Back to our roots.

Greetings from Oregon! We are not quite settled yet, and still on the road, but we have made it to the Great Pacific Northwest; hallelujah, praise be! 

We picked up Frank and Vee in Dallas super early Thursday morning, and I had a nice nap in the back of the Subaru at 5am because their flight was delayed for two hours. The plan was to head home, finish packing, pick up the truck on Friday, and be on the road Saturday morning. Instead, the UHaul guy let us pick up the truck Thursday afternoon, so while I was teaching my last class at party planet, Jimmy Moreno came over and helped Jesse and his dad load the big stuff.  By the time I got home, half the place was loaded up.  We tossed the last of the random stuff in boxes (that’s the absolute worst part of moving, trying to figure out how to pack the last random odds and ends.  I wanted to just throw it away.), and curled up in our sleeping bags for the night.  We came into that apartment sleeping on the floor, and we spent our last night there on the floor.  It was fitting.

The next morning we finished the loading (I really got out of most of the work. I should call my in-laws more often!), cleaned everything up, turned in the keys, scarfed some “pig pigs” from the donut place, and were on the road at 10 am.

We ate a lot of PB&J

That first day was long.  Our plan was to get to Denver, Co., and by golly, we made it!  But if we hadn’t booked the hotel ahead of time we probably would have stopped sooner.  We had one last meal in Texas, and introduced the parents to fried pickles.  They were quite delicious; possibly better than the first time I had them. 

Deep fried pickles

Have you ever driven through Oklahoma?  Holy goodness.  Apparently there are jokes about the roads in OK, and while I’ve never heard them, I believe every one of them.  It was instantaneous.  As soon as we crossed the border it was like driving on a sidewalk, with periodically spaced seams and bumpy lumpies.  About halfway through the strip the lines on the road went away, and it was dark, and sketchy, and no fun at all.  Then all of a sudden we hit this massive bump; it was like driving right through a ditch in the middle of the road!  We were a little surprised, and then started laughing about how when we got to the end there would probably be a jump you have to go over to be able to leave the state.  The door’s gotta hit you on the way out.  Then Jesse said “Hey, it’s nice to have lines on the road again!”  We looked at the gps and realized that last bump had been on the state line, and it was night and day difference between Oklahoma and Colorado!  Except it was still night.  But you catch my drift.

It was a long haul, and we had forgotten about the time difference, so 11 was actually midnight, and we were all happy to climb into beds with fabulous comforters!  I thought Vee was going to sneak one out in her suitcase. 

Unfortunately, I made a poor hotel choice and failed to make sure it had a continental breakfast, so we got a later start than we intended, due to having to go to IHOP.

 

Side note: Jesse just said “I don’t regret it that much”, referring to his marriage and subsequent collapse of all his hopes and dreams. Yay me!

Originally the plan was to make it all the way to Payette, ID, where Jesse’s uncle John lives, on the second day, but because we had an extra day, due to picking up the uhaul on Thursday, we decided to circle the wagons in Twin Falls.  That hotel was an excellent choice; there was a dutch brothers across the street!  Oh, coffee gods, thank you for smiling upon my life after two years of abandonment!  Pumpkin eggnog lattes have never tasted so good!

We spend the third day in Payette, watching John process a deer and eating pizza.  It’s super appetizing, I tell ya.  Uncle John is pretty good people.  I know Jesse is greatly looking forward to being close(ish) to John again, and going hunting and doing all that good, manly stuff.

Monday morning brought us across the river where we stopped at a gas station and people were there pumping our gas!  I had been planning to take a picture doing a handstand in front of the Oregon sign this entire trip, so imagine my horror when I realized we had crossed into Oregon and I didn’t even realize it!  I was slightly devastated.  Thankfully, the border was still only about a block away, so after stopping for more dutch bros, Vee and I went back across the river, turned around, and found the Oregon sign!  It was so much smaller than I had anticipated, and it was at the end of a bridge, and there was a wall, and it was super not the way I had envisioned.  However, we made it happen.  Kinda.

Finally, 1 pm found us in Bend, OR!  We threw all our junk in the corner of Justin’s shop.  And his spare bedroom.  And his guest bedroom.  And the refrigerator he bought for us.  Then all four of us piled in the Subaru, and here we are.  Driving little back roads winding alongside the river, watching fall leaves peeking out of the evergreens flash by the window, on our way back to Colton.  Three more hours in the car today, three tomorrow will take us to Elkton, and three more on Wednesday to get us back to Bend, our new home, sweet home. 

Hopefully Jesse will have an interview with Nosler Thursday or Friday, and I should be meeting with Bryan on Monday.  Once jobs are in place we can start looking for a house of our own, and preparing for Sarah to come live with us!  Christy said we will call a family meeting to reevaluate the housing situation in a month.

And you’re all caught up!  I’m sure it’s going to be difficult for me to transition out of teacher mode…I will miss all of my Texas family and the life we shared, but I know God has a plan bigger than even Texas.