The Long Drive

I've taken a lot of road trips, mostly without another adult driver.  Our first road trip to Utah was when the triplets were 5, and we did it a number of times in the next 7 years.  I've driven from coast to coast as well.  Most of the time I've been able to arrange our days that we had about 8 hours of driving time, which generally translated to 10 hours of travel time.  

The trip from Oregon to Utah is a little different.  It's 12-14 hours (depending on where my final destination is) and always presents a conundrum.  We are lucky enough to have a friend who lives near Boise who has graciously offered her home as a stopping place.  But life is busy enough that most of the time I don't want to take (or can't take) 2 days for the trip.  Which means it's going to be a LONG DRIVE.  I know there are people who can drive 15 or 16 hours and be just fine, but before I started driving to Utah my longest drive time was 6-7 hours to Atlanta and that was always exhausting. So driving the 12 hours to Utah is a big deal for me.

Every time I drive between Oregon and Utah at about 5 hours into the trip I panic. I think things like THIS TRIP WILL NEVER BE OVER!! And HOW ON EARTH AM I GOING TO DO THIS?!? And occasionally I WILL DIE!!! And then I take a deep breath and keep on driving.

Here are some of the things I did to entertain myself yesterday:

• Listened to my book on cd for 30 minutes, then decided that Russ needed to listen too so stopped.
• Talked to Marilyn for a long time which is always such fun.
• Watched and occasionally tried to take a picture of the interesting things I saw.
• Listened to 2 old Jeffrey Holland devotionals. Beautiful, but not good for tired driving.
• Listened to approximately 4,000 podcasts, mainly Gretchen Rubin's "Happier" and "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me."
• Sang like a crazy person while beating on the steering wheel.
• Talked to Jason for quite a while.
• Panicked when I couldn't get the rental car to lock at Walmart.
• Ate a whole quart of strawberries and way too many almonds.
• Watched the sunset in my side mirrors for 20 minutes, finally stopped to take a picture because it was so beautiful.
• Talked to Russ until I was hoarse from all of the talking. 
• Sang some more.
• Drank endless bottles of water laced with 5 hr energy.
• Wished I could see the stars better.
• Was so glad when I finally arrived!

Here are some pictures from my day yesterday.

I always have to drive through the Multnomah Falls parking lot so I can look and snap a picture.

Driving through the gorge is always gorgeous!

I had no idea that horses stick their heads out the windows like dogs do!

I wonder what that is?

Why of course!  It's a helicopter!!  (Don't you drive around with your helicopter in tow???)

 How do two trains pass each other on tracks that are literally only a few feet apart?  VERY slowly!

I appreciate strange cloud shapes.

I watched the sunset behind me in the side mirror for 20 minutes before I finally just had to pull over and take a picture.  It was stunning.

And Thus it Ever Was

On one of our trips to Utah last year we left really early in the morning.  My plan to keep myself awake was also my plan to expose my kids to an amazing book I'd read called Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  As we rolled out of the driveway I popped it into the cd player and immediately the groans started.

"Mom, I don't WANT to listen to your book."

"Mom, I was going to watch a movie."

"Mom, I just want to listen to my music."

"Mmmmoooooommmmm!!!"

Well, I told them, you don't have to listen all day.  You only have to listen until we get to Pendleton, and then you can watch/listen to whatever you want.

Four hours later as we rolled through Pendleton I popped the cd out of the player and grabbed my Dick Francis book on cd.  But then I heard from the back,

"Moooommmmmm!"

"Mom, what are you doing?!?"

"Mom, put it back in!!!"

And so I did, and we listened to Wonder until it was done and we all (even Jared) were sniffling.  And I was happy as we talked about all of the things that were hard about this book and all of the things that were beautiful about this book.

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This afternoon Russ picked the girls up from school early (while I was napping) and then brought them home to me so that we (not including Russ) could start our drive to Utah.  It's going to be a quick trip for a wedding on Saturday and the girls's wisdom teeth out on Monday.*

Once again I had my nefarious book on cd plan.  This time I'd planned that we'd listen to Shannon Hale's "Book of a Thousand Days," which I loved when it came out.

As we rolled out of the driveway I popped it into the cd player and immediately the groans started.

"Mom, I don't WANT to listen to your book."

"Mom, I was going to watch a movie."

"Mom, I just want to listen to my music."

"Mmmmoooooommmmm!!!"

Well, I told them, you don't have to listen all day.  You only have to listen for a little while and then you can do your own thing.  I reminded them that they've both been reading Shannon Hale's newest book this week and that they've really loved it, and they grudgingly agreed to listen.

Sometime later the phone rang--Russ giving me suggestions on how to avoid the worst of the Portland traffic which had gotten bad earlier than expected.  As soon as I hung up the phone the girls were after me, insistent that I turn the book right back on.  And so it went through the evening--every time I turned it off, they wanted it immediately back on.

Of course I loved that.

We finished disc 5 (of 6) as we pulled into our friends' neighborhood in Nampa where we were going to spend the night.  One story crisis had just resolved but a bigger one remained.  One of the girls insisted that we NEEDED to FINISH RIGHT NOW!!  I laughed and said that we would finish when we resumed our drive in the morning.

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I don't know why it is that kids always assume that whatever their parents have planned is probably going to be dumb or lame.  I'm sure I was the same way.  I am glad that I've managed to expose my kids to some wonderful things, in spite of their resistance...



*We are being medical tourists this weekend, though I must say that when I first read about medical tourism I assumed it would include exotic travel destinations and not just a trip to Utah.  But in Oregon it would cost $3000 out of pocket to get the girls' wisdom teeth out, and in Utah it will only cost $600.  I have no idea why it's so different, but we can pay for gas and food to get there, get to go to my nephew's wedding, and pay to get the wisdom teeth out all for less than 1/3 of the Oregon cost.  Wish us luck!

Things we did in the car on the way to Utah

I like it so much better when Russ comes with us on a trip to Utah, even if it’s a kind of sad trip.  Here’s what we did that day:

• look at all of the beautiful fall colors in the Columbia River Gorge
• take pictures of some of the beauty in the Gorge
• blog (ok I did that)
• talk and laugh
• eat way too much leftover Halloween candy
• play the alphabet game (Jared won)
• sing a song we always sang in my family when I was growing up (see below)
• talk about articles I was reading in Time Magazine
• read a whole People Magazine (so glad I know why JLo got a divorce!)
• watch Godzilla (the kids, not me)
• listened to podcasts
• have lots of fun together!

 

Song:
I used to live in Chicago
In a department store,
Behind the [name a department] counter,
I did but I don’t anymore.
A lady came in for some [same department]
I asked her what kind she’d adore…….
[product] she said,
[product] her I did
I did but I don’t anymore.

So it would go like this:

Behind the hardware counter,
I did but I don’t anymore.
A lady came in for some hardware,
I asked her what kind she’d adore….
Wrench! she said,
Wrench her I did,
I did but I don’t anymore.

Each time the song is sung someone else takes a turn filling in the blanks, and then everyone else sings along with them.  Such fun!

Sights from the road

A few miscellaneous pictures from September’s trip:

Jared learned to pump gas.  (Can’t do that in Oregon!)

The girls always try on awesome hats.

What the floor of the passenger’s side looks like after a couple of days of driving.  Especially when we haven’t had access to any place that recycles.

By the new Adobe site in Utah County—great street names.

Harvest season in eastern Oregon and Washington:

and

I always appreciate a good sunset.

We passed two accidents between Wyoming and home.  This one, and one in which the car ended up upside down in the center of a very wide grassy median.  I couldn’t even tell which side that car had come from.  Both accidents made me say a little prayer of gratitude for all of the safety we’ve had while travelling.

A) What were these people thinking? and B) How on earth did they get up there to trim that thing? 

C) it was behind a Wendy’s somewhere in Montana.  D) of course I had to take a picture!

I’ve heard that Montana is a beautiful state.  It must have gotten dark before we got to that part.  Though this part wasn’t too bad.

Always one of my favorite sights as we get into the Colombia River Gorge.

The front of the van was COVERED in bugs by the end of the trip!

One does not simply walk into Sheridan

(thanks Sam for the title!)

My brother Sam & his wife Emily have lived in Sheridan, Wyoming for several years now.  When they first moved there I looked at the map and was surprised to see that Sheridan was one of those rare places that are close to nothing.  At some point when I was planning the trip to take Josh to Rexburg I decided that since Rexburg was probably as close as I was ever going to be to Sam’s house, and since I probably wasn’t going to be back in Rexburg for several years, NOW was the time to go visit.  So on Saturday morning we left for Sheridan.

We left late enough that I was able to stop and get Neilson’s frozen custard one more time.  That stuff is the best!

I decided to take the long road to Sheridan.  Had I known just how LONG the long road would end up being, I might have changed my mind.  For a while I asked myself why I had wanted to drive that way.  Eventually I remembered.

We drove through Driggs where we had a great view of the back side of the Teton Mountains. 

Then over the pass to Jackson Hole—with some seriously steep grades!

(It was around this time that I became aware that there was something going on with the purse cam, a smudge on the lens that will not leave no matter what I do.  I am deeply saddened by this but do think that since I’ve had the purse cam since Christmas of ‘09 and it’s had almost daily use, it’s lived a very good life.  Sniff, sniff…)

We drove through Jackson and then up past the front of the Tetons, where we were stopped (as in zero movement) for 1 hour.  1 hour, folks!  I guess that’s a risk you take when you take the back roads. 

Just when I was feeling all frazzled about taking this more scenic route we drove past the Wind River Mountains & they were just as magnificent as I’d remembered.

Then after we were past those mountains we drove along some striped mountains for quite a while.

We got to Sam’s house very late and long after dark!

The next day we went to church with Sam & Emily and their 3 cute kids.  Sadly Abi and William didn’t want anything to do with us but Kayla was very excited to have cousins visit.  We had a great time visiting with them, Sam showed us the online video “Dr. Horrible’s sing along blog” which we’ve been singing ever since, and we played a fun new game.  Then Monday morning we loaded the car again and took off for home.

Visiting my dad & my new land-speed record

(warning: yes I am blogging in a very random order.  I always say better random than not at all!)

We left Cindy Lynn’s house Wednesday evening after hugging the baby (and Cindy Lynn) one last time. 

We spent Wednesday night at my dad’s new house in Mantua (it’s not pronounced Man-tu-uh like you might think, it’s pronounced Manna-way) to “babysit” my dad who just had a knee replacement a few weeks ago.  We arrived late due to an accident that closed the interstate.  We were pretty sobered by the 18+ police cars and other emergency response vehicles at the scene, and especially when the life flight helicopter landed. 

I was even more grateful for our safe travel later, when my sister sent me the news article about the accident and we found out that almost immediately after the traffic started moving after the first life flight helicopter left, a truck ran into the rear end of a semi and they closed down the interstate again for another helicopter to come!  The cleanup for that accident wasn’t done until 2 in the morning.  We were sure blessed to have been able to get through in that few minutes that the interstate was open.

We didn’t unload immediately when we got to my dad’s house—instead we picked him up and drove back to Brigham City so I could take some night pictures of the beautiful new Brigham City temple & also the tabernacle.

I sent the kids to bed and had a great visit with my dad. 

In the morning we ate grits, loaded up, and headed to Oregon.  I left from my Dad’s house Thursday morning about 9—I had intended to leave earlier, but realized late Wednesday night that I probably should rethink my timing so that I didn’t end up driving through Portland during rush hour.  Sleep later, miss rush hour…it was a win/win.  My day of driving included:

• 1-5 hr energy (consumed in two parts…I’m not sure why)
• 1-10 minute nap at a rest area
• 1/2 caffeine pill
• 13 hours of “Emma” on CD  (we’re so obliged…)

I thoroughly enjoyed much of the trip, though there was that moment when we crossed into Pacific Standard Time & I calculated that I still had 5 hours to go when I did feel discouraged.  I was also a little freaked out after we passed Pendleton when we saw another life flight helicopter landing, this time by an overpass.  I certainly felt aware of how watched over and blessed we have been all of our traveling in the last year…

I gassed up right before we left Idaho, knowing it was the last time I’d pump my own gas for a while.  And I still forgot when I gassed up again in Oregon and jumped out to get my own gas.

My favorite sight of the day was looking in my rearview mirror, back towards a storm that we had just passed through, and seeing the windmills so white against the blue-gray sky.  (Seriously—this picture is just as it came from my camera, not enhanced at all.)

I also loved driving into the Columbia River Gorge and seeing the interplay of the light, clouds, rain, and water.

We arrived home about 9pm, tired & hungry and glad to be done driving.  After driving for 13 hours, I slept for 12.  That felt amazing!

Tender Mercies of the Air Conditioning Kind

 

1) That the day we drove almost completely without air conditioning was totally overcast and only 95 instead of the violently sunny 105 of the day before.  (Really really warm, but not unbearable.)

2) That while the air conditioning fix was much more than I wanted to pay, it was not nearly as much as it could have been.  (Really really expensive, but not unbearable.)

3) That I had a front seat view of a nearby fire while I was waiting for my air conditioning to be fixed (the voyeur in me) , and that no one was hurt in the fire.  (Really really destructive, but not unbearable…)

Today’s Mystery

First of all, a picture from this morning.

The girls are making faces to show what normal people probably feel about the fact that today we got in the van to start our trip back to North Carolina.  Fortunately for us the trip will be broken up by things like a family reunion at Bear Lake, EFY, a couple of days with our Kentucky cousins, and approximated 73 books on cd. 

How could we not go back.  You all know how much we LOVE the beach.  And how much we LOVE our friends.  The combination is more than we can resist. 

So bring on the audiobooks!

 

Now for today’s mystery.  We pulled into a rest area in Eastern Oregon to, you know, rest.  And this is what we saw in the back part of the parking lot.

I had Jenna stand beside it so that you could see just how huge the thing is.  Perhaps not so big in diameter, but in length it’s gynormous! 

What do you think it is?  I actually have my suspicions now because I have peeked inside and even taken a picture inside.  I will post the inside pictures in a couple of days—we’ll see if anyone can make a guess as to what it is between now and then!

Come on, guess!  Or if you know for a fact, tell us!

Day 1: The Westward Migration Begins

Today’s travel: 447 miles                                                       

We left Durham at 10:42 this morning, just 42 minutes behind schedule.  (Which is pretty close to right on time for me!)  We left with hugs and tears and then more tears.  Before we got on the freeway I pulled over to the side of the road and said a prayer; a prayer for safe traveling, a prayer of thanks for the past 16 years and 10 months of happiness in North Carolina, and a prayer that Josh & Tiger will be happy and safe without us.  By the end of the prayer even Jared was crying.  

Our first stop was in Charlotte to see my mom’s older sister, my Aunt Elizabeth.  (After we left Rachel asked why I called her by both her names…I finally realized she thought I was saying “Ann Elizabeth.”)  We had a lovely lunch with Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Bill.  The kids particularly enjoyed Uncle Bill’s collection of stringed instruments and Aunt Elizabeth’s black and white cat. 

Then we drove on to Columbia where we visited for an hour with my mom’s other sisters, my Aunt June and Aunt Sylvia (whom we’ve always called Aunt Seba) and her brother Billy. 

It made our travel day very long, but it has been too many years since I have seen all of them and I just couldn’t leave the east without visiting. 

We left Columbia and drove to Eric & Katie’s home in Atlanta, arriving at about 9:45 pm.  I ended up having to stop at a rest area to take a 20 minute nap, something that I’ve never had to do before while driving.  Of course I’m not usually this worn out when I start a trip.  Hopefully I won’t be this tired the whole time.

Here is a new friend who joined us on this trip.

He served several different functions, including this one that was a bit of a surprise…