies. What I did while my husband and Daughter's were fishing...
These twins were one REALLY big reason we made the trek half way across the country. I got to hold them and feed them. They are so little. Lindsay instantly got old to me. They were blessed while we were here (sorry, I didn't get pictures). It made me glad just to have one at a time.
My sister, Jennifer, and I. Both looking a little bit older, wiser and sleep deprived!
Hanging out in my parents front yard. It was the first time we had been there since they put in the fountain (river) in their front yard. Here are a few pictures of my children in the forbidden act of stepping in it.
If stepping in it is an unforgivable sin, what about eating the rocks?
Grandpa and RuthieSwimming. My sister, Melissa, has a pool in her backyard. It was well used in the heat!

Mariah's first campout - Almost. All the cousins decided to spend the night outside in a tent. Mariah really wanted to sleep out, but we were leaving early in the morning for Seattle and I needed her to get a little sleep. Instead, she was out late singing and talking before coming in to sleep a few hours.The "Fairy" to Seattle. Ruthie was only slightly bothered when she found out the "fairy" really was a ferry. The idea of getting on a huge boat was pretty impressive too. We went with my Brother, Jeff, and his wife and son. It was a nice ride. My girls still talk about this the most when people ask them what they did on their trip.


Pikes Place Market. I kept missing the throwing of the fish, but Matt, who was not watching, saw it a bunch of times. He wasn't even impressed.
Eating lunch at Red Robin on the Waterfront. Very interesting smells, but eating outside was great - no one could hear Lindsay scream because she was so tired.
Johnson Family Home Evening. Matt was the official guinea pig for the lesson. Can you guess that it was about the armor of God? After we had a talent show (sorry, the video is for private viewing only) and finished up with a game of Volleyball.
Lunch with Grandma Johnson. All the girls in my family went out to lunch with my Grandma. It was nice to leave all the children and men behind. My mom took us to this great local restaurant. I can't wait to go back someday.
It was my Sister-in-law, Julie's, Birthday. Thanks for sharing your ice cream!
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Home Again, Home Again
Trip Part 3 - Small Miracle

We left Washington late and drove through the night to our next destination, Rexburg, ID. It was fun to walk around BYU-Idaho (it is much larger than it was 15 years ago and still Ricks College.) It brought back a lot of fun memories for Matt and I. We are lucky that so much of Matt's family lives there so we have a reason to go back. The temple is beautiful, but of course it was closed for maintenance while we were there.We were in Rexburg only two days when we headed home again. We made it to Denver and stayed the night. The next day we drove to Kansas City, where our car decided to stop working. It really was perfect timing. We had already eaten, it was evening and had cooled down from a hot day, we were within the City Limits and there were no races at the Kansas City Speedway where we ended up hanging out for a few hours while we figured out what to do. In the end we called the Hills (our hero's) who helped us look up an old college roommate that lived nearby that we could stay the night with. It was fun to see Lindsay and her family and it was very generous of them to let us come with such short notice. Philip came the next day to help us end a very long trip. Later last week we went back to KC to pick up our van, which was fixed for a miraculous $158.00 (a transmission sensor). We are happy to be back at home.
A beautiful drive through Swan Valley, ID and Jackson Hole, WY.