A trip to Washington

Thursday, July 2, 2009
Utah, Idaho

At 11:00 I left in our pickup and drove the the 100 miles to Rachael's house in Malad. Robert was there and had someone there preparing an estimate on moving them at the end of the month to Illinois. After he left and Robert returned to the hospital, Rachael finished getting ready and packed her minivan while I kept track of little Margaret.

At 1:15, after asking a blessing on our trip, we left Malad, heading north on I-15 to Pocatello, west on I-86 and then I-84 to Nampa. We reached Boise at 5:15 and about half an hour later Dale and LeAnn's house in Nampa. Other than the persistent "Are we there yet?" the girls were reasonable travelers for a six-year-old, a four-year-old, and a 21-month-old.

Dale had arranged the Idaho family to get together to see us: Lyle and a lady friend named Doris, Jackie and Jared, and Cheryl and four of her children (LaWanda and her husband Terry, Bobbie, Gena, and Ronnie and his baby Roxie). Gene was up in the mountains working on their cabin. There were 17 of us who went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. Dale told the server that we were celebrating my birthday, so at the end of the meal she brought me a free dessert (fried ice cream), and the workers and other patrons sang "Happy Birthday" to me.

We returned home to Dale and LeAnn's house, and everyone else left except Jackie and Jared, and we played six rounds of a card game called Skip Bo, then went to bed.

Friday, July 3
Idaho, Oregon, Washington

LeAnn fixed us breakfast, and we ate, packed, and hit the road a little after 9:00. Kind of. We actually drove around the Nampa area to take pictures of where I went to high school, the farm house we lived in 50 years ago when my family first moved to Idaho, Scism School (where I attended fourth, fifth, and sixth grades), and the final house we lived in on Ventura Drive. We then drove through downtown Nampa and got on the freeway but exited a few exits later toward Greenleaf, Roswell, and Adrian. We saw the farm where I lived the first decade of my life, the school I attended in Adrian, the Owyhee Ward building, and the stake center in Nyssa where I was baptized. We drove past Ontario, where I was born, and got on I-84 again and headed west.

It was the first time Claudia, Esther, and Margaret had been to Oregon.

We stopped two or three times at rest stops, traveled through the beautiful Blue Mountains, and stopped in Pendleton for gas and lunch. We ate at a local restaurant called Roosters. While at the restaurant we talked on the phone to Camilla and to Mom, then the battery died on my phone. Rachael's battery also died. We were traveling just like in the olden days without any contact with the rest of the world.

We left I-84 and took I-82 crossing the Columba River at Umatilla, and headed north and west through Washington until we joined I-90 and headed due west. It was the first time the girls had been to Washington.

We did a few more rest stops before leaving the Cascades and coming into the Seattle area. We headed north on I-405 and then I-5 to Everett. We wondered how we'd contact Chris and Camilla to get into their apartment complex, but we saw their bakery was still open and stopped there. I had forgotten that during the summer they extended their store hours from 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening. Chris, Camilla, and Sam were there and fed us sandwiches for dinner as they were getting ready to close their store at 8:00. We, the girls especially, were glad to be through traveling. After closing the store, we went over to the apartment and then Chris took Rachael to the motel on Evergreen Way that she and the girls are staying at. I stayed with Chris, Camilla, and Sam.

Saturday, July 4
Washington

Today is the birthday of our country. Late this morning Camilla, Sam, Rachael, Claudia Sue, Esther, Margaret, and I went to the Everett Station and took a free shuttle bus from there to watch an 11:00 Fourth of July parade. Chris isn't much into parades and stayed home. The parade was much more diverse, ethnically and otherwise, than we might have seen in Utah. I don't think we'll anytime soon see belly dancers, for example, in the Handcart Days parade. At the end of the parade, as we were walking back to catch our shuttle, I bought ice cream for the children. We returned to the apartment, ate lunch, and rested.

This afternoon Camilla took all of us but Chris and Margaret, who was still sleeping, to a beach on the Puget Sound. We went through a beautiful, dense forest to get to it. The tide was in so there was actually not much beach, but the children all had fun playing in the surf. It was the first time Claudia and Esther had seen the ocean. They collected a number of seashells.

Chris had dinner nearly ready when we returned, and Margaret had just awakened a bit before.

In the evening we drove to Lake Stephens to watch fireworks. The light of a nearly full moon shimmering across the lake presented a picturesque setting, and fireworks were being set off all around the lake for the more than an hour and a half we were there. It was impressive, something like watching twenty different fireworks displays all at once. I had never seen anything quite like it.

Sunday, July 5
Washington

This morning, beginning at 10:50, we attended church in the Mukilteo Ward. Sunday School was first, followed by a combined priesthood/Relief Society opening exercises of the two wards that share the building (something to do, they explained, with a part of the building being remodeled), followed by Chris going to elders quorum, Rachael to Relief Society, and me to high priests group. We then concluded with fast and testimony meeting.

We returned to Chris and Camilla's to visit, nap, play games, and such. Late in the afternoon all of us but Chris and sleeping Margaret went on a walk around the neighborhood and ended by dropping by the bakery (what Sam calls "Daddy's work") to pick up some mayonnaise for dinner and chocolate chips to make cookies afterward. After dinner Claudia and Esther helped clean up the kitchen and table and load the dishwasher so they could help Chris make chocolate chip cookies. After playing games, Rachael and the girls returned to their motel.

Monday, July 6
Washington

Around noon Chris took Rachael, Claudia Sue, Esther, Margaret, Sam, and me to the Forest Park petting zoo. The children enjoyed the animals. It was an overcast day and tried raining on us a couple times. In the evening Camilla took Rachael and her girls swimming in an indoor swimming pool in another apartment complex owned by the same company as hers. I went along to take pictures with Rachael's camera. The water was cold, but everyone had fun.

Tuesday, July 7
Washington

We took the children to a free movie at the mall, Kung Fu Panda. Rachael bought us popcorn. I made arrangements to go visit Dana Blackham and his wife Wednesday evening in their home in Edmonds. Dane and I had been missionary companions in Brazil, roommates back at BYU, and he was the bestman at our wedding. His wife Linda had died some years ago, and he married Becky, much to the opposition of his children and family. It has been many years since we have seen each other.

In the afternoon Rachael and I took the children on a drive to Snoqualmie Falls. We took a scenic route to get there (along U.S. 2 and state highways 202 and 203), and the children all fell asleep. The falls were very impressive. We bought ice cream to eat, and Rachael bought Robert a hat and a very expensive $42 T-shirt. She did not know how much it would cost until after it was rung up by the cashier. We took a different scenic route back to Everett. Washington is certainly a beautiful place.

It was Vince's birthday back in Utah. This evening we called to wish him a happy birthday and got only his answering machine, so we all sang a voice message to him.

We then bought sandwiches at Chris and Camilla's bakery and had a picnic at the park by Silver Lake. After eating and playing on the playground equipment, we fed ducks in the lake.

Wednesday, July 8
Washington

I left around 7:00 to drive to the airport to pick Claudia up. Her plane from Salt Lake City arrived earlier than scheduled, but I was still there in time to park and greet her as she came out of the gate area. It was good to have her join us.

We drove back to Everett and took the children to another free movie at the mall, The Tale of Despereaux. Rachael again bought us popcorn. Southwest Airlines is having a sale, and in the afternoon Claudia and I arranged a trip in September to go visit Paul, Eliza, Peter, and Aaron in Atlanta. Just after I had purchased the tickets, Claudia realized it would be right around the time when Anna's baby is due, and she was regretting our decision to go the weekend she had selected.

In the evening Claudia and I drove to Edmonds to have dinner with Dana and Becky Blackham. It was a wonderful evening catching up on twenty or so years of not being in touch. We did not return to Chris and Camilla's until midnight. Rachael, Camilla, and the children had gone bowling while we were gone.

Thursday, July 9
Washington

Camilla had the day off work, and she went with us to a free children's concert in the park at Silver Lake featuring a group called Recess Monkeys. We enjoyed that, and Rachael bought their DVD which Claudia Sue and Esther enjoyed watching over and over the whole rest of the week. We bought lunch from the bakery.

In the evening we drove out to Lake Stephens, where Chris and Camilla were participating in the farmer's market there and where a bluegrass concert was being held. We bought and ate our supper at the farmer's market. It was a delightful evening.

Friday, July 10
Washington

Claudia and I went to exercise at the Gold's Gym in Everett. Later Claudia, Rachael, and I took the children on a long car ride. We headed up I-5 past Mount Vernon and exited the freeway at Burlington and headed west on highway 20 toward Anacortes and Deception Pass, where we crossed a bridge onto the north end of Whidbey Island. It was very scenic, but all of the children were alseep at that point, so we didn't actually stop and get out of the car. We drove down the length of Whidbey Island and took a ferry from Clinton to Mukilteo.

We bought a late lunch at a Wendy's and returned to Chris and Camilla's apartment. Rachael took Claudia Sue and Esther to Mountlake Terrace to visit with one of her online mothers' group friends. Margaret was sick and stayed with the rest of us.

Claudia and I bought a loaf of Dakota bread from the bakery and took it as a thank-you gift to Dana and Becky Blackham. Becky had mentioned Wednesday night it was her favorite bread from Great Harvest.

Saturday, July 11
Washington

Sam's third birthday. Before Sam woke up and before Rachael and her girls came over, Claudia and I went to exercise at the Gold's Gym in Mukilteo. It was a much nicer facility. After breakfast Sam opened his presents, one of which was a little aquarium and a Beta fish that he named Bruce.

In the late morning and into the afternoon we went to Jettey Island. It is a small manmade island that is accessible only by a free passenger ferry. There are no roads on the island. We ate a picnic lunch while we were waiting for our turn to go on the ferry over to the island. The tide was way out as we played on the beach. We saw a lot of wind surfers. I counted over twenty at one point. Little Margaret seemed to have the most fun playing in the little puddles of water on the sandy beach. Claudia Sue and Sam took naps, and Esther rested but never actually fell asleep. Rachael's girls were feeling sick and had fevers by tonight.

Sunday, July 12
Washington, Oregon, Idaho

This morning Rachael, Claudia Sue, Esther, Margaret, and I left for home. This was likely the last time Rachael and Camilla will see each other for a very long time, unless they both happen to be visiting Utah at the same time. Chris and Camilla will probably not get to southern Illinois anytime soon, and Robert and Rachael will probably not visit western Washington anytime soon.
Claudia stayed for the rest of the day, went to church with Chris and Camilla, and caught an evening flight home to Salt Lake. Both she and Camilla reported that Sam was very sad when he got up and found that Grandpa and his cousins/friends were gone. (Throughout the week Sam had variously referred to Claudia Sue, Esther, and Margaret as his cousins and his new friends.) He had enjoyed the week immensely.

After asking a blessing on our return trip, we left Everett at 7:00 (8:00 Mountain time) and reached Malad about 9:40 in the evening. A long day of driving.

It rained on us as we crossed through the Cascade Mountains in Washington and again from about the Oregon-Idaho border until past Boise, where it came down very hard. We were buffeted by strong winds all across eastern Oregon. We saw rainbows—always a good omen—as we drove across southern Idaho approaching Pocatello. We had stopped for lunch at a beautiful rest stop in the Blue Mountains and took breaks at a couple of rest stops elsewhere along the way. The girls were good travelers. Because they were sick, they slept a lot of the way. We didn't hear a single "Are we there yet?" until we were half way across the state of Idaho.

It was late enough when we reached Malad that I decided to spend the night rather than driving alone the remaining hour and a half back to Bountiful.

We had been recording license plates throughout our trip and had seen cars from 39 states and 5 Canadian provinces during the 1,700-plus miles we had driven from Malad up into the Pacific Northwest. (According to Google Maps, it is 813 miles from Rachael's house in Malad to Camilla's house in Everett.)

Monday, July 13
Idaho, Utah

This morning, after Rachael fixed me some breakfast, I left her house about 9:30 and reached Bountiful at 11:00, the same hour I had left Bountiful eleven days earlier to begin the trip.