"quick" trip to texas

We got the good news about Dave's new job on Tuesday the 9th. We spent Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning looking for nonexistent cheap flights before succumbing to the inevitable and deciding we would have to drive to Texas to find a house. Thursday morning we packed up and drove to Utah to leave Jed with my parents so we could get to Texas and back quickly.

Jed making some final mischief before we left

Me and Jed on our way to Spanish Fork


Dave and I left Jed with his Nana and Grandpa Monte and headed out Friday morning after buying some snazzy new tires for the truck. We are all so much happier with the new tires--our truck is so smooth and quiet on the roads now!

Dave showing off his super-cool visor, a present from my dad (who can't wear visors due to some, um, follicle issues). (Did I say that okay, Dad?) ;)

We wanted to have a little fun and cover some ground so we veered off I-15 and through Capitol Reef National Park. We were excited to see something we've never seen before.

It was so gorgeous! I loved the different formations and colors of the reef. It is such a cool park. In the middle of the park are a couple of different orchards that were planted by LDS settlers. The orchards are maintained by the NPS and every fall you can go in and pick as much fruit as your heart desires.

There are also some really cool petroglyphs in the park. I really wished we'd have had a lot more time to explore.

After Capitol Reef, we had to stop for gas at this funky gas station. I was hoping it would be exciting inside, but it was pretty lame. Oh well.

We continued on past the very top of Lake Powell. I loved watching the Dirty Devil and Colorado rivers, muddy from spring run-off, merge with the emerald green of the lake. So beautiful!

The bridge over the Colorado river

We then sped through the rest of Utah, into Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. We wanted to go to Four Corners but it was CLOSED. For repairs. Who does that? I was incredibly put-out, especially because I had to use the nastiest bathroom in the entire state of Arizona and then talk to a friendly drunk while I waited for Dave. Suffice it to say, Arizona has dropped considerably on my list of places to visit again.

THE Shiprock of Shiprock, New Mexico. You can see it from very far away--I have seen it while standing on the mesa in Mesa Verde National Park in southern Colorado--because everything else around it is so flat.

After a night in Albuquerque, NM and sitting for 45 minutes behind a nasty wreck (I really doubt there were survivors, so sad) we actually made it into Texas.

We saw camels. It was crazy. Texas is nice to drive through; I felt like all the roads were well-maintained and the drivers are really courteous, even if they do drive incredibly fast.

I had the dubious pleasure of driving through Fort Worth and it is something I'm not looking forward to repeating. But my training on the SLC I-15 corridor stood us in good stead and we made it through with life and limb intact.
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We pulled into Crockett on Saturday night, just in time to remember we'd be losing TWO hours that night, thanks to crossing into the Central time zone and springing ahead. We were definitely tired as we hauled ourselves to church the next morning. All the members of our new branch are so nice and welcoming and we're really looking forward to being part of the branch there. We had a minor miracle while heading to church, too. Dave accidentally left my scriptures on the top of the truck while we were driving to church. We had the address of the branch house but no idea how to get there, so we drove crazily through Crockett until we found it (even going backwards through what we later found out is the small-town version of a roundabout). When we stopped at the branch house and realized where my scriptures had been, I thought I'd never see them again. And then we found them in the branch parking-lot. They'd managed to stay with us the whole time, even if the pages are pretty wrinkly now from the fall.
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After church and looking at a potential house, we went to Ratcliff Lake to look at one place where Dave will be working. It is SO beautiful. The weather was warm and tons of people were enjoying the lake.

my cute Davey

I love it already and I'm so excited to get our canoe in here!
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After looking and looking for rentals, we decided our better option was to buy a house. Our fabulous real-estate agent, Nancy, showed us some beauties and we decided on this one:

Yay, cute house!

There's some work to be done but not nearly as much as the others we looked at. The main thing we're going to have to deal with ASAP is the smoker smell inside the house. But we've heard of some good smoke-removal remedies and are excited to try them out. And meanwhile, we have a good tent...

...and a lovely backyard in which to pitch it. I am excited about all the trees, the shed, the porch, the part we plan to till up for a garden, and the fact that we have no backyard neighbors. Instead, our yard faces the agricultural arena and the city park. We are SO lucky and I know that we've been tremendously blessed.
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We left Crockett on Wednesday the 17th around noonish and made it to Childress, a little town in the corner of the Texas panhandle, where we spent the night. A very long day on Thursday brought us back to Spanish Fork and our sweet Jed. We didn't get to see him until Friday morning because we pulled in about 1:00. I am STILL tired thinking about that drive.

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Some of my favorite Texas sights:

We haven't eaten here yet but I definitely have plans to do so. I am totally in love with that chicken! His goggles crack me up.

Ahhhh, blessed trees. I am SO incredibly glad we're living in East Texas and not the lovely flatlands around Amarillo. (Incidentally, this spot is one of the highest in East Texas; it measures at a whopping 730 feet above sea level)

Spring has sprung in Texas and I am so ready to be back in it. If not for Jed (and our stuff), I would have happily stayed there right away. The daffodils, phlox and magnolias were so beautiful and I don't want to miss a single minute of them.

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We are so grateful to my parents for watching Jed, grateful to my Grandma Loretta and Grandpa Denny for being willing to meet us in SF so we could see them (stay tuned for more on this), and mostly grateful to Heavenly Father for watching out for us and taking us to the place where we really need to be. We are so blessed that our house-hunting went so smoothly and that our offer was accepted with basically no negotiation. I know that Texas is where we are supposed to be!