Utah

After exploring Mount Rushmore, we made our way to Utah.  Let me tell you, there is nothing in Wyoming.  I thought Kansas was bad!  We did have a small adventure in Wyoming though. (mom don't read this part) As we were driving down a long, barren road, Travis decided to see if he could get up to a certain speed.  Well, as he was accelerating, all of the sudden we heard this psshhhh noise.  I was pretty sure that we had popped a tire.  Travis pulled over as I looked around to see nothing but fields for MILES in each direction.  Luckily the tire was ok.  We looked under the car and a piece of the plastic guard had fallen down and was scraping the ground.  I was beyond relieved.  Travis stuck it back up as a temporary fix until we could find some civilization.  I looked up auto stores as he was driving.  There weren't any nearby so Travis stopped at the first house we saw.  Luckily the guy there knew about cars and had a wide and nice variety of tools.  Travis just took off the rest of the guard and said he would fix it when we got home.  So, no accidents this trip but we still had some car troubles.

On Monday, we spent the day visiting Travis' Uncle Gordon.  He took us around the farm that Travis' Dad grew up on and the house he grew up in.  Then we went to Uncle Gordon's hide away.  I seriously think he is a grown up version of Travis.  He loves outdoors and adventures.  His hide-away was just a bunch of land that he made exciting by putting in Ziplines, shooting/bow targets, a giant slip-n-slide, a lake with a huge ramp and trampoline to jump off of and so much more.  Travis was in heaven.  The whole morning he kept commenting on how he would love this simple lifestyle of spending your time outdoors and riding around on four wheelers.  I am definitely more of a city girl.  I need stores and friends close by!  Before leaving Lewiston, we stopped by Travis' dad's and sister's grave. 

That evening we drove down to Provo to meet up with old friends and roommates.  I went and hung out with the Mullen's before going to Cafe Rio to meet up with everyone else.  I seriously love Jessica so much.  We met in 2004 and have been best friends ever since!  She is fabulous in every sense of the word! 

Tuesday we went and visited more friends before checking for the family reunion.  I didn't get to see everyone that I wanted to, but it was good to see the ones that we did. 

Barlow family reunions are way different than Broadhead reunions.  We don't really have a schedule, everyone does their own thing, most people just sit on the beach and read or talk.  The Barlows plan activities and there is always something going on.  Travis and I were in charge of chaperoning the teens at Boondocks where we played lazer tag, went on bumper boats and raced in go carts.  They went on a hike, did tons of crafts, had a play put on by the little girls, the teens had a mario cart tournament, the men had a wii dance off (hilarious!), we went on a BYU scavenger hunt, and had a talent show.  It was a blast!

Most of the group at BYU!

We checked out early Saturday and began our long drive back home.  We stopped in Denver to see Travis' best friend Jared and his adorable family!  I love them!  Then we continued our drive straight through the night.  We got home and zonked out for a couple hours before eating dinner and going back to bed.  I haven't been that tired in forever!

Although I have loved all of these trips, I am glad to be back home.  Travis and I were talking and I realized how much I love my life!  Just one year ago, I remember sulking around about not having a job, not having any friends and feeling like I had no purpose.  To contrast that to today, I LOVE my life!  I have tons of amazing friends that have truly helped me out!  I love going to classes at the gym with everyone, I love craft nights, I love visiting random friends, I love going shopping/to lunch/to get pedicures with my friends, I love seeing everyone each Sunday, I love going to play groups, I even joined a book club because of the people that go.  Basically, I just love all my friends!  I love being able to see all these lovely ladies on a regular basis.  They all set such a good example for me.   I am not ready for school to start back because I won't see everyone as often.  For now, I am going to enjoy these next few weeks of freedom.