This Is How We Started....

Honeymoon Trip August 1980

The day after we were married, we left Salt Lake

and began our Cross-Country Honeymoon Road Trip.

We drove from Salt Lake to South Florida via

Missouri, Ohio,New Jersey, and all points in between...

yes, the long way...or as we say...The Scenic Route!

When we were in New Jersey, my family took

Ron and me to New York City. Here we are on one

of the Circle Line Boat Tours around Manhattan.

We are with my sister, Jenni, and my brother, Brent.

I am so happyto have this photo of us with the

World Trade Center. The NYC Skyline will never

be the same....actually, NYC will never be the same.

Here we are parked at the banks of the Mississippi River

next the The Arch in St Louis. This picture speaks volumes.

We drove this gold van (purchased in Salt Lake instead of

renting a moving truck) and towed our little red Honda

Accord all over the United States. All of our earthly

possessions fit in the Van or the Car. They were

PACKED FULL. There was no extra room. We

had the two front seats of the van open and that was it!

This is how we started Twenty Eight Years ago....

The day we visited The Arch, the lines to go up in The Arch

were long. It was a 3-4 hour wait. Taking for granted that I had

been up in The Arch many times while I lived in Missouri, I

said to Ron, "Let's not stand in this line, we can always

come back some other time." Yeah, right! Well, years

went on and that "some other time" did not come UNTIL....

it was my turn to plan our 26th Wedding Anniversary

Surprise.... Guess where we were on August 5, 2005? Yep...

UP in The St Louis Arch.

Another Honeymoon Story is that our second night of

Marriage, we left Salt Lake in the afternoon and headed

up through Wyoming.

The Gold Van was packed full of our possessions and towing

our little car, also packed full of our possessions, almost did not make it

up and over the mountains out of the Salt Lake Valley.

(giving me further respect an admiration for the early Pioneers who

maneuvered the Rocky Mountains)

Back to the story....

We figured we would stay somewhere in Wyoming that night....

WRONG!!!! It was Rodeo Time. For THREE towns in a row,

we heard the same thing...NO ROOM AT THE INN!!!

Needless to say.... on the second night of our marriage....

we were less than pleased with this situation. Our Van

was so full, we could not even make a space to attempt

to lie down and sleep.

So we did what we had to do... We drove ALL NIGHT LONG,

hitting Denver, Colorado at morning rush hour.

We stopped early in that afternoon at a motel in

Salina, Kansas. Ahhhh!

I know ...you can hardly stand to hear of such a romantic

Honeymoon. It's true, though.

That was the beginning of an amazing Twenty Eight

year trip! It is a trip I am so thankful to be on with

my very best friend and husband, Ron!

I look at the photo of the Van and the little red Honda and think..

wow...I am not sure we could fit ONE ROOM full of our stuff in

the Van or Car now. Wow!!!! A simpler time for sure!