A 31 hour road trip, lots of family time, and a lesson learned

tldr; flying and driving for family.

After Lassen, we headed back to home sweet home, Austin. This time, it wasn’t a surprise as we planned to spend some long-overdue family time with my dad’s side to celebrate all being vaccinated!

Choi and I had originally booked flights to Austin from Portland to arrive just in time for our family reunion on the lake. But, my little brother had recently gotten engaged and had an engagement party the weekend prior. I knew I wouldn’t be around for much of the wedding planning and wanted to be part of it as much as I could. So, I decided to skip the first leg of my flight and tag along with Courtney as she drove from Shingletown all the way to Austin.

Some highlights of our 31-hour, two and half day trip: driving across the salt flats at sunrise, breakfast with one of our high school friends in Salt Lake City, sharing music with each other, a burger and fries in Moab, spotting some arches from the road, finding new podcasts, reminiscing on many memories throughout our 10+ year friendship, a workout at planet fitness, a Chili’s molten lava cake, and a very cute motel in Albuquerque. Time flies when you’re driving halfway across the country with one of your best friends!

While Courtney and I booked it back to Texas, Choi headed north to Portland and spent a week with a childhood friend who lives there with his very cute baby. I got to spend time with my mom’s side at Nate and Jordan’s engagement party and hang out with my family during the week. Choi then took the flight we’d originally planned and met me in Austin for our family reunion.

We all had a great time in Texas, celebrating Nate and Jordan’s engagement and lots of family birthdays, catching up with family and friends, playing in the lake, and running around with Humphrey.

The day of our planned flight back to Portland, we learned a very important new lesson. This may be common knowledge but apparently, if you skip the first leg of a round trip flight, your entire trip is cancelled without a refund or any sort of notice. We discovered this a few hours before my flight when we called the airline to ask why I wasn’t able to check in.

Fast forward to 5AM the next morning, Choi was already back in Portland with the van while my dad and Humphrey graciously drove me to the airport for my newly booked flight. Lesson learned!

Austin, we love your fun lakes, unseasonably reasonable weather in July, and the family and friends who call you home. Along We Go!