Jill and Brad's Excellent Adventure

Alright, so I'm back and I'd like to finish up with the details of our cross country trip. After we spent a night in Missoula, we made our way to Idaho Falls. We stopped in Dillon, MT to say hello to our most favorite outlet ever - Patagonia! This Patagonia Outlet has been extremely kind to us because we frequently order from their weekly specials and the sales people are over-the-top helpful on the phone and the prices can not be beat. It was really fun to actually see what the outlet looks like after spending so much time with the sales associates on the phone. Much to my dismay, I did not find anything I needed, but Brad did get a polo shirt and swim trunks. After Dillon, we headed into Idaho Falls where Brad found a great hotel room through Hotwire which was right across the street from the falls. Our room was huge so we decided to set up our wet tent to dry it out from the flood that occurred in Glacier. We had dinner at a new restaurant down the street and then went for a walk on the trails next to the falls.

The next morning we got up, had breakfast at the hotel and then began our drive to City of Rocks. We stopped into the visitor center at City of Rocks to get some hiking maps, found our campsite, set up camp, then went for a hike. We got a little lost on our hike (which was my fault) but we eventually found our way. It wouldn't be a true cross country trip without getting lost at least once! After our hike, we were dirty and thirsty so we stopped at a general store to get some gatorade and water and I persuaded Brad to go to Durfee Hot Springs down the street. The hot springs were divine! There were 3 pools with varying temperatures and we spent most of our time in the medium hot pool. It was a relaxing time in the hot spring as we talked to a local who couldn't believe we were from Rhode Island.

One view of City of Rocks

We really enjoyed our campsite at City of Rocks. Our campsite had some really cool rock formations surrounding it and we enjoyed our chipmunk neighbor as we cooked dinner.

Brad liked the craters/bowls that had formed atop some of the rocks.

After dinner we wanted to use our tripod to take a picture of us on one of the rocks near our picnic table.  It was quite a task for me to press the timer then climb up the rock in less than 10 seconds...you'll see what I mean...

Brad is solo because my attempt at sitting next to him failed.

Another fail.

I swear I'm trying.

Fail yet again.

Almost there.

Finally!

The next morning we packed up our site and then met our climbing instructor, Bree at 9 am. We followed Bree to a climbing spot called 5 peaks (I think that was the name). We got harnessed up and got a rundown on how to climb and then it was our turn to scale the rocks. I went first since I had a little experience in a rock gym before (although that was in college), but the beginner climb wasn't hard and I quickly got the hang of it. Brad picked up climbing with extreme ease and we quickly moved over to some more challenging climbs. Our instructor, Bree was fantastic and couldn't believe how well we were doing for first-timers. She even let us tie our own knots, which made me super nervous the first time I rappelled on my own knot! Overall the climbing experience was awesome and a great way to end our cross country trip.

Brad was a natural at climbing.

Bree challenged us to use the crack.

At about noon, we left Idaho and headed for SLC.  It wasn't a far drive and we were antsy to get into our house and settle down.  On our way to our new home, we stopped by the storage unit and picked up my Subaru.  We arrived at our home at around 3:30 and after unpacking both cars and organizing a little we were beat.  We ordered some pizza and called it a night. 

Welcome to Utah!!

So there you have it, folks - Jill and Brad's Excellent Adventure! 

In other news, I got hired to be a cashier at Whole Foods in Park City yesterday!  I'm excited to have a job and even more excited to get that WF's discount. :)  Over the weekend, Brad and I plan to shop for mountain bikes, possibly check out Park City, go for a long ride, and try out a new restaurant.  On Monday, Brad will officially start his fellowship and I'll be starting my training for Whole Foods soon.

Cheers!