On The Road Again

So the time has come for our drive home. Once upon a time we were going to drive to San Diego for Rusty's best friend's wedding, but that got shot down because it would make our drive 50 hours. And it would require us to pay for 5 more nights of hotels that we really can't afford. We were also going to go North to visit some of our very best friends in Chicago, but that got shot down because we needed to visit Rusty's family in southern Colorado because we won't be there for Labor Day. So, with these things in mind we set our route.

Quite honestly, this trip was a lot less eventful than our trip out there. We were worn out and ready to be home, so instead of stopping at a lot of places and doing lots of things, we just kind of drove straight through. Our trip out there took 7 days, this one took 3 or 4... it's kind of complicated, you'll see why. Also, the places we went through just weren't as exciting haha. Little Rock and Oklahoma City aren't quite the same as St. Louis and Nashville. But we were happy and stayed in the car.

Day #1: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama

Friday Rusty got off work at noon and we packed everything in the car and took off. We made it to Birmingham that night after being stuck in some TERRIBLE traffic for 2 HOURS. I don't even know what happened but it was like the end of the world. Finally that night we made it to Birmingham, and it actually wasn't even that late because we hadn't factored in the time changes. On our drive home we gained two hours! That's the best! So we got to our hotel and hung out and relaxed. When we got there we noticed that the Statue of Liberty was also there. I had no idea we were in New York City. It was the funniest thing, but Rusty LOVED it. Like really loved it. Maybe it's because he hasn't seen the real one, but he just kept saying, "this is so cool!"

Day #2: Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma

Saturday we woke up pretty early (at like 6, but not on purpose. We are just so used to waking up at 7 that it just happened...) and started off on our journey again. This day we drove through Alabama and Mississippi and then stopped in Memphis. I was so excited about Memphis, and I don't really know why. I just loved Nashville so much (I would honestly move there in a heartbeat) that I think I held a similar belief about Memphis. Was I ever wrong. Memphis is the only place that we stopped and then left earlier than we planned on... ever. It was gross and dirty and old and run down. I only had a few things I wanted to do, one of which was to see the Elvis statue. And like a bonus, we also got to see a lot of homeless people sleeping around him. So, that was fun. 

We did eat somewhere pretty cool though. It was my first time having dry rub BBQ and it was this little hole in the wall place. Literally a hole in the wall. Back in an alley, after you go down the stairs. It was super creepy but it was actually pretty worth it. Not the best I've ever had, but I sure did like the dry rub more than I thought. Honestly if it was in a different city I probably would have liked it more. But as it is, I liked it and thought it was cool, but would never go back. I hated Memphis.

After Memphis we drove through Arkansas and into Oklahoma where we stayed close to Oklahoma City. I was actually really surprised at how beautiful Arkansas was! Everything was green and had lots of rivers. Definitely wouldn't mind going back to spend some time there, especially in the Ozarks. Oklahoma was also very beautiful which I wasn't expecting. Mostly I just sang "OKLAHOMA, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain!" like 50000000 times. 

Day #3: Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado

Well this day was Sunday so we found a ward to go to for first hour. This was the funniest, nicest, friendliest ward ever. We walked in the door and a man came up to us and asked if we were visiting or new. Rusty said that we were just passing through and his response was, "Oh. Are you coming from or going to Utah?" Hahaha. I have no idea how he knew; I didn't think I looked "Utahish" but apparently I do.

We drove to Amarillo and found ourselves on Route 66! I was so excited. We got to Amarillo and were looking for Cadillac Ranch and ended up in this sketchy area of town in front of some weird apartment complex. We were so confused so we went in to the gas station, and by we I mean Rusty, and when he walked in the lady said, "Have a quesiton?" When Rusty said yes she said, "Lookin for Cadillac Ranch?" Apparently that apartment complex is called Cadillac Ranch and people go there all the time haha. Eventually we found it, by pure luck. Bless the fact that everything is flat in Texas because that's the only reason we saw it. So, Cadillac Ranch is in the middle of a field in Amarillo. It is a bunch of cadillacs sticking up out of the ground... and people spray paint them. That's pretty much it. I don't know why, but it felt very... Texan.

After Amarillo we drove through the rest of Texas and New Mexico. And I was just shocked at how beautiful everything was! It honestly was surprising. Everything was green-ish, even in Texas. They had just been getting so much rain, but it was really pretty. And once we hit New Mexico you could see gorgeous mountains and there were huge fields full of sunflowers with little farm houses spread out. It was really cool.

Finally we made it to Colorado. I'm not from there and have never lived there, but honestly once I crossed that state line I felt like I was home. Maybe it's because it looks like Utah where I have been living for so long, but I don't think I've ever been happier to be in Colorado. We spent the evening and the next morning with Rusty's family and then set off to Ouray.

Days #4-6: Ouray, Provo

 Monday we left to go meet my sister and her boyfriend for some camping :) I just couldn't wait to be back in those mountains!! I wanted to go on some hikes and I wanted to breathe clean air and I wanted to have to wear a hoody at night because it was chilly. Well, I got all of those things, especially the hoody.

We started off that Monday and stopped along the way at a cool place in Colorado that Rusty has told me a lot about but we never stopped there. It was so cool! We hiked down into a gorge with a river.

Then we continued on our way and made it to Ouray! It's called the Switzerland of America. And for good reason.

We ate a Mexican restaurant where you can donate a dollar and they throw it up on the ceiling with a tack so it sticks. Then once a year they take them all down and donate them to charity.

The first morning. This was our camping spot!

And there we are!

The waterfall where we camped.

We spent the day hiking around. It was so beautiful! This was a waterfall on our hike!

More hiking.

So, I wanted to jump down and see the waterfall. I remember thinking, "It's probably wet and slippery" but I had no choice but to jump down or climb back up. And I really wanted to see it haha so I jumped... and slipped. And was hanging off the waterfall a little bit. But no big deal. Also, I was carrying our car keys and dropped them. SUPER lucky that they landed on dry ground and didn't fall down the waterfall.