The Smiths: Road Trip 2013

We're back. Nine states, two oceans, five different hotels, 4,798 miles, 69 hours of driving, one jump-start in the middle of Kansas, two rain storms, one stroller, seven suitcases, two pack-n-plays, and one traffic violation later we're back in Texas. Safe and sound. What a trip!

Here's a quick recap of our 2013 cross-country road trip. From sea to shining sea. It was awesome. I took thousands of pictures - hundreds a day. Not even kidding. I can't believe I'm done blogging about it already (I mean, I still haven't blogged about last year's trip yet!). But what's even more amazing is that I've also kept up with the laundry. Be proud of me. Be very proud.
This is the condensed version. If you want to see more, click on the link to each blog post. I have had so much fun pouring over all these pictures that hold so many memories. I treasure them. They're a year's worth of family all crammed into a few weeks and I wouldn't trade them for the world. Here are the links:

1) The Happiest Place On Earth.
We drove through California on our way to Utah. That's how much we love driving. Disneyland is always worth the drive though. Especially to meet up with Nate's sister and cousin and their families. Sara and Eric have three boys. Rob and Cami have two girls. Perfect match-ups for us, right? It was such a blast.

2) California Adventure.
Here are a few pictures of the "other" park at Disneyland. The new Cars ride was hands-down everyone's favorite. See the video here. So glad we didn't miss this.

3) Shakespeare Festival.
I grew up visiting the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City every year. It's always fun to go back. We met my parents, Melanie and her kids, and Mandy and Brian there this year. Love's Labour's Lost was our favorite play this season. It could have been the lemon tarts we had during intermission though. Mmm, still dreaming about those.

4) Frontier Homestead State Park.
My mom and Melanie and I took the kids over to the Frontier Homestead State Park. It was huge. The kids had so much fun exploring, climbing, and panning for gold. Don't miss this if ever you're in Cedar.

5) Cedar Breaks.
On the way out of Cedar City we went through Cedar Breaks to do some hiking. The views and the wildflowers were spectacular.

6) America the Beautiful.
Here are a few pictures of our Fourth of July celebration at the ranch. Including the Oakley parade, the family barbeque, horse rides, and the rodeo. All the things that make the Fourth of July for me.

7) Oh My! Oh My! Oh Dinosaurs!
Pictures from the Dinosaur Park in Ogden and the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. So fun to see Maria and Autumn and their kids. It was just like old times. . .

8) Hill Aerospace Museum.
Isaac was in heaven. We saw at least a hundred planes. Huge planes. Isaac was the best tour guide imaginable.

9) The Relatives Came.
We are those crazy relatives who show up at your door - all seven of us - and eat up all your popsicles and drink up all your root beer and turn your lives temporarily upside down. Here are some pictures of all the relatives we love and are so so glad to visit whenever we're in town. Thanks for letting us bombard!

10) Back at the Ranch.
Pictures of life at the ranch. Love all these. . .

11) The Ditch.
Most of the best adventures at the ranch have occurred in, on, and around "the ditch". These cousins had a great time rafting their way from one property line to the other - a journey that takes more than an hour by ditch.

12) The Adventure Club.
For three years these cousins have referred to themselves as the "Adventure Club" at the ranch. This post documents some of their adventures.

13) Deep in the Heart of Oakley.
This post will take you into town for a day. Oakley has grown and changed since I was a kid. But all the things I love most about Oakley are still the same.

14) This Is The Place.
One of our favorite places to visit every summer is Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. This year we met my mom and all my sisters and their kids there. We were quite the crew. It was just as much fun as always.