After 4 nights in Moab, Utah and tons of exploring in national and state parks, we were ready for a rest day and looking forward to the downtime the drives provide. Mat looked up the elevation changes between Moab and Salt Lake City and realized it wasn’t going to be a rest day for him, but at least he’s in the shade. The drive was hazy but didn’t smell smoky. We’re surprised that we’ve been on the road this long and haven’t been down wind of all the wild fires yet. Not complaining though!

We made it to Salt Lake City KOA without any hiccups (yay!) and set up camp for the second to last night before reaching our home away from home, the ranch. We considered going to see something in Salt Lake City. My mom said if there’s one thing we should do in SLC it’s go see the famous Tabernacle Choir… and see the lake, and visit the Botanical Gardens, and the Family history Library and temple… So I looked up the choir and they are still on their Covid hiatus (for the last 16 months) but scheduled to return in September. So we stayed home and played cards, caught up on our blog and online chores now that we finally have internet, made dinner, and watched Catching Fire since the kids tore through the entire Hunger Games series after we finished the first one together. We actually haven’t played nearly as much cards or games as I envisioned, but we have been so busy exploring and having a great time wearing ourselves out.

Remember weeks a go I labeled a blog “longest drive until leaving Utah”? Well tomorrow we’re leaving Utah. But no one was looking forward to a 412 mile drive so we booked a campground in Idaho to break up the trip to Montana. So a new state for all of us tomorrow.

As Mat read over my “daily journal” from Moab he admitted that he loves the pictures and memories of what we did and saw, but he also wants to remember all the family jokes and all the sweet moments that have made this trip extra special. But how do you explain family jokes to anyone else? He has been wanting to add his take to the blog but since he’s always driving while I’m keeping up with it, he hasn’t found a good time for it yet. Maybe when we get to Montana and I log off he’ll log on…

Wednesday, August 4th, 2021