Detroit to Star Valley and back again

For anyone familiar with Tolkien, thanks to the title of this blogpost, you know that you are in for a most epic adventure. While we did not encounter any orcs, elves, or hobbits, we did have our fair share of elevensies, good company, and toddlers that were beginning to remind me of Gollum. It all started when Eliza and I were sitting quietly one evening in living chamber.

"I did it." I said with a measure of unbelief.

"Did what?" Eliza asked hesitantly. She was unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

"I bought tickets." I replied with more surety.

"For what or to where?" More excitement but still some hesitation.

"We're going to Star Valley. Actually technically we're coming back from Star Valley.The tickets I bought are one way tickets for the way back."

"Great." Eliza said with an essence of sarcasm and a full measure of the original hesitation.

That was the beginning to the most epic of summer adventures. I realize that Tolkein's tales were thousands and thousands of words long. So to achieve the same effect without as much of your time involved, I figure a hundred or so pictures - each being equal to a thousand words - would create the same result. Also does anyone know what a video equals? I can't do my final word count calculations without it.

Our flight to Salt Lake was uneventful but it did include a 4-hr layover in Denver. We were able to catch up with some Omaha friends which was a blast but unfortunately no one believes it happened since we didn't get any pictures.

It was fantastic to catch up the Tanners. Emmaline asked today when we were going back to Cora's.

After one night of sleep at the Tanners and almost more laughs and fun than we could handle we headed to Star Valley. Before we reached our final destination in Bedford, we stopped in Afton for a  parade and a rodeo.

The next day we headed to church. It was interesting because we were a shade late to church and we couldn't find Mom and Dad sitting in the front. So we found some seats in the gym. The tender mercy was that we ended up in a row right in front of Grandpa and Grandma.

On Monday we saw Incredibles II.

Tuesday we went fishing with Grandpa. Although we let go the only fish we caught, we had a great time.

Fourth of July was fantastic. Full of fun, parades, a few fireworks, and a lot of family. We started it early with a 5k and continued to wear ourselves out from there.

We spent some time with Great-grandma and Grandma.

A quick trip to see the Tillerys nearly brought our trip to a close. One more Sunday. A little more ice cream. One last four-wheeler ride. A drive back to Utah and an exhausting extended layover on the way home.

There you have it. We survived, albeit some predicaments were near death experiences. We loved it and treasured every moment of our trip. 

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