Road Warriors!

Our long-awaited journey across Middle Earth and back is finally complete. We made it to Pinehurst, NC on Sunday evening August 14th.

But before I start the recap of our trip, first a shout-out to my sister Whitney. After Jon's poor mom broke her leg, we were left without helpers on our cross-country journey since originally they had offered to come along. I asked Whitney if she could do it, and since her student teaching didn't start until the end of August it was a done deal. She saved my life. How else can I say it?? Who in this world would for hours on hands and knees clean someone else's house so we could check out of Vegas, entertain whiny kids in a car for hours and days on end, treat them like her own, make me laugh when I felt like crying, de-stress the stressful situation with constant cheerfulness, and finally, unpack for 3 days straight until 1or 2 in the morning?!? Oh yeah, UNPAID that is. Well, Whitney did. Seriously, she's the most selfless, best person I know. Just thinking of our untimely separation brings tears to my eyes!! She actually made this trip (which I'd been dreading) FUN. We MISS her.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM
First stop was 10 hours to Jeremy and Kylene's house in Rio Rancho, NM--just outside of Albuquerque. It was 10 hours of a lot of brown, flat, hot, desert--except for some parts in Arizona around the Grand Canyon. After some exciting Mad Libs (thanks Whit), cross-word puzzles (thanks Lauren), and a long-lasting license plate hunt on Route 66, We stopped in Winslow, AZ for lunch at McDonald's along with the rest of the town (pictured above--as in, that's the rest of the town).

We saw more Native Americans in that one spot than I've ever seen in my entire life. That was Cultural Exposure #1. We made it to ABQ around 9 p.m. and were received with a warm welcome by Jeremy and Kylene.

We wanted to spend a day in their new city so we could check it out and get a break from the car, so we spent Tuesday hanging out. We got to see the ABQ zoo that morning and ride a choo-choo train around the zoo. Zachary was in heaven.

Enjoying our train ride and the backside (?) of the zoo. Poor planning I guess.


We then enjoyed a delicious picnic lunch on the grounds thanks to J and K.

Lucy's favorite animals-- the flamingos, 'cause they're pink, duh!

We also had a delicious BBQ that night (I'm making that chicken tonight for dinner Kylene!) and watched a movie before bed. The kids loved seeing Sophie, and it was so fun to see their beautiful new home. Just wished we'd ended up a bit closer!

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
Second stop was 8 hours to Oklahoma City. We made great time in the morning and were able to make it through the rest of New Mexico and into Texas, where we lunched in Amarillo, TX. Um, no offense to any native Texans, but that part of Texas was about as ugly, barren, and bleak as I can imagine land could get. We also swung by a Toys R Us to bribe the kids back into the car, and Lucy chose some Barbie makeup. We sure enjoyed seeing that hot pink lipstick the rest of the trip! We got to Oklahoma City around 7 p.m. and immediately headed for the swimming pool to cool down! We shared the pool with some Mennonites, so that was our cultural exposure for the day (#2).

MEMPHIS, TN
Third stop was 7 hours to Memphis, TN. We started out finishing out the rest of Oklahoma (pictured above) and making it just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas for our lunch stop. Arkansas was a little weird...people were weird... but it was prettier than I'd imagined.

We rolled into Memphis around 5 p.m. and immediately headed for some authentic Memphis BBQ at the award winning "Corky's." We had pulled pork sandwiches, mac and cheese, hush puppies, twice baked potato salad, and bannana pudding. SO YUMMY!

NASHVILLE, TN ~ KNOXVILLE, TN


That night we made the executive decision that since there was nothing but an empty house waiting for us in North Carolina, we'd do a slow burn across Tennessee and spend Saturday hanging out in Nashville, and then drive on to Knoxville for the night. We stopped first though at the hometown of Casey Jones for Zachy's sake (sorry, Elvis' Graceland got bypassed).


We decided since Zachary had been SUCH an amazing little traveller (didn't even cry ONCE) we'd do a pit stop dedicated for him. He LOVED pulling the train's whistle!

Driving through Tennessee on our way to Nashville, it was GREEN and beautiful and hot as blazes!!

My co-pilot Whitney. Duties: Pass LOTS of treats to kids, switch out movies, read books, tickle feet, change I-pod, entertain me and keep me awake, make phone calls to arrange hotels, navigate when the GPS screwed up, etc.

Me, the driver. Duties: WATCH THE ROAD!!

Our sweet little napper hanging in there for the long haul! Duties: Look at his Car's book for hours at a time, watch movies, eat unhealthy crap, nap from time to time, tease Whitney.

Lucy, our CONSTANT chatter box and bathroom potty stopper. Duties: Have to go to the bathroom 15 minutes after we'd already stopped, color, color, color, watch Barbie movies, tease Zach and Whitney, eat unhealthy crap.

Greetings from the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville, TN!!


Enjoying the beautiful Grand Ol' Opry hotel. Lucy is mad because we wouldn't buy her a souvenier in one of the gift shops. That's what grandparents are for, right?

Our beloved Whitney!! Can't thank her enough!! That night we slept in Knoxville, TN (but didn't see Dollywood) and woke up bright and early to finish this odyssey once and for all!


And here's what we had waiting for us.... Moving is SO incredibly exhausting, but that's another post altogether. All in all, we enjoyed our cross-country road trip but we're glad to be "home.":)

The Last Days

Max Brenner-- you devil, you! How could it take me so long to discover you?!? Your food spoke to me, and I can never think of dessert the same way again. In fact, why don't more restaurants just go crazy with dessert and let their imaginations run wild?!? But I'm getting ahead of myself! Let me start at the beginning.

Monday and Tuesday were AWFUL. The movers came and possibly THE most obnoxious man on Earth was the lead packer. Think Edgar from "Men In Black" (the alien who wears the Edgar's suit and wants "water, sugar water!"). They were loooong exhausting days where we couldn't be at the house because of the chaos, but we couldn't be outside either because of the heat, we had no food to eat because all the cooking stuff was gone, and we were living with air mattresses and camping chairs as our only furniture.

And here it is: everything we'd left that was coming with us in the car.

The movers finally finished Tuesday evening, so my mom (who was good enough to drive back with me from Boise to help with the packing and cleaning) and I took of to try Max Brenner's restaurant at Caesar's Palace. Max Brenner's schtick is that he basically saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" as a kid, and wanted to become Willy Wonka when he grew up. Just about everything features chocolate somehow-- we got the fish tacos for dinner with waffle fries that had been dusted with cocoa powder, and YUM. The food menu was small compared with the 12 pages of dessert, but it was every bit as satisfying as our dessert.

Two words: Chocolate Pizza. A sweet crust layered with white, milk, and dark chocolate, bananas, peanut butter sauce, and roasted marshmallows.

Oh yeah, and we tried the S'more's Sundae!! Dark chocolate gelatto, chunks of graham crackers, and white chocolate marshmallow ganache. H-E-A-V-E-N. Since there are only three of his restaurants in the world-- NYC, Philadelphia, and Vegas, I HIGHLY recommend it if you're ever nearby.
And the prices weren't bad either which was totally surprising for the Strip-- about $10-$15 per entree and dessert. I look like I shoulda been rolled out of there, I WAY over-indulged, but I digress. Moving on with the move....

Friday was Jonathan's AEGD graduation which was a day long, long awaited. I was so proud of him for making it to this momentous occasion! SO MANY LONG HOURS involved I really can't even think of what to say other than I'm glad it's finally over for his sake. His Grandma Cardon and Uncle Ron were kind enough to drive down from Cedar City, UT to support him at the ceremony.

Jon with Dr. Harrison-- the periodontist who became his mentor throughout the year, so I guess his supervisors weren't all bad. :)

Receiving his AEGD diploma!!

I'd never been to a military function like this (other than when he was commissioned), but the "pomp and circumstance" associated with all the different ranks etc. was pretty cool.

A FREE man!! He actually forgot to keep out his Air Force blues (what they're wearing) so the mover's packed it, but luckily he was able to borrow from one of this year's resident's who'd just arrived. Phew.

Jon with his faithful hygenist Laura, who was SO sweet to him. She worked through lunch, overtime hours so he could finish, covered up his mistakes :), brought him lunch, bought our kids presents, etc. She was the best.

The 6 AEGD residents: (Back Row) Trent Buttars, Joey Kayne, Kevin Rassmussen, Jonathan Cardon (Front Row) Danielle Wieri, Colleen Ferriter

While Friday was Jon's day, Saturday was my day. He watched the kids ALL day in that empty house, so I could go shopping in Primm, NV at the outlets there with my mom one last time. We ended up getting lunch at the Mad Greek which was featured on "Diner's, Drive-In's, and Dives" with Guy Fieri, and was pretty good. It was a great day of shopping and de-stressing from the move. I took my mom to the airport that evening, and we prepared to head for North Carolina early Tuesday morning!

THE LIST-- Las Vegas, NV

Alright, it's tradition! Here's the list of all the things we'll miss when we move to North Carolina next week. These are in NO particular order:
1. The GREAT weather (between 60 and 80 degrees) 9 months out of the year.
2. The gorgeous Mojave desert.
3. The gorgeous Sierra Nevada mountains, and Mt. Charleston.
4. Hiking in Red Rock.
5. Valley of Fire
6. The SHOPPING!! (Costco, Target, Wal-Mart, Bath and Body Works, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Ross, Kohl's, etc. all 1/2 a mile away).
7. Outlet Malls!
8. Restaurants on the Strip-- Mesa Grill, Serendipity III, Paris Buffet, Wicked Spoon Buffet, Border Grill, Max Brenner's Restaurant.
9. Cafe Rio 1/2 mile from my house!:)
10. U-Swirl!!
11. The dinosaur park and splash pad in Aliante.
12. The butterfly park and splash pad.
13. Aliante Station
14. Bellagio Fountains
15. Shark Reef
16. Disneyland so close!
17. North Las Vegas library
18. Trader Joe's in Summerlin
19. Our ward and friends!!
20. Lucy's preschool and Miss Andrea
21. Trips to St. George and Cedar City, UT
22. Family SO close in Southern Utah!
23. Beautiful sunsets every night
24. Camping and backpacking at Mt. Charleston
25. Vegas Strip lit up at night
26. The Cupcakery
27. Cacti-- especially the "poor unfortunate souls"
28. Nellis AFB
29. Gold's Gym Centennial!!
30. In 'N' Out
31. Massive thunderstorms
32. Las Vegas temple
33. Bonnie Springs
34. The dry heat-- like being inside of a blow dryer
35. Constant, dependable sunshine
36. Aliante station
37. Living so close to a freeway AND an airport
38. Our house-- especially the kitchen with the huge granite butcher block
39. The different "feel" of the West Coast
40. Outlets in Primm, NV