THE MINI MEUNIERS: The journey

Nathan and I had a wonderful trip from North Carolina to Montana. My parents took Emma back to MT with them when they left after graduation. At first, I had strong reservations, but I'm really glad they did. Overall it was better for her. She did fine on the plane with them, she didn't have to spend 4 days in the car with us, and we were able to have a much more relaxing trip. It was the longest time we were away from her though, so it was a little tough.

Saying goodbye to the old house

Our moving van.Our stuff only took up about 1/3 of the truck

The first leg of our trip was a relatively short 4 hour drive from Durham to Asheville, NC. I had always wanted to go to Asheville and figured this would be one of our last good chances, so we went for about a day. We stayed at the wonderful Grove Park Inn. I have to say it was amazing. Everyone should plan a trip to Asheville and stay here. Asheville is a great city with a vibrant culture and beautiful scenery.

Nate and I outside Grove Park Inn

The next leg of our trip was a 10 hour trek from Asheville to Chicago. It was a beautiful drive through the Blue Ridge "mountains" and the horse farms of Kentucky. In Chicago we met some of my nursing friends, Joy and Becca, for dinner. Joy surprisingly was at Duke graduation with me. She did an online program in executive nursing leadership and also finished in May. What a small world!

Ole nursing friends

The next part of our trip was from somewhere outside Milwaukee to Minneapolis where our friend Laura hosted a BBQ for us and all my old girlfriends came. It was a great evening. We got to see Adian, my friend Becky's son, and also saw both Becky and Kate's pregnant bellies. Since our visit, Becky had another boy, Alexander John, and Kate had a girl, Ivy Mae. All are doing fine and I can't wait to meet them!

The girls

Becky and Kate's lovely bellies

Next we went from Minneapolis to Glendive, Montana. There is really not any reason to go to Glendive. There is nothing there. That drive was really long and boring. Not much in the way of scenery, but I understand why they call Montana big sky country. It's incredible how far you can see, especially in eastern Montana where's there not many trees or mountains. But the phrase Big Sky Country really shouldn't be limited to Montana. You see the same effect in North and South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. Most people don't necessarily like these areas of the country, but I think they have their own beauty. There's nothing like watching a thunderstorm roll along the wide expanse. Simply amazing!

Wish I could take credit for this one, but it's from google images. Nice pic though.

The last leg of the trip was a remote 5-hour drive on highway 200 from Glendive to Great Falls. We were so excited to see Emma again, but her reaction was a little anti-climactic. She just sort of looked at as and went about her business. A good sign that she loves spending time with her grandparents! She is still not walking despite my dad's best efforts (as seen in the video). I'm starting to get a little concerned but my Mom said I didn't start walking until I was 15 months old, so I guess she's got a month! Enjoy the pictures of the cutie below.