minnesota road trip part 2: my birthday and july 4th

 day 4: full day in moab

when we booked this trip that overlapped with my 40th birthday, i requested that we do a zero-drive day that day (july 3rd). we made a reservation to enter 'arches national park' at 8am to beat the crowds (and the heat). we spent 4 hours in the park. we did a couple short hikes, took in the awesome rock formations, and had a picnic lunch. 

the temperature went from 70-91 in the time that we were there, and we were dying by noon so we headed back to the hotel. thankfully that gave us lots of time to just relax and go in the pool in the afternoon, which wasn't empty for much longer than to take this picture.

 oh, and we did laundry - because real life! for dinner, we went to an italian place in moab that had gluten free options for thatcher. i was happy because that isn't always the easiest to find. and it was a great place. it was literally 100 degrees when we went to dinner, but we sat on the covered patio and it really didn't feel too bad, thanks to the mist machines. after dinner, we went to walk across a bridge over the river and that felt much hotter. 

then it was back to the hotel room for slices of cake from the grocery store.

 it really was a perfect day and i am so thankful for it. turning 40 reminds me that i wrote a blog post about turning 30 ten years ago. i can't believe it's been 10 years. i can't help but think what 50 will look like with a 23 year old and 20 year old...?! now that is really unbelievable! 

day 5: moab, ut to ridgway, co

on july 4th we said goodbye to beautiful moab with a visit to a coffee shop in town. 

then we hit the road for colorado. once we passed into the state, the landscape started to change drastically. we also didn't have any cell service for a couple hours. we stopped to check out some pretty spots along the way. 

we got to ridgway by 1pm and went out in search of lunch.  azalea and i ended up at a farm-to-table burger place and ashford and thatcher got thai takeout and ate at the park.

 we walked around town a little more and then hopped in the car to drive 20 minutes to the town of ouray. thatcher's parents lived there in the early 1970s so we came armed with their address to find the house :) and we did! so fun. we also got to see the end of a big, annual, water fight put on by the local fire fighters on main street. lots of cheering and water spraying from huge hoses. such a funny tradition. it was packed!

then we headed back to ridgway to get ice cream and check into our hotel. we knew we needed to get back to ouray again with plenty of time before fireworks because it would be crowded. we got there over an hour before fireworks and found a spot to sit on the grass in the park. thankfully thatcher had a sheet in our car! azalea and i got burritos from a food truck and thatcher and ashford brought food. it was such a pretty spot to watch fireworks, surrounded by the mountains. and the fireworks show was great too. we hadn't been to a professional one in a few years. 

only downside was the traffic leaving town. it took about 45 minutes just to get to the highway to go back to ridgway. totally worth it though! 

day 6: ridgway, co to silverthorne, co

we had breakfast at the restaurant of our hotel in the morning that had an amazing view. 

 then we hit the road for the day. our first stop was a coffee shop in montrose, co. the kids had fun playing a game of chess there.

 then we continued through colorado and into the rocky mountains, which are so gorgeous. we stopped at a farm stand and got some wine and jam. for lunch we met up with our friends chris and lindsey who we knew in minnesota and washington. they are temporarily living in colorado. we went to a mexican restaurant and sat on the patio with them and their cute dog janet. :) it was so fun to see them on the road.

 after we left, we made our way higher and higher into the mountains. we stopped to see an ice grotto. the kids and thatcher did the climb down the rocks, but i didn't have the right footwear on, so i stayed back.

 another highlight of the afternoon was going over independence pass at 12,000 ft. the views were incredible! 

we finally made it to the town of leadville (still at 10,000 ft) and had dinner there at a fun little pizza place. 

then we drove the last 40 minutes of the day to our hotel in silverthorne. 

day 7: silverthorne, co to omaha, ne

this was our longest driving day of the trip. after checking out of our hotel, we visited a coffee shop on the river called 'red buffalo coffee + tea'. great coffee and the location could not be beat.

 it was a really chilly morning in the mountains, it was in the upper 40s. we made our way back down in elevation. we stopped for lunch at a dairy queen in eastern colorado. we passed into nebraska and central time zone. wahoo! we could see storm cloud building all afternoon as we drove through nebraska, so we kept an eye on it. we hit the storm about 5:30 pm and proceeded to drive for 2.5 hours through heavy rain and wind before arriving in omaha. it was definitely the least enjoyable part of the trip. 

we went to our friend sloan's house for dinner, which was so nice after the long drive. sloan used to work with thatcher in seattle, but moved back to omaha a couple years ago. it was nice to catch up and the kids enjoyed a rainbow after the storm and chasing fireflies in his yard. we didn't get to our hotel until after 10pm. 

day 8: omaha, ne to minneapolis, mn

this was our last day on the road (obviously) :) before checking out of our hotel, we walked over to 'bad seed coffee' which thatcher said was the best espresso of the trip! 

then we checked out of the hotel and headed towards a waterfront park near downtown. it was such an awesome outdoor space. all sorts of amenities for people of all ages. and as a bonus, we met up with some friends from seattle there! i had texted the dad of one of ashford's classmates telling him we were in omaha (where he's from) and to my surprise he texted back that they were also there! so funny. we didn't leave town until 11am, but thankfully we only had about 6 hours of driving. 

we crossed into iowa very quickly. then we stopped at a chipotle for lunch. a few hours later, we crossed into minnesota! 

our last road trip stop was at 'minnesota's largest candy store' which is a famous place in jordan, mn. none of us had ever been there and while it had an impressive amount of candy and other foods, it was super crowded and just plain overwhelming.

 we rolled up in front of my mom's house at dinner time. i am so thankful for all the fun things we saw and did and that everything went smoothly on the road. 

now we are in the middle of our 3 weeks (2 for thatcher) of fun with friends and family. i look forward to this all year!