Uncle Tom comes to the rescue!

Thank you Uncle Tom!  We don't know what we would have done without you!  You let us park the truck and trailer at your house, you drove Lowell and I to the airport, you picked Lowell up at the airport and drove him to Osceola, you picked up Hannah and I at the airport in the middle of a work day, you mapped out our route and you and Jane made sure that we had some yummy pizza to eat before we drove off for Muscatine!

I'm glad that Hannah finally had a chance to meet her Great Uncle Tom and Great Aunt Jane.  She certainly enjoyed the painted horse collection and the music boxes.  Did you notice the horse in the tree?

It was a long travel day for Hannah and I.  We were up at 4 a.m. and the kitties decided it was time to go outside.  Sorry, you'll have to wait for Courtney to let you out!  It's dark and the middle of the night, a time when cats in Cedar City disappear!

We were out of the house at 4:45 a.m. to drive to St. George for a 6:10 a.m. flight.  I noticed that it was 52 degrees when we left the driveway.  Forty minutes later at 5:25 a.m. in St. George, just a short drive south on I-15, it was 79 degrees.  It was lovely!  Unfortunately, we know that just a few hours later, the heat in St. George will be stifling!

Our travel day took us from St. George to Salt Lake only to discover that our flight was delayed.  It was fun to sit in the airport and watch several new mission presidents and their wives prepare to depart for their new assignments.  Made me think of our friends the Dalton's who will depart for their new three-year assignment as President and Sister Dalton and preside over the Honolulu Hawaii Mission.

We finally departed for Minneapolis arriving around 1:15 p.m. central time.  Our flight was completely full and Hannah and I were relegated to the back row, the only row with two seats together.  We gathered our luggage and met Uncle Tom who transported us back to his home in Columbus.  We then had some pizza and visited with Uncle Tom and Aunt Jane and then off for Muscatine at 4 p.m.  Stopped at Best Buy to see if they had a mount for my Garmin (thought I had put it in my purse, so hoping it's still in the car at home).  Purchased some items, but discovered that nothing worked for the larger LCD screen (see blog about Hannah's dumpster diving).  Finally, we were on the road, but experienced traffic through Minneapolis, and finally arrived in Muscatine around 11:30 p.m.  It was a LONG day!

I did come to the realization that Hannah and I have had to make some sacrifices to keep up with the bicyclists.  We have now passed up three opportunities to have our National Park Passport Book stamped.  Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota was 60 miles off the path, and our drive to Muscatine took us by two more, Amana Colonies and Herbert Hoover Historic Site.