We returned home yesterday from our trip to take Janet out to BYU. It was a fun trip--a little long and hot, but fun. Here's the recap with pictures:

We left on Sunday after church and drove to my mom's in Aberdeen, SD. The next morning, we drove from Aberdeen to Mt. Rushmore, which is about a six hour drive. Western South Dakota isn't much to look at, but one thing we did enjoy seeing were the vast fields of sunflowers.

We broke up the trip with a stop at Wall Drug. It's so touristy that it's fun.

Then, on to the Black Hills. We took a little hike at Mt. Rushmore. Although we have been there before, it's still awesome.

We drove on to Casper, WY that night. The next day, we visited Martin's Cove, the Willy Rescue Site, Rock Creek Camp and the site at the Green River where Rene's ancestor died. Once more we were awed by the strength and courage of the pioneers, both those who came by wagon and the handcart companies. Driving across Wyoming causes you to reflect on what the thoughts of those early saints may have been. What a lot of faith and determination that trek took! Rene and Janet are sitting on a bench which commemorates the death of Joseph Oborn at the Green River Crossing.

After seeing more of Wyoming than you'd ever want, we made it to Kaysville that night. The next morning, we moved Janet into the dorms.

We had a long list of items to accomplish while in Utah and got all of them done. Rene and I were able to attend the Provo temple and enjoyed it. It had been about 27 years and after attending small temples for the past 9 years, it was a different experience.

We missed Janet on the drive home. It was a much quicker trip. We drove 16 hours the first day from Provo to Ames, Iowa. The next day, we drove 6 hours home with two interruptions. We stopped in Minneapolis to give peaches to Mary Ann and then we stopped at an Amish store about an hour from home.

One other item....the cheapest gas? Aberdeen, SD, at $3.45. Who would have imagined that?

And one last picture....