Idaho Road Trip 2014

Last weekend when we were in Roseville, my grandma called my dad and said she wanted him to take her car. (She is 91 years old and I guess she finally felt inspired to give up driving. She hasn't been doing too well since her fall earlier in the year when she broke her wrist, so driving her manual Corolla wasn't really an option anymore.) After my grandma called my dad I asked him how he was going to get it and offered to drive up to Idaho with him. I was taking the week off of work anyways, so I really thought it would be a fun trip with grandpa and the kids.

We drove up to Roseville Friday morning, for the first leg of our trip. As soon as we got to Grandma and Grandpa Baer's house, we changed into swim clothes and hit the pool with the cousins!

 Holdy and Wiggy building Legos before dinner.

Friday night was the traditional breakfast dinner and we got to spend some time with Bobby and Lindsay. 

I had to take this picture of Grandpa laughing....because it makes me laugh to watch him laugh.

Saturday morning we were up at 5am and on the road at 6am. My children slept most of the way to Reno, where we stopped for breakfast at McDonald's.

 This was what the back of my car looked like at any given moment. Grandpa would try to keep them at bay, while I drove. He chuckled and laughed as they occasionally mimicked a prison riot in the backseat.

Technically Bubba has been to Idaho...for the Baer family reunion in 2003. Otherwise, none of my children have ever seen Idaho and I really enjoyed pointing things out to them and letting them experience some of the different things in Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. The drive was really ugly for about 4 hours. 

We stopped at the Idaho border for pictures, per daddy's request.

We arrived in Middleton by 3:30pm and headed straight to Grandma's house AFTER we ate lunch in Nampa. We haven't seen Grandma since last June, for her 90th birthday celebration.

 Tubbs had a headache so he laid down while dinner was cooking.

 Wiggy and her second cousin Eve shared a love for My Little Pony and did lots of drawing!

Grandma insisted on doing all of the cooking. She made us fried chicken strips, baked beans and potato salad. I swear...my grandma makes the best potato salad EVER. I don't normally like it or eat it, but hers I will. It's always a family favorite. Bubba even tried it and asked for more. She said her trick is blending everything when its warm.
For dessert we had ice cream with raspberries she picked from her backyard. They were so good! I can remember Grandma having blackberry bushes when she lived in Penryn and her making the best blackberry cobbler! I stayed the summer with her before my junior year of high school and it was the first time I tried blackberries.

 Wiggy and Eve gave a piano recital on grandma's piano after dinner.

Saturday night we stayed the night in Star, with my Aunt Pam and Uncle Chuck. We went to church with grandma at 1pm. My Aunt Stacey and her kids came too so we took up a whole middle pew in the chapel. After Sacrament was over I looked at my Grandma and she says she couldn't hear anything that was said. I just laughed. My poor grandma has had hearing aids as long as I can remember and can't hear anything WITH or WITHOUT them. When I hugged her or was close, I could hear a high pitch noise coming from her hearing aid. That must be really annoying.

 My cousin Elijah didn't have church clothes, but his mom made him load up and go anyways. What a good sport. They headed back to Utah right after Sacrament.

The kids enjoyed playing games on the Wii, in the basement with all of their second cousins at Aunt Pam's house. It was fun to watch them all play.

 We headed back over to Grandma's house for dinner. Her home teacher from church stopped by to visit and give her a brief message. It was a nice visit together and I enjoyed spending time with all of my dad's family. We left her around 7pm to head back to Star. My dad was driving Grandma's car back to Pam's house so we could leave early in the morning for Roseville. It was very hard to say goodbye to Grandma and to watch my dad say goodbye. I know it was also very rough for my grandma to give up her car because she is a very independent lady. I love my Grandma Baer very much. So many good memories of her and our family over the years and I certainly wish she still loved closer. I suppose when someone is 91 years old, it's natural to wonder if you will see them again, here on this earth. My grandma has always taken great care of herself, so hopefully she has many more wonderful years with us. I hope she always know how significant she is to me and my family.

Wiggy introduced herself to Navajo, Aunt Pam and Uncle Chuck's horse. She was so excited to feed him apples from their backyard.

 The view from my Aunt Pam's backyard. They have just over four acres of land in Star.

Monday morning was another EARLY morning. Middleton is an hour ahead, so technically we were awake at 4:15 PST. It was a LONG day. The boys took turns riding with Grandpa....who had no air conditioning. It was important we got home ASAP before it got too hot. That Nevada desert was going to be brutal.

 The view heading out of Idaho, right outside of Nampa. We followed Grandpa all the way home! Thankfully the 1984 Corolla ran like a champ!

Bubba was not a very talkative co-pilot. He kept his earphones on and a blanket over his head most of the drive, so he could see his DS screen better. :)

 Our route to and from Idaho. What a long, but memorable drive. I think the boys will always remember this road trip with mom and Grandpa Baer. I really liked Idaho and if the drive wasn't so ugly, would like to do it again.