Road Trip 2016

At the start of this post we have 7 days, 21 hours, 24 minutes, and 35 seconds until we leave on our Road Trip 2016! Blake and I are both so very excited to get away, just the two of us.  About a year ago when Blake nailed down his graduation date {finally! Yay!} his mom told us she wanted to send us to Italy. We wanted to go to Italy on our honeymoon but plans, time, and budget never worked out. We were both so excited and thankful for the opportunity.  A few months passed by and his mom asked us to make up a mock trip so she can plan funding and save the date to keep the girls.  During the week of planning, researching, fake booking flights, thinking about passports, etc... I grew less and less excited.  I shared this with Blake because any time I talked about it he seemed pretty uninterested and I thought it was simply because he had a TON on his plate and on his mind. But, we both felt like this just wasn't us. Sure, Italy is amazing and the opportunity was awesome but we shared our thoughts with Blake's mom and she was so supportive of us to do what we really wanted to do.  We wanted to road trip.  For our honeymoon we took a "Redneck Road Trip" to Tennessee and it was gorgeous! It was during November and the leaves were changing, the weather was crisp and perfect. It was so much fun!

SO, we thought we should do that again, but road trip the other way.  I've always loved the mountains, Blake too, we've always loved cabins and getting away from the big city or real touristy destinations so we chose Yellowstone {summer + Yellowstone = touristy. We know. But it's not the only place we are going. It's just a one day taste}. From there we planned a road trip back to Texas. Actually, because of the distance and all we wanted to see and do, we are going to be flying into Salt Lake City, UT. I have always wanted to drive through there and see the red rocks and desert. And, honestly, always go to the Mormon Church. :) I'm not Mormon but it's a beautiful site I am told. Anyway, we will day trip to Yellowstone, then head south to the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, then head east towards CO, then south through NM and east bound 10 back home. We will be gone for about 8 days. Lots to do in a little amount of time!! We are so thankful to family and friends who are caring for our house and kids while we are away! I'll be posting plenty throughout the tirp and when I get back I hope to blog some things to remember but here's some of the fun we will be getting into...

• Yellowstone National Park, WY - Old Faithful Inn {Built in the 1800s {I love history}, Old Faithful, Mud/Paint pots, falls, rivers, mountains, etc...}
• Jackson Hole, WY -   shopping, the elk horn arch to Town Square, Grand Tetons, Scenic River Float with a dinner on the banks of Snake River, Mangy Moose, Wild West Shootout
• Rawlins, WY - not too sure...will be a lay over on the way to CO
• Fort Collins, CO - a choice of two Diners Drive Ins and Dives spots to eat lunch
• Denver, CO - The Broker for dinner, downtown, nightlife, a "city stop," Pike's Peak {peek/drive-by}
• Colorado Springs, CO -  Garden of the Gods, mountains
• Canon City, CO - Royal Gorge Train Ride, Royal Gorge Helicopter Ride, World's largest suspension bridge, mountains, gorgeous views, etc.
• Santa Rosa, NM - Route 66, the Blue Hole
• Fort Davis, TX - McDonald Observatory, Balmorhea State Park, San Salomon Springs, desert, starry skies...

I can't wait...now it's only 7 days,  21 hours, 4 minutes and 25 seconds until we leave! ;)