Trip to Oregon

In March the opportunity presented itself for me to travel to the Oregon Coast to visit my parents.  I took 4 days to get there taking stops at other family members' homes and 3 days of driving (taking a day to rest before driving the  last day) to get home.

On the first day, RuthAnne threw up two times.  So I stopped the car on the side of the road (1st time) and after a tunnel to the left side of the road in rush hour traffic near Phoenix (2nd time) to clean her up.  I was seriously contemplating turning around and heading home at this point.  Luckily, RuthAnne seemed better (I think she had too much junk food initially) and we continued our trip.  The first night I stayed in Palm Springs, CA at a Motel 6.  It was relatively nice, and hard to transport all 3 children and Charley to the room and back to the car.  I had to take different trips with kids wanting to follow me around that could get out of a hotel room door.  After taking the dog for a walk (it's about 11:30 p.m.) and having 0 results, she decided to make a puddle by the door when we returned from the walk.  Fun.  Luckily the motel didn't mind at all.

The next night we stayed with Mason's sister, Tiffany, in San Jose.  We put Charley in a kennel called A Pet Villa which I think was an incredible place.  It was very clean and the staff was friendly and took time to play with her and made sure that she ate her food because she refused to eat or drink anything on the trip.  She was really nervous in the car, but didn't complain.  This trip was great because when I picked her up from the kennel she jumped right into her crate without me having to pick her up and shove her in....much easier on my back. :)

Tiffany was wonderful.  She took us to an awesome restaurant called Unamas that served the most delicious lobster burrito.  Then we went to Barnes and Noble to purchase the movie Bandslam.  I love that movie, and recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.  Tiffany showed us a park that she lives by that was fabulous.  It had two separate parks for kids side by side.  The younger kids park was gated and it had a water area, slide, and swing.  The older children's park had a merry go round, a big toy, and slide.  The kids were in heaven and never wanted to leave the park.

The next evening we stayed with Becky, Mason's other sister, in Arcata, CA.  She watched the kids for me so I could get cleaned up.  It was so nice to have a break from the kids and the dog for a little bit.  The kids had a blast jumping on the trampoline in her backyard with Oliver.  He was great with the kids.  Becky then served us an unforgettable meal that was tasty and healthy.  She warmed up a corn tortilla and put grilled peppers and mushrooms with guacomole and cheese on top.  I have been raving about it since, and cooking it several times at home.  Mason loves it too.  It's so simple and so delicious.  That night, I had the privilege of hearing Oliver play his violin.  He's already a very accomplished musician.  I enjoyed hearing him play.

It was still cold outside and so I had Charley sleep in her crate in the car.  I was worried about her, but she seemed to be fine when I went to see her in the morning.  Later that day we finally arrived in Lincoln City, Oregon.  It was a gorgeous drive the whole way, but we were glad to finally be through with driving all day.

We left from Tucson on Monday, and arrived at Lincoln City on Thursday.  My parents arrived from Texas on Friday.  We had a lot of fun just resting and relaxing.  Charley loved to run down on the beach.  She also loved having the other two dogs, Lizzie and Chester, for company.  My parents were excellent sports about Charley having accidents in their home.

We went to church with my parents, and played on the beach a couple of times.  There were a few days where it was sunny and not too cold to venture out to the beach.  One night we had a campfire on the beach and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.  It was really cold, so we ate our hot dogs inside.  My dad made an envious fire in a box.  I had made an attempt, but the sun was sinking soon and we needed a fire, so I stepped aside for the master of firebuilding to take over.

I also got to relax and watch movies, and have a lot of help watching the kids.  Mason was gone on a business trip for the first week that I was gone.  He came home the day after I arrived at my parents' house.  We've wanted to come to the beach together, but it takes so long by car (or is really expensive to fly 2 adults and 2 children), so we've been putting it off.  Since he was going to be gone anyway, I took advantage of it, and I wasn't so lonely... until I arrived and stopped moving.

One of the memorable experiences was my mom and dad showing us their boat, "The Punkin."   This is a pet name my Nana (dad's mom) called him as a child.  I use it with my children from time to time too.  The kids geeked out over the boat.  Unfortunately, and BIZARRELY (yes, I just made up that word), as I was stepping onto the back of the boat passing underneath the flap of the boat cover while holding my bulging purse and Katie on one hip, I felt my toe come into contact with something and then I heard a plop in the water.  I was all worried that I had knocked something off the back of my parents' boat into the water, but it turned out to be my cell phone that had fallen out of my purse, onto my foot, and into the water!  Needless to say, I felt sick to my stomach and Mason helped arrange for me to get a replacement phone.  This forced me to slow down and take my time on the way home.  So it was a blessing in disguise. 

This experience also helped me realize that something unexpected can always pop up in life and it's best to learn from these experiences and to adjust positively.  In a nutshell: I shouldn't allow my circumstances to control my life.

I left for home the following Friday and visited my friend, Cheryl, at work.  She works with animals, and seemed to really like Charley.

Then I went to visit my Grandma Ruth in Vancouver, Washington.  I was able to not only visit with Grandma, but also my Aunt Susie and Uncle Rulon.

It was great seeing Grandma again.  She had just had her birthday before I visited her.  She's so proud of all her grandchildren and great grandchildren.  You can tell that she just loves us all.  I love my grandma for raising my mom in the gospel.  Both sets of my grandparents were converts to the church and I'm so gald that I have the gospel in my life because they chose to accept it and teach it to their children so my parents could teach it to me.

From Grandma's, I traveled to Idaho and stayed the night in Meridian at another Motel 6, but it may have been a Motel 8.  I LOVED it!  I felt very safe there, and things just went more smoothly.  We arrived in Utah the next day.

In Utah, we were able to visit with Mason's brother, Ren, and his family.  The kids loved playing with Isabella and Emma and their Uncle Renny and Aunt Claudia.  I appreciated Ren and Bella playing with Charley.  Emma was very brave and pet Charley a couple of times. 

We were also able to go to church with Grandma and Grandpa Wardle. During the day it was cold, but comfortable. Charley was tied out in the backyard, and at night when it was freezing, she was warm in her crate in the garage. The night before I left, Charley kept whining, and I ended up getting up at 3:00 a.m. to pack the car for the long voyage home to Tucson. 

Unfortunately, I had dropped the GPS on the cement when initially unloading the car upon arriving at their house, and so with some helpful directions from Terry (Mason's dad), and from Mason, I made it home safely by driving through Las Vegas.  It was a relief to be home again and reunited with my wonderful honey.