Moving Chris and Camilla to Washington

Chris and Camilla chose Easter weekend to move most of their household belongings to Washington. Camilla had a five-day break from teaching French classes at Joel P. Jensen Middle School in West Jordan, and the weekend presented a good opportunity for the move, since they become owners of the Great Harvest bakery franchise in Everett on April 1. Camilla and Sam do not join Chris until after the school year ends in early June.

And even though they had accumulated a lot of stuff in the nearly three -and-a-half years they have been married (living first here in Bountiful, then in Farmington, then back in Bountiful, and the past couple months in our renovated basement), Chris and Camilla sold or donated to Deseret Industries a number of pieces of furniture and other items. Their resultant baggage fit, therefore, in the 17-foot U-Haul truck Chris had rented for the long weekend.

We (Chris, Camilla, Sam, and I) took two days driving through northern Utah, across southern Idaho, across eastern Oregon, and through central to western Washington to move them to Everett. We went as far as Nampa on Thursday, March 20, leaving Bountiful around 1:00 in the afternoon after Chris worked all morning at the Great Harvest here in Bountiful. We were traveling in three vehicles: Chris drove the U-Haul truck, Camilla drove their white Jimmy, and I drove their Toyota.

Thursday evening we arrived at Dale and LeAnn's house in Nampa between 6:30 and 7:00. That was late enough for us to miss the worst traffic backup from Boise to Nampa. We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Nampa with Lyle; Gene and his daughter Gena and her year-old baby Shawn; Dale, LeAnn, and Keisha; Jackie, Jolene, and her fiancee Jeff.

Friday morning, March 21, LeAnn kindly fixed us a hot breakfast, and then we were off early to drive the rest of the way to Washington. The freeway over the Blue Mountains in eastern Oregon was snow covered and icy in spots. That slowed us down a little. In Hermiston, just before we crossed the Columbia River from Oregon into Washington, Chris had a flat tire on the U-Haul truck, and we stopped to get that fixed and ate lunch at a nearby Subway sandwich shop. Then we were on our way again. We reached the Seattle area in the late afternoon and were slowed somewhat by the evening commuter traffic, but we reached their apartment complex in Everett around 6:00, about ten hours after we left Nampa.

Chris and Camilla met the apartment manager and signed various papers. The lady that lives across the hall from them is from France, so the manager called her, and she came down and visited with them in French. Chris and Camilla both spoke French on their missions.

The man who has owned the Great Harvest bakery Chris and Camilla are buying brought us dinner from the bakery. (He didn't know I was with them, so he came back a little later with a fourth sandwich, drink, chips, and cookie for me.)

We also went to a couple of stores that evening to buy some initial stuff for the apartment, such as a shower curtain, soap, some bath towels, etc. We also dropped by the bakery, which is only a block or so from the apartment where they will live.

We spent Friday evening and most of Saturday morning unpacking the U-Haul and hauling stuff up to their third floor apartment. Chris called two professional movers to come Saturday morning, March 22, to help move the bigger stuff. The worst piece was a very tall bookcase that had to be taken up flour flights of stairs (because it would not fit in the elevator) and required some partial dismantling at that. The movers were still working on that when Chris and I returned the truck to the U-Haul dealer in Everett.

Between 12:30 and 1:00 Chris and Camilla went with the man they are buying the bakery from to a bank to sign papers and then to lunch. I stayed at the apartment with little Sam. After they returned we spent much of the afternoon unpacking and assembling furniture. Chris and Camilla also went by the bakery later in the afternoon to meet a couple of the employees who were there at the time. The interior of the bakery is shown in the photograph above.

Saturday evening we went out to eat at a nearby Olive Garden restaurant.

And then Sunday morning, Easter Sunday, during a steady rain, we drove the Jimmy south to the SeaTac airport and parked it for when Chris returns to Washington this coming Friday night. And then, all four of us in the Toyota, started the twelve-hour drive toward home. On the return trip I drove all of the way across Washington and into Oregon, Camilla drove in part of Oregon and Idaho, Chris in part of Idaho, and I the rest of the way home to Utah. The rain turned to snow as we were crossing through the Cascade Mountains, but the roads were just wet, not at all bad. It pretty much quit raining as we got east of the mountains. We stopped just off the freeway near Eden, Idaho, to buy Blimpie sandwiches for a late lunch, having snacked on crackers and other such munchies during the rest of the day-long trip.

Rachael and her three girls were here visiting over the weekend. They were staying in Layton at Michael and Shaua's house but were still here from having eaten Easter dinner when we arrived back at our house in Bountiful about 8:30 Sunday evening. Michael and Shauna's family were just getting ready to leave. Rebecca and Mimi; Talmage and Louise; and Paul, Eliza, and Peter were also here, and we were able to visit with them and eat dessert (angel food cake topped with strawberries and whipped cream).

Picture of new First Presidency

A picture of the new First Presidency has been released showing Presidents Thomas S. Monson (seated), Henry B. Eyring (standing left), and Dieter F. Uchtdorf (standing right).

First road trip

Below is an account of a family trip fifty years ago to northern California to visit Lyle and Barbara in Sacramento. It is the first road trip I remember taking. We left late Thursday, December 26, 1957, and returned home late Thursday, January 2, 1958. Although I distinctly remember the trip, I am indebted to my mother’s diary for some of the specific details.

I have always loved to travel. Especially if it involves a road trip. Few things are more thrilling than the prospect of the open road stretching out there before me.

My earliest memory of a vacation, other than visits to relatives somewhere in northern Utah or eastern Idaho, was a car trip to California during the holidays when I was eight years old. I guess this was technically a trip to visit relatives because we drove to Sacramento to visit my oldest brother Lyle, who was in the Air Force, and his wife Barbara and their two sons. Stanley was three years old. And Terry was about twenty months old. I did not remember that Barbara was so very pregnant, but a little more than three weeks after our visit she gave birth to their third son, David.

But the trip counts in my book as a bona fide vacation because it was to a part of the country we had never been to before.

We left in the middle of the night the day after Christmas. My parents and the five youngest children (thirteen-year-old Gene, twelve-year-old Ray, eight-year-old me, five-year-old Dale, and fourteen-month-old Jackie) made the trip. Jerry and Kay stayed home to tend the farm, milk the cows, and who knows what else.

We drove though the night down through eastern Oregon into Nevada. Ray, Dale, Jackie, and I were bedded down in the back seat. Mom wrote in her diary that she drove from Lovelock to Reno and noted that the roads were good all the way except a few icy spots at McDermitt, a tiny little town on the Nevada–Oregon border.

In Reno, where we probably did breakfast, I remember a sign arching across the street proclaim­ing Reno as “The Biggest Little City in the World.” We continued from there up and through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, over Donner Pass, and down the other side toward Sacramento. There was a lot of snow, a lot more than I was ever used to seeing.

As we approached Sacramento we were on a freeway, the first time I had ever actually seen one, and I thought it was pretty awesome. I found the freeway exits a novel bit of ingenuity and can even remember to this day, fifty years later, that we took the Watt Avenue exit off the freeway to find Lyle and Barbara’s place somewhere near McClellan Air Force Base.

We arrived at Lyle and Barbara’s place midmorning on Friday, December 27, and pretty much just chilled out for the rest of that day. Lyle was out on a flight when we arrived and came home a few hours later. If my memory serves correctly, it seems it was always grey while we were there, either grey and foggy or grey and overcast, but a lot of grey.

Over the next few days we visited various sites around the Sacramento area. One day we went to the zoo and saw all kinds of animals and birds. I probably had never been to a zoo before. Another day we visited the state capitol. Another day we went out into the surrounding countryside and saw orange, lemon, and grapefruit trees just loaded with fruit. And I think we actually saw the sun that day. We went to a dam and saw a prison and stopped by the air force base and watched jets take off. These were all marvels to an eight-year-old boy.

On the last day of 1957 we drove to San Francisco. My mom’s diary account detailed the events of the day (with her spellings and punctuation a bit standardized):

“We headed for San Francisco on highway 40 through Vallejo, San Pablo, El Cerrito, Albany, Berkley, and down by Alameda and the outskirts of Oakland then back across the Bay Bridge (toll for 25¢), 8 miles long, to San Francisco, and drove up Nob Hill and went to the naval maritime museum then parked on the bay and saw some big ships come in and leave and saw Alcatraz, then we drove along the docks and Fisherman’s Wharf, through Chinatown, past the Keizer Stadi­um, saw the mint, rode through residential area and business district, then we to Golden Gate Park and went through the Steinhart Aquari­um, then we went down and parked on the Ocean and watched the tide and the kids got some seashells and put their hand in the Ocean, then about dark we went across the Golden Gate Bridge, 25¢ toll, and went up high­way 101 to San Rafael and had a ham­burger and milkshake and fries and do­nuts at a drive inn, then we got lost and went to San Anselmo and Fair­fax then came back to San Rafael and down around San Quentin and across the new Richmond Bridge (75¢ toll) and back up highway 40 home.” That one long sentence was indicative of what the long, busy day was like.

That New Year’s Eve was my first sight of the Pacific Ocean. I had never seen an ocean before, and I remember playing along the cold, damp, grey beach, and sticking my hand into the cold water and chasing the waves and looking for sand dollars and seashells. It was a glorious outing.

We ushered in 1958 by spending New Year’s Day resting up from the previous day’s adventures and watching the Rose Parade and bowl games and eating and visiting and playing games.


The next morning we piled back into our car, our 1957 red and white Dodge, and headed for home. Mom mentioned in her diary that we stopped and bought a bag of oranges and 12 pounds of bananas for just a dollar. We left Lyle and Barbara’s place just a little before 10:00 in the morning (Pacific time zone) and got back to our house in eastern Oregon about 10:30 that night (Mountain time zone).

There was a lot more snow going home. As we started up toward Donner Pass, we had to stop to put chains on the car, although in the end we didn’t really need them. As my predominant memory of Sacramento and San Francisco was grey, my memory of the ride home was white from all the snow on the ground and in the air.

It had been a fun, vision-expanding trip for an eight-year-old farm boy. I had seen and experienced all kinds of things previously beyond what I knew about my limited corner of the world. And it undoubtedly fueled my later desires to explore the big broad world out there at the end of some road.

Another new blog?

OK, so I really have five blogs going now:

1. Interstate 50 (http://i50.blogspot.com/) — More of the same, except perhaps a little more often

2. Dorothy's Diary 1958 (http://dorothy-1958.blogspot.com/) — As of today, I have posted all 31 daily entries from my mother's 1958 diary for January; more to be coming until I get caught up to date

3. The Dawning of a Brighter Day (http://dawning-brighter-day.blogspot.com/) — A collection of spiritual thoughts, etc.

4. Roots and Branches (http://rootbranch.blogspot.com/) — Nothing posted here yet, but it is intended to become a collection of family histories

5. Dean's 2008 journal — My private journal for this year

Is this insane? Or what?

The dawning of a brighter day

I started a new blog today, entitled "The Dawning of a Brighter Day." It contains experiences and personal reflections on life, faith, the latter-day restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Hostlers Model Railroad Festival

Claudia and I had a memorable outing this afternoon with Talmage, Louise, and Ben. We had driven to Layton to visit them and for Ben's birthday (which was on February 10) take him to Wal-Mart to let him pick out his birthday present. On our way to Layton we heard an ad on the radio about a model railroad festival being held at Ogden's Union Station and as a part of the festival an opportunity to see one of the new Frontrunner train cars. So we decided to go to Ogden.

Claudia took Ben shopping at Wal-Mart while I went to nearby Sam's Club to get a few items. During the time we were in the stores a cold front moved through the area, and we were surprised at how much colder it was when we came out than when we went in. We went back and picked up Talmage and Louise, and went to Wendy's in Clearfield for lunch. It started raining while we were eating. We debated whether to still go to the train show, but decided to go for it.

It rained on us all the way to Ogden. While we were in Union Station enjoying the various model railroad displays, including an impressive one made of Legos, the rain turned to snow. We decided to walk the couple blocks through the snow to where we could get in the new Frontrunner car. Impressive. It is supposed to start operating in late April.

We then rode on a little shuttle train back to Union Station and then walked through the snow to where our car was parked and drove through heavy snow (although not yet sticking to the road) back to Layton, dropped Talmage, Louise, and Ben off at their house, and drove home to Bountiful.

Originally this afternoon was going to be the February-March family birthday party, celebrating Claudia's, Anna's, and Ben's February birthdays and Robert's March birthday. The party was going to have been at Michael and Shauna's house, but earlier in the week Shauna had called to say Meghan was really sick and had a persistent high fever from the flu-like virus going around. So Becca offered her house. Robert and Rachael were planning to be down from Malad for the weekend, but Rachael called Friday morning to say Claudia Sue was similarly sick. And then just this morning Becca called to say that Hyrum and perhaps even herself were similarly sick, so we decided to cancel the party for now.