Road Trip!

This year is the third that Nate's gone to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada for a work conference. This time he invited us along and we were crazy enough to accept his invitation and undertake the road trip of the century! The drive was really long, but we did it and saw some amazing things along the way.

Our first "get out and stretch" stop in Twin Falls, Idaho. We stopped to see Shoshone Falls.

Pretty darn spectacular.

 It was HOT! So this little stream was a tender mercy.

We hiked around a bit and Addison and Bryn explored a little cave.

 

I think this must be a cottonwood tree. There were little fluffs flying all over the place.

After that we drove a few minutes down the road and saw the Idaho Falls Temple, our 3rd of the trip (we also saw Ogden and Brigham City). The grounds were lovely!

Then on the road again. Sometime in the dry part of Oregon we decided we'd probably need to stop and get gas sometime soon. So we watched for signs, and watched, and watched. Nate did a good job of acting cool as a cucumber, but as the gas light came on and the "number of miles you can go before you run out" number ticked lower and lower, we both started to sweat. We finally saw a sign that said there was gas in about 3 miles, and we were relieved because if nothing else, Nate could run that far pretty quickly. You'd better believe there were some sincere prayers being sent up.

 

We finally limped into a gas station in Oregon as our "miles to go" number read zero, sporting a few more gray hairs than we'd had 25 miles before. A notable fact: you don't pump your own gas in Oregon. Somebody comes out and does it for you. He even washed our windshield for us!

From there we were Yakima bound!

We stopped at a really cool park in Kennewick, Washington to have some dinner and play. It was so darn hot!

 

The park was right by the Columbia River, which was so cool it was delicious.

 

Addison became the first man ever to sail across the Columbia on a log.

 And the Carl's Jr. toys were hilarious.

 

We were wiped out by the time we got to Jessie and Colin in Yakima. They were awesome hosts. The kids were thrilled to explore their backyard and play with their dog, Fenway, and have ice cream. They were delighted when they got to feed Fen tortilla chips in exchange for tricks. Fen, I think was delighted when they finally went to sleep at like midnight-thirty.  It was nice to get to know Colin. We like him. And Jessie is always a breath of fresh air. She's so down to earth. What a treat to stay with them!

 

The next morning we got up and had breakfast with Jessie and Colin (um, homemade waffles and crepes? Yes, please.) and then headed to sacrament meeting at 9:00. Thanks to Asa, we became intimately acquainted with all the nooks and crannies of the Yakima ward building, and it was super unique. After that we hit the road again and watched dry, dry Washington desert transform into actual bona fide rain forest. It was breathtaking!

 

Nate and I are perfect for each other when it comes to adventures. Nate is the planner. He really enjoys piecing together times and places and options. I am the packer. Clothes, snacks, books, you name it, I pack it. Anyway, Nate did a great job of planning great stops for us along the drive. We stopped at Snoqualmie Pass in Washington to do some hiking in an old growth forest. Old growth just means it's never been logged, from what he tells me.

Now, I am a girl who grew up in a tree-ful place. But let me just say that these trees were HUGE! And mostly evergreens. We tried lots of ways to capture the enormity of them, but I don't think we ever quite succeeded. They were big! Walking through that forest was a major uplift to the senses after being in a car full of humanity and co for two days. It smelled earthy and was humid and full of bird and bug sounds.

 

 

 From there we passed the Seattle temple (#5, after Boise) and saw it from the freeway.

 

Then we saw Snoqualmie Falls. We were all really hot and grumpy, so we didn't stay long. But it was cool.

 

From there we crossed a lot of cool bridges, saw Mt. Ranier out the rearview mirror, and suddenly found ourselves ready to cross the border!

We were all a little nervous, truth be told. And Nate made it very clear that Addison could seriously not say anything about planning to take over the world as we crossed. Luckily he listened, and we were admitted to the land of tooks, maple syrup, and curling, eh. Beautiful British Columbia.

 

 

Yep, 10 kilometers an hour.

First stop in Canada? Pizza Hut. Second? The ferry! Nate DROVE OUR CAR ONTO A BOAT! It was huge - big enough to hold 410 cars. Then we set sail for Victoria, BC's capital. The ferry ride was an adventure, as is everything when you're doing it with four little ones. No one went overboard, so we'll count it as a win.

 

After exhausting the 3 x 3 foot play area, we headed outside to explore. We wanted to watch the boat weave through the islands from the front, but it was a little windy, so we gave up and went to the back.

 

After the ferry, we drove a little way and were grateful to finally crash at our charming little home away from home for the week.