Road Trip

We had a wonderful trip to Utah, driving 5,190 miles through 14 states and visiting the graves of 45 ancestors in 11 cemeteries along the way. We left for our marathon driving trip to Utah to attend the baptism of Silas and to see our newest grandson and Cara’s baby. We drove instead of flying primarily so we could take all of Brad’s “stuff” to him. Since we were driving, we determined to do some sightseeing both coming and going. We traveled to Utah basically following the pioneer trail from Iowa City to Winter Quarters to Wyoming to Salt Lake City after a quick stop in Nauvoo to attend the temple. We had a wonderful experience at Martin’s Cove near Devil’s Gate Wyoming as we remembered the experiences of Eliza Briggs and her family who were part of that handcart company. In Utah we enjoyed our time with Brad and Joel and their families. We enjoyed being pampered as we stayed in the Joel and Jenica’s new home in Lehi. It was great to have time with our Utah grandsons. We especially enjoyed the alone time we had with Hale and Andrew and it was very special to participate in Silas’ baptism and see baby Samuel. While we didn’t get to see Cara’s baby since he had already left for the Stanford Medical Center (see her blog for details), we did enjoy spending time with Cara. We also got to visit other family members and friends, including Sue and Ramon Sanft in Provo who again provided us with their free bed and breakfast and the Godfreys in Logan, as we delivered the three-generation histories and visited cemeteries. We enjoyed being with Brad and Joel at the BYU football game but didn’t enjoy the game. But by going out earlier than originally planned so we could see the game, we did avoid getting stranded on I-80 which was closed by huge snow storms a couple of days after we passed through. Before leaving Utah, we were able to walk through Brad and Susan’s partially-constructed house. The highlights of our trip back to Tennessee were our visit to the Grand Canyon (truly amazing to view) and a quick stop to see the Oklahoma City memorial to the Federal Building bombing. Seventeen days after leaving we finally arrived home, exhausted but grateful for the wonderful trip and visit with our Utah families and friends. Below are photos of a few of the highlights of our trip.

Nauvoo Temple

Martin's Cove Wyoming


Joel, Russ, Brad, and Sharlene at BYU football game

Brad holding Samuel Zion Krueger Barber

A proud Grammy with 19th grandchild



Andrew, Brad, Sam, Sharlene, Russ



With Silas right before his baptism



Barber families after Silas' baptism



Brad and Susan's home after four days of framing



Sharlene at grave of Eliza Briggs Stratton in Overton Nevada

Russ and Sharlene at Grand Canyon

View from walk along the South Rim