On The Road

My apologies for taking so long to post this. It is all trial and error and have learned 1) editing my blog posts from an iPad is a royal pain and 2) I can barely find the time and energy to journal at the end of the day, let alone assemble and condense all the thought, feelings and experiences into a blog. Since my last post we had a going-away party. About 50 people showed up, from as far away as Florida and as distant as 32 years. I was so honored and touched, thrilled and saddened. In all, I had a fantastic time and want to again thank everyone that came to wish us well and see us off and for all the very thoughtful cards, gifts and sentiments. We cherish each and every one of them. And each and every one of YOU!!

Without waiting for the house to sell, we had a Pod delivered on April 21 and tickets to see my folks in Tampa on the 23rd. My son and I spent a day and half emptying the house and storage unit into the Pod. He actually did the bulk of the work on the second day while I ran a half dozen errands. I guess he really wanted to go to Portland! :-) After another trip to Goodwill and leaving the furniture that I hadn't been able to sell on Craigslist, we just managed to get it all in. But it all worked out well: by the time our plane landed in Florida I had an offer on the house. And another offer on the second day. And the buyers want the furniture we left behind! So we returned from FL on the 26th packed up our cars, the dog and left Maryland for good on April 27th.

Our first stop was visiting my aunt and her husband in Dublin, OH. They are wonderful people and I'm so glad we had that time together. We went to the Longaberger Basket company and took a side trip to Cleveland and the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Christmas Story house. Unfortunately I accidentally deleted all my photos from them but was able to download a few from the internet that were exactly like the ones I had taken. Gotta love the internet! From there we went to Hannibal, MO, home of Mark Twain. A nice town preserved in the Mark Twain era. We drove along route 36, aka the Pony Express, through Missouri and Kansas. A beautiful, green, hilly and curvy road that took us through the heartland: Farms and pastures and towns so small they have the population listed on the sign under the town name. So much open space! After feeling so crowded in the Capitols metropolis, it's a stark reminder of how big this country really is. We jet set from place to place not really grasping how truly vast those rectangles are that we see from the sky. It was somewhere through here that the realization hit me: I'm going West and never returning. Denver was our next stop and grateful to have a friend to put us up (and put up with us) for three days. Colorado is truly a spectacular state! It was love at first sight! Garden of the Gods, Red Rocks, Golden, Boulder and Breckenridge just reinforced the feeling.

Salt Lake City followed. No matter your religious beliefs, it is a beautiful and impressive place and the people are so nice. In fact, since Colorado, I've been touched by how much strangers have gone the extra mile to help me. From the guy at the Denver Grease Monkey that looked up the address for the VW dealership so I could go there for an oil change instead, to the front desk clerk at the Courtyard Marriott in SLC that despite the hotel power outage, called four hotels to help me find a room (I had just walked in to check their rates but they were full anyhow.) I think this is normal behavior but I'm so jaded from spending so long in the DC area that such acts of kindness actually make me weepy.

Idaho was a place I was looking forward to, that my son wasn't very interested in, but managed to take us both by surprise. Let me preface this with the fact that up to this point on our trip I had done the coordination with little input from my son. He had a laissez-faire attitude and was quite content letting me do all the work. However I wasn't too pleased with the voyage so far, feeling it was rushed and too much the standard main, big city stops so I put the rest of the trip in his court. He went online and chose a place about 30 miles off the main road. Lava Hot Springs is a beautiful, tiny town in Idaho about three blocks long with a river that winds through it, gardens, hot springs and rail road tracks that run along the mountain. We stayed at a pet friendly, 100 year old Inn that at one point had hosted the likes of Teddy Roosevelt, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid amongst others. The character of the place was so rich we could feel it and the people we so incredibly friendly! We had a delicious dinner in their restaurant and were entertained by a very friendly singer/guitar player from Oregon. We chatted and he told stories, adding to the intimate experience. It was the type of moment I had been hoping to have on the trip; small town off the beaten path that just takes you by surprise with the excellent food, historical accommodations, super friendly people and overall beauty from the simpleness.

Twin Falls, on the other hand was the complete opposite. It's a large, impersonal city but on the edge of the beautiful, twisting, fast flowing, aptly named Snake River. (I'm not sure how many times we crossed it on the way to Oregon!) We went to the Shoshone Falls and hiked along the canyon rim to the jump site where Evel Knievel made his famous jump across the Snake River. I'm sure it is one of the more narrow places along the river but it's still pretty freaking wide! That man was nuts!!

Next stop: Oregon! And, almost as if on cue, as soon as we crossed the state line it began to rain. I suppose that is why it is so green. It was a similar mountainous drive as the one we had been on through Utah and Idaho but much greener, and yellow from the little flowers, with a rushing river and towering pine trees. Trees were definitely missing in our previous travels. We could have made Portland in one day but instead opted to do it in two with a stopover in the 'old west' town of Pendleton. Another great pick by my son. We went into a cowboy antique store, strolled along the river walk and chanced upon a bucking bronco riding competition. Dinner was very modern with hummus, goat cheese, roasted red peppers and such, while being entertained by a group of mostly old men playing fiddles and banjos. Hamleys, the local saloon, was quite a place too. Authentically old west in decor and filled with locals, many whom had been at the bucking bronco competition.

With the sun shining and my top down we set off for the final leg of the journey through the stunning Cascade Mountains, covered in Pacific Silver and Douglas firs with the Columbia River and Washington State on the right. After 15 days, 3,444.20 miles and a blown budget, we arrived at our final destination on May 11th. Now for the arduous task of finding a place to live!