be there for my Aunt Cindy's funeral in Utah.
There were times I wasn't quite sure if it would all work out.
First, there was the waiting to find out the date of the funeral
so I could even figure out if there was a way I could be there in time.
I was prepared to spend all my savings to get on a plane
at the last minute if I had to...but was really hoping it wouldn't come to that.
Second, was my job. Would they be okay with me being gone
on such short notice? And for possibly a whole week?
Would we have enough to cover all the bills with me missing a week of pay?
But deep down inside, I knew.
I knew the Lord knew how much it meant to me to be able
to come together with the family to honor the life of my dear, sweet aunt
and that He would somehow provide a way to make it happen.
And happen it did and quickly, too!
On Thursday, April 4th, we found out the funeral was set for April 10th.
So it looked like no matter what, I was more than likely going to need
the whole week off and hoped and prayed that would be okay.
My mom was waiting to find out if her husband would be granted leave
because if he did they would drive out to Utah.
My sister, Trisha was waiting to find out the details so she could go, as well.
I let my employer know that I more than likely would need the whole week
off in order to attend the funeral. Thankfully, they were very understanding
and realized how much it meant to me to be there and they said they would
figure something out in my absence.
Now, all I had to do was wait to see how I would be getting there.
We were watching my cute little nephew Thursday night and got a call
from our mom that we would be heading out to Utah in the morning!
While I was grateful that everything worked out,
I wish I had a bit more time to get everything together!
[There were a few things I meant to bring, but forgot or didn't have the time.]
The plan was to leave Friday morning and arrive on Saturday night.
And we had to be back before the following Sunday.
Our first pit stop was somewhere south of Oklahoma City.
We had lunch there, as well.
I had a yummy french dip sandwich and some of the best onion rings I've ever had!
We stopped for the night in a town called Hays, located in Northwest Kansas.
We stayed at a hotel with a really cool inside pool area.
[Which sadly we weren't able to use.]
Pretty cool, huh?
We enjoyed a nice continental breakfast before heading back out on the road.
There's really not much to see while driving through Oklahoma, Kansas
and even most of Colorado. So we played a little game.
It seemed like every small little farm town all had one thing in common...
they each had a Pizza Hut!
So we would shout out "Pizza Hut!" every time we would see one.
[Lost track of how many we spotted throughout the trip though.]
We saw some snow in parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
Just random patches along the freeway.
A number of times during the trip, I would get excited over the prospect
of seeing everyone again...only to have it dawn on me why we were going
and that I wouldn't be seeing everyone.
It still didn't seem real to me, that she was really gone and wouldn't be
there to greet me with a BIG HUG and a "Hi Tammy!"
We finally arrived in Utah just before 11:00pm.
After using GPS through the whole trip to get here,
it didn't have my Grandma's address as the final destination!
So we ended up going a bit too far west,
which cost us about another 20 minutes or so of driving.
I just really wanted out of the car, so that really bugged me!
We got to Grandma's house safe and sound, at around midnight.
Whew!
I thought we would be heading back on Friday,
but we left on Thursday morning instead.
[Was hoping to visit with more family and friends that day, too!]
Thankfully, we were taking a different way back!
We took the southern route going through southern Utah,
a quick bit of Colorado, New Mexico and into Texas.
The farthest south I had ever been in Utah was Provo,
so I was excited to see more of this great state.
And as you'll see from the photos below,
this was definitely more of the scenic route!
I spy with my little eye, something that begins with "T"
So many big, white puffy clouds in the sky!
My sister and I took so many pictures of the sky and the scenery,
you would think that we were the paparazzi stalking a celebrity!
Not quite sure what this is all about...
but apparently it must be one impressive hole.
The plan was to stop for the night in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
But, of course, that didn't happen!
Why not?
Because we never found any of those travel guides with coupons
for discounted rates at hotels in the area!
Although while driving through Albuquerque,
I pointed out a number of hotels that had rates posted that were
in the price range we were looking for.
I just wanted to take a nice shower, get something to eat,
and maybe watch a little TV before going to bed at a decent hour.
Is that too much to ask?
Well, we drove for more than hour after Albuquerque
and stopped in a town called Santa Rosa.
We went to Denny's for dinner...at around 11:00pm!
Then we made our way to the TraveLodge,
where we'd stay for the night.
It was a much nicer and bigger room than I expected!
It's a shame we weren't able to take advantage of the kitchen!
We went back to Denny's for breakfast.
[Which if I had known we were going to do,
I wouldn't have ordered breakfast foods the night before!]
Before we left, we made a quick stop here.
My cutie nephew Kaden is really into cars,
so we had to take advantage of this photo-op!
Yep! We found Tow Mater!
Then it was back on the road.
We made a few stops on the way.
We got Blizzards at Dairy Queen and ate dinner at IHOP.
It was sometime around 10:00pm when I got home.
And the next morning, the whole trip felt like it was all just a dream.
I really wish that's all it was.
So glad you were able to make the trip, especially since it was not a hop, skip, and a jump away!
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