road tripping in the usa

  Driving across the country was actually so much more amazing than I ever could have fathomed it would be.  Were there long torturous stretches, with kids melting down and parents losing it?  Yes.  Were there ugly stretches of land hardly worth looking out the window for?  Sure.  But for much of our drive -- both there and back -- I was awestruck by the beauty of the world around us.  Between storm-drenched skies and rocky gorges; between amber fields and grassy meadows; and between desert rocks and verdant hills; I fell in love with America the Beautiful.  I can't even tell you how many { terrible } cell phone shots I attempted to take over the course of our trip, while trying to capture every detail of those magical moments.  Not many of them measured up, but the images now imprinted in my mind will hopefully stay with me forever. White River National Forest -- Colorado  { western Colorado and eastern Kansas were gorgeous } Our first ...

  We're almost there, people!  Only two more days in Utah to cover before the LONG drive home.  Let's do this! Tuesday While we were up in Salt Lake for the weekend, Kristin and company were in Logan visiting other family, too.  We all reconvened at Scott's parents' house on the Sunday night, and were able to spend a few more days with them before we hit the road.  In our initial planning for the road trip, we thought we'd all go down to Moab together to visit Arches National Park at some point that week.  Once we were out there, however, we decided that it was TOO hot to go in July -- especially with a baby.  Scott's parents came up with an alternate outing for us that was   just   right.  Upper Provo River Falls  I like to think of this picture as being titled "Ethan Contemplating Life."  Hahahahaha.  Cousins! Tuesday morning we caravanned up to the Uinta Mountains, stopping first at the upper Provo River falls to roam a...