Last weekend was supposed to be the weekend for me to walk in the Portland to Coast Relay with a bunch of friends. However appendicitis happened and despite being six weeks post-op the surgeon suggested skipping that level of activity (especially since I was recovering and not training). Therefore we took advantage of the change in plans and went on a road trip/adventure.
First stop was to my parent’s house as originally scheduled. Dad’s 59th birthday was the day before we left so when we got there my sister hosted a birthday party dinner complete with German Chocolate cake covered in frosting made from scratch (Dad’s favorite). Usually I avoid coconut in dishes but this was sooooo good that the coconut could be overlooked.
The next day we took a short trip up towards Longview to visit one of my oldest friends. She and her family took in the kittens we fostered this past spring. Add to that fact that the last time we saw each other in person Emilie was under 6 months old and her youngest two weren’t even in the picture. You could say the visit was long overdue. It also was too short in my opinion (I think she’d agree too) and we’ll definitely have to wrangle a longer get together next time one of us is in the same vicinity as the other…hopefully that’s not another five years.
Part of the reason we couldn’t linger longer was due to the fact that my Mother, sisters, and I had planned a “Ladies Night” (another long overdue occurrence). Dinner a La Pellah down off Highway 14 near Fort Vancouver (Not sure what the area is called now as the county has grown so much, and that shopping complex didn’t even exsist when I lived in Clark Co.) and taking in The Lion King, Broadway Musical, at Keller Auditorium in Portland.
It’s been ages since I’ve seen a play and this one was well worth it for the costuming alone! Plus the company wasn’t too bad either…
After that it was off on the adventurous side of the adventure. Many years ago we discovered we work much better without a plan. A basic idea of where we want to end up when, yes. A detailed plan, no. So we knew when we headed out Thursday afternoon we wanted to try to land in Moses Lake that evening, we also wanted to avoid the main freeways if possible.
Dad suggested taking the old Lewis River Highway around the back side (south side) of Mt. St. Helens. The drive is scenic (takes you past Merwin, Yale, and Swift reservoirs, you get great views of St. Helens and some nice glimpses of Mt. Adams too) the road is paved all the way through, and you come out at Randle, WA on Highway 12, and from there you can pop right over White Pass into eastern WA.
The drive was gorgeous. The road itself, however, left much to be desired. Once we hit the Forest Service maintained road there was pretty much a 35 mile stretch where the road had buckled or slid and been poorly patched if patched at all. With all the shade from the trees you couldn’t even see some of the dips until you where half way through them. It was truly and adventure. I felt for those riding through on motorcycles or pulling trailers. Not sure if the problem is unstable terrain, low maintenance budgets, or some combination of those factors, or what, but Kevin came through it feeling a whole lot better about the maintenance and upkeep he does on the forest roads here. 
After we bounce or way around the mountain and stopped for milkshakes in Yakima we cruised up to Moses Lake just in time for Chico’s (aka the best pizza known to man) and a dip in the pool. Turns out those swim lessons are paying off as both kids were able to paddle across the deep in of Grandma and Grandpa’s pool without too much difficulty.
From Moses Lake we aimed the car toward home but opted to head for Walla Walla and Milton-Freewater instead of the usual trip through Tri-Cities. Of course we stopped at the Country Mercantile on 395 and while Emilie sampled her way through various salsas, Jack discovered a new love of Dilly Beans. Not too surprising as he loves dill pickles. I canned 25lbs of pickles last year and he’d eaten them all by February (did 30lbs this year).
Our intent had been to try and stop at the Whitman Mission outside Walla Walla, but if you recall what I mentioned about us and planning… By the time we reached the turn off for the mission the kids were wasting away from hunger in the backseats. There was no food to be had until Walla Walla proper so we thought we could always go grab something and come back. But as we drove through town we saw the Fort Walla Walla Historical Museum and it looked pretty neat and wouldn’t require much back tracking so…change of plans. We grabbed lunch at the Ice Burger Drive-In (Highly recommend this to my burger/shake loving crew) drove back to the museum and ate at the park next door then went and toured the museum.
What Fun! The museum covers history from the early days and Indian Wars up to WWII. There are also huge displays of farming equipment, a penitentiary display, and a little “town” of buildings the historical society has moved to the Fort from the surrounding area and staged with period items.
There truly was something for everyone. Kevin and I were most impressed by the early harvesting displays for harvesting wheat on the Palouse. Can you imagine driving 30 Mules at one time? Quite the undertaking. Makes using a combine harvester seem like a cakewalk in comparison.
Enough history for one post…back to current events. Though I do recommend getting over to visit the Fort Walla Walla Museum if you’re in the area.
As I mentioned before we were on the scenic route. From Walla Walla we headed south through Milton Freewater and popped out at the Travel Plaza just east of Pendleton right before you head up Cabbage Hill. Here Emilie took the liberty of dumping her just purchased icy-cold beverage on my feet in the middle of the store…ahhh memories. Once I washed all the orange stickiness off my feet (thank goodness for small favors and I was wearing flip-flops at the time and not my sneakers…much easier to clean) we headed on over the Blues and stopped in Nampa for the night.
The next day we finally made good on our promise to take the kids to the water park. We’d picked up a couple of passes at the school carnival this spring and were going to go after swim lessons concluded in July. Once again, foiled by the appendix. This was about our last chance to squeeze it in before school started. Both the kids had a blast! I only have one picture as water and cameras don’t really mix but I will say both kids rode the slide in the background of the picture. Both kids were fearless…me not so much. Normally waterslides to bother me but I fret about my novice swimmers. Emilie was so small compared to most of the kids on the slides and while she was too short for some of the bigger rides Jack made the cut…barely. Seems he is precisely 48” high…so precise that we had to take him to guest services to get an “official” measurement and wristband so he wouldn’t be turned away from any slides for being too short. I was hoping he’d be under, but his excitement at being a “big kid” made up for my lack of enthusiasm. Fortunately Emilie adored the lazy river so she and I spent most of our time there. Though, my thighs were sure to remind of how many laps we made the next day.
After three or so hours of swimming the kids were both exhausted so we went and got a late lunch at Yard House (And yes, we did have the Mac and Cheese Squared) stretched our legs with a quick tour around the Zoo and then headed for home.
It was a fantastic way to cap off the summer. We’ve had a great one, but I’m ready for school to start and for us to be back in a regular routine!
