It has been quiet around here for the entire start of the year and I have a ton of updates to do so we will be posting these as quick as we can to get caught up! I debated just giving up, but decided to try and catch up because it has been helpful throughout the years to come back to and remember specific things in specific years.
So here we are going all the way back to December to finish up our epic road trip adventure. We felt a bit bad because we promised the kids after our long 11 hour day heading to Salt Lake City that we wouldn't do that to them again. But we had an opportunity too good to pass up in Southern Oregon but that meant we had to drive 14 hours in one day! Our compromise to make it easier on the kids was to leave really really early in the morning. If I remember correctly we left around 4ish in the morning, and had said goodbye to Utah, spent a few minutes in Arizona and crossed into Nevada and were through Las Vegas by 6.
The kids slept for the first 3 or 4 hours which was great! Eventually it was daylight and they were all waking up as we passed through the middle of nowhere Nevada and Area 51. I don't think any of us are in a hurry to repeat that boring drive from Vegas to Reno again!
Covid made things really hard with meals and the kids but they were troopers! We found a Burger King in a gas station in one of the tiny towns we passed through and their dining room was closed and it was super cold outside so breakfast in the car it was and it gave Ayla a little chance to stretch her legs! She was such a trooper!
And then we pressed on! Thankfully it was slightly warmer in Reno and In N Out had some outdoor seating opened up so everyone could get out and stretch their legs!
The drive was super long and we were all so ready to be done by the time the sun was setting. But finally we crossed into Oregon, grabbed some pizza's and were ready to settle for a few more days of fun!
It was so nice to be back in Oregon amongst the familiar trees and scent of juniper! The Oregon trees just have a scent about them (if you know, you know). And we had plenty of deer visitors on the constant where we were staying! We absolutely adored the unique beauty of Utah but definitely could still appreciate how amazing the nature in Oregon is too!
This girl took off walking on this trip!
We decided while we were in the area to take advantage and visit Oregon's one National Park. Packing in lunches for the day uses up a full loaf of bread!
It was a pretty short drive to Crater Lake and very unique to visit it in the depths of winter. We hadn't really experienced any snow on our journey in Utah except when we went to the ski resorts but Crater Lake was buried in it! It was very very different than visiting during the summer. While the kids didn't have perfect snow gear, they had enough warm clothes to play for a bit. The snow was up over all the rails at the park so it definitely made us a bit more paranoid but we are excited we made the journey to experience the place this time of year!
After a day at Crater Lake Daddy made a reservation to take his biggest girl on an ice skating date!
There was also plenty of time for hot tubbing!
And on our last night Peter took the boys ice skating while I hung back with the girls and they had a spa and movie night!
Even now, many months later I just love that we took the time to go on this epic little road trip! We had never attempted anything even close to that magnitude with just our kids before but we made so many fun memories as a family that will never be forgotten! We truly can't wait until we can hit the road again with them as there is still so much of the country we look forward to exploring! It was definitely the crown on the year and the perfect way to end 2020!
