Drive to Utah

The trip to Utah was such a big deal that we have to divide the Blog posts into sections to cover it all! We'll start with the actual drive. Three 8 hour drives... We were suppose to leave Austin around 3PM, scheduled to arrive in Wichita, KS at 1AM; however, we were delayed leaving and hit traffic in Dallas and Oklahoma City. That made our arrival time 3am, but it wasn't too bad that first night. Once we got the luggage secured in the trailer, the kids mostly slept and we made it.

The next morning in Wichita, KS, we spent the day at the Zoo and a place called the Exploratorium. Wichita was actually a cute little city and we had a fun time. Our plan was the make the kids nice and tired for the drive to Denver that night. This only partially worked. It made them nice and tired...but they didn't fall asleep very easily and ended up crying a lot (the girls did). Driving quickly through Kansas, we might as well have been in the desert given how deserted it was, but finally, when we'd had our limit, we bailed in a small town called Quinter, KS. They had a Dairy Queen and a city park. We proceeded to have our dinner picnic and played at the park for the next 2 hours. This allowed enough time for the kids to relax, let out some energy, and get ready for the remaining drive to Denver.


Tori on a swing in Quinter, KS

All the kids got to swing! At first, the town seemed like a ghost town. We saw no townsfolk and it felt deserted, but eventually people started to crawl out of their homes and they ended up being really nice.

Wichita, KS

The park in Quinter had "old school" items that our kids got to play on. You know, the kind that make you throw up and break your leg, but were sure fun!

Ahhh....glories Dairy Queen.

Tori loved the gorilla's at the zoo...

This was an interesting exhibit at the Exploratorium. It was all about your insides and they had a whole section on the intestines and colon... in fact...they had a "colon" that kids could play in (it was a large plastic slide shaped like a colon).

Ahhh...Quinter.

Solving puzzles at the Exploratorium.

Not sure what Daddy is doing...

This was a very pretty river that ran through Wichita.

Why whenever we go to a Zoo, Mason's favorite thing is feeding the fish and ducks?!?

This elephant was doing tricks for us!


After we left Quinter, we made our way to Denver. That night was rough. All the kids were crying and we dragged our stuff through the hotel into the room. We were tired and grumpy as the day wore us out as well. At this point, no further pictures were taken. Either we'd had it, or just couldn't muster the energy. In Denver the next morning, we spent some time with Ashlee's Uncle and Aunt. We swam in their pool and had lunch with them. It was really fun to relax. Then we made the last bit of the drive to Manilla, Utah. Arrival time was 12AM.

Looking back...the idea of late night drives was good in theory, and technically worked the first night. But the compounded effect of night after night took it's toll and didn't work out so well in the end. Right now, I can hardly consider driving to the store with the kids (aftershock from the trip); however, come next summer, maybe the trauma will subside and I'll consider doing it again!