Sorry for my recent silence: August has been full in all the best of ways :)
A little over two weeks ago, my husband and I packed up our lives for the third time this year and began the long journey from East coast to West. We left Baltimore on the first and headed north, making a much-anticipated visit to our dear friends in Connecticut. After many laughs, good meals, conversations, and yes a few tears, we aimed toward the Pacific and away we went!
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| The mighty Jeep |
We set a pace of about 7-9 hours of driving a day, which turned out great! The first day took us through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio - Lots to greenery, a fair amount of other drivers, and plenty of road tolls. (Cleveland is awesome, ps) The next day we swept under the Great Lakes through Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Land became increasingly flat, traffic came to a halt outside Chicago, and then we hit farm country as far as the eye could see. Still interesting, but less varied for sure. The next day however, it began to really get sparse...Minnesota turned to South Dakota, the state that never ends (isn't that supposed to be Montana?). No green as far as the eye can see. It was beautiful prairie, and the sky was about as big as it gets, but driving into it felt slightly daunting.
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| South Dakota expanse |
We made a few side stops in SD, including Wall Drug (for my dad) and Mt. Rushmore, which made this the longest day of our journey. The next day we crossed into Wyoming; slightly more dry, slightly more depressing, lol. Thank goodness for the Olympics. Watching all the prime time American golds was our end-of-the-day treat :) The following day we entered Montana - TREES!! We spent one final night in Missoula before arriving in Spokane on the sixth.
You'd think after six days and a few thousand miles on the road that we'd both be over this whole traveling thing, but since arriving in Washington we've just kept going!
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| The road hasn't affected us one bit... |
First stop: Spokane! Not much has changed here, but this endears it to me all the more. I love that I can still walk the same streets of the South Hill to my favorite coffee shop and find the same treats. I love that we can drive ten minutes in any direction and find a friend's home. We've enjoyed a few lazy days and fellowship-filled evenings. It's not hard to see why this town holds a special place in our hearts.
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| You know where I am, Spokane |
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| Made a pie with this lovely lady! |
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| Rolled around with these two sillies |
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| Shared a porch with this great couple! |
Next stop was Kennewick, where my parents live. We got to play with our new Jeep (which I lovingly refer to as our Transformer), taking the whole top off or the first time - now that's big kid fun :)
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| Daddy Creek! |
With them, we made a quick trek to Vancouver to visit my grandfather. He showed Pat his B17 replica, and told us his plans for building a model train track around the top of his game room. This man is in his 80's and still at it. *Love
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| Gpa Creek, Daddy Creek, and Hus-man :) |
Shortly after, we made our way over the Cascades to visit the Emerald City. Every time I go to Seattle, I wish for a moment that I didn't have to leave. It's all so inviting - the beautiful city, the water on all sides, Rainier to the south - and of, course the people. We were blessed to stay with our friends, the Houghtalings, and see many whom we've missed in our travels. We got to have breakfast with and hug a fellow traveler from Baltimore (she loves Seattle now too!). We wandered thru Pike's Place, taking in the smells of fresh flowers and the catch of the day. We savored clam chowder while sitting on the pier. We went out and played trivia with a bunch of Pat's friends - all great guys, all poor historians, lol. And one fine day we took a ferry to Whidbey Island with two of my favorite ladies, exploring its many beaches and Deception Pass. I'm gonna be honest - I miss this.
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| Miner - rock skipper extraordinaire! |
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| Connolly - delightful as ever |
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| Hiking around Deception Pass. Must have seen something deceiving... |
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| On the island, looking west |
In short (or length, rather) - we have been soaking up every corner of Washington.
And now it's time.
In a week, my husband and I will be traveling to West Africa, where we will live and work for four months. It's strange to say that 'out loud', but we couldn't be more excited! Two years in the making, and the long awaited moment is nearly upon us. Go time...
I know this last week is going to go by much too quickly, but I'm so glad that we have these moments at all - that we can soak up these people and places and take them with us in our hearts. God knows what waits for us on that ship, and I'm so thankful that He's given us this time of repose before the big leap.
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