La Gran Aventura Day 9: Drive to Arizona

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

This morning Betty and I went on a nice morning jog, and then we packed up everything for Utah.

A word on packing:

I’m pretty proud of the system that we’ve got for packing right now. Before we left, I went through with everyone and made a careful packing list in Apple Reminders for each of them. Recent updates have made it possible to group to-dos in Reminders into groups like Shoes, Outerwear, and Hygiene, so it’s easy to keep everything organized. And they way the kids have packed makes it so that everything in a group is packed into an individual bag or packing cube inside of a bag.

I then saved each list as a template and shared each list with each person. They then were able to access the list and make it a template on their own device. We can also share an active list with each other.

So this makes it possible for me to tell the kids generate a new list (from the template), share it with me, and pack completely up. Then I can follow on my phone to see how they are doing.

Sounds like a perfect system, right?

Well, not exactly. We have run into two problems. One is that Betty packed a bunch of things  after she and I made her list -- like complete bags full of stuff that is not on the list, a juicer, and a bathroom scale. So her list is not an accurate reflection of what she needs to pack. The second is that the kids are having a hard time with the concept of “actually see the the thing with your eyes and/or hold it in your hand before you mark it as packed,” which leads to a bunch of things not being packed because they were assumed to be in the right place but weren’t actually there.

It’s a work in progress.

We also had the problem this morning of not being on the same page about how long packing would take, or how much cleaning of Grandma and Grandpa’s house would need to be done before we left, so we ended up leaving way later than some people wanted to leave. It all led to a carryover of the irritability from the past few days. When we finally started driving I ordered everyone to just put a movie on their device and be quiet.

That worked.

The drive to Arizona went really well. Nobody was in much of a mood for conversation, and we didn’t stop much, so the time went by really quickly.

The highlight of the drive was definitely stopping at the Wahwheap overlook.

When I was a kid my Grandma Mack had a timeshare on a houseboat (Kingfisher II) at Lake Powell, and we would go down at least once a year for an adventure with Mack cousins. She eventually sold her share, but Lake Powell will always be a magical place for me. We always docked in Bullfrog Marina, so I wasn’t as familiar with Wahwheap. I’ve driven by this overlook a hundred times and never stopped, but the light in the sky was so perfect that I couldn’t resist.

We weren’t disappointed.

One more memorable thing happened on the way.

Just south of Sedona and north of Phoenix there is a little town called Camp Verde. It’s on a reservation. There is a big Casino there, and Montezuma Castle National Monument. Anyway, we did a quick pit stop there. Betty was in the gas station, and I was in the car with the kids. I turned around to say something to them, and my knee accidentally bumped the button that opens the back hatch of the Sequoia. I didn’t realize until the door started opening and stuff started falling out. The worst casualty was our bathroom scale (one of the other things that Betty snuck in the morning of Day 1), which was made of class and completely shattered.

The scale was a sad loss for us, because it’s been one of our best tools in our weight loss journey this year.

Anyway, I quickly hopped out of the car, hoping nobody had seen. And an old Native American man looked at me and just said something like: “It looks like you didn’t close the back up tight.”

I sheepishly walked into the station and asked for a broom to clean things up.

It was so great to finally get to Janie’s house in Queen Creek, Arizona. Her kids are adorable. They love us, and we love them.

Unfortunately, there was a bunch more grumbling among the crew about sleeping arrangements, but finally everyone got to sleep.

Let the next stage begin :)

Hours in the car today: 11

Total hours in the car: 39

Miles Driven: 655

Total Miles Traveled: 2,255

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La Gran Aventura Day 8: Grading, Cleaning, and Christmas Lights

Monday December 18, 2023

Now that we have a new vehicle, we’re hoping to leave for Arizona tomorrow. So the theme for today was tying everything up before we leave.

The kids did a good job of vacuuming out the old Sequoia, and we transferred the things that needed to be moved from the old to the new.

Before we left on this trip, I had hoped to get all of my grading for the semester done, but that didn’t happen, so I had to bring a big pile of things with me. Well, today I hoped to finish it all, but that didn’t happen either. I did get some good work done, but it’s really tricky with everything else going on.

One of the best moments of the day was when I snuck away from everyone to go up on my Mom and Dad’s balcony to watch the sunset. The sun actually sets in the west, over Utah Lake, and the view from the balcony is to the mountains (north and east), but the light of the sunset on the clouds above Mt. Timpanogos was stunning. And I just sat and watched as the sky darkened -- turning from a pinkish-gray golden hour to a deep blue. It was good to slow down for a bit and just watch the process of nature unfold.

One thing that’s been great this year is that River has found a true love for Christmas lights. She’s always ooh-ing and ah-ing about what we see. We had hoped to take her up to Salt Lake to see the lights, but because of construction up there, we decided just to take her around town. The lights at the Orem City Center are really great, and Riverwoods is always awesome as well.

One side note: Christmas light photography is really tough. The lighting is really tough to get right. But it’s a great challenge and opportunity to get better.

After the lights we went to see Grandma Neubert one more time. She is so sweet, and we had a really nice visit.

I wish I could say at this point that everything is awesome. And we really have done some great things and learned a lot. But over the past couple of days, we have all gotten really irritable. Everyone is just one everyone else’s nerves. I think the kids are a bit frustrated because they have just spent a bunch of time hanging around waiting for us to do the car shopping or the car buying. We’ve also just been together for a LOT of time, and I think we are all realizing that that is going to be the norm for a long time. I think everyone needs to step up their game by being more respectful and more tolerant. If we don’t it’s going to be a long, long, long six months.

If you are enjoying these posts, feel free to comment, ask questions, etc. We love knowing that our friends are keeping track of us.

If you click here you can find an index of all of our blog entries.

La Gran Aventura Day 7: Ancestors, Church, and the Choirside

La Gran Aventura Day 7: Ancestors, Church, and the Choirside

Sunday December 17, 2023

A few weeks ago I had lunch in Hillsdale with my good friend Kelly Franklin and the local Catholic priest, Father David. It was a great opportunity to meet, express mutual faith and willingness to work together, and to talk about the Camino. I told them that I’ve been thinking a lot about a dialogue between our two faiths related to the Camino. There is so much that we have in common, and then interesting points of divergence as well. One of those points has to do with the fact that Catholicism has a long tradition of pilgrimage, while in our church we tend to place more emphasis on pioneers than pilgrims.

But the more I think about it, the more I realize that we do have a strong pilgrim tradition in our church -- we just don’t call it that. Anyone who has taken a long trip to visit Salt Lake City to see the temple, or the church history sites in Palmyra, New York; Kirland, Ohio; Nauvoo, Illinois; or Independence, Missouri, has taken a pilgrimage. These are all places we consider sacred, and our faith is strengthened for being there.

One difference, though, is that a traditional pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred site with the goal of forgiveness of sins, or a request for healing, or to give thanks for a miracle. In our church, we go on these pilgrimages to learn about our past, to have our faith strengthened by being in sacred places, and to feel connected to our ancestors. When I pointed this out to Father David, he talked about how when he hiked to Santiago, he felt the same connection that I was describing. It was an important part of his pilgrimage.

This theme of connection with our ancestors is definitely a theme for the trip so far. So much of what we have done has had to do with connecting with family -- past and present.

All of this is a prologue to say that on this trip we are definitely feeling connected to our ancestors. This morning, especially, Betty felt that her grandmother was very close to us -- accompanying us on this journey.

Betty and I with Abuelta Acosta on our wedding day

It’s Sunday, so we got ourselves gussied up and headed off to church. My sister Annie was singing in her church in Orem, and my cousin James’s daughter Samantha was speaking in church in advance of going on a full-time mission to Tennessee, so we decided to divide and conquer. Betty went to support Annie (who did an amazing job and had the added bonus of a Spanish-language Sunday school class), and I took the kids to Provo to Sam’s talk.

Samantha gave a beautiful talk about how God has been working in her life. She has a powerful testimony of the simple message of the gospel, and I’m sure she will be a great missionary. I took advantage of the 2nd hour to conduct an interview with someone from our ward over Zoom. I’m so grateful that technology is allowing for me to continue with my calling even as we are so far away. I’m also super grateful for our ward and stake leadership who has been so supportive of all of this.

After church it was off to a delicious dinner at Annie’s house (another birthday celebration for Zack), and then we went to my Mom and Dad’s church for their annual Christmas “Choirside,” in which all of the choirs from the different wards in their stake (@8 congregations) take turns singing a couple of beautiful Christmas songs for the other choirs (who are listening in the pews and waiting for their turn). As one choir moves off of the stand and the other moves onto it, the entire congregation sings a Christmas carol.

We were all amazed at the quality of the choirs, and we felt the spirit as we sang the beautiful songs of the Savior’s birth.

After the Choirside, we ran into our old friends Lisa and José Lobos, who got married about the same time that we did. When we told them about what we are planning, Lisa told me about a book about the Camino that she had just read called Winds of Change, that she had just read. I’ll add it to the list.

In the night, I took a look at the kids screen time use, and it was way more than they are used to. We knew it would be like that during the driving time, but we had not been on the road for a few days, and it was still really high. So we gathered everyone together and we talked about how one of the purposes of this trip is to spend less time connected to the internet and more time connected to each other. We set a goal to reduce their time on their phones by a pretty significant amount, and they agreed. We’ll see how it goes.

La Gran Aventura Day 6: Podcasting, Sushi, and another Christmas Party

Saturday December 16, 2023

This morning I woke up early because I needed to do some preparation to record the annual Christmas episode of The Protagonist Podcast. My friends Joseph Darowski, Andrew Darowski, and I started The Protagonist almost ten years ago, and every year we have a traditional episode in which Andrew gives Joe and me several titles of real Christmas movies, and Joe and I each make up synopses of what we “think” those movies are. After each round, Andrew awards a point to whomever has written the story he would most like to see made into a movie. It’s all very silly, but also very fun, and it’s one of my favorite holiday traditions. All of the craziness this year made preparation particularly challenging, but I’m glad I got it all done.

You can listen to it here .

Once I finished writing, Betty and I went for a run.

For lunch we went out for sushi at The Happy Sumo because it was my brother-in-law Zack’s birthday. My dad’s brother Tom came and joined us as well. It’s been years since I’ve seen Tom, so it was wonderful to see him. When she saw him, River asked him what he had done with his glasses. It wasn’t for a few minutes that we realized she thought he was my dad!

After lunch, Joe and Andrew and I recorded the podcast, and then in the evening we had a super fun Christmas dinner with some of my cousins and aunts and uncles on my dad’s side of the family. You can probably tell if you’ve read this far in this blog that family is super important to us.

Speaking of the importance of family, my mother gave a really special gift this year.

Music has always been important on both sides of my family, and the Macks have a tradition of singing a few songs every year. These are songs that came to us through the Kimball side of the family (that’s my Dad’s mom’s side) and were special favorites of my great-grandfather Spencer W. Kimball. The songs are “The Little Elf Man ,” “The Mistletoe Bough ,” and “The Oregon Gypsy Jew.”

These songs date from at least the middle of the 19th century, and they each tell a memorable story. The Mistletoe Bough is my favorite -- it’s the story of a couple who plays hide and seek on their wedding night. The wife hides so well that nobody finds her until decades later, when they discover her skeleton in an old oak chest. Apparently it was one of the most popular Christmas songs in the late 1800s in England. One of those “scary ghost stories of long long ago.” And there are some great modern recordings as well :)

Anyway, for Christmas my mother printed out the lyrics and history of these songs and gave them in book form to each of her kids and to the Mack aunts and uncles as well. It was so fun hearing my family sing these songs together. Music is just amazing, and it made this night magical.

Itwouldn’t be a Mack Christmas party without a nativity scene :)

La Gran Aventura Day 5: A New Car and the Orem Temple

Friday December 15, 2023

Our run this morning was especially good. We went over four miles, and Betty was really pushing it. It’s good to feel healthy and strong going into this adventure.

In the morning we picked up the Sequoia and took it the mechanic for an independent inspection. Then Betty and I went for another walk while they looked at it. When we came back, the word was in. Mechanically, it’s in perfect condition! They couldn’t find a thing wrong with it.

I consider it a true Christmas miracle!

So then we went home and picked up the kids and we all went down to the dealership to sign all the paperwork. It’s a process that always takes way longer than it seems like it should, but in the end, we drove away with a new (to us) Sequoia. I think I mentioned it before, but it’s all Black, and the interior is really roomy and comfortable. It will be a huge blessing on the rest of this trip and hopefully for many years to come.

We drove directly from the dealership just across the street to the Orem Temple so that we could attend the open house.

In our church, temples are our most sacred places of worship, and once they are dedicated, they are only open to members who live according to certain standards. However, before the temple is open, they always do an open house in which anyone can visit the temple to see what they are like inside and to learn about what we do there, and why they are so important to us.

So what do we do in temples?

The quick answer is that in temples we perform sacred ordinances for the living and for the dead. These include baptisms for the dead, a special ceremony called the endowment, and marriages (which we call sealings).

That is what we do there, but for me there is a better answer about why temples are so important for us.

When I think about temples, and what they mean to me personally and to us as a people, I think of two fundamental texts. One is the book The Sacred and the Profane by the religious historian Mircea Eliade, and the other is an essay by LDS scholar Hugh Nibley called “The Circle and the Square.”

Eliade is a historian of religion. He takes a broad look at religions across time and across the world, and he points out points of contact between them.

In The Sacred and the Profane he describes two kinds of spaces. He calls regular space, profane space. It’s unorganized and homogenous, and it spreads in all directions like a sheet. At times, however, something powerful and divine manifests itself like a puncture in that profane space. The place where that happens is what Eliade calls sacred space. The key here is that humans organize themselves around sacred space. They order their towns and villages and even their daily lives around that sacred space. They place a stake in the ground at that point, build a temple there, and everything else becomes organized around that sacred center because for those people, it is the center of the universe.

Nibley says: “The temple as the center of the universe may be a myth, but it is the most powerful myth that ever possessed the human race.”

Citing Eliade, he continues: “The chief difference between the man of the archaic and traditional societies and the man of modern societies [...] lies in the fact that the former feels himself indissolutely connected with the Cosmos and the cosmic rhythms, whereas the latter insists that he is connected only with History. [...] But for thousands and thousands of years, our ancestors went through those things. So let us think about it all for five minutes.” (Nibley, Hugh. The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol. 12: Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present. Deseret Book Co. Kindle Edition.)

So the temple is the sacred center where we learn about God’s plan for us and our place in the cosmos. And we learn that central to that plan are two things: the Savior Jesus Christ, and the family.

Because of that, there is no better place to go with your family, than a temple, and the Orem temple is particularly beautiful. It’s decorated with a cherry tree motif, which is appropriate because Orem used to be all orchards. I grew up in a cherry orchard. With so many temples in Utah, I had never really thought that they would build one right in Orem, but now they have.

It was a beautiful evening, and it was only getting started.

From the temple, we went to my Mom and Dad’s church building for their ward (congregation) Christmas party. I grew up in that ward, and it’s always great to go back and see friends.

This evening was particularly great, because I ran into a friend I grew up with, Kenson Pribyl, and it turns out that a year ago, he and his wife sold their home, bought an RV, and have been traveling the country ever since. They have a YouTube channel called Exhaustive Joy. (You should check them out!) It was like finding a soul mate, and it gave me some inspiration for our upcoming adventure.

La Gran Aventura Day 4: Car shopping and My Birthday

Thursday December 14, 2023

OK, so the word on the car is that we need to get a new one. It has some major repairs that need to be done in order to make it drivable, and even then they told us it just wouldn’t be safe for long trips. And we’ve got a ton of driving ahead of us -- too much feel comfortable with driving this old vehicle.

So after going on a run, Betty and I headed out to look at vehicles. We considered a ton of different options, but ultimately we decided to go with another Sequoia. We felt like if we could get one that is in good shape, even if it had some miles on it, we would be able to get a bunch more out of it.

The first one we looked at was right in Orem, and it looked promising: 2013, super clean interior, 180,000 miles on it, and a good price. We took it for a test drive, and it felt great. But we didn’t want to jump at the first one, so we headed up to Salt Lake to look at a couple of others. They were NOT good, so we headed back to the first place to talk.

Betty really loved this first Sequoia that we had seen, but she didn’t want to pull the trigger without having our mechanic look at it. I was also curious about the dealer’s inspection report, but had been told that the dealer might not give it up. So we told the dealer that we wanted to take it to a mechanic, and he said we were welcome to do so, but he also volunteered to give us their inspection report, which was super clean with minimal work -- except that they put a new transmission in it. That’s awesome! Then he had the guy who was the mechanic that did the work on it come and talk to us about it as well. This guy said that he loved the vehicle, and he’d buy it in a second if he could.

We were almost tempted to buy it on the spot, but after talking to Lewis the mechanic again, we decided to give ourselves a night to think about it, and that we would take it to the mechanic in the morning. We don’t want to be pressured into a decision. This is a big one.

So that was a super-fun and relaxing way to spend my birthday day, but thankfully, the night was still free.

For my birthday dinner we went to 7 Brothers in the Riverwoods. They have the most amazing burgers and fries. I didn’t actually get a burger, though. I got a bacon cranberry melt. It was definitely worth the calories. It was so fun to hang out there with Mom and Dad, Annie and Zack, Marybeth and Andy, and Lamon. We haven’t seen them for so long. Siblings are absolutely the best!

Then we came home and had cake. But not just any cake. My sister Annie is a cake wizard, and she made this blueberry cobbler cake that was to die for.

After cake, my aunt Nan and her husband Joel came to visit as well. They are such great friends, and we love them so much. Unfortunately, Betty missed most of their visit because she was so exhausted from the day that she just fell asleep right on the floor in the living room :)

Lights at Riverwoods

La Gran Aventura Day 3: Orem and Provo

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

This morning Betty and I woke up and went for a run. It’s something we’ve done for quite a while now. Actually, we alternate between walking and jogging. When we started, it was a huge challenge for Betty, but now she’s much stronger. It’s one of the best things that we do for our mental, spiritual, and marital health. Some days we spend the 45 min to and hour chatting. Some days it’s quiet because we are peaceful. Some days it’s quiet because we are frustrated. But nearly every day except Sundays we are out there together.

After our run, the first order of business was to take the car up to the mechanic to get checked out. We had our fingers crossed that the problems would not be as serious as we had been told, and that we could get our Sequoia fixed up and back on the road.

It’s been a good change of pace for the kids to be at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. I’m not sure what it is, but in our home, the kids have a hard time getting outside to play. Here, they seem more relaxed. Within just a couple of hours of waking up, Kimball and Ian were outside playing baseball. Alicia has enjoyed shooting hoops. River and Alicia spent some time playing dress-ups. I know that school is important, but it’s always good to see kids just be kids.

One fun thing is that River got to visit a dance class taught by my sister Annie at the studio owned by my sister Marybeth. She had so much fun just moving around with the other students. It was fun to see how happy she was dancing.

In the afternoon, we went to visit my Grandma Neubert -- my mother’s mother. She’s an amazing woman. 92 years old and still doing great. Her husband, my Grandpa Buddy, died when my mom was in high school. Grandma was left to raise 7 kids on her own. She and I have been great friends all my life. When I was in high school I would drive to her house, and just pop in. She would make me some toast or some eggs, and we would chat. Now that we are so far away from each other, I try to call her each week -- but it’s tough to get her on the phone.

She has had quite a bit of challenge with her physical health. She has been legally blind for many years, and she’s got terrible nerve pain in her legs. I know that she misses Grandpa, but when I asked her if she was going to make it to 100 she winked at me and said “Of course.”

Today she was in a mood to share things with us. Her mind is still super sharp, and she loves to memorize things. She quoted for us Isaiah 42:16:

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

After that it was the first stanzas of “A Diamond in the Rough” by Bradley Ray Wardle :

A diamond in the rough,

is a diamond sure enough:

And before it ever sparkles,

it is made of diamond stuff;

But someone has to find it,

or it never will be found:

And someone has to grind it,

or it never will be ground;

In the hands of the master,

it is cut and burnished bright:

Then that diamond's everlasting,

shinning out its purest light;

Finally it was “I met God” by Ralph Cushman

I met God in the morning,

when my day was at its best.

And His Presence came like glory,

a sunrise in my breast.

[...]

So I think I know the secret,

learned from many a troubled way…

You must seek God in the morning,

if you want Him in the day

After Grandma shared the poems with us, we decided to do a seminary lesson right there with her. We talked more about Revelation. This time we talked about the promises of the Lord to those who overcome. It was awesome to be there with Grandma and the kids. She has struggled through so much in her life, and her testimony of perseverance and trust in the Lord was just awesome. When I asked her if she was going to make it to 100, she just winked at me and said “Yes.”

After we left Grandma’s house, we raced home and hopped in the car with my dad and my brother-in-law Zack (Annie’s husband), and we headed down to Provo for the BYU basketball game. The kids were so excited. We follow the Cougars closely, and we’ve stayed up super late on many occasions watching the football and basketball team play. Whoever is in charge of producing those basketball games is doing an amazing job. It’s definitely an experience to go there. From the starting lineups to the Cougarettes to Cosmo it’s so fun -- and that’s not even counting the team, which is dynamite this year.

Kimball got a little overwhelmed by all of the sensory input, but he stuck it out, and in the end he really enjoyed it all. When I asked if he could imagine himself in the ROC (student section) some day he just shook his head “No.” But once we emerged from the Marriott Center, and he had time to decompress, he was so happy to have gone.

It was another great day. I’m looking forward to finding out tomorrow what is going on with the Sequoia.

La Gran Aventura Day 2: Grand Island, NE to Orem, UT

Tuesday December 12, 2023

After a pretty good sleep in Grand Island, we were up early and on the road at a pretty good time. Ian and Kimball had slept on their new backpacking mattresses on the ground, and they both did well -- although Ian’s asthma continues to be a problem for him.

The drive from Grand Island into Wyoming went really smoothly. The kids and Betty slept most of the way, and we just churned out a lot of miles. The kids each have a phone that has a few movies downloaded onto it. So there are times on the road that we tell them it’s movie time, and they can watch what they want. But after a couple of hours, we have them turn off the phones so that we can chat.

One funny conversation we had during this part of the drive was about family nicknames for the trip. Kimball is easy -- he’s called Mapas because he loves following along on his phone and letting me know the directions. Anahi is The Invisible Woman because she sits in the very back, puts in her headphones, and kind of disappears. Ian is Wheezy and Alicia is La Torre de Control (The Control Tower) for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who spends time with us. Betty is Aceititos (the oily one) because she’s always rubbing these essential oils on her head to help with headaches in the car. The kids also call her Crunchy (like granola) because she is generally into health and wellness and drinking green juices and such. And River is The Super Sniffer because she always tells us when it’s stinky in the car. I’m El Pacificador because I spend a lot of time stepping in when people start bickering.

As we moved into Wyoming, the sky became overcast with these pillowy clouds that made us feel like we were driving under a quilt. But as we drew closer to Cheyenne, we climbed higher and higher, and the clouds got lower and lower, and they lost their definition. At a gas station several miles before Cheyenne, a cop told us to be careful because there was a big patch of freezing fog between us and Laramie. We thanked him for the warning, and headed on our way.

The next hour or so were truly harrowing.

The fog started just after we left that gas station. It quickly became so thick that we could hardly see 20 or 30 feet in front of us. It formed droplets on the windshield, like rain, but it was filthy because of all the trucks. When I tried to clean the windshield with the wipers, the wiper fluid froze instantly, and I couldn’t see a thing. I cranked up the heat on the defroster, and after a terrifying minute the ice melted and cleared. I was so grateful to be driving in the big Sequoia with four wheel drive. I told the kids to put on their movies, and then Betty and I worked together, peering into the fog to try to see what was coming up. It was intense.

It was such a relief to drop out of the mountains and into Laramie, where we were greeted with incredible views of the surrounding mountains.

By then it was lunch time, so we stopped at Walmart to get some crackers and cheese and salami and fruit. If you have never been to the Walmart in Laramie, let me tell you it is truly something else. The kids couldn’t stop telling me how amazing it was, and I was kind of in awe as well. It’s huge and bright and just feels ... fancy. Whoever is in charge there is doing a bang-up job.

We had to make a quick potty stop at a rest stop just outside Laramie. It used to drive me crazy when we would have to stop for the loo just after a long stop for food, but I’ve come to just expect it. It’s just part of the deal. This time I took advantage of the time to snap a few pictures. I’m so glad I did because this raven was working the camera, and this mountain was begging to be photographed.

After that we swapped drivers, and I taught a seminary lesson to the kids. In our church, the high schoolers attend a class called seminary in which they study scriptures. Inside of Utah, seminary happens during the school day, and the students are released from school to attend. Outside of Utah, seminary happens at 6am every school day. In order to make sure that they are all able to graduate from seminary at the end of their four years of high school, Betty and I were called as seminary teachers for our kids. So as Betty drove, we all had a great discussion about the Book of Revelation. The lesson for today was from Revelation 2-3, and it dealt with the idea that God “knows [our] works,” the good and the bad. We all know that He watches us, but too often we can come to feel like we are always disappointing Him. But in Revelation 2:19, He says “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works.” I think it’s good to know that he appreciates the good things that we do.

Now for a word about our vehicle situation. We currently drive a 2006 Toyota Sequoia. It’s the second in a row that we’ve had. Our first was totaled when Ian and I were hit while driving on the freeway and we rolled. We were so thankful for how well we were protected during that accident that we decided to get another one.

Well, this Sequoia now has 290,000 miles (we actually crossed that milestone today!), and it’s starting to show some of its age. A few days before we left on the trip, I took it in for an inspection, and they told me that it needed a new rack and pinion and cv joints. They strongly recommended that we not take it across the country without getting those things fixed. We didn’t love the idea of pouring a bunch more money into a vehicle that we were going to need to replace soon anyway, so after a panicky day of trying to find a new vehicle in Hillsdale, we decided to say a prayer and hope that we would make it to Utah.

So on the road in Wyoming, I called our good friend Moroni (he used to own a dealership in Pleasant Grove), and he recommended we take the Sequoia to LKC Automotive and Towing (also in PG). I called them and spoke with Lewis, who after hearing my story about the Sequoia said he would take a look at it, but that he was pretty sure we would be driving away from Utah in a new vehicle.

It wasn’t the news we were hoping for, but we set an appointment for the car to be checked out tomorrow.

Unfortunately, it was dark by the time we reached Utah. I was sad not to see the mountains, but so happy to be back. It’s been over two years since we’ve been out here. I love Michigan, but there is just something great about being home.

It was such a joy to pull in front of the house and give Mom and Dad a giant hug. My sister Annie was there to greet us as well. There is nothing quite like the embrace of family after so much time apart.

As we tucked everyone into bed, the kids started up with the most common question on this trip: What are we going to do tomorrow?

Hours on the road: 13

Miles traveled: 815

Total miles on the trip: 1,600