The Big Trip to Washington (part 1)

We went to Washington to see my family for Thanksgiving. This is a first for us. Since there aren't that many days off of school, we usually just jump up to Idaho, but we had already planned extra time away and kids missing school, so we thought it would be worth the longer drive. And it totally was, minus some bumps along the way.

Ivory was very dutiful and kept a travel log along the way. (She called it her blog—and you couldn't convince her it was anything else.) I am going to include her entries and then add a little of my own commentary.

November 16^th 2012

I asked are we there yet two times not! in a row. My dad said we could have dinner at five-o-clock. I asked what we would have for dinner. My mom answered that. She said that we would have gogorts, uncrustables, and chips.
Colored half of a coloring page in my 2012 today Nov

The first leg of our journey was not all that exciting. The kids got out of school and we left right away and drove up into Oregon, stopping in Baker City. We did have dinner in the car, which was the very first time we have allowed people to eat in the car since we got it a year ago. I'm proud that we held off that long.

Tyler made the girls some bomb-diggity activity books. They had some 48 odd pages full of activities from coloring to Sudoku to Battleship. They kept the girls busy off and on for the entire trip. (WAY TO GO DAD!!!) We made good time. Everyone fell asleep in the car eventually. And although they all woke up when we reached the Motel, they were easily quieted down. Well, I should say, the ones I had went to sleep well. We have reached a point where we take up two rooms. (With two queen beds in each.) I slept with Pearl (who was very good) and Ivory got her own bed, while Tyler took the other three. Our rooms weren't joined, but that didn't really matter.

Pearl was having some crazy diarrhea, so I got up at 4 in the morning to change a really nasty diaper, but we went back to sleep until 6. (Somehow I got the early risers. I had everyone dressed and packed and when we went to Tyler's room...they hadn't even gotten up yet. Pbbt.) But I am getting ahead of Ivory's blog. Let's go back and see what her thoughts were...

November 17^th 2012

Last night I slept in a inn because it takes Sixteen hours to drive to washington. Once I came into the car I sarted coloring. Daisy my sister allmost lost her blanket and her dog Straberry. My dad heped a difrent faimly. I ate breakfast in Baker City at a restront. At the inn there was a little river. Once we woke up my mom did not feel good at all. We went to the store and bought medicine for mom to feel better.
My mom says I might loose my tooth in washington because it is wiggely. (She hasn't lost it yet.)

Tyler did help jump a family's car. And we also left Daisy's stuff at the Inn, but luckily we hadn't even left town when they called. (Very prompt cleaning they have there.) And sadly, Ivory was also accurate in saying that I was sick. Boy was I ever. I am thinking that it is only by serious mind control and lots of sleeping in the car that I managed not to throw up. Poor Tyler drove the entire next day. I ate....practically nothing. And I made good use of every bathroom stop. (If you know what I mean.) Delightful.

Oh, and here is one of the pictures we took in Baker City. Nice little town, if you ask me.

I don't remember much of the morning drive. We found Deadman Pass again, but I don't think I was awake.

Tyler took lots of pictures while he drove. And I don't blame him...the scenery was cloudy but lovely.

November 17^th 2012

I Learned the articles of faith while we were in the car...We believe in god the Eternal father an in his son Jesus Christ and in the holy Ghost. We believe that men will be punbished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression. (When Ivory reads this aloud, she sings the articles of Faith. Very cute.) We drove by a thing that looked like a forest! We ate lunch at MarketDeli. I really want to see Grandma anty tim Grampa! We drove by a river that had washington on the other side. When we ate lunch dad had a huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! handburrger. I ate a big hotdog.

We stopped near the John Day Dam for lunch. Tyler had the Dam burger and laughed about it for quite a while. It was a bit overcast but the kids explored a bit and let Moxy run around. (Yes, the dog came with us and she was pretty good for the trip. I think she disliked the fact that it rained almost the entire time we were in WA, but she managed.)

The town we were in was called Rufus. Kind of podunk. It was not encouraging when Tyler told me some biker guy said that the town spelled backwards was Sufur. (Suffer.)

But we moved on. Back to Ivory...

My mom says that I might get glasses!!!!!!!! cute. bad! (Spoiler alert: Ivory is destined for glasses. She failed a school eye exam today. Now we just need to get her in to an eye doctor.)

Daisy you hard her befor well she threup in the store! Me and Robyn started to feel like we were going to trowup. Uhg. We saw Sacagawea and her baby and dog. We are in washington!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We saw tons of trains. Grandma's!!! We ate chilly for dinner ensept the beans made my throwt hurt and burn. It rained sooo much. It took two I mean two days! We had egg-nog with dinner. We watched Kid history that is funny.

Yeah, so tender mercy. We are driving and Ivory says she need to go potty, and I swear we had only been on the road half an hour since our last stop. (Grrrr.) But, when you gotta go, you gotta go, and I, of all people, understood that. So, we pulled over yet again. I stayed in the car with Pearl and shortly after, Tyler comes back to tell me that Daisy just painted the store in vomit. (THANK YOU IVORY FOR MAKING US STOP!! SO GLAD THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN IN THE CAR.) Apparently Daisy was carrying some of the same sicky bug as me.

So, Daisy sat in my lap for the last two hours of driving and only threw up once more.

But wait, let's go back and talk about Sacagawea. Tyler had this great idea to find something interesting along the road to break up the monotony. He had a whole list of roadside attractions that we could stop to see. I was NOT interested. In my mind, that meant just another delay on an already really long trip. And add in the fact that I wasn't feeling well. I tried all sorts of things to dissuade him, but he was not to be deterred. And it probably was a good thing, because it was really fun to go see the sight, and the kids were amused and educated at the same time.

There were plenty to choose from, but we opted to go see a statue of Sacagawea along the Columbia river. It was raining at the time, so we mostly viewed from the car, but Tyler and I got out briefly to read the plaques and take some pictures. She's pretty cool huh?

And with her little papoose. (Love how the baby is holding her finger.) Her baby boy traveled with her all along her journey and helped keep Indian tribes friendly to their cause. And the dog (can't remember his name) was also a good hunter and protector. I guess he took on a grizzly in the river once.

Road side attraction: Check.

It did rain a LOT. The whole trip, as I mentioned. But it was great to get to my parent's home and have some dinner. And although I didn't really eat anything and went to bed with a fever, I was happy to be there.

(To be continued in What Washington is Good For (part 2))