Countdown to the City of Brotherly Love

12

Twelve states crossed, we now find ourselves back in Philadelphia. Leaving Utah, or more accurately our families, was no more fun this year than it was last, but our arrival in Philly was much less dramatic. We didn’t have to use our GPS to find our house. We are comfortable parking by braille. We didn’t even have to haul our belongings up through the second story window! We already had a kitchen table and a gallon of milk in the fridge. We only had to make one trip to IKEA...for lightbulbs. It actually was kind of nice to leave home but come home at the same time.

11

Eleven tracks in our audiobook, The Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara, gave us listening enjoyment from the outskirts of Salt Lake City until the outskirts of Philadelphia. Not only were we entertained, but now we are sharp on our history and on the look out for historic sites to take y’all to see when you visit. Let’s see...Independence Hall--yep, that’s here. Where Washington crossed the Delaware--yeah, that’s where we go to Costco. Battle of the Brandywine--pass the battlefield on the way to Longwood Gardens every other week. Valley Forge--our favorite place to fly kites and eat cheesesteaks. Love living in Philly!

10

Ten video conference chats with our girls, who are staying with my parents until they all fly to Philly on Tuesday, have kept us from missing our girls too much. They, fortunately, don’t seem to be having any trouble at all. We have learned when not to call. Don’t call when they are watching a movie; parents rank well below princesses. Don’t call right before bed; story time also trumps talking to parents. Don’t call when cousins are over; much too much to do to talk just then. We are glad they are happy and are thankful for a few days to get our ducks in line.

9

Nine stops for bug removal. Have you ever driven across the country in late summer? Watch out for dusk. Our previously perfectly clean car now has a protective shield of approximately 239,000 smashed bug bodies. We think we’ll leave the shield to protect our bumpers in Philly, but the windshield at least had to be cleaned at every chance we could find.

8

Eight bison surrounded our car while we were driving through Yellowstone. I now know what sound bison make. Kate asked me last summer and I didn’t know. Now I do. I also know that having metal between you and a herd of bison is a good idea. Some of the big guys didn’t look, or sound, too friendly. It was cool, but I wasn’t too sad when we could finally creep our way out of the herd.

7

Seven stores in one day is quite an achievement for the lackluster shoppers that we are. We were on a quest however since we weren’t hauling girls around. We ran all our errands and replenished our stores in one massive shopping day. IKEA, Home Depot, Target, the Fabric Store, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Costco, and Trader Joe’s. That may sound easy. It wasn’t. Fortunately, we had ice cream and chocolate covered delights to resuscitate ourselves after the bout of consumerism.

6

Six mug shots document our trek across the country. I guess in some inexplicable way we got off on our journey without the knowledge of the paparazzi. We didn’t even have a tripod, so here is what we got:

Island Park

Yellowstone

Some Waterfall

Small Town Diner

Jewel Cave

Your Guess is as Good as Mine

5

Five hundred feet down we got to explore Jewel Cave, another reason to go to South Dakota. We went on a guided tour and got to walk a half mile through underground passages and rooms that were only a tiny fraction of the entire cave. It was fun to see, but made me grateful for light and large open space when we surfaced.

4

Four nights on the road brought us to the comfort of our own bed. The first night we spend at my parent’s new home in Island Park, Idaho. It is in the process of being framed. We crept in after dark with our trusty headlamps, swept away a few nails, rolled out our sleeping bags, and slept under the stars. What a place to wake up! It was beautiful. We were the first official, or maybe unofficial, guests at Idylwolf. We spend another night under the stars in South Dakota and then I played the girl card and convinced Josh to stop at a hotel so I could shower. For our final night we trespassed on the hospitality of some dear friends in Indianapolis, the Huntingtons. We got to meet their little boy, eat their food, mess up their house and have a super fun night playing games catching up.

Idylwolf, my parents' house in progress in Island Park

3

Three days of traveling still found us in Wyoming. I guess we were so reluctant to leave the West that we just kept coming back. On the way to Yellowstone, on the way out of Yellowstone, and even after having spent the night in South Dakota we kept crossing back into Wyoming.

Would you want to leave that behind?

2

Two scenic byways provided some of the most beautiful driving we encountered. Since we left our car sick prone kiddos behind we decided to take as many narrow curvy roads as possible. On our way out of Yellowstone’s NorthEast entrance we drove on the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. Gorgeous. Then we got a taste the Black Hills Country by driving on the Peter Norbeck scenic byway. Again, unexpectedly beautiful. I’m going to keep an eye out for scenic byways in the future. I guess they are there for a reason. Maybe the fastest way isn’t always the best.

Chief Joseph Scenic Byway

Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway

Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway

1

One pint of Graeter’s Ice Cream gave us the strength to finish our journey. We stopped in Columbus and I showed Josh the house on Welsley Drive where I lived with Greg, Shannon, and Abby. We had lunch at the french cafe next door and then bought a pint of Graeter’s Coconut Chocolate Chip ice cream. We ate it as we drove. I made sure Josh was driving so I could eat the bulk of it. A pint of Graeter’s is definitely worth the drive across this big beautiful country we live in.