Our Road Trip

So, I know most people post pictures on their blogs, but I'm going to be totally boring and just write. Maybe someday when I have more time, I can make my blog really fun and creative, but for just now, it just mainly operates as an online journal. Very basic. So, this last week Travis and I and the girls and his mom and sister took a trip for the purpose of spreading his dad's ashes in Montana - which is what his wish was. So, here's a little timeline of our trip.

Friday, August 20th, we left for our trip. We had had stuff going on every night that week and I worked every day but Friday so most of our packing and prepping happened Friday morning. I got all the girls stuff packed before they went to bed on Thursday night but all I can say is, thank goodness for lists. I had the "Mega List" which was a piece of paper with three lists on it. What to take on the trip, What to get done beforehand, and What to tell the house sitter to do. Those lists became my mind in the hours before trying to leave. Ronna and Meghan were at our house around 10am. They took the girls to breakfast and when they came back we were just about ready. I think we ended up leaving Portland about 10am. Our first destination was Selah, which is right next to Yakima WA. Mark's mom and step-dad live there, as well as his brother Matt and his family. We made it to Hood River until we stopped at Taco Bell for potty breaks and food for us who didn't eat breakfast, lol. I think we made it the rest of the way to Selah after that...if my memory serves me correctly.

We got to Selah around 3pm and the girls played and we visited. Trav's gramma made a yummy dinner of lasagna and a seven layer salad. She also made two cakes. It was really good! After dinner, we played Mexican train and the girls watched some cartoons. They were getting REALLY tired though, with no naps and it was getting late. Trav's gramma had one spare bedroom and four or five couches that were available. I was exhausted because I had been up since 6am preparing everything so I opted to sleep in the bed with the girls. I tried putting Mia in the middle as she tends to fall off beds, but that did NOT work. My girls cannot sleep next to each other. They antaganize each other too much and I have to admit, Mia just rolls CONSTANTLY. SO, I "slept" in the middle and by slept, I take that very lightly...We may have gotten four hours that night...maybe. Mia fell off the bed twice but fortunately, there was a pillow there to break her fall. I was even more exhausted by 6am when the first knock came at our door telling me it was time to wake up. We wanted to get an early start since it was 7.5 hours to our next destination of Whitefish MT...that's without stopping. Trav's Uncle Matt and and Karen had been out of town on Friday night so they insisted on bringing over breakfast on Saturday morning. They hadn't gotten home until 2am! And they still came over! That was so incredibly sweet of them!! We had the car packed and were ready to go by the time they got there which I think was around 7am. They brought fruit kabobs, hashbrown patties, chocolate zucchini bread, they made this really yummy like strudely toast, ham, and made eggs for us. It was absolutely delicious and SO thoughtful. It was nice to spend some time with them, too, even though it was short. The girls really took to Matt. He has a lot of similar features to Mark and I think they were drawn to him. It breaks my heart to think of what could have been...if Mark could have surrendered his life and broken free of his demons. My girls may have grown up with one grandpa. It's so very sad because I know he loved them very much.

So, we ended up leaving Selah a little closer to 8am - maybe 8:30. We didn't want to rush away with all of the effort Trav's aunt and uncle took to come see us and make us such a wonderful breakfast. We found a Starbucks close by and was thankful for the delicious coffee. We didn't get much further before Mia was in need of the potty. Thankfully, we brought her little potty with us, for just this very occasion. We made a roadside stop and I don't think she actually went...but she tried. We stopped at a gas station, I think in Spokane and had a makeshift picnic as well as a potty stop. Ronna had cut up a bunch of meat and cheese and had a lot of crackers and bagels so we could have lunchables. Mia actually went potty in the gas station, but had to go again, which made me think she probably had to go poop. She had never gone in a big toilet for poopies so I walked behind the station and put the little potty in some enclosed bushes and sure enough, she went poop. Yay! I was worried she may regress in her potty training getting out of her routine and especially not having the same eating/sleeping patterns. I brought lots of chewable fibers to help her not get constipated. So far, so good. I had been a bit worried because she didn't go at all on Friday.

So, back in the car we drove until we got to Bonners Ferry, which is a really pretty place - I think we were in Idaho...not quite to Montana yet, but it's all running together because we were in three states so fast. We did, however stop at the Montana sign so that Meghan could have a picture next to her "time traveling" to Mountain time. LOL

Travis had an idea of where he thought it would be good to spread the ashes. It was a really pretty place between the towns of Troy and Libby. It's a scenic point off the road and it has a swinging bridge and pretty waterfalls. No joke - when we got to that EXACT spot, there was a really bad car accident. Cars were stopped and there was no way we could get over to try and get out of the car...we chalked it up to - it just wasn't meant to be.

We finally got into Kalispell - can't remember the time - probably around 6ish and ate at a Five Guys burgers. Whitefish was just a about 10 minutes up the road from there...and that's where we were staying, at Cheap Sleep Motel. I have to tell you, I WAS a little worried by hearing the name of it. My friend Royanna had said she could give us a deal on a room and since she worked there, I trusted her to not put us in a cockroach infested gross place. I worked with her long enough to know she's clean and anal retentive - lol. So, we got there and it was actually quite pleasant. It was older, but it was clean and there were nice family looking people staying there. I was so tired my head was spinning and we all needed showers but I also wanted to spend some time with my friend. So, we all took showers and Travis, Meghan and their mom played dominos in the other room while the girls hung out and Royanna and I walked to a bar accross the street. It was nice to catch up with her for a bit, although I got approached twice by two different drunk guys - my back being turned to both of them. I was ready to leave by the time we needed to go. Royanna works graveyard at the motel so she had to go to work and I desperately needed to go to bed.

We got back and the girls were still awake so I took them in our room so I could get them to sleep and Trav and his fam could still play games. I began the routine that would happen the rest of the trip. I would sing songs with them and lay in bed with Mia until she fell asleep and then I crept out of that bed and into the bed with Keira in it. I have to say, I got the better end of the deal. Keira lays in about the same spot all night. She may scootch a little towards the middle, but for the most part, she lays straight and quietly. Mia, however, flip-flops, kicks, does somersaults, and actually turned all the way upside down one night...in the middle of the bed. LOL Poor Travis. He didn't complain. But he did however ask me if I wanted to switch bed buddies. I said, not a chance. :-)

The next morning we got ready about 9am and Trav, the girls and I went to breakfast with Royanna. She recommended a really yummy place called the Buffalo Cafe. It was delicious. We came back and met up with Ronna and Meghan to go to Glacier Nat'l Park. It started raining on us...what the heck? I guess the weather had been beautiful for a whole month and we come and it starts raining. Oh well...I guess it's fitting for the purpose of the trip - dropping off Trav's dad's ashes. Royanna had a free pass to the park (normally it costs $25 per carload) so that was great to be able to use. She also knows the park well so she knew some pretty spots where "spreading" may be an option. The park is absolutely beautiful! Even in the rain. It's amazing. Royanna took all the pictures that day with her camera, not mine, so I'm just waiting to get a CD from her of them. It was breath-taking. One of the pretty paths she took us had a spot that all family members agreed on - an isolated place with a pretty stream. They went down and had a private "disposal" of the ashes. Then they each took a rock from the place to remember him by.

After that, we went to the little shopping village - I think it's called Apcar Village and had lunch. I had the most AMAZING huckleberry cobbler there...SO good. After Glacier, we gathered our stuff, dropped Royanna off at home and headed toward Missoula. It was a couple hour drive and by this time the girls are getting used to long car rides. They actually fell asleep about an hour into it, so they got a decent nap which was nice. The Red Lion Inn where we stayed had an outdoor pool and hot tub. We all went swimming and it was SO much fun. I had forgotten how much I love to swim - and how much exercise it is! I was out of breath trying to swim one lap. LOL

Later that night we found a Pita Pit and got some food to go. Trav, his mom and sister resided to their room to play games while the girls and I did our night time routine. They were getting used to this and were actually sleeping relatively well. I know having the white noise machine and the night light helped a lot as well.

The next morning we all ate the continental breakfast, then Travis and I took the girls to a cool park that was close by that had a really awesome play structure. They played until Mia fell down and ripped off a scab on her knee. Playtime was over. We headed back and got ready to drive the long haul to Boise. Well, when we stopped for gas, we also stopped for Starbucks. We ended up turning on a different highway - which would also lead us to Boise but was like the most scenic route we could have picked - aka super windy and slow. We made probably three our four stops and ended up not getting very far at all. We jokingly passed a sign in Northern Idaho that said, "Lowell - population 23". We thought that was hilarious. Then, we looked to our left, and across the river was a sign that said "motel" but had a series of cabins, looking over the water, as well as a pool, hot tub, and play ground. Travis said, "We should see how much it is to stay there!" So, Meghan pulled in. Trav had me go in and talk to the person at the front desk because he said I'm good at stuff like that - lol. Turned out a two bedroom, six bed cabin was only $167 (with tax) so that was something we could afford. We had the BEST time. I completely believe that little place was a God send. Deer came down and ate in the campground. A huge bright yellow butterfly landed on Ronna's shoulder right when we got there and stayed there for a little bit. I wanted to get my camera, but by the time I tried to go get it, the moment was over. But it was amazing.

The whole time there, I felt us all relax. Ronna, Meghan, and I went to accross the street to the gas station which also doubles as their grocery store. lol We bought ribs, brats, smore stuff, and a few other things for our time there. We went swimming in the pool and hot tub. The pool was shallow enough for Keira to stand with her head still above water so that gave her some freedom to hang on to the edge and move around. Meghan spent a lot of time showing her how to move her arms to paddle. She actually started swimming on her own a little bit! Mia LOVES the water. She is a little bit fearless. The kid floated on her back, all on her own. Ronna's hand was underneath her, but not touching her, but just for support.

Being at the cabin felt like a camping...only easy. There was a charcoal bbq, picnic table, and fire pit. Meghan manned the grill and the ribs were amazing. We roasted marshmallows and made smores. The main lodge place had a little restaurant/bar that Travis, Ronna, and Meghan went to hang out at later in the evening. I did my little routine with the girls and was able to sneak into the other room to read after they were asleep.

The next day, I went for a walk with each of my girls and got them a hot chocolate or "coffee" as they put it up at the main store. We ate cereal for breakfast and got ready for the long haul...and long haul it was. It took us a LONG time to get to MaCall. So long that we had already eaten gas station food and most of us weren't hungry for the delicious brewery food that Travis wanted us to eat at. We got to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. After that we got some ice cream and walked down to the dock. It was so beautiful down on the water. MaCall is a beautiful little town.

After we left MaCall, we hit construction...we sat and sat for quite a while. So it took us the rest of the afternoon to get to Boise/Nampa. We were supposed to stay the night with our friends Aaron and Keren but at this point everyone just wanted to get home. We spend about three hours or so with them. We went to dinner at a really good Chinese food restaurant and then walked to their store in downtown Nampa. It's a pretty cool place. We walked around downtown for a bit and the kids found a stage and pertended to do performances. They got lots of energy out and had a blast with the Brown kids. We hung out at their house and let the kids play until it was time for their kids to go to bed. Time to hit the road again! Meghan drove the whole time - from Lowell to Boise and then all the way home all night. I can't believe she wasn't absolutely exhausted. We got home around 4am and the kids had slept the whole way except for the times we stopped to get gas. When we got home, we all went to bed and everyone slept until about 10am. It felt like we gained a day since we had driven all night. It was good to be home!!