142

is the number of hours I've spent in the car on trips in July thus far.

We arrived back in the cities late last night, dirty and exhausted, but so satisfied. Our road trip was so much fun!

Sara and Kayla K and I were the ones who went. We took along Flat Coralie, because notflat Cor couldn't get enough time off work.
Wyoming was great! Mark was the perfect host/tour guide. He took us exploring in a cave- we had to squeeze through holes and roll at some parts. I thought I would be scared, but it was too cool to be scary. Then we went on a drive through the Bighorn Mountains, which was picturesque.

After WY, we went through MT, then to Idaho. Our route followed the Snake River Canyon, which was neat. Lots and lots of waterfalls. This one is Shoshone Falls, which is called the Niagara of the West.

Oregon was the next state, and the prettiest. It seemed less populated, and more natural. This is taken at a scenic overlook.

The mountains in this picture are the Strawberry Mountains. We camped up in them, and hiked to a mountain lake and waterfall. Beautiful!! The wagon is a replica from the old days, because the road follows the Oregon Trail.

More trip pictures to come in the next few days....

Family wedding

Surprise, surprise, most of the pictures I took on the trip are on my dad's camera, which is inconveniently out in C. If you're friends with Joce on facebook, she put some up.

Darren and Allison got married at the chapel at Furman University in Greenville. It was a beautiful campus!

The weekend was busy. Dinners, brunch, doing flowers (rehearsal dinner ones only), and squeezing in as much family chat time as possible. I don't realize how much I miss Shane and Darren (and Brittany and Mya) until I see them. Mya is getting so big (she's 16.5 months)! She is sweet and calm, and in some ways opposite of Viv. I got to leave my bag on the floor the whole weekend, and she didn't dig in it once. :)

It was awesome to have Lynda and Aaron and their 5 youngest kids down there with us, just to see some familiar faces. I think my parents also appreciated it. Cousin Carl I. also attended the wedding, and it was nice to chat with him for a bit.

Sierra crawled for the first time while we were there. Unfortunately for her mother, we were at a ladies brunch, so only her dad and Grandpa witnessed it. Oh, and maybe Mya too.

I was glad to come home, but not as happy as Sierra. She was teething, and screamed for about the first quarter of the trip home.

Maybe after my next road trip out I'll do some big picture posts from SC and out west.

Hours in the car

19 to SC
19 back.

We're off tomorrow to Darren's wedding in SC. All of my immediate sibs will be there, plus half of the in-laws. Should be a busy, fun weekend!

After I return, I have one week of work, then off on another, longer roadtrip. That equals more hours in the car. They'll all be worth it, of course.

Celebrating early

Since his parents don't let him stay up late enough for fireworks, they got him some Pop-Its. I remember loving these as a kid, and he sure did too.

He had the drop, throw, and stomp (on the ones that didn't pop right away) method down pat.

Last night was fireworks to music in Plymouth. I have to admit, they were pretty darn good. Almost as good as my hometown ones, and maybe tied to the ones up north on the 4th.

A large crew met up and watched them together from our usual spot on the hill.

The kid in me wanted these super cheap fun bracelets, and I indulged her. There were 15 in the package, and no one turned one down :)

Having a little fun with night photos.