After we left Winter Quarters, it was getting to be evening and we knew we had the longest stretch of drive ahead of us.  We had initially thought to stop at Mount Rushmore on our way back, but it had been a long week and we decided not to.  We were glad we stopped at Niagara Falls instead, as this likely wasn’t somewhere we may have made it back to in the future, and we plan to go to Mount Rushmore another time!

We started the drive back and stopped to get some gas in Lincoln, Nebraska.  We also stopped for dinner at this restaurant called King Kong.  It was such a funny little place with King Kong type apes all over the restaurant!  We ordered the Kong burgers, which were ½ pound burgers that were actually pretty delicious!  They came with fries and the fries were really yummy too! Our expectations weren’t too high, but we were pleasantly surprised!

 

We then decided to kick out as much of the drive as we could and we drove for about six more hours.  About halfway through, we stopped at a gas station in North Platte, Nebraska to get gas and some drinks.  After we came out, I wanted us to get a picture in front of a big sign on the store that said, “You are nowhere.”  I thought it was funny so we took a selfie!

We arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming about 1:00 in the morning and stayed at a Candlewood Suites hotel.  It was really nice and I wish we’d been able to enjoy it more!  When we arrived, it was very late and it was cold and snowing.  As I stood at the car while Tom was getting the bags and his bike, I was so grateful that we had a nice warm hotel to go inside to.  I again had the realization that the saints didn’t have that luxury when they were traveling across the plains, and I was so humbled by that.  We then went to bed and were able to get a few good hours of sleep before taking off the next morning.

Saturday we did the remainder of the drive home, which took us about six hours.  We started the day with breakfast at a little diner near the hotel called Down Home Diner.  It certainly wasn’t a speed experience, but it was fun and the food was actually pretty delicious!  Tom had the blueberry pancakes and I had a cheese omelet and pancakes.  The omelet had two pieces of cheese on top, which was pretty funny, but it was still pretty good!  We then hit the road and kicked out the rest of the drive!  We had one stop at a little rest stop called Little America, but that was it and then we made it home that evening about 5:30!  The end of the drive took us down Provo Canyon, so it was a beautiful way to come back into the state and city and welcome Tom home! 🙂

In total, we traveled nearly 3,000 miles over 5 days with 13 stops and nearly 45 hours spent in the car… Phew!  It was a long week but an incredibly productive one, and our testimonies have definitely been strengthened.  We’re so grateful for the time we’ve been able to spend together and the way this trip strengthened our relationship, and we’re also grateful for the experiences we’ve had together at these sacred sites.  It’s been such a beautiful week!  We’re definitely a little sad that it’s over… Now it’s time for us to get back to normal life, which for both of us is the best it’s ever been, and we’re so glad to be officially beginning our life together here in Utah! ☺