Brynn's memorial service was scheduled for the January 13th. We looked up plane tickets, but on short notice we couldn't really find anything in our price range. So....we loaded up the car again and headed out on the road. We knew the way now, after all.
We got an early start on Friday morning, and drove alllll day. We drove across Utah, crossed the Wyoming border, got gas in Wamsutter, and it got really windy after that. The snow was blowing across the high country of Wyoming, and all across Nebraska. We finally stopped for the night in a town called Kearney, Nebraska (home of the Great Platte River Road Archway!). It was about 4 degrees and WINDY, but we didn't care, we went swimming! Indoors, of course.
Well, the kids went swimming. I ran on the treadmill and watched them through the window. It was actually a pretty nice setup! I needed a run after sitting in the car hardly moving all day. Grandma, Grandpa, and BJ ended up staying at the same hotel, so it was fun to see them.
That night in Kearney, Cora was sick all night, throwing up about once an hour. It was a rough night for everyone, and I will never use a hotel ice bucket again. :) She still felt bad in the morning, but we somehow transferred all of us into the car in the morning. Cora proceeded to throw up into a large soda cup about once an hour for the first couple of hours of the drive, after which we would quickly find an exit and fertilize a corn field. No fun! But we had to get where we were going, so we just kept driving. I was in the back on cup duty while Preston drove, so no pictures of anything. Cora felt a little better after the first couple of hours, and mostly just slept the rest of the way through Iowa, Kansas, Missouri.
We got to Dan's house right around dinnertime. Chase and Drake were headed out the door to a trampoline park, and they invited Dax to come along which he happily did. The rest of us (even Cora who was feeling much better) ate dinner there with Dan and Lori and some of Lori's family. Everyone seemed to be doing as well as could be expected. The girls loved meeting Penny, Brynn's new kitten. Dan and Lori were making some final preparations for Brynn's memorial service, so we didn't want to bother them too long.
One of Lori's friends let us use her dad's condo for the weekend, so after some visiting we headed over there to settle in. It was a really nice place and so nice to have a quiet place close by Dan's house. Dax was invited to sleep over with Chase and Drake, so I brought him some clothes and he was happily playing video games with the boys.
That night, Arden got sick and threw up. Another long night! Brynn's funeral was the next morning, so poor Arden had to stay behind. Preston stayed with her, so that left me, Cora and Dax to represent the Zauggs.
They had the funeral at a large auditorium at the campus where Dan works. The lobby was full of pictures of Brynn smiling and laughing with her friends and family. It was fun to see them, and remember what a fun and happy life Brynn had had before and between cancer. But was oh so hard to think that it was over so soon. Oh, my heart.
The memorial service itself was a wonderful celebration of Brynn. There was a song by a choir of Brynn's friends. Kohl talked, and did an amazing job (he is such a great kid, and reminds me a lot of Dan.) There were three slide shows of Brynn's life set to some of her favorite songs ("Dear Theodosia" from "Hamilton," "You Can Be You" from the band Saint Motel, and "You Will Be Found" from "Dear Evan Hansen." Four of Brynn's closest friends shared some memories, and they all did great and showed a lot of poise. Then Lori and Dad were brave enough to say a few words themselves, and I was so impressed with their composure through their heartbreak. (I can't even say how much I admire those two and the way they have handled everything). There was a last musical number, a great talk by Brynn's stake president, and my dad said the closing prayer. Lots of tissues were used up by me. Cora was okay, but Dax struggled a little too.
After the service, we headed back out through the foyer, where there were some of Brynn's favorite treats (goldfish crackers, junior mints, chocolate chip cookies). We headed outside for a balloon release.
The day had started out cloudy and dreary, but during the memorial service the skies and cleared and the sun was shining brightly. It was a tender mercy. We all said "We love you, Brynn!" and let our balloons fly. Away they went. Up,
Up,
And away.
Goodbye, Brynn.
It was sunny but still freezing, so we went back inside to look at some more pictures and sign the guest book. There were thousands of people at the service, so it was a long line! Brynn touched so many people.
After I made the kids pose for a picture, we had just decided to head back to the condo. On the way out, we noticed Washington, Brynn's favorite stuffed animal. He was sitting on a table by some pictures of his missing best friend. He had always been a floppy-looking thing, but sitting there on the table, he looked like the saddest, most lost little dog I have ever seen. It broke my heart. I pointed him out to Dax, who has a soft spot for the stuffed friends, and we both couldn't help but drop another tear or two for poor Washington, who looked how we all felt.
Cancer SUCKS.
By the time we got back to the condo, Arden was feeling better, so we had some lunch and then relaxed. Later that night there was a dinner for the families. Lori's friends and their ward brought food in on Friday night, and also put together the dinner for us, and did so much at the memorial. The community support really was amazing.
Each table at the dinner was decorated with some of Brynn's favorite things (tennis memorabilia, playbills from musicals, some of her old dancing costumes, etc.). They also had Polar Pops from the Circle K, which were Brynn's favorite drink. We all got one to drink in her memory.
We talked and remembered, and had a good night. We got a picture with all of the siblings, since we don't get together very often!
After the dinner, we headed over to a hotel to go swimming with Val, Grandma and Grandpa and the Clarks. I had forgotten my suit, but again, lucky for me, there was a treadmill with a view of the pool!
The next morning we hung out for a while at Dan's house. It was fun to talk with Lori's family too. The girls liked playing with Penny, and Dax again loved hanging out with Chase and Drake. Lori was sweet enough to give Arden some of Brynn's old clothes, and Cora got one of Brynn's old necklaces. It was amazing to me that Lori was thinking of giving to others already, and willing to let go of some of Brynn's precious things to some grateful cousins. Some of Arden's most worn clothes these last few months were Brynn's.
Before too long, it was time to head out, back across the country. We had decided to take a slight detour and try to see Mount Rushmore. So, we headed across Missouri, and turned north at Kansas City and headed up through Iowa through the snow. We had a hard time finding a place open for dinner on a Sunday night, and searched unsuccessfully for a hamburger in a town called Hamburg. We finally stopped at Sioux City, where the temperatures were deep in the negative. We were practically the only people in our hotel! No pictures were taken since it was mostly dark.
The next morning was seriously COLD! Temperatures were around -10, not counting wind chill, and it was WINDY! I was really worried for most of the morning that we would get a flat tire or have some other car trouble and actually Freeze. To. Death. We drove across the Missouri River again, and large chunks of ice were floating in it:
Ice was growing on the inside of our windows as we headed across the plains of South Dakota.
We crossed the Missouri again at Oacoma, where it was frozen solid. We stopped for lunch, and tried really had to get a parking space very close to the door, since temps were still negative and the wind was still howling. Even the locals at the restaurant were talking about how cold it was.
I was wondering how things would be at Mt. Rushmore, but as soon as we reached the Black Hills, the wind died down and the sun was shining brightly. The temperatures rose up into the teens, which is still horribly cold, but so much better than what we had been dealing with that we were pretty excited!
Here we are! We had the place ALL TO OURSELVES! See the presidents in the background? No wind at all.
Here is a closer picture of all of them. Washington is of course my fave. I had been listening to the "Hamilton" soundtrack a lot, so I felt like it was okay that Jefferson had to look over George's shoulder forever since he wasn't too nice to our boy Alex. Nevertheless, we were all suitably impressed by the mountain.
The visitor's center luckily had great views, since it was too cold to spend too much time outside. Again, we were lucky to have the place pretty much just for us. The exhibits were really interesting, and the kids were actually pretty entertained for a while.
Here is the closest I could get to putting the girls next to the presidents. Dax didn't want to play, he just wanted to go to the souvenir shop and get his promised souvenir.
We spent a lot a time in the souvenir shop, since that is apparently the most important part of a tourist location. Finally the kids made their selections, I found a good Christmas ornament, and off we headed again.
Here is a view of George from the side, as we drove away down the mountain.
The Black Hills were beautiful, and we saw a few deer with really fuzzy tails before the sun set around the time we passed Crazy Horse. We headed out of South Dakota and into rural Wyoming. There was hours of nothing to see in the pitch black darkness, and we ended up eating dinner at a gas station because there was really nowhere else to eat. We made it all the way to Casper because...there was no hotels for like 2 hours until we hit Casper.
The next morning we let the kids sleep in, eat a leisurely breakfast (free breakfast is a requirement for a hotel for my kids) and then swim (which is also a requirement).
Around lunchtime we headed out for the last leg of our journey. It was a beautiful day across Wyoming! We passed Martin's Cove, but didn't stop. I thought Wyoming was actually really pretty in the bright winter sunshine.
It was good to get home and get out of the car. Again, the kids did really well on the long road trip (other than the throwing up), but I think they were happy to be free from the car as well. We were all glad we did the trip to honor Brynn and celebrate her important life. We would have driven twice as far. She will be missed more than words can say.
