Epic Road Trip Parts 5 & 6: Road to Reno and home again

On Monday morning, June 13th we hit the road at 6:45 for our 1000-mile journey to Reno.

We set out with the goal of stopping only for gas and restroom breaks, and ended up doing just that. In fact, we stopped only TWO times in the entire drive! The first stop came somewhere in Wyoming around 11am for gas, potty and McDonald's to-go (the girls enjoyed a rare Happy Meal and got a kick out of eating in the van while watching a movie). After naps and snacks and another movie, we stopped again for gas and potties (and coffees for Mom and Dad) around 4:00 somewhere in Nevada. Several snacks and cat-naps and another movie or two later, the reserve light popped on only a couple miles from Reno and we made a quick gas-only stop before pulling into our favorite home-away-from-home, the Peppermill.

I'm still amazed when I think back on how well our epic day of driving went. We covered 1019 miles in 13 hours and it was easy! (Of course, I say that as one who didn't drive a single mile!) The kids were very good-natured about spending so much time in their car seats and it was just a smooth, pleasant drive (with the exception of another brief, crazy thunder and rain storm around the Bonneville Salt Flats). After checking into the Peppermill shortly after 8pm we ordered a room service pizza, watched a little TV and called it a night.

I took very few pics between the time we left Colorado on the 13th and arrived home in Clarksburg on Thursday, June 16th. It was great to have two full days to relax in Reno after being "on schedule" for eight days. While it's fun to have places to go and people to see, we Kelishes (well, at least Shaun and I) are quite fond of relaxation time. It was the perfect way to end our trip!

We set out for Reno on a  route calculated by GPS, which put us on this little dirt back road for several miles very early in the drive. I was surprised (and preturbed) enough to take this pic, but my concerns disappeared when we caught up to a long line of cars meandering through the country-side (no doubt also being guided by GPS).

Beautiful Colorado

I snapped this pic of my data-obsessed husband while he logged our road trip "stats" at our first stop ;)

Watching TV in our room at the Peppermill while waiting for pizza

Jesse took a different route from CO but met us in Reno for dinner on Tuesday night!

Cheers to a great meal at Ruby River and to the fantastic end of another great trip!

The kids totally redeemed themselves after our disasterous experience at Ruby River last summer 

The girls often complain about sharing a bed while on vacation, but then we awake to this scene...

(This pic was taken a week earlier, in our hotel in Ft Collins)

Of course we had to spend a few hours at Circus Circus. We timed it right to catch the trapeze and other aerial acts this time. 

Napping at Circus Circus with the toy that Eloise won for him

Having fun playing ring toss

We got to drive under the Reno sign as we headed back to the Peppermill

This girl hit a jackpot of over $100 during my last hour-long casino stint of the trip! Shaun won even more than that, and our entire Reno trip ended up paying for itself! What a way to end vacay! After a (FREE!) sushi feast in our hotel room, we hit the hay and then the road bright and early on Thursday morning so that Shaun could be at work by 9:30. 

The kids and I spent the morning outside, where I was greeted in the garden by lotsa veggies ready for harvest. We had an amazing trip, but there really is no place like home!

Epic Road Trip Part 4: Fun with family in Westminster

From Erie we headed down I-25 about 20 miles to the town of Westminster, where we checked into our room at the Drury Inn & Suites and met up with a dozen other family members also in town for my cousin's wedding. It had been nearly three years since we'd all been together (the last time being my cousin Miranda's wedding in Texas) so it was our first opportunity to introduce everyone to Eddie! 

The rest of Friday afternoon and evening was spent catching up with family at the hotel as everyone arrived in town for my cousin Jen's wedding the next day, Saturday, June 11th, which was held at the Shrine of St. Anne Catholic Church in the nearby town of Arvada, with the reception following at the Church Ranch Event Center in Westminster. Sunday was spent hanging out by the pool with family and then going to my cousin Syndi's home in Lafayette (which I'm disappointed to admit will have to go undocumented because I failed to take a single photo). We topped off the weekend by hosting a wine tasting for our family back in our hotel room on Sunday night.

Our three days with family in Westminster went by way too fast and, as always, left me looking forward to the next time we're all together again!

Visiting with family upon arriving at the hotel. The hotel offered a complimentary breakfast AND happy hour cocktails and snacks every day. so we got to spend a lot of time together in this room.

Eddie charming the crowd

Avalon and Eloise getting reacquainted with my cousin Kayla

Later that night a bunch of us got together in my parents' room for pizza (and more cocktails)

Wedding time! Do I have the cutest kids in the world or what?! :)

Eloise insisted that I take a photo of her with this picture that she drew

Thanks to my Uncle Jim for snapping this family photo outside the hotel

Family selfie in the church, minus Ellie, plus my cousin Ally the Photobomb Master

Four generations photo with my dad and Grandma Smitty, who will turn 90 in December! (I was soooooo mad at Ellie for refusing to be in this photo...)

Ally and Avalon at the reception

Eloise and Kayla. It seems like every trip we take Eloise chooses a "favorite" person, and this time Kayla was it. ;)

I don't remember what was so funny, but I love Avalon's smile. She's so good at posing for photos that it's rare for me to spontaneously catch one of her real, genuine smiles.

This poor guy got stuck at our table, but he won the girls over with the idea of trying to make prayer cards (there was one at each seat) stick to their foreheads. Really nice guy, too bad I don't remember his name!

Eddie with my Uncle Jim

:)

The kiddos unwinding with a little TV back at the hotel. We were kind of party poopers and left before the music and dancing even got started (but in our defense, it was 9:00!). A nice, relaxing end to a very long day!

This pic was taken nearly 24 hours later, about 8pm on Sunday evening. (I am so annoyed with myself for not taking a single pic all day until this one!) This is Avalon posted at the door of our hotel room, waiting to greet "guests" and hand each one a wine glass for the wine tasting we hosted. :) 

A few shots of the group...

Last pic of the night, shortly before everyone headed back to their rooms and we readied ourselves for the next phase of our adventure... the one-day, 1000 mile drive to Reno!

Epic Road Trip Parts 2 & 3: Catching up with friends

We arrived in Fort Collins around 6pm on Tuesday night, which left plenty of time for us to get in our first visit with my friend Abiah.

Abiah and I have been friends since meeting in the dorms at Cal Poly in 2001. She actually came with me when I went to visit Shaun in Humboldt for the first time! She was a bridesmaid in our wedding and is one of my most favorite people ever, but life took us in different directions and it had been an unbelievable FIVE whole years since our paths last crossed.

It is amazing to think that Abiah wasn't even living in Colorado when I first started planning this trip. I had told her when we'd be in CO on the off chance she'd be able to come home for a visit at that time (she's from Ft. Collins but was living in Minnesota at the time), but it wasn't going to work out. Then...  in an incredible twist of fate, she parted ways with her company and ended up back in Ft. Collins only a month or so before our trip! It was so great to see her and spend some time catching up on the last five years!

Giddy girls ready for a fun day in Ft. Collins

Eddie enjoying an egg and cheese omelette from the hotel's fantastic breakfast buffet

Kicking off the fun with a swim in the hotel pool

We met Abiah for lunch at a cool place called Avogadro's Number

Avogadro's is a bar, restaurant and music venue. We were there too early to catch any live music, but the girls really enjoyed this awesome tree house on site.

View of the tree house from our table

Eddie conveniently  passed out for a nap while the girls played and Shaun, Abiah and I enjoyed a couple beverages. ;) It was here that I discovered my new favorite beer!

After lunch we walked around Old Town Ft. Collins, where the girls enjoyed the statues and other fun little things to do. Fort Collins is a laid-back college town (home to Colorado State), and its downtown area was actually the model for Disneyland's Main Street USA!

(They both wanted their picture taken with this bear)

Can't believe we've been friends for almost 15 years! Time flies!

Having a blast! Later the girls splashed around in those fountains in the background of this pic. Also later, a strange thing happened in this spot... an older man with a severely "busted up face", as Shaun described it, came up to Eloise, gave her a Father's Day card and pen, and then walked off again without saying a word. We noticed that he was handing cards out to lots of kids, so I theorized that he was encouraging kids to acknowledge their dads on the upcoming  holiday. I guess we'll never know, but I kept the card and we did end up giving it to Shaun on Father's Day! Ha ha!

Girl's pic back in our hotel room! After returning from downtown we hung out and chatted for several more hours. It was a great end to a great visit!

On Thursday, June 9th we checked out of our hotel in Fort Collins and did a little shopping in town before heading to nearby Erie, CO for a visit with our friends, the Jackson family.

Jeff and Teresa and their sons Zephyr and Arlo lived in Clarksburg until they moved to Erie in June of last year. Our families became fast friends after meeting a few years back, and we were really bummed to learn they were moving away. When we told them we would be in the area for a family wedding and would like to visit, they graciously offered to put us up for the night, even though they were knee-deep in the moving process after having purchased a new home. It was a short but sweet visit and I'm so grateful we had the opportunity to reconnect and catch a glimpse of their new life in Colorado!

After a couple hours of catching up we headed to downtown Erie to check out the Farmer's Market and have dinner

Best buddies Arlo and Eloise held hands for the walk down town <3

The big kids, Avalon and Zephyr

Pic with my oldest and youngest at the Farmers Market. Of course Eddie is sleeping again.

Daddy & Avi selfie

Shaun showing off his hula hooping skills for the kids

For dinner Jeff and Teresa treated us to pizza at an awesome local brewery called The Old Mine, 

Awake and ready for pizza! 

After a very light rain shower (more like a misting), this beautiful rainbow appeared right as the sun was setting

After dinner the dads took the kids next door for ice cream cones

The only pic I got of all five kids together, playing the next morning

Even in a house full of "boy toys", Eloise found a way to play dress up

Eddie having a barrel of fun with a Barrel of Monkeys (and five bazillion other toys)

After some morning play time we packed up we headed to a local play/spray ground for a picnic and some fun in the sun

Eloise wandered off from the group to enjoy her juice box in solitude

...then she noticed me taking her picture and insisted I take another one of her striking this pose

Arlo!

Daddy and Avi relaxing in the park, shortly before we said our goodbyes to the Jacksons and hit the road for "phase four" of our trip!