AK to VA Part One

Well we have officially been in VA for one month! We have already done a ton of stuff! It's crazy how many free things (besides transportation) there are do to around here.

Our road trip was long, fun, exhausting, and eventful! I'm so thankful D's mom (we wished his dad could come too) was able to drive with us because it would've taken a long time if we didn't have another driver! His little brother was good company too, as always! He is hilarious.

We flew from Alaska to Longbeach (layover) then to Las Vegas! We spent a day and a half in Vegas to visit D's family and to get our rental truck and pack up some of our stuff we had at his parents house, our car included!

Vegas to Utah

We only had 2 days there so we had a lot to do and a lot of people to see! D and his dad got all of our stuff out of storage fairly early so that we had the rest of the day to visit with people we wanted to see! We got to see D's brother, wife and nephew that we hadn't seen for 6ish months! It was so nice! I also got to see my cousin Amy and my Aunt and her boys, which is always a good time!

Utah to Nebraska

Jump picture fail... HAHA!

We had a lot of people advise us to go completely through Wyoming as fast as we could because it was so dang flat! And I tell you what, they were right! It was flat as far as you could see, it almost made me feel claustrophobic! You could get so lost there..

D's great grandpa was from Rock Springs, WY so we stopped by that little town. It was so adorable!! I couldn't live there but the town was nice and cute.

Rock Springs City Hall

The prettiest part of WY was Green River! It was so green and the river was close by (hence the name)! I couldn't get a picture of it but it was a great change of scenery!

the one other pretty part of Wyoming...

D had a list of random things to see in each state to make it more fun and enjoyable. There was a random Lincoln head off the side of the road! And another random thing was a huge pyramid off the highway that takes you on a dirt road to see but it was huge and pretty dang cool!

Ames Monument

Told you this was random...

When we stopped to fill up the cars with gas, we had a spur of the moment idea to drive by a haunted prison! And let me tell you... it was SO EERIE! I usually hate scary things, but sometimes I get a burst of bravery and want to experience scary, haunted things. We didn't have time to do the tour but just being there felt so creepy!

Doesn't it just look creepy?!

We stopped in Cheyenne to get a bite to eat and take a longer break from the car before heading to Nebraska. I couldn't help but sing George Strait's " I Can Still Make Cheyenne" as we drove through. I love that country man!

I don't know why, but I have always loved clouds! You can get the sense of how flat WY is.

The end of this day of driving was a rough one... We had been driving for 8 hours and had about 2 more hours to get to our hotel... It was dark and scary and the fact that everyone was exhausted made matters worse. The hotel in Big Springs, Nebraska was in the butt crack of nowhere which didn't help either. Needless to say I gladly accepted my own bed in the hotel room.. and yes, D and I slept in separate beds on some of the trip... but hey! More room to spread out after 10+ hours in a confined car..

Nebraska to Iowa

It was getting dark when we got to the Nebraska sign, and I don't know manual flash photography well... so this poor quality Iphone photo will have to do..

Corn, corn and more corn... That's the epitome of Nebraska! It was a pretty boring drive... very flat. The occasional crop dusting planes we would see was really cool though! I had never seen that actually happen before. Those pilots are crazy!!

There is a lot of Mormon history in Nebraska which D just eats up! D being a history buff is an understatement of the year... he loves that stuff especially church history. We stopped and saw a huge rut the Mormon pioneers made crossing the plains to get to Utah. It was really surreal.. Actually, seeing all the historic sites were surreal! It made the events more real! If that makes any sense.

That dent in the background is the rut! CRAZY!

We then drove to Omaha and right near there is Winter Quarters where there is an LDS Temple and where the Saints lived for a few years after they were driven out of Illinois. It was a cool experience knowing both of our ancestors have been here. It was also the first humid day we had experienced on the road trip. One of many many more...

And let me just say IOWA IS BEAUTIFUL! When they say "rolling hills" they mean rolling hills! It was unreal and GORGEOUS! It was my favorite state to drive through (besides Alaska). If I had to live in the plains, it would definitely be Iowa. Seriously though, go to Iowa people! Not to mention that when we got to our hotel there was a thunder and lightning storm! AMAZING!!! Those are few and far between in Alaska so those will never get old to me.

These pictures don't even do the rolling hills justice AT ALL! Seriously people... go to Iowa!

Stay tuned for part two!!!