toy boat toy boat toy boat

1472.2 miles total

Scenes from the road:
For all the hours we logged in the car over the course of the week... Justin was a total pleasure to travel with. I was dreading the long drive home, but it was one of the best I have had.

I think the best part of being in the car for Justin, was the opportunity to see trains along the way!

Spontaneous pit stop!
Amanda was in the Tri-Cities with some friends when we drove through. We were fortunate enough to get invited to join her and her friends for a boat ride on the Columbia. It was a lot of fun, and much needed. It set my estimated time of arrival in Portland back by about an hour and a half - but was well worth it!

(didn't take this picture of Alex, Amanda and Nathan - I stole it off facebook)

This silly little boy, would put the little cooler on his head as a visor when the sun was too bright. Maybe it was all the driving that was making me delirious, but this just cracked me up!

And... through the Dalles there were wild fires which made the sunset just amazing! The sun was a bright orange ball and it went down.

accident

Before:

After:

Photo explosion!

Me: What are you doing?

Justin: I textin'

Today was the annual get together that Dad and Connie host at the lake. I didn't count but I would say there were at least 20+ people there. More than half of which knew me as a baby. Nearly all of which I had not seen in years. It was pretty cool. My dad's old high school buddies, their wifes, other old friends! It was a very impressive bunch. Uncle Jim grilled up some tri-tips {which were amazing} and there was so much to eat, and so much conversation to be had. Good times!

Nick and Justin spent some time splashing water on eath other.

I had my feet in the water and Justin joined me.

Taking a boat ride in Howard's old fishing boat {aka peanut}. Much to my dissappointment, the big boat was sitting in my dad's driveway with a for sale sign. No boat rides in the "go fast" boat for us this trip.

Raise your hand if you need sunglasses.....

Justin getting a lesson in how to drive the boat!

This picture of Justin with Sam-bo took me way back in time to when I was little.

The best place on earth!

Awwwww! Beautiful day!

The water was a chilly 71 degrees. Not too bad once you got used to it - we only went in up to our knees though.

Justin really enjoyed the lake this trip!

Uncle Jim and Justin

Meet Charlie

Charlie is a cocker spaniel/king charles cavalier mix {I think}. She is 9 months old now and just hell on wheels. Justin was. not. a. fan. She is very sweet though and an awesome addition!

Dad and Charlie girl.

Driving day

Justin was blasting away cars, trucks, etc. as we drove along. Dude needed a little entertainment on the long drive and I can't say it was the best option in the world, but I refuse to get a portable DVD player for long trips, so little man must use his imagination.

Stopped for fuel in the Tri-Cities. We don't get to pump our own gas in Oregon, so this was a novelty. The drive to Spokane was good, we made good time and arrived in Spokane at 4:3o.

And "from the land of sky blue waters...."

Nick rockin' a Hamm's!

family fun

Amanda, Nick and me at Rogue brewery.
The last time we had a group photo op like this was 3 years ago!

The mission today was to find beer. Local beer. Good beer. Nick wanted to sample some of the areas microbrews. After a little online research we headed to Rogue on 13th in the Pearl. I got a sweet parking spot - but since it was too early to eat {and drink} we walked a few blocks up to Powell's to get lost in the books for awhile!

Nick and his beer tasting at Deschutes Brewery. 19 beers!

Cheers!

The next planned stop was to make the trek out to Bullwinkle's for a little family fun in the form of mini-golf! Justin did fantastic! But, boy was it hot out there! After a ride around the go-kart track and a stop at the photo booth - we headed to Sonic for cool drinks and then stopped in at Fry's for a little laptop research {I want a mini-laptop}.

At home Nick grilled up a flank steak, set off the fire alarm cause he left the back door open while he seared the steak.

Good memories!

I think my butt is bruised

Me and Annie.

It was an awesome ride!

And back at home... Justin is schoolin' Nick on the Wii!

sand in my toes

In the words of Jusin - the water here in Ocean Shores is..... brrrr freezzzzin'Justin loves this! His pants were soaked, he had sand in his butt crack and frozen toes! I had to drag him off the beach.

Go fly a kite

Nick and I untangled a big string mess!

After many failed attempts to get the kite to fly... Nick finally gets it to stay up!

It was windy, but quite cold!

Justin sat on flew his kite for quite awhile!

Me and Amanda!

Today Justin and I traveled from Portland to Ocean Shores and mom, Nick and Amanda came down from Seattle. We met up at a Mexican restaurant for some lunch and then headed up the hill to the rehab center to visit Grandpa.

After checking into our hotel we hit the beach for some fun. We had dinner at the Quinault Casino that night, put 5 bucks each into a slot machine and lost while we were waiting for our table. Had a lot of good laughs, some decent food...

Lifted

To Do:

Before any trip I always make a to do list. We'll only be in Ocean Shores for 2 nights, but when we come back I will be bringing 3 more people home with me and I just can't come home to a dirty house. Plus I need a list of things to pack, like the camera, cell phone charger... stuff like that.I know it has been said before, but it bears repeating. Trying to clean the house with a child around is an exercise in futility. As seen here, Justin shooting me with the vacuum hose. Nice. Not pictured would be Justin throwing all the clean laundry around the living room. Me cleaning his room and Justin playing in it and covering the floor with toys again.

I can't really complain, I actually got a lot accomplished today though and I am ready to hit the road tomorrow. Excited to see Nick. Excited to spend time with the fam. Just plain excited!

Lets take a spin

Sunglasses - check
Seatbelt on - check
Favorite song cranked - check Busy day at work, followed by a busy evening at home. Part of which included washing the car inside and out.

Other highlights of the night included: Rachel came over, we sorted buttons, watched "dance your ass off", ate ice cream, played with Justin.

Anticipation reins supreme

One more working day until vay-cay
Two and half more days and we will be on the beach
One week until I cruise into Spokane and reconnect with friends
Eight days until I will be sitting on the dock with my feet in the water
Two weeks and one day I will be getting lost to the sound of The Dave Matthews Band.

After it is all said and done I will have logged 2,000+ miles in the car and very likely have taken 2,000+ pictures. Which is why I don't feel so bad posting 2 camera phone photos tonight. We were at Jamie's pouring thru the new fall/winter Scentsy scents and catalogs. I had nothing else in mind to photograph, so... here we are. I love anticipation. I love plans. I am looking forward to this so much.

real shoes

There is something to be said for real shoes. I have taken many a stroll in flip flops, but tonight we put our running shoes on for a walk after dinner.

It was hot today and it feels very heavy and muggy. I layed on my back for a bit on the cool grass this evening, it was nice.