Family Road Trip Kick Off

Hello everyone! 

The next two weeks of posts will follow my family's trip through Utah and Idaho. Visits will include Zion National Park, Saint George, Salt Lake City, Midway, Rexburg, Island Park, Yellowstone National Park, etc. I'm excited to show you what we'll be up to.

Ok, Day 1!

My dad was a champ, packing up the van and its attached trailer the evening before and the morning of. Usually we wouldn't have a trailer, but we are bringing up Erin's friend's furniture as well as bringing down beef from Idaho. We barely fit my wheelchair through the space between the back doors and the trailer attachment!  

Once everyone was ready to go, we hopped in and made our way through the Northwest corner of Arizona. Unfortunately, we had to leave our dog Lola behind for this adventure. We dropped her off at our lovely Aunt Jamie's house. She is going to enjoy Jamie's company as well as the companionship of her two dogs, Zoey and Abby. We know she is in good hands! 

Anyways, the number one thing on our minds as we drove away was escaping Phoenix's intense heat (107° was the high today). We knew it would be a while until we were enjoying anything under 95° BUT what we weren't expecting was our van's A/C to go out! Luckily it was only in spurts, but oh man did it get TOASTY! A round of Wendy's Frostys was a must to cool everyone down. 

In the car I listened to music on my boom box and my dear mother kept me entertained. Ashley and Hailey attempted to play badminton "across" the van from their seats, rackets in hand. They were only about a foot away from each other, so naturally the birdie went everywhere (including on top of my dad's head)! The drive went faster when we were laughing.

One city we drove through was Las Vegas. In this wild city our Grandma and Grandpa Knudsen eloped! How crazy and sweet is that? They were later sealed in the St. George temple. It's cool to be able to visit places where they made great memories. 

Finally, after hours of driving, we arrived at our hotel in St. George! 

I was definitely ready to get out of the van and go for a walk together to explore the nearby area. After being highly disappointed by the closed pool, we strolled to a Denny's down the street for dinner. I usually don't like going places outside my home back in Arizona, so it was exciting to go to a restaurant with my family like this. We feasted and relaxed.   

After playing a few games, we are heading to bed (before midnight, go us)! We're going to see family and friends tomorrow, including my lovely Aunt Lisa and my fun cousins.  

Stay tuned for more photos and excursions! Feel free to recommend any cool spots to check out!  

- Erik