This will be a pretty quick trip compared to last year. Still, I am so excited to see the grandchildren who we only see once a year. I really look forward to being out on the road and resting at Hamlin Lake. Hopefully the kids will catch some fish. Not a very interesting route. Go north to Sacramento, turn right on I80, hang a left in Geary Indiana and head north.
I hope you guys are able to kick back and relax a bit. You've had a lot going on this year, so be sure to take a moment or two (or three) to just breathe while you're up there.
I know one thing for sure; we will never do this again. Driving for 5 days straight across the country for a 10 day stay and then back again. It has been exhausting!! Last year we were able to mosey along and stop at nice campgrounds early in the day. Various conditions this year forced this on us. I am just glad we will finally hit MI today and settle in tomorrow, then the relaxing will start. Big shout out to the State of Iowa for having free WiFi in their frequent and very nice rest stops.
Did California reopen their rest areas? Last time we drove thru from Phoenix on our way to Anaheim, we had use gas stations once we got into California.
Fishing in August is not nearly as good as in June! Still, Blake (6) caught 2, Rod caught 2 and I caught one we could eat. I caught this monster but they are no good for eating. It was fun landing him though. Things are going well and we have had a lot of fun with the grandchildren. They are all extremely screen addicted so it is great when we can get them outside.
The weather held up really well. Only a couple of evening thunderstorms. Yesterday we accomplished what we set out to do this trip. We went up, through and back down Mt. Timpanogos in Utah. We're talking an 1100 elevation gain in 1.5 miles!!!!!! Then we spent 1.5 hours in the caves and back down again. The real miracle is that after a good night's sleep (we stopped at a KOA so we could have electricity for A/C and hot showers) we feel fine and are hardly sore at all. Four hundred miles to go today and then breakfast with my dear friend Hallie in Reno tomorrow morning. Then it is only 3 hours to *home*.
