Where Have We Been…?
Whew! Well we haven’t blogged in a month & a half for VERY good reason! For 2 weeks we prepped for a trip out West to visit with our immediate families (Jenny’s family in Arizona for a week & Jason’s family in California for a week) since FINALLY ALL of the rest of the family got vaccinated-! All of our immediate family members (sans one) are either in the medical field OR elderly, SO most of them started getting vaccinated in mid-December 2020 about 4 months ago and were FULLY vaccinated by the end of January just 2.5 months ago-! We are obviously not elderly OR in the medical field, BUT we did have a great best friend from high school (THANK YOU, SARAH!) give us the info for an Excess Vaccine Waitlist to email our names, ages, and career to back in late January 2021 just 2.5 months ago. Within just 5 days between the end of January and start of February we were contacted and asked to come in within a half hour to HOUR to a hospital 35 minutes away to get excess Pfizer vaccines from in the first days of February-! We filled out our medical info via their website in the car on the hectic ride over and got our FIRST shot in the first days of February with our 2nd shot on February 23rd almost TWO months ago-! That meant that we had to wait 2 to 3 weeks after our 2nd shots to be FULLY VACCINATED and get to feel free.
Heading out West (Driving with our 3 Pets for 27 Hours)
After a 2 week Blog Hiatus, on another Wednesday (St. Patrick’s Day- March 17th 2021) a month ago marked 21 days of us being vaccinated, so we hopped into Jenny’s CRV filled to the brim with toddler Niece, Infant Nephew, and tons of immediate family gifts AS WELL AS OUR 3 PETS-! Jenny’s parents have watched our pets often when they’re in town not Snowbird-ing many mid-Mays through mid-Octobers while we photograph some of our 7 to 11 hour weddings (or head out of state to photograph Weddings & Engagement Sessions), so they allowed us to bring our 3 pets to come visit their 2 doggy cousins & new 9 month young human Cousin Nash! In 2020 they didn’t get back to across the border in Michigan (not here in Indiana) until July when it was legal to travel back to the home there and they only stayed for 3 months (vs the normal 6 that they usually do because they then wanted to leave a couple weeks early to go help Jenny’s sister in Arizona with our baby nephew)..
We drove quickly through the Southern portion of the country- the same route that we took out here from California to here on the border of Indiana/ Michigan back 5.5 years ago when we moved out here to buy our house and move our business again- and our pets gained a TON of new states to their states visited-! Our pets are awesome in the car and literally slept almost the entire drive (which was good because they drove with us round-trip nearly 60 hours)! Kevin the elderly 13 to 15+ year rescue cat does ride shotgun in one of our laps while the other of us drives, so he does get a bit spoiled.
Driving Through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, & Arizona!
On the way out to our immediate families in Arizona & California we drove through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, & New Mexico. Our first leg of the drive was about 9 hours- stopping mid-way on the drive in St. Louis after 5.5 hours for breakfast, walking/ feeding the dogs, & grabbing some Irish baked goods for St. Pat’s Day: green snake breads for St. Patrick, clover dog treats, & Ooey Gooey Buttercakes. That night we stayed at an AMAZING pet-friendly AirBnB on the edge of Kansas & in Missouri (a state we’ve now stayed at AirBnBs in a whopping 5 times in 5 cities) and our pets genuinely LOVED the experience. That was an amazing experience and we hope to visit there (that VERY secluded prarie AirBnB) again sometime! (We were amazed and thrilled that we even got to watch some of the new episodes of Shameless on Showtime in the AirBnB house seemingly in the middle of no where)!
Next up we continued to drive for nearly 10 more hours through Kansas, Oklahoma, & Texas stopping yet again (we’d stopped there 5.5 years ago in August 2015) at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas where we struggled through almost losing shoes in feet-deep mud! It’s crazy to look at our photos from there that are 5.5 years apart! That night after more driving we stayed in a hotel in New Mexico that we’d pre-booked (sadly due to Covid it no longer allowed us to go use the pool, get free breakfast, etc). Our dogs & cat kind of freaked out about smells and sounds there in the hotel even though the hotel was very quiet, so we took note of this and decided that AirBnBs would be best for the drive home.
Arizona Visiting Jenny’s Family in 3 Cities for 6 Days!
The next day we got in to Arizona after another 10 hours of driving (3 days total) and got in on a Friday night around 10 p.m. to Jenny’s parents’ home! Her parents moved to new houses 3 times within 5 years in Arizona due apparently to their newfound love of house hunting paired with boredom, so it’s always a bit hard to remember what the similar-looking nice, large Southwest home looks like (they claim this is their “last” house, but even went to look at another home in their neighborhood while we were there)! Our cat immediately took to the guest bedroom we chose and we put a baby gate at the door & put his food & kitty litter out as the dogs went in the backyard first. The backyard is unlike anything our dogs know as it’s in Scottsdale, Arizona and is mostly stone tiles, many rocks, & many cacti plus a heated pool & hot tub. Our dogs have never seen a pool, but they’re afraid of water, so we felt ok. Jenny cautioned our greyhound/ viszla mix rescue dog Coco not to get too close to the edge or she could fall in and right as she said that Coco looked right at her and walked onto the pool cover/ sank into the water at 10 p.m.! Jenny’s dad dragged her out, but we were laughing guessing that maybe since it was winter that she thought it was solid ice. It wasn’t until later that we figured out that Coco thought the blue cover was a floating foam mat Jenny’s family uses at her parents’ lakehouse-! Coco just wanted to walk out and float on the water, but instead she sank into the water-! This 6.5 year old that we’ve had for 4.5 years is normally terrified of water, but she didn’t panic too much as she nearly drowned (plothounds are NOT known for their swimming skills we learned & kind of sink- hence the life vest she wears near water in the Midwest).
We spent 6 straight days in Arizona/ 7 days total visiting 10 of Jenny’s immediate & extended family members- all of whom moved out to Arizona from Indiana over the past 2 or 3 decades! We first waited for Jenny’s sister and brother-in-law to be available/ finish up with the plans they had for that morning (which actually were cancelled by her mother-in-law) by heading out to a few Estate Sales in Arizona before meeting them for lunch. We planned to stay with them for 2 or 3 days, so when they were having issues coming to meet us for lunch, we grabbed them their food requests and brought them 45 minutes from Mesa, Arizona to their house in Cave Creek, Arizona (whew! the food sadly got cold). We enjoyed some korean fried cheese & hot dogs in their backyard with our Nephew & their 2 dogs and relaxed with them for another day or 2 over the weekend and Jenny’s sister’s days off of work at the hospital (both being Occupational Therapists), then headed back to Jenny’s parents’ house for most of the rest of the week.
At Jenny’s parents we introduced our dogs to Jenny’s sister’s 2 dogs and the 4 of them played in the backyard there as we all swam in the pool. We enjoyed some dinners at Jenny’s parents’ place, hung out with our nephew almost all week, went to the dog park with all 4 dogs & Jenny’s sister, hiked with all 4 dogs & Jenny’s sister, & Jason even got his hair permed at a mall using his Christmas Gift from his grandma (a JC Penny giftcard). We even met one of Jenny’s aunts at a Middle Eastern grocery store to grab lunch To Go & ate in her car with her (a first during the Pandemic- thankful for vaccines)! We even got to check on on a few plants that we gifted Jenny’s mom last January 2020 during our last visit (driving them to her from California) including a cool pomegranate tree-! At the very end we visited one of Jenny’s high school best friends (the one who helped us get excess vaccine leftovers back in Jan/ Feb), got to meet her baby, and got to hang out at their house with her hubby & really take in how CRAZY the past year has been! It was great having fun with fully vaccinated friends and we were so happy to see them- finding out that they live just 12 minutes from Jenny’s sister’s house!!
California Visiting Jason’s Family in 3 Cities for 7.5 Days
After our standard 6 days in Arizona visiting with Jenny’s family, we got in to California late one evening after a 7 hour drive getting in around 10 p.m. to his mom & grandma’s house! On the way in we stopped and photographed giant dinosaurs we’ve always loved- this time dressed up/ painted for Easter since it was Easter week! We also stopped to rock shop on the way as usual, but have found we’ve almost hit our max on small cool rocks/ gems! When we got in to California Jason’s mom was awake to greet us, so we chatted for a bit and all headed to bed.
The next day Jason’s brother drove down an hour with our niece and we hung out celebrating Easter a bit for the day with their mom & grandma. In the afternoon we headed an hour up to his brother’s apartment to stay with them for 3 days! They alerted us that our Niece had gotten sick 3 days earlier at Daycare, but she was tested days later and tested negative for Covid-19, so that was a relief. She had a mild cough and runny nose while we were there and had a lot of energy, but often in the evening her temperature would spike and she would get sad. We tried to comfort her as best we could, but ultimately were fine with sitting in their home with her-! We felt bad that someone at Daycare had gotten her sick, but were very glad that it wasn’t us and that it wasn’t Covid-19. In the moments when she was feeling better throughout being sick with either a cold or the flu, we celebrated Easter with her during Easter week! This was her 2nd Easter and we helped her color eggs for her first time ever (in foam)! We also gifted her her first Easter Basket, eggs filled with fruity Easter marshmallows, and gave her bunny ear hair clips! Her grandma, great grandma, & great grandma’s sister gifted her 3 stuffed animals for Easter and we all got her cards, so needless to say she was excited! We also gifted her a mini microwave toy, bouncy blow-up horse toy, & a handmade outfit, purse, & backpack from Guatemala & Peru! She was so cute in the new things! We were ultimately so happy that we got to play with our Niece and get to see her again for our first time in 14 months at the age of 1 & a half! It was also nice seeing our brother & sister!
After leaving our sick niece for her to recover from being ill, we headed on to visit our old home of Santa Barbara, California where we’d met when we finished our additional schooling back 7 years ago-! We went up to a different campground near Jenny’s old mountain home (about 10 minutes from downtown) and set up our tent, blow-up mattress, comforter, pillows, etc. We then headed into town and met up with Jason’s high school bestie & his wife and headed to the Farmer’s Market! We’ve been going there for 8.5 years and made sure to grab our favorite items at this weekly outdoor market for our camping meals! Afterward we headed with them to dinner- something we hadn’t done in OVER a year- dining at a restaurant! We enjoyed the restaurant literally on the beach (our favorite beach), then headed to his friend’s house to eat pie we bought and hang out for a bit. It was SO good to see them after a long 14 months and we loved hanging out with them. Jenny even brought a vintage robe along so the besties could wear Pandemic house robes with their long hair and moustaches to cheers their drinks! (We then checked out a vintage anatomy book). **California continued BELOW images…
For our final 4 days out in California we: Went to Lizard’s Mouth (a well-known 5 minute hike/ cliff above Santa Barbara that looks like a lizard’s mouth), Solvang, CA just above Santa Barbara to that Danish city to pick up our favorite pastries for Easter with Jenny’s family, and a walk on our favorite beach before grabbing a few plants at a nursery, then a thrift store while we headed out of town back down 1.5 hours to Jason’s mom & grandma’s house.
We got to his mom & grandma’s house where we stayed for 3 days fixing things and mingling with them! We also hung out with their 9 pets there (4 dogs, 2 birds, a cat, & 2 tortoises). The tortoises are something Jenny’s never been lucky enough to see as they usually come out on Easter and actually came out there from being underground literally the day BEFORE Easter-! We fixed 3 leaking water spouts at their house, the swamp cooler (like AC), and cleaned out their garage filled with 3 homes’ worth of items-! We were happy we could help as this is what Jenny’s parents always did for her grandparents when they’d fly out for holidays from Indiana to Arizona. It was good to catch up with Jason’s mom & grandma- especially since both of us lost uncles in the fall who passed away around September/ October (not to Covid-19, rather other injuries). After a few days there, we started our Journey back HOME to Indiana (an hour from Chicago) and drove out Saturday night.
Driving Home Begins: Easter Day with 10 of Jenny’s Family Members in Arizona (After 7 Hours Driving from CA to AZ)
We drove 7 hours from California to Arizona and got in around 10 p.m. to Jenny’s parents home the night before Easter. Our pets were very excited to see us and we babied them once we got there after a week away from them! Jenny colored her hair Purple temporarily for Easter and we spent Easter lunch with 10 of Jenny’s fully vaccinated immediate & extended family members-! It was nice to get to spend Easter time with our 9 month old nephew and 1.5 year old niece that week!
We got our nephew a vintage Easter shirt and we also had vintage Easter shirts (which we’d gotten there in Arizona 14 months earlier on our annual trip out West) as well as a cool little car that he fit perfectly on to-! He’s almost walking, so he had fun on his little Jeep! Their neighbor dressed as an Easter Bunny and visited the house for our nephew’s first Easter! He also got to Easter Egg hunt & have a fruit Easter marshmallow from us! Soon after we all headed to the family lunch at one of Jenny’s aunt’s houses in Glendale, AZ an hour away.
3 Days Driving Home: Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, & Indiana for 28 hours!
After Easter we left to drive across the country yet again- this time through the Northern Route. We stayed 8 hours away just past Moab, Utah on our 1st night in a city of just 100 folks in an old miner’s bunk house.
On night #2 after driving 11 more hours we stayed in Lincoln, Nebraska- apparently where Jenny’s grandma was born before she moved to West Virginia, then Virginia for college. There we got a whole house to ourselves and our pets once again LOVED it. AirBnB entire houses are definitely the route our pets love the most as it doesn’t cause them any anxiety and they quite enjoy exploring!
After around 28 hours total and our last day of a 9 or 10 hour drive, we were home again! Our pets were excited and relieved! They seemed to enjoy the naps & sightseeing during the drives (as well as all the new homes and places they got to stay- 5 places to be exact)! Our pets have now been to around 16 states- MORE than most PEOPLE have been to-!! They’re well-seasoned travelers having also been camping with us and having been to the East Coast and now nearly West Coast, so suffice to say they’re great travelers-!
Finally Home/ Back to Photography Work!
We finally returned HOME this week and are RIGHT back to prepping for Late Summer 2021 Weddings as well as updating our personal home! We have wedding schedules hammered out & have final payments due for folks whose weddings are coming up in Late Summer 2021 (where most had to schedule out to after a 3rd Pandemic rescheduling on their weddings). We have a lot on our plates, but have made time in between to water our plants, eat, and keep our pets happy and healthy! It was a very jam-packed trip across the country with over a week of stressful driving and driving through literally 12 states (25% of the United States)!
Thanks so much for following along on our journey and please be understanding if we’re too tired to socialize anytime soon-! We’re prepping to plant our food garden and round out our perennial garden before we can get our 100 tropical plants back out onto our porch in a month (after the last night freeze), so we have lot, lot, lot to do over the next month or 2. We hope to personally catch ya sometime this year in the next 8 months, but if not, catch ya in 2022-! Whew! It’s been a crazy 2021 already and we’re emotionally and physically DRAINED!