Spring Break 2007

Okay! We decided at the last minute to get in the car and drive 2,ooo miles to visit family in Utah, then another bit to see more family, then another bit to see some close friends and finally head home, all within one week's time.

We got in the car at 3:15pm and left to Thompsonville, IL where Shawn's Aunt Dee lives and very generously let us come, sleep and leave. Which is what we did... at 2 a.m. we hopped in the car and headed to Utah. We slept and drove, swapping of course, and drove through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado & into Utah. We arrived at my sister, Holly's home at about 12:30am. We spent Sunday, Monday & Tuesday there. It was great to meet one of our youngest nephews for the first time, and reacquaint ourselves with the rest of the growing bunch. Shawn and Devin went skiing for Shawn's first time. He came back pretty bruised, but enjoyed every second of it. We also went to see Christopher's Karate class, which was very interesting to watch, and fun! Thanks Chris! It was great to be there to visit Holly and her family, my mom and dad, Heather & her boys, and even bump into a couple of familiar faces. I also went shopping with my sisters and mom which was fun! Here's the slide show for that bit...

Upon leaving Utah on Wednesday morning, we went to Las Vegas, Nevada to see the Star Trek Experience. It was loads of fun. Our only regrets are not going on the rides again, and not visiting Brian & Michelle while we were there. Unfortunately, the kids were a little too exhausted for either, and we decided it best to move on to Prescott. But, here's those pics!

Going to Prescott and our visit there was fun and eventful. We had some tourist fun going from Nevada to Arizona, taking pictures of the unchanged Time Zone clocks for both states. We went over a Dam bridge, saw the Dam signs, and even experienced a Dam detour! While in Prescott, we went bowling. Skylah was asleep during the first 3 rounds of the game, but then awoke suddenly saying, "Bowl!". We had loads of fun there with Uncle Sherm, Aunt Hilary and Uncle Mike. Later that evening we were joined at a great restaurant by Aunt Heidi & her awesome boyfriend Mike. (That's going to be confusing if they get hitched... having two Uncle Mike's!!) We went to Hilary & Mike's place after dinner for a little chat, some fun with a Turtle named Norm and some family pics (sorry... maybe be posted at the Beckwith Blog sometime). We had our hugs and some tears and said our "See Ya later"'s. Not before we spent a couple hours with a friend of mine, Cherri Carrel at Kendall's for some yummy ice cream! Hopefully we'll make it back to Prescott again before everyone moves away! But until then...

We left for New Mexico at 6 a.m. and then the road fun began. Only 20 miles from Flagstaff, we got a flat tire. Fortunately we figured out quickly how to change it and went to Flagstaff for a detour to get a new tire. Once we were on the road again, we decided to stop at Meteor Crater. The site was high (not so fun for my phobia of heights) but beautiful. We also came upon a interesting traffic jam accident where one 18-wheeler ended up jackknifed on one side and the car on the other side up on a rock. Once we made it to the Wilcox's home in Albuquerque, Dan and Jocelyn had a lovely dinner and dessert waiting for us. We had a great time catching up, taking a picture of our families together, and then experiencing the adventure of trying to put kids to bed before our trek homeward. Here's those pics!

Our trip was great! We enjoyed seeing much of our family out West, and are most grateful for those who showed us the hospitality of staying in their homes. We are glad to be home, and got home just in time to see the many beautiful colors of Spring (another posting later). Happy Spring!!