I wanted to spend some more time with Jaime's family and my friend Whitney up near Ogden, and my parents were staying down in Provo so I hopped on the Frontrunner train one afternoon and rode up to the Roy station. For not being that big of a city, Salt Lake has a pretty great public transit system - a train that runs all over Salt Lake City, including to the airport, plus one that runs from Provo all the way up to Ogden (about 80 miles). That's in addition to the bus system, which I haven't ever taken. They've definitely made it easy to get pretty much anywhere you want to go along the Wasatch Front, which is awesome when traveling without a car.
The Frontrunner is a really nice train - tables, power outlets, bathrooms, air conditioning - and I couldn't help but compare it to the trains I became so familiar with while serving my mission in Argentina - no air conditioning or heat and usually full to the point of bursting. I can remember more than one time riding the train while shoved up against strangers without the ability to even move my arms. Even worse, if you ended up in the car for bikes, there were barely any windows and plenty of smoke to go around. Still, I loved it. I miss it, actually. I love the sound of trains, and the activity that surrounds them. I wish Indiana had a train.
I had a whole four-seat section to myself on this train. Not too many commuters at 3 pm, I guess.
When I got to the Zogmaisters, we had dinner, I went to see Joey and Michelle's new house that they're remodeling, I went to meet Vennesa's new baby, and we just hung out with my second-favorite group of kids in the world. I love all of Michelle and Joey's kids, but for some reason I especially love Haizyn. When she was born, I was going through a hard time - I actually don't even remember what was going on - but I remember going up to Jaime's house to visit her family while she was in Wyoming and I would just hold Haizyn forever. She was tiny then, and I would hold her for hours. I don't usually love newborns because I think they're kind of boring, but this baby was therapeutic for me. Holding her made me feel better. Since then, I just love being around her. She's had a huge personality from the time she was a baby, and now three years later she still makes me laugh.
I had fun playing with the other kids, too. Taigon recently turned six and he got a baseball and bat for his birthday, so after him asking for a while, I finally went outside with him to play. Maizic was our catcher and Haizyn, in her princess dress, was our "outfielder," which means she ran to get the ball wherever Taigon hit it. It was a little bit tough playing in the dark, but we had fun and no one got hurt.
The next day I spent the afternoon with my friend Whitney. She's getting married in a couple of months and only gets one day off during the week, so I told her I'd run any errands with her that she needed to. We went to pick out fabric or a quilt, bought some stuff for her dad, and did part of her wedding registry at Target. It was actually a lot of fun, and I learned some things for when I have to register someday: Look around before you start scanning stuff, and don't take your husband with you for most of it. We did the kitchen and bathroom and she kept saying how glad she was that her fiancé wasn't there because he would be so bored and would be rushing her. It also made it easier for her to pick out what she liked. :)
That night my parents picked me up and we went to Logan to spend the night before picking Micah up from EFY and starting on our trip home. We drove by Bear Lake again and stopped for more pictures. I just think water is naturally gorgeous, and the mountains surrounding it definitely increase the beauty.
I don't think my dad was ready for the silliness and goofiness that prevails when surrounded by just girls. I convinced my family to drive home through Kansas so I could check it off my list of states, but I don't think my dad was as excited to make all the stops that we wanted to.
This van is so huge, which makes it a bear to drive (and clean) but is really nice when you want to stretch out and take a nap.
I was expecting a lot of nothing in Kansas, but the eastern part was actually really pretty - lots of hills and trees. Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri were both really pretty and the skyline was up on a hill which made it stand out even more. We also stopped in Independence, Missouri, where we visited the Church's visitor's center there, which is right across the street from the Community of Christ's temple. Isn't that a cool building? It reminds me of an oil can.
Our second day of driving was my mom's birthday. We went to the store the night before to get food for the trip so we wouldn't have to stop on a Sunday. We got stuff for sandwiches, but I wanted to get a treat for her, too. She doesn't like most store-bought stuff, though, so we settled on a small cheesecake sampler, and it was actually really good! She's such a good sport - driving across the country on a Sunday while my dad starts to get cranky doesn't sound like my idea of a great birthday, but she stayed in high spirits the whole day.
We had to drive through St. Louis anyway, but we made a short detour to drop a bit south to see the St. Louis temple and the Gateway Arch (this was the part my dad wasn't too excited about). It rained most of the time we were there, but that helped us keep our visit short.
We made it home late Sunday night after being gone for two straight weeks. I was happy to be in my own bed and not have to live our of a suitcase. I was also really excited to see my little munchkin friends that I live with. I still miss Utah, though, and it was hard to leave. I feel like I have two homes - when I'm there, I want to stay there, but when I'm here in Indiana I want to stay here. There are things and people that I love in both places and I wish I could just have them all in the same place. It was a little easier to leave knowing that I'd be back in just a couple months for two weddings!
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