Day 6: We're almost there! Yay! Last night we spent the night in La Grande, OR since the roads were so icy. The hotel room was...interesting. Since it was a last minute decision to stop early, we had to cancel our original reservation and stay at the closest hotel we could find. It was a Best Western so I didn't think it would be bad, but it was pretty old and had some nasty dried stuff running down some of the walls and our bed literally had a hole in the middle of it - but other than that, we made it. ha! We had to wait it out a little this morning before we could hit the road so that the ice and snow could melt off a little. We were ALL so happy that we decided to stop early last night because after seeing today what we would have had to drive through, there is no way we would have made it. We ended up leaving around 11:30 after having an early lunch and the roads turned out to be a LOT better than they were last night. The mountains that we went through today (that we were supposed to go through last night) were massive. The last one was called "Deadman's Pass" and we all now know why it was called that. Luckily we made it through safely today but last night there is no way we could have made it down the steep grades and sharp turns of that mountain. We looked it up tonight and it is the steepest, windiest, longest hill. Awesome. We did get some awesome pictures from it, though! It was a really great feeling crossing into Washington today, though and finally getting to see the state that will be our home! The land up here is gorgeous and the evergreen trees are everywhere! We had to drive right through Snoqualmie Pass and it has been the most breathtaking mountain views I think I have seen yet. It's hard to decide what my favorite thing that I have seen so far has been, but Snoqualmie is definitely at the top of all of our lists! It was covered with snow, maybe 12-14 inches with these tall evergreen trees everywhere, gorgeous rocky mountains...just gorgeous. We also came through the Cascade Mountains today and I'm probably going to get bashed to pieces, but I may just like the Cascade's better than the Rockies. Coming through those and being able to see Mount St. Helens and Mount Ranier in the background was just awesome. I have never seen a volcano before so being able to see 2 was incredible. I can't wait to actually visit them up close! Just hope they don't decide to erupt! They remind me much more of 'home' and what we have been raised around (the Appalachian's). I think I said that Colorado had been my favorite state so far, but I think Washington definitely has it beat now. Today was our last full day of driving. We are staying right outside of Seattle, WA tonight since we don't get our house until tomorrow. Seattle is HUGE! We came through right at 5:15pm - talk about excellent timing! All in all, our trip has been FLAWLESS! I have enjoyed being able to spend this time with my dad and experiencing all of this with him and Bradley. This cross country move (although it was very stressful) has been one of the most memorable trips and something that I know Bradley and I will continue to talk about for years and years. Tomorrow we will leave Seattle and officially be on Whidbey Island! I can't believe the trip has finally come to an end! In the beginning it looked so daunting but now that it's over, it's almost a little sad. I'm going to miss the adventure but I know there are MANY more adventures in store for us! We just can't wait to get settled so that we can embrace this wonderful state that we can now officially call "home". :-)
Now I can tell you that:
- All gas stations in Oregon are full service! Not only did we get our gas pumped but also our windshields cleaned! And trust me, they needed it after all the salt/snow/crap all over them!
- We made it through Deadman's Pass! Wooo!
- Part of Oregon is very flat and dry.
- If you can see Mount St. Helens and Mount Ranier from 200 miles away - you know they're HUGE!
- There is no litter here!
- The United States is massive. I would love to see every single inch of this country. It's just awesome.
- I'm absolutely, positively sick of snow.
- When you're in the Rockies, the mountains honestly don't look that tall (highest point is about 14,000 ft above sea level) because the cities that you're in are already really high in elevation. However, in the Cascades, you can really see just how high the mountains are because the valleys aren't that tall.
- We love our camera.
- I'm a Jedi with this camera. I can whoop it out and snap a picture in 2 seconds flat.
- Washington is gorgeous.
- Bring an extra gallon of windshield washer fluid because you're going to need it! If it's not for washing all the wet, salty, snowy spray off of it, it's for cleaning the windshield so you don't have dead bug splat in your pictures!
- The evergreen trees here are so tall.
- We made it! (Well, almost.) :-)
- I love my husband.
States we have been to:
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Tennessee
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Colorado
- Wyoming
- Utah
- Idaho
- Oregon
- Washington!
Although we haven't made it to Whidbey yet, this will be my last "day" post. We only have about an hour drive tomorrow and then we will be there! We won't have internet or anything for a while but I will try to start getting pictures ready soon!
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone that has prayed for our safety along this trip. And thank you to everyone that has kept up with us!
***Please continue to pray for my sister-in-law. She will be coming home from the hospital tomorrow but still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. She did get to go outside today and get a shower so she was really excited about that! ***
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