Join us as we drive across the Northern States and Down the West Coast from Detroit back home to LA!
Oh My Gosh!!! We’re moving to Los Angeles right now! It just hit me. We’re done visiting family along the road trip. Now we’re on our way to all the family and friends we’ll be living near again!!!
We just saw a UHaul truck towing a car, which reminded us of option B:
I couldn’t imagine driving one of these through the pass, past Mt. Shasta, at 110 degrees. Plus our speed would have been limited to 55 MPH the whole way. Which as we’re discovering, that’s not fast enough from San Fracisco to LA.
Just over twenty four hours in Seattle is not nearly enough to enjoy one of my favorite cities. After visiting Uncle Tommy, we cruised over the Northern Cascade Highway, trying to stay with the light that had already passed over the mountains. Some of the rocky peaks were the highest we’d seen on our trip. Still covered with glacial snow, the views were spectacular when we could see them through the dense trees. Funny moments on video when Adolfo “checked” our brakes, and everything came scooting forward. I videotaped it, and he got back at me by scaring me with a snake that wasn’t there! You should have seen me jump!
Into Seattle that night to stay at my brother Matt’s house. The next day we had lunch at the Original Red Robin right near the University of Washington, where my Mom frequented in college however many years ago. (It was the nearest establishment to the U able to serve alcohol at one point many years ago.)
We got some quality time with my grandma while Adolfo fixed her sewing machine. Later we had a really yummy dinner on Matt’s deck overlooking the Olympic mountain range. It was nice to be reminded that in some parts of the country you can be outdoors for dinner in the summertime, and not be bothered by bugs or be dripping with sweat and super ucomfortable from the humidity. Sorry, I’m discriminating again. I’m sure some people enjoy sticky weather. Personally, I’m really happy to be in a different climate.
We got a kick out of watching my 3 year old nephew doing “Gym-jack-sticks”. He had just seen the olympics for the first time the night before.
With the meteor shower planned for early that morning, we got a super early start south.
I got to see my Mom and Dad. I can’t tell you how nice it was to just get a big hug after so many stressful months for both of us. We got to see the “New House” as I call it. Their home of 18 years experienced severe water damage this past December, and they aren’t back living in the house yet, but we got to see all the changes and progress they made. It really looks great!
Adolfo did an awesome job installing a cell repeater at my parents house so we can all use our phones inside the house! I’m really glad he didn’t fall off the roof. Also very greatful to have my parents on AT&T. My iPhone is coming!!! Yay! Thanks Adolfo!
After our quick stop in Seattle, we took a short 3 hour drive down to Portland, Oregon where we visited my Aunt Sandra and my cousin Julian. They live just outside of Portland, in Gresham. Sandra recently bought her beautiful home there on a large lot last year. The lot has enough acreage that she can keep horses – she has three. These, however, are no ordinary horses – they are MINIATURE horses. They are probably half the height of your average horse and their backs only came up to my waist. In addition to these three funny horses, they also have two “Russian” chickens that have a really interesting hairdo, and finally one wild cat that goes by Toy Yoda. Yoda loves to hang out with the other animals and feels right at home amongst the horses and chickens and they don’t seem to mind either. The horses had just gotten groomed and one of them had some funny blunt-cut bangs, while the other one had a high-and-tight military cut.
When we first arrived to my aunt’s house at 7:30am we noticed a large trampoline set up right next to their garage. It didn’t take very long for Jessica to leap out of the front seat of the car and climb up on the trampoline. In a split-second, Jessica was transformed into a 9 year old all over again – the pictures are proof enough.
After Jessica got her trampoline fix, Sandra welcomed us inside and cooked up a really yummy home-made breakfast. And then, it was my turn and Julian’s to show off our mad trampoline skills. Again, the pictures speak for themselves.
[pictures soon]
Heading west from Idaho, we stopped in Oakanogan, WA to visit my Grand Uncle Tommy. He turns 85 this year, and stands only as tall as me. As we pulled up to the house he was opening the gate for us, and looked exactly as he did 15 years ago when last I saw him. Work boots, thick denim jeans, a long sleave flannel plaid shirt, a woven straw hat, and suspenders of course. He lives on a hill overlooking cattle ranches, apple, pear, and cherry orchards, and has many acres of land that extend up the hill behind the house. (Earlier this year my parents encountered a bear while hiking up there. Luckily Tommy had provided a small hand gun to protect against cougars, but they didn’t use it. The bear just wandered off.)
I must explain when I say hill, that’s in comparison to the mountains around it. His “hill” is five or six times larger than any ski spot in Michigan.
We spent our time listening to stories of how my ancestors settled this land. He told us about how the importing of apple juice has devistated the Washington Apple industry. We saw his walnut trees and sampled some of his dried walnuts, which is really a teadious task. We saw the 18 rodeo horses that Tommy was boarding. They eat down the dry grass in his fields so he doesn’t have to mow them. The white bucking horse which seemed to lead the heard kept staring at Adolfo like a Clint Eastwood wild, wild, west stare down.. While giving us a tour of the house I found a postcard from my grandmother to my great grandmother, written 57 years ago a day before my grandmother’s and my birthday.
All in all it was really nice to be back to a place I haven’t visited since I was a child. Also very cool to show Adolfo some of the pioneer history in my family.
Pictures coming shortly…
Yesterday, we drove from Yellowstone all the way to Coure d’Alene, Idaho in one fell swoop. We traversed 3 states in the process – Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. One of the coolest small towns we drove through was the old gold and silver mining town of Wallace, Idaho. The town was tightly nestled in a steep valley covered in dense, tall evergreens – Jessica really loved the sight of it. Apparently, it is still an active mining town and you can hear the blast from the mines under the city on a daily basis.
Our destination in Idaho was Coure d’Alene where Jessica’s parents’ close friends have their lake house. We finally got to the house around 9:30 pm (after missing our exit and driving 10 miles out of the way to the next exit) – just in time to catch one of the most beautiful views we’ve seen thus far on our trip. The 16 mile byway that leads up to the Ellison’s home from I-90 took us right along the lake and down near water level, giving us some great views of the lake and a great reflection of the dusky sky. I wish we could have had a camera good enough to capture the beauty of it all.
It was really great to spent time with our close friends the Ellisons at their lake house and be greeted by familiar faces after 2,600 miles of driving thus far. This was also our first night back in a real bed after spending the last three nights either in the car or the hard ground of our tent. Judy and Dennis make great hosts. They were just winding down from a huge family week that filled their beautiful house to the brim. The last members of their family were leaving this morning and we were the last ones out the door after one last leeching of their WiFi.
[Written by our Car...while driving.]
Jessica spilled Diet Dr. Pepper on me today. I’m not sure if she likes me very much because she bitches everytime she has to adjust the seat. Adolfo says that it’s not my fault that her upper body is too long, and her legs are too short. He has suggested her sticking her head out the sun roof, but I think she’s comfortable in the passanger seat. Adolfo hasn’t let her drive since they started into Yellowstone.
I’ve seen some beautful and diverse scenery on my 2,200 miles so far. I have really enjoyed climbing all the steep and curvy terrain, something I haven’t done since I moved to Michigan. I also really appreciate the condition of the roads in these other states. The one thing I’ve really had a hard time with is all these bugs, that keep getting stuck between my two front teeth.
I’ve also enjoyed sampling a variety of different flavors of gasoline along the way. My favorite has to be the ethanol laced sauce in S. Dakota. That was a nice high.
Along our journey, I have been an excellent host. A quiet smooth ride, providing 12 volts of nutrition for Adolfo and Jessica’s electronics . I’ve been sipping gas at about 27-28 MPG, not as good as my hybrid brethren, but not bad considering the steep grades, the full trunk & back seats, and the two chunkers up front who insist on blasting the A/C.
I look forward to the views along the rest of our journey, and heading back home where I left behind all my Bavarian cousins.
In the meantime enjoy these great beauty shots of my journey.
No, we haven’t driven off the face of the earth, we were just trapped in the center of it without cell coverage.
Apparently the National Parks Service doesn’t believe in blanketing the entire (however many hundred of thousands of acres) park with cell towers and internet service.
So please forgive us as we catch up. We’re backdating a few blogs that we didn’t get to upload so keep an eye out for posts you may have missed.
Thankfully as soon as we crossed over into Montana we gained our lifeline back. There was a large portion of Wyoming that I thought Adolfo was going to lose it. He was “completely disconnected from the world” with only a few hours break from service at a time. (I wonder how he would do in Alaska?)
The lodge at Old faithful looked like something right out of a movie. My grandparents used to run the ski lodge on Mt. Baker in the 1940’s, and I imagine a building just like this one. With huge log beams framing the ceilings and walls, and beautiful light fixtures adorned with bears and moose that give off the warmest glow.
Although the star attraction (Old Faithful) kept us waiting, the battery on the video camera held out just long enough for the big blast.
Sitting outside on a boardwalk facing the geyser, we got an interesting sample of tourists. Our favorite comment came from the White-American tourist who asked the Japanese-American tourists if they would take a picture of his family during the eruption. When he was asked if he wanted the flash on, and how he would like the shot set up, he said “Oh you would know better than I would.” This seemed totally inapropriate, until we looked over and saw that EVERY member of the family had their own $1,000 SLR camera.
We’ve camped so far in three different places. One night in the car at a rest stop in Wisconsin, one night in a tent at a camp ground just off the Hwy in S. Dakota, and last night in a tent at a campground in Yellowstone. Which by the way, apparently when camping at Yellowstone you should either make reservations, or plan to wait in line at 6 am at the office, because all the camping slots in the park fill up and are taken by noon for that night. Thats not really a good situation for a pair of last minute, fly by the seat of their pants travelers.
Needless to say we were VERY lucky to get our camping spot, and with our car getting unpacked and repacked every night, I have to say we’ve done an excelent job of staying tidy. Even with the hamper of “dirty” laundry, which I thought I had a whole extra two days to finish, in the back seat. (Adolfo decided to load the washer and dryer into the container a lot faster than I anticipated.) We’ve managed to have everything we need at our fingertips. Like the peanut butter and jelly, which has been in our plug in cooler for nearly 2,000 miles before I decided to make a sandwich.
I love the open flat areas with plenty of visibility where you can really open it up.
We’ll hit the Pacific Ocean in no time at all. 
