Laanjak: Fall 2016 Family and Europe Trip - part 1

This is the beginning of several blog posts I will be making detailing the experiences we had in our recent extended trip to see family and friends in the East and in Europe.

We had hoped to have completed the sale of our home by the 1st of September and then start on our trip later that day, however, the process took longer than planned. After closing on our home on the 7th, we left the valley heading south, intending to cross the country on Interstate 70 and visiting a few temples along the way.

We first headed to Fruitland and visited an old friend, Vickie Potter in their rustic home. It had been a number of years since we saw the Potters after they moved from our West Jordan neighborhood, so it was good to see her again. He was away at the time, so we missed him.

Shauna and Vickie

Rather than going all the way down to I-70 initially, we decided to follow US highway 40, so we went to Vernal, visited the temple there and then headed east from there into Colorado.

Shauna at the Vernal Temple

We began looking for a place to have a late lunch and ended up at a little café in Dinosaur, Colorado. It was a small place where the only woman there was waitresses, cook, and babysitter.

Don't I look like a bundle of joy?

We spent the night in Golden, Colorado and then visited the Denver temple and participated in a session there, serving as the witness couple.

At the Denver Temple

We traveled the rest of the state of Colorado and across Kansas, staying the night near the Kansas City, Missouri Airport. The next day, we attended the temple in Kansas City and were once again the witness couple. It was wonderful to mingle with the members attending these sessions with us. Everywhere we go, the blessings of the Lord can be found among the people.

Shauna at the Kansas City Temple

After Kansas City, we struggled through the rush hour traffic of the city and then made our way across the state to St. Louis and found the temple there. We attended there and were once again blessed with being asked to be the witness couple for the session.

The St. Louis Temple

After leaving St. Louis, it was getting towards evening and we drove through the city, saw the grand arch,

A drive-by of the Arch

crossed the Mississippi River and on into Illinois.

Crossing the Mississippi into Illinois

From there, we headed through and out of town (seeing the arch along the way), stopping for gas a little ways into Illinois. The road conditions were difficult and so we took another route, but then back to Interstate 64 and on towards Indiana. The weather conditions were difficult with severe rain and also tornado and flood warnings along the way. It was dark and so it was difficult to see. I followed the tail lights of a truck most of the way. We stopped at a Hardees for some dinner and then on to Evansville, Indiana to stay at a Super 8 there, not far off the freeway.

After Evansville, we traveled into Kentucky,

and on to Louisville and attended the temple there. Again, we enjoyed the wonderful spirit of the people. Usually the sessions were small, but the spirit was not. We were not the witness couple, but sat next to them.

The Louisville Kentucky Temple

We headed on towards Virginia, after stopping at a Kentucky Fried Chicken (in Kentucky). I loved when the woman serving us at the window said, "And have a blessed day!" True Southern hospitality! We enjoyed traveling again through Kentucky. It was beautiful seeing the horses running in their fields and the countryside is beautiful. After Kentucky, we went through the main part of West Virginia, including the capitol, Charleston.

From there to Virginia was beautiful, except for the tolls required, not in themselves that they were much, but that we found out too late that they did not accept credit cards and we were out of cash.

At last, by evening, we arrived in Raphine, Virginia and visited with and stayed the night with Beth and Ray. The next day was Sunday and we attended church with them in the Lexington, Virginia Ward. After a nice meal that Ray cooked, we visited a while and then headed out to Maryland to visit Aaron and his family (continued on the next blog entry).