Milwaukee to Salt Lake City

A few days after Nick's graduation, we flew out to Milwaukee to help Marissa and Dan move back to Utah for his anesthesiology residency. I hadn't been to Milwaukee to visit them in a couple years, and this was Nick's first time going, so we were really excited to get to go. 

The move and the drive was quite the feat, but we made the best of it! 

We had a great time checking out the new Delta terminal in MSP during our layover. The iPads at each table are a definite step up. 

This is the cute little house Marissa and Dan's family lived in for the past 5 years. Lots of great memories here but we were so excited for the changes ahead of them, too. 

Nick wins the best uncle award... as I'm sleeping on the couch next to them. Haha. 

We took Charlotte out on a little day trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum while Eliza was at school. 

And we died over her cuteness. 

We also got some time to explore downtown Wauwatosa together. Such a quaint little town! 

Dan and Nick became expert packers with bubble wrap and plastic wrap. 

And then we proceeded to pack up the biggest truck possible that they could rent. Thanks to Nick and Dan's expertise, everything fit lit a charm! 

We got a late start out from Wauwatosa, and stopped in Rochester that night before the long drive the next day. 

The girls stayed occupied by playing "ticket time". Every hour of the trip they got to hand in one of their tickets for a treat or a fun activity to pass the time. They were champs! 

The second day, we drove from Rochester to Rapid City and got to enjoy some beautiful Midwest scenery. 

After our stay in Rapid City, we made a stop at Mt. Rushmore the following morning before we started on the home stretch. Mt. Rushmore was definitely different than I expected it to be--for some reason the movies always make it seem much more close up to the viewing area! But nonetheless, it was fun to check it off our historical bucket list. We had a few minutes to tour the visitors center and learn some more history about is construction. 

Nick was a good sport and drove the moving van the majority of the way. For some reason I don't think he minded driving a giant truck too much. :)

There's nothing quite like these big, fluffy Midwest clouds. 

After seeing the billboards for hundreds of miles, we of course had to stop at Wall Drug. My mom has some fun stories about stopping here on their cross-country drives in the 1950's and 60's. 

Everything was packed so well in the truck that it literally stayed in place like a Jenga game when we opened the door. Haha. Luckily there were no major fatalities and everything made it in-tact! 

The girls were sooooo excited to unpack their towns in the new rooms. It's so fun to have them a bit closer now and they are so happy in their new house and neighborhood.