minnesota road trip part 1: wa -> or -> id -> ut

it's taking me quite a few days to get this post together, so i decided to split it in two. i started it on the road and we've been busy having fun in minnesota. we've done a few road trips to minnesota over the past 9 years and i think we've really figured out our perfect logistics for it. 

1.  i love road trips, but i think most people would agree the way there is 1000% more fun than the way back. so the kids and i have started doing the road trip one-way, then thatcher drives back by himself (he seriously loves it!) and the kids and i fly back. 

2. we also like to take a different route each time. we've done montana - idaho - wyoming - north dakota - south dakota in a couple different combinations, but this year we decided to do oregon - idaho - utah - colorado - nebraska - iowa. it took longer, but i love seeing new places and the kids and i had never been to utah before. 

3. we (well, mostly thatcher) do a ton of research ahead of time to come up with places we want to check out along the way, as well as restaurants, and coffee shops. we also book all of our hotels. we do leave room for some spontaneity, but we find it makes decision-making much easier when you are in a new place and especially when people get tired/hangry. 

4. the road trip is part of the vacation to us. we have to remind the kids of that when they complain that we could get there so much faster if we just fly. we usually drive anywhere from 4-8 hours a day (not including stops) and that's perfect for us. this road trip took us 8 days total. 

day 1: seattle, wa to ontario, or

we left seattle at 8am. it was cool and rainy until we got over the pass. the east side of the mountains was sunnier and much hotter, as usual. but it's always a bit jolting to see the change. we stopped for a picnic lunch in kennewick, wa at a park. 

then we went to check out a public market in town. the kids got ice cream and i got a free tamale from the sweetest food vendor who insisted he wanted me to try it. 

we crossed into oregon and mountain time and also stopped at a special hardware store. :)

  we ended in ontario for the night. we got dinner at a 'country kitchen' and swam in the (busy!) hotel pool and got ready to do it all again the next day.

day 2: ontario, or to salt lake city, ut

we had another early morning out the door because we had 7-8 hours of driving without stops. we made our way across the idaho border and our first stop was 'neckar coffee' in boise, id which was a really cute place.

 then we made our way to twin falls, id for lunch at culver's (so exciting!) and to check out the overlook, which was incredible. 

after lunch, we made our way to shoshone falls, which was also amazing. that full rainbow was so beautiful, and the falls were huge.

 then we drove another few hours, crossed over into utah (my first time and my 39th state visited!) til we got to salt lake city. 

our hotel was downtown, which was fun. after we checked in, we walked around downtown for a little bit then we drove just out of the city to have dinner at a friend of thatchers' from his conference planning group. it was so nice for lani and her husband darren and their college age son rowan to host us for dinner. they made us fish tacos and they were so good! we forgot to take a picture. when we got back to the hotel we went for a late swim and had the pool and hot tub to ourselves. 

day 3: salt lake city, ut to moab, ut 

since we had a much shorter distance to drive this day, we decided to check out more of the salt lake city area in the morning. we drove to 'great salt lake state park' but it was honestly kind of a letdown. the lake itself was pretty, but everywhere was swarmed with bugs and it made it feel swampy and unpleasant. it was not what we were expecting. oh well.

 then we drove back to the city and went to a coffee shop and gluten free bakery for thatcher. we picked up lunch at whole foods and had a picnic at a pretty park before leaving town. 

on the way to moab, we stopped to look at some pretty scenery, a very old cemetery, and also a dinosaur track area. so cool!

 by the time we got to moab it was 95 degrees out! we checked into the hotel and then went to have dinner at a thai restaurant in town. i made my family eat outside (in the shade). ha!

 then we went to a grocery store to pick up picnic supplies for the national park the next day before heading to the awesome outdoor hotel pool. 

stay tuned for part 2 :)