Saturday morning, October 3rd was our last look at Reno. Our close friends came over to say good-bye and brought some treats for our trip. We finished throwing the last few things in the moving truck, and then put our luggage in the car. I arranged the car so that I could reach the dvd’s and laptop for Jameson. We had our snacks and drinks accessible. My brother, Weston had come over for the night, and helped us that morning finish up. After a few hugs and good-byes (and not letting sink in what was happening) we climbed in the car and headed off. We made it to Susanville, through lots of wind, and stopped for lunch. It was freezing, and our sweatshirts were packed in our luggage bags. Oops.

After lunch, we headed off again, and Jameson fell asleep. I finally got to listen to some music rather than just Finding Nemo.  As we got further north, the desert turned to forest. This was my view for most of the trip.

You can barely see Kevin’s headlights in the mirror. I couldn’t use cruise control, because I would loose him up the hills, and he would get too far behind. Sometimes I would forget about him back there, and then realize I left him in the dust on that last hill. This was our view closer to the Oregon boarder.

Jameson’s sleep didn’t last as long as I would have hoped, so it was back to the “Fishies.” He started to get a little irritable, and I needed a bathroom break, so we stopped in Medford, OR I think, for some gas. As I was talking to Kevin on the phone discussing where to stop, he told me, “Remember, we’re in Oregon so don’t try to pump your own gas.” Really?

So we pulled in and the gas attendant came out. They take your card or cash, and swipe your card, then pump your gas. Are you suppose to tip them? Well we did, since Kevin has worked in a business based on tips before. Jameson and Kevin “checked” the air in tires, or just kicked them. They also checked the cars. Nikki and I took potty breaks. Me in the mens restroom since the women’s was out of order, and Nikki in the field.

We continued on, but decided to stop and eat not too long after. We were told once you hit the mountains there’s not much to eat till Eugene. So we stopped in some little town just before you start to head into the mountains at Grants Pass. We pulled into a tiny diner that only had one car in the parking lot, but plenty of parking for our large truck. That should have been a clue. We walked up to the door, and the guy was there holding it for us, welcoming us in. He saw our plates and asked, where we were from and where we were headed. They took our order, and then continued to come by and ask if we needed anything. The man also told us about the road, how far till the next towns, and to watch out for a 45mph turn that we would be coming up on. They were the sweetest people ever. The food, not so good. We ordered a small pizza and bowl, more like bucket, of chilli. We managed the pizza, but no luck with the chilli. You couldn’t hide it either since there was only one other table of people there. So I tried to make it look like I ate some. Then the waitress, I think the man’s wife, came over and asked if I liked the chilli. I tried to say it was just such a big bowl you couldn’t tell I ate it. She offered to package it for me to go.

So then I tried to say I don’t think the smell would do well in the car with me. She immediately picked up on pregnancy, and offered to wrap it in surrand wrap for me so the smell wouldn’t leak out. Thank you so much! So I graciously took my chilli to the car. Kevin and I got back in our cars, and continued on. We decided Eugene was as far as we would make it that day. As we got there I looked up hotels on our new gps. There was a Best Western right there for us. We pulled in about 9 pm only to find out there we no rooms available. What? The worker told us to try the Best Western right up the street. We called and they had one room. Then he told us to hurry, because the game just got out and we were going to hit crowds and traffic.

What was he talking about? Well the other Best Western was litterally 50 yards up the street. There was maybe one building between the two. We got a room for the night and started to notice green and yellow EVERYWHERE. We figured out there was a football game that night. We checked in our room, Kevin found some milk for Jameson, and then got ready for some sleep.

The next morning, I went to get breakfast from the lobby, and figured out the game was between Washington State and Oregon State; apparantely big rivals. I also found out from an Oregan State fan that they won, and it was by a lot. I opened the paper that was delivered to our room and started reading about some player, I can’t remember now. As we were packing to leave, I overheard some guys talking about our Nevada plates and how far we traveled. So I asked them what was the deal with this player. All the paper talked about was whether he would be able to play in the game, but not what happened to prevent him from playing . They looked at me like I had just walked out of the crazy house. I pointed to our car and replied, “I’m the one with Nevada plates.” Then they asked, “Oh, you’re not here for the game?” Umm no sirs. Just passing through and got caught in the middle of a bunch of crazy fans. Turns out their star running back punched an Idaho player after their opening game and was suspended for the season. Then they told him if he met qualifications he could play again, so that’s why there was controversy.

Well we got back in to our cars, Jameson not quite so willingly, and headed off again. As we pulled out we found out we were just down the street from the stadium. No wonder! We passed cars decked out in yellow and green the entire way. Oregon was beautiful. I was a little turned around, because the mountains were on the wrong side of me. The colors on the trees were just starting to change, but still mostly green.

As we reached Portland, I couldn’t get my camera fast enough. As you come over the hill, you can see the spires poking out of the tops of the trees just off the freeway. You can see the flowers on the temple grounds in this picture (That’s all I was able to capture.) It was beautiful. The same design as the Las Vegas Temple.

We stopped in Portland for lunch. We were able to find a McDonal’s with a playplace for Jameson to run and play. He loved it and even went to the very top, following another little boy.

Here are some views of Oregon.

 

And in case you were wondering, Jameson took these from his seat in the back. I did not get distracted while driving. After leavingPortland, we made a bee line for home. We drove over tons of bridges, which did not have roads under them, but water. There is so much water. In fact, it was while driving over a bridge we saw the sign “Welcome to Washington.” We made it to our place by about 5 pm.

We reached our destinatin, only to find it was not left the way we had been told. So Kevin got to deal with an emotional, pregnant wife, and child who’d been in a car for two days. Not a good combination. I took my hormones with me to find a target and food, while Kevin took over the house and Jameson. By the time I returned, Kevin had already made it look 10 times better.

Monday, Kevin was able to find some workers and save our Elders quarum. He picked up 2 day laborers, and while I cleaned they unloaded our truck. They also had to hike the 4 sets of stairs carrying boxes, not us, which was nice. One guy worked really hard, the other, just took his time. After lunch, we headed out to find a storage unit and return the truck. The two workers, then had to help Kevin unload the the rest of the items into our storage unit. Kevin mostly just stayed in the truck through it all sorting what goes where. This is why we didn’t want to burden the men from the ward. It would have been too confusing. I took the guys to drop them back off at the bus station while Kevin returned our truck. Then we called our Elders quarum president and told him not to worry about helping us. He was quite surprised, but probably greatful.

We spent the first week rearranging, cleaning, and putting things away. We now have now settled in, and getting to know our way around.