Road Trip

I love a good road trip.

Afton and I had the pleasure to make a drive up to Utah for the wedding of her dear friend Amy Jo. We thought we'd take advantage of the opportunity and make a good, long trip of it (especially with it being so close to the Fourth of July).
This is our story.


First off, I must tell you how much love I enjoy a good road trip.
I love the landscapes you see, the music you can enjoy, the photos you can catch.
It always pleases me greatly.


After the long drive up there, we stopped by American Fork to meet up with Afton's friend Janessa and her husband.

This was also very significant for another reason- it was my first time eating at Zupas Cafe.
I tend to not enjoy trying new things, especially with food. But on trips like this I'm far more willing.
So I ordered their ultimate grilled cheese with a chicken enchilada chili.
Let me tell you guys, it's been a while since I've had such a positive experience with a new food place. 
It pretty much blew my mind. If you haven't tried it yourself, there's apparently one located in Phoenix to enjoy.


The next day was the 4th of July. In the last few years, this has become one of my favorite holidays.
And I had always heard the fourth in Provo is like nothing else. So I was optimistic.


After checking out the Spiderman movie (a disappointment if you ask me) and having Afton show me spots 
from her time of going to school their, we decided to grab some food at another Utah standard- Brick Oven Pizza.

This was, once again, a first time experience for me.
It was definitely a good experience, although the waitress clearly hated Afton.


Then came the main event.
Afton had found out that at Provo's annual Fourth of July celebration- Stadium of Fire- 
they were featuring The Beach Boys. And how more American could you get? Right?

So we purchased tickets that morning and headed over.

The whole thing was certainly entertaining-
Alex Boye hosting, Scotty McCreery, a Trevor Denton lookalike, 
and the most moving Star-Spangled Banner I've ever heard (jets and all).
But of course, the highlight was the Beach Boys' performance.

They played all the classics, and with the same energy they had in the 60s.
I was grateful that last year I went through this stage of discovering The Beach Boys so I could really appreciate their set.


Then of course came the fireworks show, one of the best I've seen.

We drove away from the event completely satisfied and listening to more great American music- Garth Brooks.


The next morning we headed down to the Draper temple for Amy Jo and Blake's sealing.
The temple is actually bigger and more beautiful than I had expected.

If you don't know these two at all, they are two of the friendliest, kindest people I've ever met.
The things I've heard of them both, especially during the wedding festivities 
showed me their loyalty and love to friends and family.
Probably the best example of this was at the start of the sealing when the sealer explained that we were in 
the largest sealing room in the church (it was about 3 times bigger than mine in Mesa's) 
and there were still people standing.


After the deed was done, we waited outside in the rainy weather.

As we were waiting for the couple to come out, this guy popped out and acted like we were all waiting for him.
He was amusing to say the least.

And then there they were. 
Married and all.

Then came the reception in Brighton. We had gone with friends up to Park City so the quickest/easiest way 
there was this road that went straight through the mountain there. It was crazy.

It was in this beautiful area of mountain and all things green. 

The setting made it so romantic on top of the happy feelings everyone was exuding. 

I was looking dapper, if I may say so myself.

The rain eventually started up but that discouraged no one from having a good time.

And in the midst of all this partying, we discovered we were with a star.

The whole day I knew he looked really familiar, and eventually one of Afton's friends figured out why:

"He's duck face!"

Search Whi Hertford on imdb and you'll realize how big a part of our lives he's been.

The next day, we thought we'd hit up downtown Salt Lake and temple square.
First we hit up the City Creek plaza there. It exceeded our already high expectations.
Did some shopping, ate some food- had a good time.


Then we headed over to temple square.

We went to all the spots I like to check out when there-


The Joseph Smith building

The tabernacle

The church history museum

Even got the classic couple SLC temple shot.

I just really love Salt Lake City.
It's gorgeous and has so much history that's very personal to me.
It reminds me of how grateful I should always be.

Then we decided to head out, but not before stopping by another 

classic Provo food establishment, J-Dawgs.

It was actually quite excellent.

Then we were officially on our way to St George.
We decided to stop by St George for a day for two reasons,
to break up the drive home and to check out the temple there.
It was gorgeous.

And doing a session there was pretty incredible. It's just unlike any of the other temples I've been to, 
probably because of its age. It was just so beautiful.


The next day, after five days in Utah, we were ready to head home.

And just as we strolled into Flagstaff, only 2 hours away from home, the car died at the gas station.
It seemed clear that it was the battery so we jumped it and headed out deciding that we would 
not making any more stops until we arrived home.


15 minutes later, while driving 80 mph down I-17, everything suddenly turned off and the battery was out.

So after a tow truck, a 24 hour service garage, and hundreds of dollars- we found ourselves in a hotel room staying a night in Flagstaff not knowing how soon our car would be ready to take.

Luckily the next morning we got the call that the car would be ready around the time we needed to check out.
So we left the armpit of a hotel we had stayed in for good.

We filled our bellies at IHOP 
(after somebody straight up stole our table and we waited 3 times longer than we should have)

Lessons Learned:
1. Utah highways aren't as pretty in the summer, but still just as peaceful
2. Zupas is one of new favorite places to eat
3. J-Dawgs is pretty solid too
4. Service at restaurants isn't what it used to be
5. The Beach Boys is enjoyable at any age, especially on the 4th of July
6. Life is really about the people you love and sharing special moments with them
7. Duck Face is from Provo
8. I love taking pictures at temple square
9. The St George temple is especially legit
10. Breaking down after 5 on a Saturday night is costly.

There's The Rub.