Off to new places!

  We take a break in our regular stories of Jace to share our adventures of this past week, specifically, our move to Washington. Wow, what a week it has been! After spending all of last week packing, with a brief break to celebrate our anniversary, we were all loaded up and ready to go Friday evening.

  We left just at Jace's bedtime, so hopefully he'd sleep all the way through. I started driving and drove until almost midnight into Idaho.  We gained very interesting impressions of the states we drove through as we passed through places we'd never been in the dark. Idaho was very flat, although we went through a few hilly sections. There was also a section with a high wind and dust storm warning. I'd never thought of Idaho as a dusty place before that. I did decide though, as we were driving through the majority of Idaho, that the people who are convinced that we suffer from an overpopulation problem have never driven through places like that. There was noone around! We'd see billboards advertising the next gas station 100 miles off. This was definitely a night not to break down. If we did, walking to the nearest gas station wasn't really an option, and there weren't good chances for cell phone coverage either. Thank goodness we did not have that problem.

   By midnight, most of our fellow drivers were truckers. I gained a new respect for that profession as we drove. Then I got too drowsy to drive anymore and we switched drivers. I'll admit, leaving Utah made me a little sad, but I was more eager to get the night of driving over with so I didn't think about it much. Rod took over and I slept for a couple of hours. Jace had been sleeping the whole time, but he woke and fussed a little bit every hour, so really no one slept well that night. By time I woke up, we were in Oregon. 

    My first impression of Oregon was that it was a little like Vermont on steroids. Lots of plant life, but the mountains were much bigger. Being dark, it also seemed like there were several instances where the side of the road dropped off. The scary part was not knowing if it dropped off to a cliff, or just a gentle slope.... overall our best option was to just stay on the road. About an hour after I woke up, Rod was drowsy and it was time for me to take over again. Unfortunately,  with so little civilization around, it was hard to find anywhere to switch places. I worked to keep Rod awake while we searched for a rest stop. We were happy to discover that even in the middle of the night, things were getting warmer than they were in Utah. We also needed to get gas, but we weren't sure when the next gas station was, so we decided to switch first to take care of Rod. Of course, shortly thereafter, we found a gas station. Did you know that in Oregon it is a law that the gas attendant must pump your gas? I didn't. I'm not sure if this shows that Oregon is more chivalrous than the rest of us, or just more paranoid... So I got hit on by a teenager who thought I was headed off to college until I told him about my sleeping baby and husband in the car. 

  Of course, since we stopped the car, Jace woke up. I thought he was gonna just fall asleep again after a little bit like he'd been doing all night, so we got back on the road and started driving. Jace did not fall asleep, he was awake and very hungry. So for the next half hour, I was trying to find an exit where I could pull off and nurse Jace and my husband could finally get some sleep. We finally found an overlook exit. Man, let me tell you, the view was beautiful on these overlooks. It was black, and behind that was more black slightly framed by blackish tree shapes... Finally, Jace was fed and asleep as was my husband and we could get on our way. By now it was about 4 am and we'd already done most of the driving. The part I'd feared the most was pretty much over. 

  As I drove again, dawn came and we passed into Washington. The section of WA we first saw was mostly covered in fields. I'd heard that the eastern side of Washington was really dry, but it didn't look dry to me, not coming from Utah. It looked like farmland. Now that I've seen the western side, I can see why it's described as dry, but it's not really dry from what I saw. The more I saw of Washington, the more I liked it. There were rivers that we passed frequently and lakes too. There is so much water here, and much more greenery. It's really beautiful. Shortly after we got to Washington, Jace and Rod woke, which was good, because I was getting dangerously sleepy. 

  Unfortunately, we were in the middle of no man's land so we couldn't find anywere to stop to switch. Again we were hunting for an exit to switch while driving to the sounds of Jace's yelling in the back. Jace was tired of being cooped up in the car and just tired from not sleeping well. Just as Jace was finally falling asleep again, I found an exit. We needed to switch, but I didn't want to stop and wake Jace up again. Our solution? A chinese fire drill. I'd stop at the stop sign right off the exit ramp, we'd switch and then drive straight onto the on ramp again. I've always wanted to try a chinese fire drill. 

   Well, since I was so unexperienced in doing this, I forgot one minor detail. You have to make sure the car is stopped while you run around it. I stopped at the stop sign, and then we both proceeded to get out. As we were getting out, the car kept going without us. Rod says he thought the street was moving for some reason until he realized that someone needed to step on the brake again. I was already out and a little slower on figuring out the situation, so when I turned around to get back in so the car didn't leave without me, Rod was already in the car, sprawled across the passenger and driver's side seats, reaching to push the brake pedal. I hurried to get in and accidentally sat on Rod's head. (the only thought going through my head as I realized what I was doing was, "thank goodness I'm not gassy!") Then with him holding the brake, I put the car into park. Now we both got out and switched places, taking longer than we had originally planned so Jace did wake up, but fortunately he fell asleep again pretty quickly once we got rolling again. After Rod and I stopped laughing, I settled down again for some sleep.

  During this time, Rod tells me, he was driving alongside another vehicle and all of a sudden a police car turns his lights on right behind Rod. Rod panicked, he was only going a couple of miles too fast but relaxed again as the police car proceeded to pull over the other vehicle. Fortunately, we also avoided any run ins with the police on our trip.

  When I woke up, we decided to find some breakfast. We were going to go to McDonalds and get something quick and cheap, but all we could find was an IHOP. So, since Jace was waking up anyway, we stopped there for breakfast. It turned out to be a good thing because it gave us all time for breakfast and plenty of wiggle time for Jace before getting in the car again. Rod and I both got to freshen up a little bit to be more awake, and then we began our final leg. Only two hours left.

  As we drove, the area became more mountainous and there were more and more trees. There are so many trees here. I quickly have come to love western Washington. It is very beautiful, and even though we're in a city, you'd never know it through pictures because there are so many trees! After coming from Utah where it's so bare you can see for miles, it's annoying to have all these trees in the way so you can't see where you're going! It's also pretty hilly. It's like home in a lot of ways, but there are more mountains. The mountains are like Utah, but they're covered in trees. 

 It's really beautiful. I love Washington. It is very humid here. We've gone from cold and dry to warm and humid, and we're roasting all the time! Or perhaps I should say steaming... The city and the people are more intimidating. I've only ever lived in home, where I was familiar with everything, and in the Utah bubble. Here, every time we open the window, someone's smoking habit wafts in through the window. Fortunately Rod will be home for the next several days and we can orient ourselves to the place before Rod starts his internship full time. 

Here's Jace in our new bedroom, stripped down to his onesie all the time because he is so hot otherwise! We found him with sweat beads across his nose yesterday afternoon for the first time!

Our favorite little banana eater! Breakfast is always a good time!

Here's the view from our balcony. We can hear the cars, but  can't see them because it looks like we're in the middle of the woods. We hear the birds more than cars. It reminds me of Birchwood Heights. Oh, and that's my new dress Rod got me for mother's day! :)