Road Trip: STL - SLC

My parents are moving to Colorado so Brandon and I flew to St. Louis to pick up cars and drop them off at my parent's new place, me in one car and him in the other. It was strange saying goodbye to a house and town I grew up in. We went for a run on my favorite loop and passed my high school where I could almost smell the fresh cut grass of field hockey two-a-days. I opened closets in my house that I haven't opened for years, they still smell the same as they did when I used to hide in them. The back door still shuts with the same creeky slam and the mudroom still has the faint echo that never went away no matter how full of kids stuff it got. Most of the decor has changed, thankfully, but the pea green shag is still in all the old photos with the bright gold chest that held all the toys (seriously gold. it looked like the ark of the covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark...minus the winged ladies on top). Lots of memories and only 24 hours to enjoy Fall in the midwest. We hit some of my hometown favorites, finally buried my cats' ashes under the crabapple tree to be with my dog's ashes, and then set out to Colorado. I loved sharing home with Brandon once more before I can no longer call it home. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a great childhood!

We drove to Denver the first day where we got separated on the way in. If you ever want to see me go from happy to volatile in seconds, throw me into traffic in an unknown city and separate me from my husband after 13 hours of driving, little food, and a 5 hour energy drink that shot my nerves. The honda's navigating system could learn a thing or two from Garmin and it's not wise to try to listen to it's British accent commands while "talking" to your husband on the phone at the same time (he'd say I was yelling, sorry babe). I did make it to the hotel after 25 minutes of wrong turns, one way streets, dead stop traffic, construction, some cursing and a dead end. And it only took me about that long to come out of my mood and enjoy Denver...eating helped. The next day we went to Aspen via Leadville and Independence Pass. Then on to my parents new house and Salt Lake the third day.

St. Louis Bread Company -  known as Panera in other states. Puts Paradise Bakery to shame. Delicious! And my sister, Baylee, who's also delicious and puts most things to shame

Custard stand. Famous for concretes so thick you can turn them upside down and they stay in the cup. As shown here.

But apparently there is a time limit and I exceeded it while posing with Bay. Notice my shock, her knee jerk reaction, and the blob of deliciousness now melting on the pavement instead of in my mouth

Check out our killer shirts, and the ice cream on the ground that contradicts everything the shirt is saying

Toasted Ravioli - St. Louis classic

Stake 'n Shake: a family favorite that is now home to the Wisconsin Buttery (seriously!? sounds more dirty than appetizing)

My dad's mancave (now complete with Zachary Proctor originals)

Burying the kitties next to Lady

Ash dust billowed up into my face. Kitty in the lungs. Gross

Bye-bye kitties...and beautiful house :(

Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City, Missouri side

Welcome to Kansas

The only exciting thing between KC and Colorado was this

Denver was pretty sweet. 16th Street

First snow of the season - don't worry dad, it was just a few flurries over the pass

Home of the Leadville 100, "The Race Across the Sky"

Colorado has the coolest little mountain/mining towns (Leadville here).

Headed into Independence Pass. It was cold

Our caravan. Brandon drove the Jeep ("it's more manly") and I took the Honda. Our walkie-talkie radios didn't make it the whole trip. Thank you C.S. Lewis and whoever invented books on CD

the summit

much better scenery our second day

There's a house to the left behind the trees. We'd take it

Night riding in Aspen

Maroon Bells. This canyon parallels the one we got engaged in (Ashcroft). Turns out Lance tweeted he rode Ashcroft that day (of course Brandon follows Lance's Twitter). Maybe we would have seen him if we had gone up it.

Never a smooth body of water goes by where Brandon doesn't stop to skip rocks in it

Muffin Top Finger

People say you gain weight when you get married. I didn't believe it. I'm a healthy eater and we exercise frequently. Plus, I lost weight on our honeymoon (might have been that the buffet at our otherwise classy hotel resembled an oversized 7-11 and over greased, heat lamp food doesn't appeal to me. Thank goodness for taco stands!). But, it so happens, that the lbs have found their way in. I guess I have spent less time exercising with all the other things that have taken priority when suddenly two schedules merge (probably the hardest thing about getting married. seriously, that was tough at first. Now, it works). Honestly, I'm ok with a few extra pounds, but my ring finger is suffering. I have the engagement ring and my wedding band. Both were sized to fit my little pre-marriage finger. The band was a bit smaller because of the ring design. I used to take them off nightly to give my finger a rest. I'm not used to jewelery. Now we have a problem....

 Looks okay at first glance. But it used to be a little loose and without indentations forming at the sides

AND when I try to get it off.... I get MUFFIN TOP FINGER. Soap isn't even helping anymore. I've actually developed a small callous on the side of my knuckle from the friction of pulling it off

Yep....It's stuck.