California Trip - Day 7

Monday - May 21st, 2007

I woke up around 6am and I'm sure the cold car had a lot to do with it. I got Sir to switch places with me so he could continue sleeping and I started driving. The kids were just starting to wake up. Dolly said she needed to go potty so I stopped at the first place that looked like it might have a washroom. It turned out to be a little gas station in the middle of nowhere. Once everyone had had a turn in the washroom, I continued driving.

I stopped at a rest area just south of Portland since the kids were getting a bit restless, and it was too early for breakfast. I got them dressed and let them run around a bit in the crisp morning air before we discovered the blackbirds and sparrows. I had been about to put the kids back in the car and was tossing out the snack pieces that had collected in the bottom of PC's carseat when a couple brave blackbirds took the risk and snatched up the crumbs. Dolly was delighted to see the birds so close to her, so instead of loading the kids up, we sat down on the curb, crushed up crackers and cookies and tossed the crumbs to the birds. The kids loved it and after about half an hour we had to get on our way. Sir slept through the whole stop and woke up a bit as we were getting back on the road. He told me where to stop for gas and then started gradually waking up.

We got gas somewhere in Portland and then after switching off again, Sir drove across that area of town to a Denny's where we stopped for breakfast. After eating, loading the kids back into the car and dumping the melted ice from the coolers, we got started homeward again. As we reached the northern limits of Portland, we saw the TA that we had stopped at on our way down in search for pillows. We decided to stop again, this time so Sir could shower. The kids were already dozing off to sleep again, so I stayed in the car with them and we all fell asleep to some Sousa marches (yes, we were a little tired). When Sir got back and I had repacked the shower stuff, we started off again. At 10:30 we were slowly making progress. The kids were still sleeping so we set up the audio book again and listened to it all the way to Kelso where we stopped at a Sizzler restaurant for lunch. After all the driving, a salad bar sounded like just the thing. It was a great choice too, because the kids were able to enjoy stuff they loved like jello, olives and ice cream.

Not long after lunch we decided to give the kids a break one last time and pulled into a rest area somewhere between Portland and Seattle. Dolly was so excited about all the big trucks parked on the other side of the rest area that she was ecstatic when I told her I'd take a picture of her with the trucks. While Sir checked his e-mail, the kids had a blast kicking their ball around until Sir joined them. Then they had a real game of toddler soccer going. It was so much fun to watch and I actually remembered to grab the camera!

PC found his very own big stick that evidently tasted perfect and Dolly had a blast getting away from PC since she could run faster. She did let him catch her once and I got a cute sequence of PC 'getting' her and receiving a hug in return. Once the kids were just about worn out, we packed them up again and they settled down for naps while we listened to the audio book whenever the stations on the transmitter were free.

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We made it just in time for Seattle traffic around 5:30ish and once we got through that, we decided that we'd rather have a late dinner at home than stop again less than two and a half hours away. We did have to stop in Marysville for gas and while we were there I took the kids for a mini walk and blew some bubbles for them to pop. Sir grabbed some jerky and ended up getting a quarter of it probably since the kids love 'meat' and we were on our way again. I gave the kids some Cheetos and set up the audio book again while they were happily stuffing themselves.

When we got to Blaine the radio was calling for a two hour border lineup at Peace Arch. Pac Hwy, was supposed to only be 20 min, but looking at it gave us the impression that it was closer to an hour or more. None of the other crossings sounded promising especially since getting to them and back to the 99, would be an extra hour of driving not including the lineup itself, so we got in line at Pac Hwy. To our surprise, the line up was really close to 20 min. It had looked worse because due to construction, the trucks were mixed in with the cars. Once we got past the construction area, things really didn't take long at all. From the border we had just 15 min more before we'd be home and even after grabbing some nuggets at a McDonald's drive through just down the street we made it home at 8:30.

After unloading the car, Sir took it out to a carwash where he vacuumed and washed it. I stayed home with the kids to feed, bathe and get them to bed as soon as possible. Sir picked up his mom on his way back from cleaning out the car and she went with him to drop the rental off. We thought it would be easier to do it that night than have to get up extra early to return the car before Sir had to get to work the next morning. Finally our trip was over. It was long, profitable and a great adventure for our little people!

THE END