The Upton Adventures

It's hard to believe it's Christmas! It's a little strange to be on the other side of the country from most of our friends and family at this time of year, although it's served as a reminder of why we really celebrate Christmas. It's given us a chance to focus on the miracle of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us. While we sincerely love being with our families and all of the festivities of the season, it can be very easy to lose sight of the purpose of our celebration. This year, we've been blessed with lots of time to spend remembering and giving thanks.

Remember the miracle of Christ's birth and the hope that it brings. The man, who came to earth as a vulnerable baby, felt all the pain and temptations we know as humans, and died for our sins. Having never sinned Himself, He was the perfect sacrifice. He then defeated death by rising from the dead and is now seated in heaven with The Father. It is through Christ's sacrifice that we can have a relationship with The Father, Jesus Christ The Son, and The Holy Spirit. We celebrate Christ's birth as it is a reminder of all that Christ left in Heaven, the glory, joy, and presence of The Father, to come and save us. To be born in a lowly stable and layed in the animal's feed. Not the birth associated with a King, let alone God! Yet His humble birth and humble life, shows us that it is not our money or power that can save us. Instead, this baby that would one day be put to death as a criminal, having done nothing wrong, was born to die in our place for sin. It is only through Him that we may be saved. We have done nothing to deserve this, but instead, it is a glorious merciful gift. Thank the Lord!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and pray that today, you may find time, amidst all the craziness of the holiday to remember and give thanksgiving for the only gift that really matters.

This has been a little while coming, as we are well past Colorado in reality, but even though we are not doing a lot during our days, we find a way to be busy all of the time. Funny how that happens sometimes...

We came in to Colorado in the dark, passing by Grand Junction on our way down to Cedaredge, a very small community (I'm not going to call it a town) on the Grand Mesa (west-central Colorado). This is where Janae spent her middleschool years, and therefore we spent a lot of time going back down her memory lane. It's not a long lane, as the downtown takes about 5 minutes to walk down both sides, but it has the charm of any town of its ilk.

Everyone in the small coffee shop we visited greeted each other with very familial greetings, and were quickly into local gossip. We had just missed Apple Fest, which is sort of a big deal, so that was dissapointing, but we did catch the end of the "Color Sunday" which was not on a Sunday, but apparently is the day when the locals take time to notice the changing of the colors in the Aspens that cover the Mesa and surrounding areas. (I know I am spelling Colour incorrectly, but we are in America, so it seems fitting)

On the first full day in town we drove up to the top of the Grand Mesa, exploring some of the lakes where Janae would go canoeing with her friends. The altitude change was significant enough that at the top we experienced the first and only snowfall of the trip so far, it wasn't enough to hinder us, but was kind of a fun introduction to Colorado. We also went through the Apple Shed, a mixture of cafe, art gallery, and winery, that I think my Mother would love.

We also took a poke into town (an actual town), Delta is just a short drive from Cedaredge, and is a small, rural town, with a little boardwalk and shops. We had a little old man accost us on the street, assuring us that the best food in town was this diner a short distance away, so we gave it a shot, and honestly I am not so sure he is wrong, it was quite good, and was a small window into the growing portion sizes in the dining we would experience in America.

We spent a few days in Cedaredge, quite a few with family friends of Janae's, who welcomed me very warmly, and I hope we will visit again soon. We then continued our journey east, following a windy mountain pass to the little college/ski town of Gunnison (central Colorado). Here we stayed the night with the son of the aforementioned family, in his home near the university grounds (Western Colorado University). We got a tour of the university, and some great BBQ in our short stay, and Janae met a new friend (their month old kitten named Biscuit).

Onward to Denver... (continued soon, much sooner than this took I promise.) ~ Josh

After spending time in St. George in an Air B&B, we headed out to live among red dust, bushes, cows, and a few horses for a couple days...

Ok, obviously we didn't just drive out into the Utah desert on a whim and set up a tent (Though had we gotten lost on the way, that's totally what it could have become). We stayed in a cabin where my family had a reunion a number of years ago and is where my Gramma's ashes are buried. My parents, sister, aunt, and I were not able to be there when her memorial service was held. So it's been important to all of us to go out, visit, and spend some time remembering her out there. All of us were finally able to go out this fall.

I was so blessed to be able to bring Josh along as I've always wished she [Gramma] could have met him. I think she would have loved meeting him and gotten a kick out of standing next to him. (She was 5ft 2in) They could have talked for hours and I think would have been a great encouragement to one another.

We were also able to spend time with some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins out there which is always entertaining. There's always plenty of laughs, picture taking (much to Josh's chagrin), and memories shared. Since it's usually many years between opportunities to all get together, there's usually lots of catching up to be done too.

Once we were back on the road, it was off to my home state of Colorado! More photos in the gallery.

We had such a great time visiting the "friends" from the South in Idaho, but needed to hit the road early on our way down into Utah. We first went across east into Montana, and then, after Janae had her first Chick-fil-A (which is apparently a big deal or something), we turned south.

It took almost thirteen hours, and several coffees to reach Salt Lake City. We kept our eyes peeled for the Mormon Temple (which we were told, "you can't miss, from the highway")

We totally missed it.

We did see several impressive temples from the highway, far up in the hillsides around the city. We kept saying "is that it?", and "I feel like it should be bigger", then, on coming around a hill into the downtown area, we spotted a massive building just off the highway.

"This has to be it!"

I'll take a slight aside here and say I have never actually looked up what the Mormon Temple looks like, or where it is in the city, so forgive us our naivety.

It was not.

We see this building from the highway, I mean come on that looks like its gotta be it. But it is clearly giving off Government vibes. And turns out to be the State Capitol Building. I don't want to take away from it, an impressive building, but by getting caught up in it, we totally missed the Mormon Temple not far away.

Capitol Building in yellow circle, Mormon Temple in red circle.

So we missed the Mormon Temple on our way through Salt Lake, which was not really the biggest deal, but was kind of the only thing that I know of in the city. We stayed the night, then continued our way down to the southern end of Utah, to a little town called St. George.

St. George is a beautiful, small town, close to Zion National Park, and the home of some of Janae's relatives. I will not get too far ahead of our adventures in Utah, but I would like to thank Janae's family in welcoming me so warmly, I had a wonderful, relaxing time in Utah, and look forward to spending more time getting to know you all better in the future.

Last little photo dump and note, Steve(father-in-law) and I got up on early on one of the mornings in St. George and headed up into Zion to catch the sunrise. We were too close to not check it out, and found a nice canyon overlook trail that turned out to be quite popular. There were two, not one, two, wedding parties there that cold, windy morning before sunrise. I only snapped the photo of one, but trust me there was another around a different vantage point.

After leaving Kamloops B.C. at 9am, getting turned around in Kelowna (also in B.C. Canada), and getting lost in Spokane (in Washington USA), we finally made it to Couer d'Alene Idaho Friday night! -Although I suppose it was only fitting the adventure started on the road... Those of you who know my family, know we manage to find "unexpected adventures" just about any trip, and well, I would be lying if I said there wasn't an "Upton Factor" too.- That being said, we managed to roll in right as pizza came out of the oven, and we were welcomed right away by local family and spent the next 2.5 days with them and poking around town. While this was my first time meeting this branch of Josh's family, I felt like I was home. They were so good to us. (So those of you from the Couer d'Alene clan that are reading this, thank you so, so much for welcoming me in! I loved meeting and getting to know all of you!)

I have to admit though, I think one of the main highlights might have to be Sunday morning when we went out shooting. Shooting a firearm has been something I've wanted to do for YEARS and the closest I ever got was a pellet gun. So I was STOKED when I found out I was finally able to "take a shot at it" and MAN WAS THAT FUN! Both of us managed to hit the 660 yard target and walk away with no kick back injuries, so I call that a win! Here's hoping it's not another 20+ years before I can take another shot at it... hehe

All in all, great start to the trip, and I'm excited to see whats in store for the next piece!

Welcome to the Upton Adventure Blog!

We're so excited to travel over this next year and share our stories with you as we go! While we are traveling around the United States and Europe, it is God's provision and love, a wonderful sense of adventure, and the support from all of you that will keep us going.

Our hope is that this blog allows us to keep you up to date on the highs, lows, and all the craziness inbetween.

"It's A Dangerous Business, Frodo, Going Out Your Door. You Step Onto The Road, And If You Don't Keep Your Feet, There's No Knowing Where You Might Be Swept Off To" --Tolkein