Vegas, Baby

Last Tuesday, fully loaded with our trusty backpacks, one old atlas and plenty of water, we set off for Vegas.

 

We spent the first two nights with Zac's old friend and college roommate Gary and his wife, Lisa. They treated us to some amazing pizza and let us take the first dip in their pool of the summer.

I'd never been to Vegas before, so we had pre-planned a bit of a splurge for some of our time here. We booked a room on the Strip at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, an incredible hotel/casino/playground for adults. When we weren't lounging by the pool with an overpriced beer, we were walking the Strip and taking photos like a couple of fools.

We had a lovely dinner with Amy and Don Kuhl (Zac's old boss and friend), lost every single penny that we gambled (fifteen dollars I'll never see again) and saw our first Cirque du Soleil show at the Bellagio.

Finally, our pockets considerably lightened, we said goodbye to Sin City and hit the road again.

Utah Recap

We had a great stay in Utah! We golfed with Bronson and Heidi, went to Bomber Athlete (thanks, Joel!) with Jann and Scott, made friends with pygmy goats, celebrated at Ashley's baby shower, and - my personal favorite - watched Brackyn (a.k.a. Lane Frost) ride about a gazillion bulls. 

 

Flying Colors

Saturday morning, Gary finally passed emissions inspections. Zac and I registered him with the Utah DMV today and we are ready to hit the road tomorrow! Brackyn gives Gary and his new seat covers two thumbs up.

Happy Mother's Day!

We celebrated Mother's Day at Zac's parents' house with all the boys and their significant others, some of the grandkids and most of the dogs. And plenty of quesadillas for everyone! Happy Mothers Day to all past, present, and future mothers and especially my own. Love you, Mom!

Oh, Gary

This is what most of our week in Utah has looked like:

Gary failed both the emissions and the safety inspection that we need to pass in order to register him in Utah. Most of the problems have been easy enough to fix (new headlight, lose the front window tint, etc.) but our check engine light stays stubbornly on no matter what we do. Zac's friend, Bronson, and his brother, Haden, have been helping us diagnose and fix Gary and our sister-in-law, Angie, has been a huge help getting together the car parts we need.

If we don't get him passed soon, we may be delaying our departure a few days. I'll keep you updated!

Still Not Dead Yet

It's been a crazy few weeks since leaving Florida and taking to the road in Gary! We made it safely to Utah, but we've had a lot of adventures along the way.

Our first stop on the road (besides one to fix up Gary's blown-out headlights and brakelights) was Montgomery, Alabama, where we shared Mexican food and some porch sittin' time with Miss P. Brannon Bradford. Our tastes haven't changed much in six years.

The next (very early) morning on our way out of town, Gary stopped running. Zac pulled off the freeway just in time and we limped down the street to Eddie's Automotive. Finding them was a lucky, lucky break. Eddie's diagnosed the problem, let us hang out in their office for hours while they got the part from town and installed it, way under-charged us for labor, and were basically the friendliest bunch of people we've run into in a long time.

That repair job made it possible to make it to Paducah, Kentucky, where we spent the night and tried frog legs for the first time. (A cross between fish and chicken. Interesting, but tasty!)

 

In the morning, we headed to St. Louis, Missouri for lunch and a visit with Grammie and Granddad...

...and pulled in to Yorkville, Illinois that night. At last! We spent our week hanging out with Dan and Kim and our adorable nieces, golfing with Mom, and relaxing on the patio with Dad and Mary. Then I left Zac behind for a couple of nights to spend time with some of my favorite friends. He wasn't very sad to miss out on our girltalk.

On Saturday, Cinco de Mayo, we loaded Gary up with our backpacks and plenty of snacks and made a break for the West! Utah or bust!