Our Journey Home

It was a fun trip, but I won't lie, I was ready to come home . . . sleep in my own bed . . . not have to live out of a suitcase . . . get back to a routine.  Our train was scheduled to leave Rochester at 11 PM, around 5 PM we were notified that the train would be two hours late!  Getting on the train in the middle of the night is hard enough, but when you add two small children and a bunch of luggage, it was a little daunting to say the least. Kenny's parents dropped us off at the train station around 10 PM, so we had a lot of time to kill.  After chasing the kids around the station for awhile, I gave up.  I had Lucy's seat, so I buckled her in, got out the lap top and started a movie - it worked like a charm!  It is hard to believe, but we actually all fell asleep for awhile.  Luckily we woke up in time to board the train between 1:30 and 2 AM.  The attendants on the train were very kind and accommodating; we had to wait a bit, but we did finally get seat together and settled down for the night.

The lifesaver in the train station

 It was nice to be sitting close to my family, something we didn't get to enjoy on the trip out.  Stetson took full advantage of the opportunity to sit between Grandma and McKady and play games on their Kindle.

The other nice thing about the trip home was that the people around us were a little more tolerant of our children, in fact, Lucy made lots of new friends and spent much of her time visiting and showing off.

Kenny just enjoyed the ride

 About an hour before we reached Denver, we received the news that a big storm during the night had washed out a portion of the tracks between Denver and Grand Junction, so the train would have to reroute through Wyoming to Salt  Lake.  Anyone getting off at stops between Denver and Salt Lake would have to take a bus from Denver.  My first thought was, "oh man, now we have to move all our luggage again!"  But, thanks to my amazing family, we managed just fine.

Our crew outside the train in Denver, CO

So we got off the train, walked across a street, and boarded a bus in Denver.  Most of our carry-on luggage,  along with our checked bags once they were unloaded off the train, were stored under the bus, but we were allowed to keep some stuff with us - thank goodness!  It took a little while, but finally we were on the "road" again.

Lucy settled right in to her new seat on the bus
(notice Kenny outside waiting for our checked bags to arrive)

 Our bus driver was a 75 year old cowboy that liked to make jokes and listen to 60's music.  He was fun, and reminded me a lot of my dad when he drives bus.  We stopped at Burger King for lunch and Stetson got  the traditional crown and a prize.  I have to give Burger King a thumbs up for this happy meal toy, a little aquarium you could decorate with bug, butterfly, and gem stickers (all included).  This little box has now become Stetson's treasure box, and has carried everything from cool rocks to live bugs.

King Stetson and his new "treasure"

 We finally made it to Grand Junction.  The good news is that we arrived at almost the exact scheduled time . . . if we had stayed on the train we would have been 2 to 3 hours late, so I was grateful for that!  I was also grateful that we had reserved a hotel room in Grand Junction so we didn't have to get in the car and drive another three hours that night.

Stetson and Lucy outside our bus in Grand Junction, CO

 The first thing on my agenda when we got to the hotel was a shower, but we decided to take the kids swimming for awhile first.  After our crazy travels the last few days, it was nice to just relax and let the kids play.  Plus, we had the whole pool to ourselves - yay!

Stetson was able to show daddy some of the tricks he had learned in swimming lessons

Lucy was happy to be able to splash as much as she wanted!

 That night we got pizza from Little Caesars, brought it to the room, and just relaxed and watched TV - it was wonderful!  We let the kids swim again the next morning before we checked out of the hotel at about noon. 

Piggy-back rides with dad are the best!

Stetson the horse in his corral
(he had a wild imagination this day!)

We did some shopping and then headed home.  It was nice to get back in Utah and see the dry desert I love so much.  Lucy decided to throw the granddaddy of all fits during this drive, and literally screamed for about 30 minutes straight.  I'm still not sure what started it, but I am grateful that she waited until it was just us in the  truck to throw a fit like that!  If she had done that on the train or bus, I don't know what I would have done. We got home about 8 PM, on Thursday, two weeks after we left.  We saw a lot of great things and had a lot of great experiences on this trip, but I think the best part for me was just being together.  It is not very often that we get to spend two full weeks exclusively together as a family, and I loved every minute of it!  Stetson said his favorite part of the trip was seeing Grandma and Grandpa.  I would say it was a successful trip!