Road trip: Syracuse--Salt Lake-Amarillo-Oklahoma City-Amarillo-Syracuse

7 days and over 2500 miles of driving and fun with Jena and those we visited on the way.  We added a few extra days to Spring Break and made our long road trip.  Jena is a fun traveling companion especially if you like Voice Male music or Broadway songs which I do.  Couldn't singing as much as usual and the quality was worse than my normal mediocre but it was fun and Jena doesn't care how I sing.  I think she ate a lot of chicken strips and nuggets along the way but it is a vacation....Party time for us.  Poor Gary and Ben who had to stay home and work (and watch the dogs).

We spend a evening in Amarillo and had a quick dinner with my sisters Robin and Lynette and were able to see both of their new apartments as they had both moved in the last six months. We had planned to spend the night but high winds were in the area and more was predicted during the following day especially around Oklahoma City so we decided to drive the rest of the way there on Wednesday night.  We got there around1:00 a.m. and got ourselves a bit lost with not much cell battery left---that didn't make for a happy husband in Utah or a worried son-in-law at the Air Force base.  I had written down a number wrong and turned on the wrong freeway but realized my error and pulled over and made a easy course correction with Austen's help and made it to their apartment. It was so great to be in their darling apartment and to see them both happy, healthy and well.  Moms like those visuals right in front of them from time to time....Facebook is great but face to face is even better.

Stay in during the windy part of Thursday, rested and talked and talked, of course.  Friday was the BIG ultrasound day and shopping for a few gifts for the new little one.  Saturday was our sightseeing day.  Then we watch the first ever General Women's Meeting for all women age 8 and up.  We watched it off the internet on conference.lds.org through their apple TV.  It worked great.

Sunday was a busy morning making cinnamon rolls together and then heading to Church.  We left a great dinner and traveled back at night to Amarillo to spend more time there and also to start heading back to Utah due to some snow storms predicted for the mountains.

That is the summary of our events.  Now for the fun stuff:

We actually left for our trip from Jena's orthodontist appointment
in Primary's--so you get the pose for the top level of parking

Southeast Utah north of Moab

Red rock clifts

Sunset is approaching

(Yes. I am this type of person who stops to take random shots
along the road.  This was in New Mexico near Shiprock.)  This one is
for Gary---he is a Wiley Coyote fan and of course the Roadrunner.

Traveling east on 1-40 in New Mexico
flatter land and bigger skies

I have been known to direct music while we
singing along in the car.  Jena took this picture
and sent it to Gary with the caption which said,
"Mom picking nose."

The winds of the plains caught Jena by surprise at
a rest room in New Mexico

Texas border---it still feels like coming home
even though I didn't really live in Amarillo
that long--this was my drive to and from
BYU and it was filled with memories of those
trips and those I traveled with.

At the window well of their apartment

 They live in a three story building on the top floor.  It is a large brand new complex in northwest Oklahoma City.  There are fields already and at night you can hear the coyotes howling.  Some nights it is a very loud and violent sound.  I don't think people leave their dogs outside in that area.

Austen and Tosha "caught" kissing as they
waited for us to catch up.

Jena really wanted to make cookies with Jena so
Thursday night they made yummy snickerdoodles
which we enjoyed too much all week.

Austen and Jena flying a plane on the IPAD
flight simulator. Jena learned some new skills
and I think she liked it.

 Skipping Friday which earned its own post because it was special day in its own way (see following post)

Oklahoma City LDS Temple

Tosha, Mom, and Jena

Tosha and Austen (and their baby bump!)

Then to the Capital Building which looks a lot like the Utah Capital Building, That was fun to show Jena.

They had significant historical events
recorded in these stars.  I love reading stuff like
that, but some were very sad events

My fun traveling events

Then our next stop was the Oklahoma City Bombing location,  I wasn't sure that I wanted to go.  That was a piece of history I lived during the time we were living in Plano.  These sites are a bit unsettling for me.  However so many people had told me how much they liked it that I decided to go.  I was glad I did.

The two gates on the east and the west are marked with the times:  9:01 the time of innocent
and 9:03 the time of pain  (my names).  The bombs exploded at 9:02 which is represented by the water.

Each chair represents someone who died.
They each have the person's name on it and they
are lined up according to the floor they were on
during the blast.  The small chairs represent the
children who died.  Three women were pregnant and names
of their babies are also included.

There is a forest ranger where who have a great talk about the event and this memorial.  I was really glad that we listened to it as it reminded me of important details.  I would suggest you visit if you are ever in the area.

 Dinner and a walk at Hepron Lake.  This is where Austen and Tosha got engaged in September.

Austen's guitars--Jena got a little lesson while
we were there.

The cookies

I can't finishing this post without a mention of how well Tosha and Austen fed us while we were there.  We went to some fun restaurants but I loved watching them cook together and the great things that we ate.  Jena wants Tosha to teach her how to cook.  I did cook some pancakes one morning (of course Tosha made the batter!)

Sunday we enjoyed attending Church....and it was filled with young couples and babies every where.  We found out in talking to people that they have a large number of medical and dentist students in the ward.

It was sad to hug them goodbye but I was so happy I came and Jena was too.

Oklahoma sunset on our way to Amarill

old truck in a garden area of a hotel we stayed out



Aunt Robin and Jena at the Amarillo IHOP

Two pictures of Tascosa High School where
I grauduated

West on 1-40 Jena got these wind mills

And back in Utah

I love trips and I LOVE coming home (not a big fan of all of the laundry that comes back with you or also waits for you at home, but it is a small price to pay.)