First of all I have to apologize for my lack of posts. I have gone a record amount of time between posts. My only excuse is that I have been busy the last couple of weeks.
We just got back from a trip to visit my husband's family(mother, step-father and two brothers). They live in Kettle Falls, Washington, which is a bit of a drive from where we live. Of course its not nearly as bad as driving 23 hours straight through to Colorado like I did this summer with my parents and two of my sisters, but when you add in five sometimes impatient children, it can seem like a longer trip.
We wanted to go up through the Seattle area and over since according to google and other sites this would be the shortest route as far as hours of driving go. However, we were worried about the evils of Seattle area traffic (we have previously learned that nothing can freak out a kid on a road trip more than being stuck in a traffic jam and not moving at all). We were also worried about the possibility of flooding along the way, and snow in the mountains. Because of these concerns we opted to take the way we are more familiar with and drove through the Columbia River Gorge. This also enabled us to get a little head start on our trip by driving up to Vancouver, WA on Thursday evening and staying at my parents' house. This took two hours off of our drive time.
We left Vancouver around 8am on Friday morning (after stopping at a local grocery store to get our staple road trip breakfast of donuts and orange juice-I know its bad for us, but sometimes on a road trip emotional well being comes before physical well being, and eating those donuts was like getting a big hug.) Our first stop was Multnomah Falls for a potty break for the boys. We drove on down the gorge and pointed out places of interest to the boys along the way. We stopped at a rest area in Boardman and let the kids run around for a while. Then we were off to cross the border from Oregon into Washington. We stopped for a very unhealthy lunch from McDonalds and got gas in Kennewick. Then it was my turn to drive. There wasn't much of interest between Kennewick and Spokane, except a long gap in between rest areas. We had passed a rest area sign, and D took the opportunity to ask (unfortunately this was AFTER we passed the rest area) if anyone needed to use the bathroom. Of course T did, and of course there was not another rest area coming up anytime soon. This resulted in us taking an exit into some rural roads that seemed to go nowhere so T could pee someplace outside. Luckily this was our only foray into emergency peeing, and for those of you who are curious, I did take some Whizzy products with me just in case we ran into a horrifying toilet along the way.
I had made a deal with D that I wasn't going to drive in the city. I am not a city driver...I prefer rural areas. My wish was not to come true however. All of a sudden, we were in downtown Spokane, and I was still the driver. After many lane changes to get us in the right places for our route, I finally found a safe place to pull over and let D drive. Of course I had already gotten through the worst traffic areas, so he had an easy time of it after that.
I am sure you are wondering what our kids were doing this whole time. I will tell you. This is kind of a miracle really, because usually our kids can't even handle the ten minute drive to church without fighting, screaming and driving us crazy. To be sure, there was a little bit of all of that, but generally they were really good. I attribute this to the presence of a portable DVD player with two screens, a lot of good music (our rental van had a CD player in it) and the two plug and play video games we brought along with us. (Thank you Grandpa L for letting us use your DVD player).
I guess I forgot to mention that our van at home needs a ton of work and wasn't going to get us to where we were going. Okay, it probably would have, but for my peace of mind...the idea of breaking down with five kids in the middle of nowhere was not an option, so we rented a van and were given a really good deal on it.
After spending some time getting through Spokane we were on our way for the last leg of our journey. Kettle Falls is one and a half hours to two hours away from Spokane, depending on which part of Spokane you start timing from. We drove through such interesting places as Loon Lake (where there is a sign advertising the local Loon Lake Loon Society) and we got to see some snow on the ground. This of course excited the boys since we don't get much in the way of snow where we live. Then we went through Chewelah, Colville, and finally reached the in-laws house at around 5:30 p.m. We had been on the road for about 9.5 hours...except for our brief stops at rest areas along the way. The boys did a great job and were remarkably well behaved. 9+ hours may not seem like much of a road trip to some people, but to us, its a long drive.
We were able to enjoy a nice visit with Mom S, Dad S, Jesse and Preston. The purpose of our trip was to see Jesse off as he leaves for a two year mission to Montreal, Canada, French speaking. The boys enjoyed seeing two of their uncles, and spent a lot of the weekend making up for their time sitting still in the car. They ran circles around Grandma's living room and pelted each other and their uncles with nerf balls. They rammed Tonka and Little Tikes cars and trucks into walls and furniture, and they made an awful lot of noise. In general they had a great time. Their dreams of snow were not to be realized until Monday morning as we were preparing to leave. Of course all of their gloves, boots and etc were packed, so they froze their fingers and got their shoes wet making "Just one snowball" that turned into a lot of playing in the wet snow. It was only an inch or so of snow, but it might be all they get to see this year. We finally got them all into the van and headed for home. The drive this time was longer since we didn't stop to stay the night in Vancouver, and we spent almost 14 hours between here and there (some of which was because of longer stops along the way for meals and bathroom breaks). We also drove back along the Washington side of the gorge which is somewhat windier (as in more curvy as opposed to more windy) but has some interesting sites such as a life sized replica of Stonehenge along the way. The views were wonderful, and the windy roads were fun to drive. We drove through Camas where D grew up and stopped for fries at top burger. We also stopped in Vancouver for a potty break and got a pizza for dinner which we ate in the car before heading the rest of the way home. The boys were a little more restless on the way home...but all in all they did well aside from some bickering about the plug and plays. We enjoyed our visit, and we enjoyed spending time as a family. Now we just have to get back into our home routine. As much as I generally hate road trips, I think I would be willing to try it again under the right circumstances. I don't think I really want to take the boys on a trip that lasts more than a day of driving, but you never know.
We just got back from a trip to visit my husband's family(mother, step-father and two brothers). They live in Kettle Falls, Washington, which is a bit of a drive from where we live. Of course its not nearly as bad as driving 23 hours straight through to Colorado like I did this summer with my parents and two of my sisters, but when you add in five sometimes impatient children, it can seem like a longer trip.
We wanted to go up through the Seattle area and over since according to google and other sites this would be the shortest route as far as hours of driving go. However, we were worried about the evils of Seattle area traffic (we have previously learned that nothing can freak out a kid on a road trip more than being stuck in a traffic jam and not moving at all). We were also worried about the possibility of flooding along the way, and snow in the mountains. Because of these concerns we opted to take the way we are more familiar with and drove through the Columbia River Gorge. This also enabled us to get a little head start on our trip by driving up to Vancouver, WA on Thursday evening and staying at my parents' house. This took two hours off of our drive time.
We left Vancouver around 8am on Friday morning (after stopping at a local grocery store to get our staple road trip breakfast of donuts and orange juice-I know its bad for us, but sometimes on a road trip emotional well being comes before physical well being, and eating those donuts was like getting a big hug.) Our first stop was Multnomah Falls for a potty break for the boys. We drove on down the gorge and pointed out places of interest to the boys along the way. We stopped at a rest area in Boardman and let the kids run around for a while. Then we were off to cross the border from Oregon into Washington. We stopped for a very unhealthy lunch from McDonalds and got gas in Kennewick. Then it was my turn to drive. There wasn't much of interest between Kennewick and Spokane, except a long gap in between rest areas. We had passed a rest area sign, and D took the opportunity to ask (unfortunately this was AFTER we passed the rest area) if anyone needed to use the bathroom. Of course T did, and of course there was not another rest area coming up anytime soon. This resulted in us taking an exit into some rural roads that seemed to go nowhere so T could pee someplace outside. Luckily this was our only foray into emergency peeing, and for those of you who are curious, I did take some Whizzy products with me just in case we ran into a horrifying toilet along the way.
I had made a deal with D that I wasn't going to drive in the city. I am not a city driver...I prefer rural areas. My wish was not to come true however. All of a sudden, we were in downtown Spokane, and I was still the driver. After many lane changes to get us in the right places for our route, I finally found a safe place to pull over and let D drive. Of course I had already gotten through the worst traffic areas, so he had an easy time of it after that.
I am sure you are wondering what our kids were doing this whole time. I will tell you. This is kind of a miracle really, because usually our kids can't even handle the ten minute drive to church without fighting, screaming and driving us crazy. To be sure, there was a little bit of all of that, but generally they were really good. I attribute this to the presence of a portable DVD player with two screens, a lot of good music (our rental van had a CD player in it) and the two plug and play video games we brought along with us. (Thank you Grandpa L for letting us use your DVD player).
I guess I forgot to mention that our van at home needs a ton of work and wasn't going to get us to where we were going. Okay, it probably would have, but for my peace of mind...the idea of breaking down with five kids in the middle of nowhere was not an option, so we rented a van and were given a really good deal on it.
After spending some time getting through Spokane we were on our way for the last leg of our journey. Kettle Falls is one and a half hours to two hours away from Spokane, depending on which part of Spokane you start timing from. We drove through such interesting places as Loon Lake (where there is a sign advertising the local Loon Lake Loon Society) and we got to see some snow on the ground. This of course excited the boys since we don't get much in the way of snow where we live. Then we went through Chewelah, Colville, and finally reached the in-laws house at around 5:30 p.m. We had been on the road for about 9.5 hours...except for our brief stops at rest areas along the way. The boys did a great job and were remarkably well behaved. 9+ hours may not seem like much of a road trip to some people, but to us, its a long drive.
We were able to enjoy a nice visit with Mom S, Dad S, Jesse and Preston. The purpose of our trip was to see Jesse off as he leaves for a two year mission to Montreal, Canada, French speaking. The boys enjoyed seeing two of their uncles, and spent a lot of the weekend making up for their time sitting still in the car. They ran circles around Grandma's living room and pelted each other and their uncles with nerf balls. They rammed Tonka and Little Tikes cars and trucks into walls and furniture, and they made an awful lot of noise. In general they had a great time. Their dreams of snow were not to be realized until Monday morning as we were preparing to leave. Of course all of their gloves, boots and etc were packed, so they froze their fingers and got their shoes wet making "Just one snowball" that turned into a lot of playing in the wet snow. It was only an inch or so of snow, but it might be all they get to see this year. We finally got them all into the van and headed for home. The drive this time was longer since we didn't stop to stay the night in Vancouver, and we spent almost 14 hours between here and there (some of which was because of longer stops along the way for meals and bathroom breaks). We also drove back along the Washington side of the gorge which is somewhat windier (as in more curvy as opposed to more windy) but has some interesting sites such as a life sized replica of Stonehenge along the way. The views were wonderful, and the windy roads were fun to drive. We drove through Camas where D grew up and stopped for fries at top burger. We also stopped in Vancouver for a potty break and got a pizza for dinner which we ate in the car before heading the rest of the way home. The boys were a little more restless on the way home...but all in all they did well aside from some bickering about the plug and plays. We enjoyed our visit, and we enjoyed spending time as a family. Now we just have to get back into our home routine. As much as I generally hate road trips, I think I would be willing to try it again under the right circumstances. I don't think I really want to take the boys on a trip that lasts more than a day of driving, but you never know.
1 comment:
You practically drove right by my house and didn't stop! You stinker. Glad to hear you had a great trip and you got back safe before you had to paddle home from all the rain.
Heidi
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