37 hours 2300 miles later…

Nate and I left Utah for our little road trip Wednesday morning at 4 am. Being the great wife that I am I stayed awake until Park City and then slept for four hours….oops, so much for being good company to the driver. The good news is I drove for the next 500 miles to make up for sleeping the whole time Nate drove. I drove through the end of Wyoming and the beginning of Nebraska. Mostly there is nothing to look at, I kept myself entertained by eating spicy sunflower seeds and singing to the radio. We made our second pit stop in Nebraska to fill up and were welcomed by a sign that said “You are Nowhere” pretty awesome. Nate took over driving again after this and we passed a few exciting things like the Cabela’s headquarters and John Waynes birthplace… not that exciting but better than boring Wyoming. After 15 and a half hours (originally supposed to be 17) we made it to Des Moines, Iowa our first destination, but more importantly to Chilli’s for dinner at 9 pm! We were pretty hungry, Taco Bell for lunch really didn’t hit the spot. We went to bed as soon as we could get settled in.

The next morning we got up early (thankfully not as early as Wednesday) but still early. We went to McDonalds for breakfast because I guess most Marriots don’t have continental breakfast? I didn’t know that. If they have a restaurant on site you’re out of luck. McDonalds was a good second best. Nate drove the whole way to Chicago all by himself. I’m sure glad because this route was a little complicated and I didn’t want to be the one driving near Chicago. We made it around 2:30 and once again took all our stuff in the hotel. After a little rest we decided to go to the city for a break from the car! Woohoo! We took the Marriott Shuttle to the Midway Chicago Airport, which then connected us to the train, which took us right to chi town! Everyone was very patient and helpful with directions and taking pictures for us. Our first stop was The Sears (Willis) Tower. Of course we went in the front doors and were then redirected to the very clearly posted signs that said “Sky Deck this way, with an arrow.”

We walked in behind a whole group of 8^th graders, which made the experience much more exciting. After our Sky Deck Experience we went to dinner across the street to Giordano’s Pizza. It was sure yummy and both of us ate too much. After dinner we decided to take a quick walk over to The Chicago Pepsico office. We took a few pictures out front and Nate went in to ask if he could look around. The ladies at the front desk were super funny slash abrupt and kind of rude. They were probably just confused and wouldn’t let him in without an escort. But it was fun to see the office and hopefully they actually let him in to the one in New York. We took the train back and went to bed early again to start another early day.

Standing on the glass on floor 103!

Finally Friday and the last day of driving. Nate started us off again around 7:30 and we ate the yummy muffins my mom and Whitlie made us for breakfast. This day was probably the most exciting because we got to experience toll roads! The first one wasn’t too bad, we stopped, we paid and then we drove on. The second one we were confused, Nate rolled down his window to hand some money to the attendant and she waived him through, we were confused and just kept driving. The third was definitely the worst, we pulled up to the toll kiosk thingy to pay and it said “insert ticket” what ticket?? We never got a ticket. So we back up pushed the help button and the no ticket button and NOTHING happened.

So we backed up again and tried a different kiosk.. still nothing. We rolled the window down and asked a few people and they were all dumbfounded by the fact that we literally never got a ticket. I guess the second toll road was where we were supposed to get the ticket… well we didn’t. Basically we were stuck. So we snuck behind a semi and drove through haha. If we get fined so be it, but we don’t have a front license plate so we probably won’t. At the next toll we were sure to grab the ticket. We had a good laugh. We stopped and had Panera for lunch and then I took over driving again, this drive was a lot more exciting, Ohio and Pennsylvania sooo GREEN! It was beautiful. After another long day though we were ready to be done. Driving in New York was a little stressful but we didn’t get lost once! So proud, thanks to our wonderful phones. We made it safely to Connecticut at 10 pm on the dot. Lara and Dave were waiting for us, and the kids were supposed to be in bed, but Blake and Eliana were at the top of the stairs peeking through the railing (I felt bad we kept them up). I love it here. It’s beautiful, quaint, and the kids are so adorable. It’s going to be a great summer.

We feel so blessed that we made it safely with no malfunctions. Can’t wait to spend the summer here and get to know the Layton’s better. It is so sweet of them to let us stay in their basement and totally invade their space. They are wonderful people and we are so grateful for the connection we have to them! 

The beautiful backyard