On Friday of last week we set out on our official journey as a family to Everett, Washington. We had great weather on the trip and were able to go through Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and finally Washington.
Now since my truck was already in Washington, we had only our Honda Pilot for driving and carrying any provisions that we needed for the week. While we did a good job of packing, it is tough to fit all of those items you need for 7 people, including the 7 people and 2 cats, into a car of this size. But we accomplished it without having to lash anyone to a bumper of the car.
There are 4 kids and two cats in this picture. Can you find them?
This drive was very different from my first drive to Everett. We drove anywhere from 575 to 630 miles per day, stopping only to eat or gas up.
We were fortunate to get to stay with my Grandpa in Borger, TX the first night and with one of Amanda's cousins in Grand Junction, Colorado the second night. From Colorado northward the entire landscape was covered with beautiful snow. What I didn't know was that Grand Junction is in a bowl that is surrounded by mountains. Any cold air from the mountains sinks into this bowl, so Grand Junction stays VERY COLD. We woke up that morning to 14 degrees, and as we drove it got colder and colder, finally reaching a low of 0 degrees.
Central Utah. The haze is a thin layer of cold air just above the surface. It was anywhere from 0 to 5 degrees in this area of the state.
The mountains of Salt Lake City, Utah.
After Grand Junction the trip shifted dramatically both in landscape and in organization. My job each day was to get on Priceline and see what kind of hotel deal I could find each night, beginning with Boise, Idaho. Keep in mind that we had to meet 3 criteria each night: lodging for 7 people, free breakfast, and pets allowed. Just like when you rent an apartment, not every hotel allows 7 people in one room, and some that will allow that many people won't allow pets. This was a real problem each day. I went with getting 2 rooms per day, and our hope and prayer each day was to get them either next to each other and connected or nearby.
As we approached Boise I received a text from a church planter friend in the Seattle area. He told me that he had been praying for us. He also told me something that turned out to be a bit of prophecy. He warned us that we would face spiritual opposition to this move, and that he'd be praying for us as we make our move. It started with a bit of drama as we selected the hotel in Boise which claimed to allow pets but actually did not. We were told our cats would have to sleep in the car that night and that we couldn't get a refund for the room. Now that may not sound like a big deal, but when you have just driven 600 miles in a car with 5 kids and 2 cats, your patience is not at its highest level. After some prayer and a conversation with the manager, we were allowed to keep the cats indoors and got a good night's rest. I believe the Lord just wanted us to take this to Him.
Since we didn't need to be in Everett until Tuesday for the inspection of the house we planned to buy, we took a detour to Oregon to go see the beautiful waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge again. The kids had never seen anything like this so it seemed like a good place to stop.
The Columbia River Gorge. We were driving in Oregon. The other side is our Promised Land, Washington.
If we can get 4 out of 5 to look at the camera, we're doing pretty good.
We pulled into Everett on Tuesday just in time for our home inspection. There is a lot to tell on that, which will appear in the next post.
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