The Best Days

I'm starting Graduate School in Boston this summer so daddy and I drove my car all the way from Utah to Massachusetts. {And when I say daddy and I drove, I mean I drove a grand total of maybe 5 hours and he drove the rest!}

This map became our third traveling companion as we tracked our (slow but fun) progress across the country. We flew from California to Utah on Friday and took off Saturday morning when my car hit exactly 7,000 miles. Perfect for tracking just how far we drove.

Grandma Hyer (who was in Salt Lake at the time) made sure we were totally stocked with goodies. Classic grandma, there was more food than we could have eaten and it was all good.

So, early Saturday we took off for day #2 of the adventure. We had a trunk and backseat totally jam packed with all my life's belongings, a box of goodies and a cooler of drinks, a map, and above all...absolutely NO idea just how long and awesome this trip was going to be!

Wyoming

State #3

(Ca and Ut counting as 1&2)

Wyoming was very very flat. We got excited when we saw these rocks, just for the change in scenery. You know you're in trouble when seeing rocks is cool.

Nebraska

State #4

Lots and lots of windmills and clouds.

We loved the clouds the whole trip long.

Iowa

State #5

{The birthplace of moi and alma mater for daddy}

Dad's orthodontic residency was here.

I was born here.

We watched the storm roll in. The same

system that devastated Joplin, Mo.

Who knew?

And then...

Illinois

State #6

{Dad and I couldn't stop saying "The Land of Lincoln" like the guy

from the movie That Thing You Do}

As we rolled into Chicago

daddy put music by the group Chicago on. He said, "Who's this?", and then had to spell all the way to C.H.I...before I got it. "Oh! Chicago! I get it".

It was the second to last day of Oprah taping in Harpo Studios.

Really fun.

They open up the windows of this Bar and Grill,

so it was like eating half inside and half out.

Daddy taught me why the rain makes rainbows.

Indiana

State #7

Indiana struggled and didn't welcome us with a sign.

So we improvised.

Ohio

State #8

Two places @ once!

No retouching. The clouds were glowing.

Groves and groves of trees.

Pennsylvania

State #9

It says, "Buckle up next million miles" Ha!

New York

State #10

Recognize this? Watch the opening of The Office.

Connecticut

State #11

This was pretty much a drive-by state. We're lucky we even saw the sign.

Massachusetts

State #12

My house!

We're currently in the middle of a torrential downpour/tornado warning...exactly as I'm typing this. So we ran around shutting all the windows (in case you didn't notice, there are quite a few) and sat on the back of the couch to watch the lightning.

Awesome.

If you look close, (or click on the photo to enlarge it)

I'm in the top story window, left side.

That's my room!

Under the green monster.

We love fish so we had to hit this restaurant.

Oldest in America. On the freedom trail.

We shared our first boston cream pie.

I thought it was fitting that my first boston cream pie I've ever had was eaten in Boston.

Plymouth

Cape Cod

You guessed it...we ate cod fish & chips

I love my daddy-o.

How many girls get to spend 10 days with just their daddy?

~~~~~

The song below has been my theme song these past few days.

Makes me think of my parents.

Sometimes I still feel like a little kid and remember things from my childhood like it was yesterday: running around before dinner with Amanda Adams playing Lion King in the backyard, getting off the bus at the park, riding my purple bike and crashing the first time I ever tried to show grandma and grandpa, folding laundry on the bed while mama irons, taking bubble baths in the jacuzzi and turning it on when the water was too low so the bubbles went flying, and endless endless running of errands.

I'm trying to be fearless as I start this whole big chapter of life.

~But sometimes I just want to be little again~