recap 2/3: farewell party and "we be road trippin'"

First off, let me say that the title of this blog entry is accredited to none other than Ashley, who wanted to capture the most embarrassing way to say "we are going on a road trip." It turned into kind of a joke and now we kind of say it semi-regularly.  I honestly can't think of a more uncomfortable way to say you are going on a road trip, other than "we be road trippin'."  Heinous right?

But before we get to the road - a little step back.  Why are we going to Montana in the first place? My company was getting tons of work in the rocky mountain area.  We have an office in Bozeman, Montana.  This office oversees work in Utah, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho & Alaska.

The Pulsiphers and southern California had sort of hit a major fork in the road in terms of family planning and environ - and we were starting to look at alternatives.  When my company's work started to grow and additional help was needed - me and my co-worker concocted a plan that would get us out there.  After a few months of waiting and logistics to figure out - everything fell into place.  No we had never been there.  No we didn't know anything about it.  All we had to go on was a handful of pictures, a wikipedia entry, and a dash full of optimism.   So in late August we packed up all our belongings (more on that later) and headed to Montana.  Before we left, our friends threw us a raging party.

Now on to the photos...

The conversation flowed like the Henry Weinhard rootbeer

George and his godmother, caretaker and "aunt" Kimber who he loves very very much.

Babies on the way, George's girlfriend Greta and all our favorite people were in attendance.

Ashley is usually the life of the party.  We caught her in a rare moment without the lampshade on her head.

This is George's buddy Clark.  Clark is such a loving, sweet guy.  Every Sunday Clark would look for George at Church and say hi to him.  Clark always shares his snacks, but is less giving with his Buzz Lightyear.  That's ok, it's a pretty sweet light year.

After the party everyone had the pleasure of participating in the most efficient 2 bedroom apartment move of their lives.  We started a smidge before six and were done at 6:36.  Everything was in boxes, no corner was left unturned.  We even had room to spare for the couches we'd be picking up in Colorado Springs.  After that, the pizza and soda pop was enjoyed by all.

George and his best buddy Abe share a final hug while the truck is being loaded.

That night, August 24 - we packed up everything and drove to Barstow, Ca.  I wanted to get a jumpstart on the move and this seemed like a good idea.  We slept in a grungy, loud motel but the price was right ($37 bucks!).  In Vegas we stopped at the outlets and just happened to snag George some $10 crocs.  He loves them.  We love their functionality for a little person.  Every kid we visited coveted George's crocs.

The next morning we headed to my friend/mission companion Clyde's house.  Clyde lives in St. George and he and his wife had a baby boy the exact same day as George.  George and Myler are only 40 minutes apart from each other.  They had lots of fun in the sweltering heat of St. George.  It was 104 at like 6:00pm.   Crazy.

After all their hard work they cooled off/cleaned up in the tub.  The Behunins were great hosts and it was so much fun to catch up.  We wish that it was possible to live near all our friends.

After St. George we headed up to Salt Lake/Provo to visit more friends.  We had a delicious lunch with Ashley's mission companion, Ashley Thalman and her beautiful babies.   George has always had a soft spot in his heart for blonds and it was no different with Harper.  They had a few pretty awesome kisses, but we didn't capture them on camera.

Speaking of cameras... Ashley Thalman is a photographer and took a few snaps of George.  Thank you for sharing your talents with us (and food, and delicious bread, and cds!)

Most people will want to know (in the imaginary/rehearsed conversations in my head), "How did did a 1 1/2 year old do on a 1,700 mile road trip?"  All I have to say is, look at that face.  If that's not the face of a little powdered sugar angel then I don't know what is. Also, donnettes are George's favorite food of all time.  Nothing even comes remotely close.  Though he's only had three (and probably wont' have more anytime soon), I can tell you that the 37 seconds it took him to eat three donettes was the best 37 seconds of his life.  Ever.

Lotsa time in Wyoming.  Big state.  Cowboy country.  We stopped in Casper and had Subway.  On an ill-advise impulse, I had the sickest sandwich known to man.  Fortunately my stomach survived.

When gas stations become your playground - you'll take anything you can get.  We went really heavy on the Diet cokes.  Our U-haul chugged gas, we chugged diet coke.

I think this was in Laramie. Home to the University of Wyoming Cowboys.  I think this was the sheriff's car.  They take their cowboy thing really serious.

Still in Wyoming.  Rest stop.  George was so glad to be out of the car.  He loved looking at the big rig trucks.  He still calls everything with wheels a "caaaaah".

To kill time George kept up on the celebrity buzz. His favorite section is the celebrities are "just like us" section.

The golden arches... the respite for the road weary traveler.  Also, with huge parking spots meant for people hauling all of their earthly belongings and a child who needs to play - you really can't say no.  The thing is... it always sounds like a good idea but the food just isn't that good.  Give me a fatburger or In-n-Out any day of the week. 

"Some people just weren't cut out for a life on the road."  (Name that movie)

After 1700 long miles... we finally entered into Montana.  Big Sky country.  We left our good camera at our friends house in Utah - so we had to settle for a lot of iPhone pictures along the way. This is the best we could do as we entered the "Treasure State."

We've now been in Montana just over a week.  Lots of things to discuss... all to come in part three.