She's Got High Hopes!

Oh my.
Oh my.
A lot of internet less days go by.

I had a vision. It was grand. The vision involved our move; all the wonderful possibilities, and adventures that were in store.

Here is what I pictured:

A tearful, bittersweet goodbye to our home in Pe Ell, Washington. Waving our hands and wiping away the tears as we left Washington. I had wanted to go a couple of places in Washington where we had never been. Create a few last minute memories. Then head down to my parents home in Hanford, California where we would celebrate a wonderful Thanksgiving. One full of sights and smells that would give me enough memories to last at least a year. I would present a dish that I love to make. We would all gather around the table. Say grace. I would sneak off to meet up with my girlfriends. We would gab, laugh, and eat something terribly sweet. After a few days of familial bliss we would head on to our destination. I envisioned us stopping at many scenic points along the way and loading up on trinkets. I was so going to have my Nikon by the time we got to California, and it was my plan to update the blog along the way. Sharing a beautiful, thoughtful look at this great land we live in. Telling little tales of our adventures on the road. Maybe meet some quirky people. Ponder the land, the people, the past. It was going to be beautiful. We would arrive a little worse for wear, but excited to begin this new chapter in our lives.

Here is what happened:

It snowed. The morning that we were to get the truck it was a slick icy mess. Our good friend Shad took Jon to Olympia. (Soooo thankful for the DeSilva's!) When they got back, the guys proceeded to start loading up. Jacob was dragging his heels for the majority of the day. Two of his friends came by and refused to help because they did not want us to leave. (Thanks guys.) As the guys emptied the house I cleaned up behind them and tried to wrangle the two little kids who had no idea what was going on and became wild monkeys. A few hours into the "move" Jon and Shad decided to pull the truck forward to get a better placement of the ramp. Truck doesn't start. This begins the many calls to customer support. While Shad talks to Budget, Jon keeps loading. After taking one load, he came back into the house and sat down. He was sweating, and pale. Thus began the onset of the stomach flu. One by one it hit us. We had 10 days to move so we had to take 2 days to get well. Shad and Christie let us stay with them. I just remember the bed being sooooo comfy and I was soooooo achy.
Luckily it was a 24 hour bug, so we went back to our house finished loading, and got ready to drive away. Jon went to the gas station to fill up the truck. I took Jacob out to Doty to say goodbye to Teri. That was not fun. I cried. I felt like the most terrible mother for DESTROYING THEIR LIVES! After the sweet goodbye of young love, we drove to meet Jon at our agreed upon destination. Rainbow Falls. Sounds promising, right? I was sure that Jon had been there waiting and was probably getting antsy. When we arrived....no one. Hmmmm. Jacob tried to convince me that he had probably just driven on and we should just go ahead. I had a bad feeling. I lamented that we all did not have cell phones. I waited a few more minutes then turned back to Pe Ell. There was the truck at Texaco. Jon ran over to meet us after I had parked. Written on his face was the word "Crap!". He had left the truck at idle and ran in to get a pop, just as he got to the door, the truck died. It did not start again for several days.

It had to be towed. We had to live in a Motel 6 with five people and four animals. We missed Thanksgiving with my family. We had to spend a lot of money on food and the room upfront. There went my camera. After being sick, exhausted, and just plain mad, we got down to California and I had an emotional breakdown. All of this made me not want to leave my mommy. I cried like a baby saying goodbye to my dad. This was no beautiful goodbye. It was the hardest one I have ever had. I was sick about not having more time with girlfriends. It hit me hard. So now the teenager and I would pout together across country.

We did do some fun things. Like meeting the Motel 6 night manager in Kingman AZ. She was a chicken necking tweeeeeeeker! Wow.

We stopped at Starman's Crater. My husband only did that for me because I am a sci fi nut. I love him for it!

I had fun telling Gideon we were in Radiator Springs as we drove through New Mexico.

I had dreamed of seeing my family's property in Shawnee Oklahoma. Yeah, that didn't happen. I wanted to touch the earth that once held the foot prints of my grandma's little feet. ( I miss her so much.)

Our arrival here was not what I expected either. There was a lot to be done. But I will write about that another time.

The moral of the story is, sometimes things do not go the way we plan. All the planning in the world is the proverbial chasing of the wind. It makes no sense. What if everything had gone off just as I planned. Who cares? We still pulled together. We talked. We sang. We fought. We cried. It was still beautiful. It is our story.

edit: Jacob asked if I shared the story about him falling down. So I will share it while I remember. We stopped in Elk City-(not too sure about that will look at map)- Oklahoma. Jon and Jacob would get the pets and luggage while I waited with the kids in the room. Up to that point, it had gone quite smooth. When Jacob did not appear for a longer than usual amount of time, I decided to have a peek out the window. I pulled back the curtain and saw our big, white fluffy cat Tipsoo on the cement, looking very frightened. I stepped outside and called to her. Luckily, she was so scared I was able to catch her while she froze. (The motel was right next to one of the loudest freeways I have ever heard.) I saw the cat kennel on the ground busted into two pieces. No Jacob, no Flo (our other kitty). Jacob came suddenly from the back of the motel, lost his footing and went down with his ankle folded quite painfully upward into his leg. I winced and my arms went out to him instinctively. Jacob shouted the "Queen Word". Yup he did. I was startled so I may have giggled. I don't remember. He hobbled into the room and I went to look for the missing cat. The whole time I am thinking "The cat is gone. No way we will find her. Good grief! Stupid cat!....Oh but I don't want her to be scared." It stinks to be a cat lover. I found her wedged between some stairs. Hey, she has a Rubenesque figure! Cut her some slack. With all the love I could direct toward her, I picked her up safely in my arms. She began to flip out and scratch me. Nice.

This was one of three incidents of animal escape. In New Mexico, Levi let Sampson out. Just let him right out. Like he was going to the back yard. Levi also let Jed, OUR OTHER CAT, out as well.

Good, good times. So you will see why I became so enraged when I tell the story of our arrival here. We were promptly told "No Cats Allowed". Ohhhhhh hellllll nooooo! I did not go through all of that so you could tell me I had to get rid of my cats. (Don't worry-the cats and dog are still here.)