Utah

We left early so the kids could be unconscious for the first four hours. And they were! For the journey we got this neck pillow for Joe, and it might be the best investment we've ever made. Instead of waking up every half hour with a crick in his neck like last road trip, he slept for hours at a time, and if Riley woke him with a laugh of shout, he peeked out from under the hood, then pulled it back over his eyes and went back to sleep. I'm a fan!

 We made time that day! We stopped only for potty breaks (we brought the training potty along and pulled over for Riley about six times) and gas. We stopped for an hour at dinner time and let the kids go crazy on the Burger King jungle gym and then back on the road.

Montana.

Hour 16 and the point at which I started doubting we would find a hotel.

 At 18 hours we pulled into a camp ground but...it had a bear warning sign and every other camp site had an RV. We would have been the first course. We traveled on and at hour 21 we reached Rexburg, ID and checked in at the Quality Hotel. I tend to avoid hotels with "quality" in the name but we were exhausted, and it wasn't that bad, although the pool put me to mind of "Berenstain Bears Take a Vacation." That left us an easy five hours the next day and we'd arrived!

Shew. Road trips. You love em and hate em. When you're butt feels molded to the seat, you hate them. But when Riley makes up songs to narrate the passing miles, you love them. And when Joe figures out we'll pull over for bathroom breaks so he yells, "Poop is coming! Pee is coming!" when you know it is not, so you pacify him with tic tacs. And when Riley gives a 13-year-old grunt and says, "Are you sure we aren't driving in a big circle? It all looks the same. Maybe a really big circle?" Or when Riley notices the mountains are getting bigger. "I think the people are blowing them up." Memorable moments. I like my family.

Since then we have visited a few friends:

 Attended the wedding of one of our nearest and dearest:

Celebrated with family during the 4th, the candy bomber's last flight, Tim's violin recital and an assortment of unremarkable but very enjoyable dinners and walks:

And, it being summer in UT: all the hiking we could wish for!

 So I'd say things are going pretty good here in job limbo. Well, Dave's doing temporary stuff.  It's hard not being settled somewhere with our routines and things, but we are lucky to have good friends and family to be there for us and encourage us along the way. Riley and Joe are lucky to have in each other porta-friends to travel around with, and we can always count on them to keep us busy and make us laugh. Joe is three today! Now where did that go?? He was supposed to be out of diapers like a big boy today, but he is not totally on board with that...Anyway, we're celebrating his birthday tomorrow on account of not having bacon in the house, and that being his one birthday request. Delightful child! :)