Home Sweet Home!

9 March 2013

We were going to stay and have breakfast with Janet this morning, but switching time zones really caught up with us.  We were up til 11pm last night then wide awake at 4am this morning. We sat in the RV knowing there was no point in going anywhere since we needed to stop at Trader Joes on the way home to get groceries and they weren’t open yet.  We didn’t want to wake Janet to say goodbye as she needs her sleep, so at 7am we just took off and left her a note dangling from a plate in front of her garage.  I would have preferred a hug, but that’s the best we could do.  TJ’s opens at 8am so we headed on up to Everett and waited for the doors to open.

The store next to TJs had a wi-fi signal so that’s all we needed to kill time.  It’s funny, some nights we were like a dog circling three times before they settle down in their dog beds, as Kory would circle around big parking lots while I sat with my laptop open seeing if we could catch a free signal somewhere.  He’d go around and around until finally I clicked into something, and there we would sit, so we could all connect to the electronic world.  It was kind of a funny routine but I’m glad it’s now over and I have my trusty wi-fi signal at home all to myself.

So we loaded up on groceries, stopped at the rest stop to empty our holding tanks and we were pulling in our driveway by 9:30am.  It took Kory an hour to get our cars out of the way though, since two of them had dead batteries.

Kory spent the day mowing the grass and washing the white van, while Kaleb and I unloaded everything from the RV.  Our stuff took up the whole covered porch on our house and I’ve yet to put it all away, even though I worked on it all day.  I did several loads of laundry, opened and sorted the mail, and discovered I’d only forgotten to pay our house phone bill before we left, so that was the good news, as they are patient people.

We visited our neighbors and thanked them for taking care of our house while we were gone.  They even kept the driveway blown off so there were no leaves covering everything.  Another neighbor watered our houseplants and another one got the mail, so it “took a neighborhood” to cover for us while we were gone – ha.  We usually have house sitters but we didn’t want any this time because it was winter and it would cost so much to keep the house warm.

So, it’s good to be home.  Kaleb got in a few hours to play with his new video game characters after he worked hard all day doing his regular chores and helping me.  He kept telling me how “unfair” it was that he couldn’t dive right in and play on the Wii now that we are home, but I told him what would be unfair is if he were downstairs doing that and I was still upstairs putting things away.  He’s logical enough to see how true that is.

God blessed us with a gorgeous sunny and pretty warm day today.  The daffodils aren’t showing any color yet, but they were picking them in the fields so I stopped and bought a few bunches on our way across Fir Island.  What a great time to be back home, just as spring is about to pop.  The tulips and daffodils in our yard are coming up and the kale I planted in the veggie garden last year is also still producing, so we even have fresh greens to munch on this week.  I love this country life.  Hallelujah!

The Oregon Trail

8 March 2013

My body hasn’t adjusted to the time zone change so I was awake this morning at 5am, which was six, to my body.  I used the time wisely by shopping at Walmart.  Not only is it tax free, but they were clearing out all the winter clothes, so long sleeved sweatshirts and sweatpants were $2, long sleeved dress shirts and polo shirts were $3 and Wrangler jeans were $6.  I just had to buy Kaleb some clothes in the next size up and wait for him to grow into them.  It was a good start to the day and something I couldn’t have done previously because there’s no where to put anything in our RV, but knowing we only have today to step over the bags, I splurged.

By seven, we were heading west again along the Columbia River Gorge on our journey home.  Chris, the husband of my good friend, Dani, who lives near Fresno and who we saw on the beginning of this trip, is a camp host for Oregon State for a few months, so we wanted to stop in and visit him on our return voyage.

Chris (above) packs up his camping trailer and dog and heads out for months at a time.  He’s a very social guy and being a camp host is just the thing for him as he gets free living and all the people he wants to chat with.  He’s a retired cop, so to say that he keeps order in the camp is an understatement. 

I haven’t been in touch with him or Dani since we last saw them two months ago so I was curious how things worked out with the insurance company after the fire he had in his garage while we were down in his area.  He asked, “Were you there for the flood, too?”  So then he went on to tell about what happened when the repair guys, sent by the insurance company, came to replace all the sheetrock in his garage that was burned from the water heater being on fire.  They had to turn off the water, and Chris’ son, Quin, happened to stop by that day so one of the workers asked him to go in the house and relieve the pressure on the line by turning on the hot water in the bathroom.   Quin did this then left, without telling anyone, but figuring the repair guys would turn it off.  They didn’t.  Chris (who didn’t know the hot water handle had been turned on), set the box for a new toilet seat he was going to install, on the bathroom counter.  Part of the box was right under the faucet.  So when the water to the house got turned back on, no one was inside, and the hot water hit the box and ran onto the floor and flooded a good portion of his house before he came inside to see the damage.  There should be a show called “insurance nightmares.”  So they had to deal with that, too.

Then shortly thereafter, Chis ended up with four kidney stones that put him in the ER and had to be blasted out, so he was a week late leaving for his camp host job.  When he finally got the trailer hooked up to his truck, the dog loaded and said his goodbyes to Dani, he made it up to Eugene, Oregon and encountered a lot of road repairs, detours and diversions.  Somewhere in there, when he made a hard turn, the wiring harness attached to the back of his truck that controls the brakes on the trailer, got pinched.  The wires broke, which caused his back trailer brakes to lock up.  He gets through the construction zone and speeds up to 60mph with his back brakes locked, which can’t take the friction so they start to smoke.  Some guy on the freeway gets his attention and points to the smoke so Chris immediately pulls over thinking his trailer is on fire.  He’s on the side of the freeway and when he opens his door to go check on it he tells Abby, the dog, to “stay.”  She doesn’t.  She then bolts out into the middle of the freeway and a semi truck is heading right for her as Chris stands on the side of the road in absolutely shock, screaming at his dog to “come.”  She doesn’t.  The truck managed to swerve into the fast lane at the last minute, missing the dog by less than a foot.  Other cars are also coming at 70mph, but they too miss the dog.  Finally Abby gets out of the roadway and back in the truck and it’s only a miracle Chris didn’t have a heart attack through it all.  Whew.  He managed to get the trailer to the next exit where he parked it for a day and a half and did the needed repairs.  He said three people stopped to ask if he needed help and “That’s the difference between Oregon and California.  People in California only stop to rob you,” he said.  To say he’s had a string of bad luck is an understatement.  This last week he’s just been chillin’ and trying to enjoy the beauty of the Northwest while he calms down.

So we had quite the visit with him while Kaleb ran around with the dog.  It was a sunny day and we didn’t mind the break one little bit.   We then headed on up I-5 and when we hit traffic in Tacoma we detoured over to Auburn to visit my friend Cathy Wickizer (who I went to Greece with for my 50^th birthday).  Her husband Dave is struggling with cancer right now so it was good to see him while we can.  We stayed on through rush traffic and caught up on all the stress in their life and were just thankful things have been going so well for us.

Our last stop of the day was just north of Seattle to visit Grammy J.  We decided to spend the night in her driveway so we’d have a fresh start in the morning to go home and unpack and get back into life on the ridge.  It was so great to have relaxed time with Janet and hear what’s been going on with her since we’ve been gone and to hear Kaleb tell her his version of our trip and try to stump her with riddles he’s learned along the way.  He’s become quite the conversationalist and spent all day today giving me a lesson on the periodic table of elements as we were driving north.  He’s my little college professor who is more than anxious to get home.

“Louise,” our missionary friend in Bahamas, called today to report on an answer to prayer we prayed when we were with her.  She begged us again to come back next year.  She said she’d stand in the street corner with a boot to collect money if we didn’t have the money to buy the tickets.  She also said, “I know you have family and other priorities, but us missionaries need to be blessed too… we want you to come back!”  What a sweetie.  I guess that’s been one of the best things about this trip is to think that, while it seemed like it was a wonderful vacation for us, it was such a blessing to those who we stopped to help.  Now THAT feels good.

Almost Home

7 March 2013

Another early morning start to our day got us heading west toward home as the sun was coming up over the horizon.  We stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho, per a suggestion from a friend, and enjoyed the view as the morning light illuminated the sides of the Snake River Canyon.  It was a worthwhile diversion, but it caused us to be a little behind schedule.  There were three base jumpers there waiting to jump off the bridge, and if we’d stayed to watch, we would have been really late.  Bummer we couldn’t do that.

As it was, we’d scheduled a lunchtime meeting with Bob Salewski, an old friend of Kory’s, who now lives in Boise.  We saw him about seven years ago on another road trip we took, and again, the visit wasn’t long enough.  We might have to venture back this summer and take him up on his offer to go camping together.

We had a lovely visit with him and his daughter and wife.  He’s nearly Kory’s age but not plagued by arthritis like Kory, so he got on the floor and wrestled with Kaleb but good.  They were both red faced and breathless by the time they were done and Kaleb was ready for round two, but I think he did Bob in. 

Kory hadn’t taken a shower since Sunday so he took one at Bob’s, but instead of grabbing the shampoo or body wash bottle our of the RV, he took hand lotion, so he was in there washing up with hand lotion. I don’t think he got too clean, but he smells much better.  It reminds me of the night I went into labor with Kaleb and Kory decided to brush his teeth before we went to the hospital (at midnight).  He grabbed the hand lotion and put it on his toothbrush, then I had to wait another five minutes while he tried to brush the lotion out of his mouth with toothpaste. 

Bob really wanted to get rid of a big cardboard store display shelving unit that his son used for years.  It was a promo for the Star Wars movies and he thought Kaleb might enjoy it.  I laughed.  There was no room in the RV to put it, but Kaleb was insistent and they undid all the corners and now our RV is overflowing with huge flat cardboard pieces I’m sure will never be assembled properly again.  Kaleb has his sights on using it in the basement to hold all his Wii games.  I’m doubting this very much, but he was so excited about getting it, my objections were not heard.  Ugh.

I drove for a few hours after we left Boise, over the mountains and through the snow.  Most of northern Utah was covered in snow, but thankfully the roads were bare and dry and we had sunshine the whole way.  It was such a beautiful drive today.  We didn’t stop until we hit Pendleton, Oregon, and thankfully we made it just after sunset so we didn’t have to drive the mountain passes in the dark.

Walmart is home for yet another night – perhaps our last one.  They made out on the deal tonight though, as Kaleb’s been saving his spending money until we were in Oregon because they are tax free.  He has some computer game parts he wanted to buy and he blew his wad tonight (nearly $100).  He was so excited to finally have these figurines that allow him to play different aspect of the Skylanders game when he gets back home.  It was hard to bring him down, as he’s been talking and thinking about these things since we left on the trip.  I say it’s a good way to end the whole road trip since he’s so pumped that he now owns them.  I appreciate he’s careful with his money and wanted to save the sales tax, even if I don’t approve of how he spent the money.  Oh well, he only gets to spend 25% of his money anyway so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

It was decided today we’ll get home Saturday morning so we have time for a few more stops tomorrow on our way north.  This takes a lot of pressure off, as I hate coming home from a big trip at night.  Our to-do list is huge, once we get home, and our days are short, before we leave again for Norway, so I’m not that thrilled about going home, but at least starting out fresh in the morning doesn’t feel as exhausting.

We got the news today that Tante Kari (above) died at 9am this morning, Norway time (midnight, our time).  She was ready to go, but none of us were ready to have her leave.  I’m just sick that we can’t make the funeral, but hopefully someone will Skype us in.  She was an incredible woman with the most positive outlook on life I’ve ever met.  She made everyone feel special, welcomed and loved.  Oh, how we will miss her.  She always greeted us (and everyone) by throwing her hands up in the air, smiling so big her whole face lit up and screaming out “HAAAA LAAAA!”  I never knew if that was her way of trying to say an American “Hello” or just her unique greeting, but it always made me laugh.  She was a hugger and never said a negative word about anyone or anything.  I’m hoping she’s standing there with Jesus to welcome me into heaven when my day comes because she was a light that shone bright here on earth, so I can’t imagine what she’s doing up in heaven.  We just loved that woman, so it was a sad day for us, even though we knew it was coming. 

Kaleb reminded me that today he turned 14 ¼.  He thought we should do something to celebrate that special day.  Apparently he hasn’t been paying attention to what’s been going on for the last two months.  But he’s not spoiled.  No, not at all.

One Day Closer

6 March 2013

It was another marathon day of driving today – switching off every two hours so we could keep going.  Snow covered the landscape through most of today’s driving in southern Wyoming and northern Utah, but thankfully, the roads were bare and dry.  When we got into Idaho though, we hit a good snowstorm but only for about 10 minutes as we were going over a pass.  No dangers awaited us but we were glad to be out of it.

We keep adjusting the time when we think we will make it home as we have at least three stops to make before we get there, so it’s a moving target.  I guess we’ll get there when we get there.

Only one snowball fight to report on today at a rest stop, which included me this time, and that was about it for our activities outside of sitting in the RV watching the world go by.  The sort-of good news is that Tante Kari didn’t die today, on Odd’s birthday, so I thank God for that.

We pulled into a Walmart in Burley, Idaho tonight and played cards til bedtime.  It was good there wasn’t a wi-fi signal or we would have all been glued to our own devices.  I’m so thankful for safe travels and no breakdowns on the RV.  Our little turtle shell is holding up just fine.