Road Trip! . . . Day 1

We got back to Idaho late Saturday night the 25th, went to church for the last time in our ward on Sunday, then got busy packing and cleaning Monday through Wednesday. Our home teacher brought some of the Young Men in our ward to load the truck and got it done in about 20 minutes!

We finished putting in the last few boxes and suitcases the next morning and set out on our way to Billings, Montana.

It was nice to be able to be in the truck with Darren instead of following behind. We drove up through Idaho, around Yellowstone National Park, and then through Montana. It ended up being a beautiful drive through the canyon bordering Yellowstone, even though it was bumpy at times...

The Grand Tetons

Welcome to Montana!

The canyon view

We made it to Billings by about 3, had an interesting time finding somewhere to park our beast of a moving truck, but enjoyed our time at the hotel relaxing.

Miles driven on Day 1: 341.67

Miles driven to date: 341.67

State count: 2

Back to Idaho We Go. . . RIP Chuck

So, our trip back to Idaho was more eventful than we hoped for. We left Friday morning the 24th, hoping to be back that evening and have Saturday the 25th to recover and get ready for our move the next week.

Apparently there were other plans in store for us....We left about 7ish and got about 30 miles away from Truckee when the same hose popped off the radiator that popped off on our way down the Sierras three weeks earlier. I would like to say I handled it much better this time than I had previously, but you'd have to ask Darren about that...

We pulled over and checked it out, waited for a while and tried to get back on the road. This time though, the engine light wouldn't stop flashing and the car was starting to over heat. We sat there at the top of an on ramp for almost an hour while the car cooled down enough for us to be able to drive without problems. We decided that we probably shouldn't try to take the car back to Idaho, so we turned around and made the 2 hour trip back to Salida. I don't think Darren's parents expected to see us quite that soon :)

I made some phone calls on the way down and found a rental car for us to drive back to Idaho the next day.

We were glad to know that we would be able to get back to Idaho safely, but ultimately sad to say goodbye to Chuck. He was my dream car, and my first car. I paid for him all on my own, and worked hard to pay him off early. Many tears were shed...

Hopefully he will find a loving home soon, but until then he's a fixture in front of the Capell home in Salida...

The unexpected benefit to coming back that Friday morning was being able to attend the Salida Ward BBQ that evening! Darren even got to see an old friend that he hadn't seen in a few years. He and his wife didn't get into town until Friday afternoon, so we would have missed them otherwise. Our day wasn't totally ruined!

The drive to Idaho the next day was very smooth, and we did enjoy having a radio/CD player this time around. At least we still have Darren's Corolla...

California Love

While we were at Darren's parents for the 3 weeks we were in California, he decided we'd try and help them get their house a little more organized and user friendly. We spent quite a few days sorting through games, old stuff, and reorganizing two rooms in their house. I wish we had a before picture of the family room, but this is what it looked like after, and I love it!

We worked so hard to get all of the kids' toys and some of their games into a room big enough where they could stay there. Hopefully this is working out!

We couldn't go to California and not visit my aunt and uncle about 20 minutes from Darren's parents either. We went down the second weekend we were in town, and came back for a few days during our last week.

Darren had a great time playing water polo with my cousins' cousins, even though the water was MIGHTY green...

Later that night we watched the younger kids dance it out with the XBox...quite hilarious...

Kaymbria doin' "Funky Town"

We loved our trip and were sad to see it come to an end...we'll be back before you know it!



T-Ball!

We were so excited that we were able to go to our nephew Justin's t-ball championship game while we were here in California! 

They did fantastic and came in second place by only one run. So close! Justin played catcher for a while and did great running the bases after he batted.

We got to hang out with Sheila, Jordy and Hailey while Jeff and Justin were out in the field. I showed Jordan the proper way to eat an orange slice (stuff it in your mouth, suck all the juice out and then smile), and had fun getting to know little Hailey.

She didn't really enjoy all the screaming and yelling every time someone scored...

When the game was over everyone on Justin's team got a cupcake, Gatorade and a bag of snacks. Jordan, of course, snuck his way over and politely asked for some as well. Such a cute kid :)

We loved being able to see Justin play and hang out with the rest of the Jeff Capell clan!

G-Men

We, of course, had to go to a Giants' game while we were here in California. We looked at tickets while we were in Idaho and decided to go to a game against the Nationals! I was pretty excited, since I hadn't seen the Nationals play (they came to DC after I graduated and left).

We got there early enough that we were able to watch some batting practice while we ate dinner in our seats.

Nationals batting practice

After we ate we still had about an hour before game time so we took a walk around the park and got up close to all of Darren's favorite places.

Darren's new favorite thing!

All 6 Giants' Championships! (5 in NY, 1 in SF)

Brandon Crawford & Lou Seal

The game was really close, and Jonathon Sanchez pitched well, but the Giants still lost 2-1. Boo. Darren was pretty thrilled with Brian Wilson came out and warmed up though!

Brian Wilson - Fear the Beard

Cody Ross - "The Boss"

We were bummed the Giants' couldn't get a walk-off win, but it was fun to see all of our favorites again and we can't wait 'til the next time! (Which will probably be in DC).

Capell Birthday Party

On Sunday the Capell clan all came over to celebrate my birthday! We had delicious pork roast for dinner and then opened presents and had cake. Sherry and Glade were so sweet to do something for me.

Lady Antebellum CD

Jordy LOVED the watermelon we had with dinner

Where the Red Fern Grows 2 (guess I have to see the first one now!)

More yummy chocolate cake!

The Road to California...

It seems like we can't take a trip these days and have it be uneventful...

We left June 2nd to come out to California to spend a few weeks with Darren's family before we head out to Virginia. I was a little hesitant to take the Honda, since we had such problems with it last year on a long drive. Well, turns out I should have voiced those concerns to Darren...

We left about 8 in the morning and made great time over to Twin Falls, down to Wells and then over to Reno. I was pretty happy that everything was going well! We got up to Truckee and there were no signs of malfunction so we thought we were home free. Wrong.

We came over Donner Pass and the engine light started blinking. Darren pulled over under the overpass, opened the hood and steam came pouring out. I unfortunately turn into an emotional psycho when things like this go wrong. Darren looked around to see what was wrong and discovered that the hose from our radiator to the overflow had popped off the radiator and coolant had been sprayed onto our engine causing the steamage. (By the way, there were about 4-5 CalTrans workers about 10 feet away and they just sat and watched...not cool). He reattached the hose, let things cool down a little bit and headed back down the mountain (after may phone calls to dads...). The car was still acting a little funny (stuttering and shaking a little when going at a low speed), but we figured we'd get as far down the pass into Sacramento as we could and then stop if we needed to. Luckily we made it all the way to Salida and the car was acting fine by then! The engine light had stopped blinking and was just steady, which was also a good sign.

We took it into a mechanic the next day who didn't really know why the hose popped off. He said there must have been a build-up of pressure (but the thermostat didn't go up at all) and the stuttering was probably caused by the moisture from the coolant on the spark plugs and such. That all stopped when everything dried out. Good news.

I'm still hesitant to drive it across the country, especially after it started to over heat Tuesday night on the way back from San Francisco. Seriously...what overheats in 50 degree weather?! As much as I love this car, I think it's getting to the point that it's causing to much stress to be an asset...we shall see :)

One Year Older

My 27th birthday came and went on June 1st. Darren made sure it was a special day, and I loved every minute. He had a phone interview with a county out in Virginia that morning, but afterwards he made me some yummy french toast for breakfast.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out. It finally got warm enough to go and sit by the pool (70s is still not warm enough to get in!) and turns out I got my first sunburn of the year. Hilarious.

For dinner we went to my favorite place, Olive Garden! They embarassed me and sang Happy Birthday after we ate.

After dinner we came home and I got to open up gifts from Darren and some cards from family. Darren definitely did good this year. I got the movie "Life As We Know It" and the newest Nicholas Sparks book.

We were still pretty stuffed from dinner, but we found room for this delicious chocolate cake that Darren made from scratch. Still don't know why he wanted to go that route, but it was very good! We left for California the next day, so we put it in our handy-dandy cake carrier and brought it with us :)

Honestly, it doesn't feel any different being 27 than it did being 26. I just creep closer and closer to that 3-0 mark...scary. I remember when my mom turned 30. I was almost 9!

Anyway...it was a wonderful day and I so appreciated all the phone calls and messages I received. They all made the day great.