Hard to Say Goodbye.

After lunch, we had the sad task of saying goodbye to Utah.  Goodbye to the beautiful view that we enjoyed every day.  Goodbye to the camper that had become our home for 5 days.  Goodbye to the rugged adventure that awaited us each day.  Goodbye to these adorable kittens!  Goodbye to the hay that caused my eyes to itch and water (ha ha).  Goodbye to family. 

We want to thank my brother Scott, my sister-in-law Sam, and their kids Katie, Hunter and Ben for inviting us and hosting such a fun family gathering.  We made lots of special memories and will remember this trip forever.  

Emily and Katie had such a great time together (they are 8 & 9) and have been pretty inseparable since they were babies).  Each morning they greeted each other and set off to play.  They'd check in occasionally and eat with us, but seemed not to want to waste a single moment together.  In this picture, they were holding kittens born 6 days ago on the farm.  Emily can't stop talking about how cute they were.

Evan accomplished big things.  As we peered out from the cabin, he spotted a "mountain" and declared that he wanted to climb it!  So, he and Mark set out one day and climb it they did!  Had to walk through cattle and endure the hot sun and heat, but they made it to the top.  The other big accomplishment was to learn to drive a 4-wheeler.  At first, he drove with Mark but before long he was taking off on his own.  Pretty cool.

We will miss Hunter and Ben too.   What cute little guys and it was so cool to see how the Noll kids love it out there.  We now know why.

Well, I sit here at the Best Western in Laramie, Wyoming after a long day of driving.  We now have entered part 3 of our trip- the return sight-seeing drive.  We will head into the Badlands tomorrow and will visit Mount Rushmore and other "Wild West" destinations.