road trippin

This screen stared at us as we pulled out of Salt Lake City to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. 33 hours of driving ahead of us, snacks all packed, side by side... we hit the road!

It is an amazing thing to travel across the United States by car. You see the landscape change. The sunsets bleed red over miles of fields. You see small towns you would never know exist. And you come to understand how America feeds the world. We drove past miles of corn fields... and I mean miles! For hours upon hours this was my view. 

The best part about the drive was of course the person sitting next to me. The hours flew by as we talked, played games, laughed our heads off, and got to know each other all over
 again.


We made it to Omaha, Nebraska that first night and stayed with my darling cousin Megan and her husband Clay, and their baby boy Dillon! We collapsed on their comfy guest bed so exhausted from the 13 1/2 hour drive that took us through Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska.

The next day we woke up and hit the road once again. This time our destination was Columbus, Ohio where my family friends the Nilsens are mission presidents and were kind enough to offer us somewhere to stay. More corn fields, more games of 20 questions, and more sore bums. The scenery got more pleasant the closer we got to the east coast as brown slowly turned to green. We traveled through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Hitting our 1000 mile mark was a milestone (no pun intended). We made it to Columbus, which was so fun to see the Nilsen's and catch up with some of my favorite people! Another day down... one more to go.

Day 3... it's game day! We hopped in the car with high spirits knowing that today we would arrive in Charlottesville... FINALLY. The drive through West Virginia took my breath away as I gazed at rolling hills of green, little farms, and wildflowers. We played John Denver's "Country Roads" singing "West Virginia... mountain mamaaaaa.... take me home... country roads..."

Then, we saw it. The most blessed sign in the entire world. 

After 2,138 miles of traveling over three days.... WE MADE IT. 

And we could not be happier. Charlottesville... we are home!