Day 13: Santee, CA to Mesa, AZ

Friday Sept 27 dawned bright and early in Santee with a loud knock on the door at 645am from Grandma. A quick breaky and last minute packing and we were on the road, heading east. An accident on the highway and a forest fire near the road created some nasty traffic backups and the first hour passed very slowly. After squeaking by these issues, we zipped along for another 5.5 hours, passing through the most barren desert imaginable, rocky landscapes and so close to the Mexican border that we could see over the barrier to the desert on the other side. Border patrol roamed the sides of the highway looking for illegal Mexican travelers, but they were friendly and excited to our BC-plated car at one of the checkpoints.

PS. It was really hot. We usually forego AC, but not today. Once past Phoenix and into Mesa, Bry dropped me off at the hotel for the bachelorette. 

First activity of the day was a private pole dancing class, which I was not looking forward to, given my terrible coordination in anything resembling a dance, not to mention a sexy dance. Sarah felt about the same, but hey, no better way to bond as bridesmaids, right? It ended up being hilarious and quite fun. We completed the night by showering Sarah with lingerie and dressing up to go out to Mexican in old town Scottsdale. Man I love Mexican food! One of the perks of moving to the states. Also, gas was 3.25/gallon!!! Equivalent of like 82cents/litre. Ahh-mazing!

Day 12: Santee, CA

Day 12 was supposed to be more interesting: rent kayaks in La Jolla, kayak the caves and watch the leopard sharks which congregate in the bay at this time of year. 

Unfortunately, it was cold and windy this morning and we ended up repeating yesterday with a few additions of the following: hat shopping for my mother in prep for the tea party bridal shower and listening to grandpa’s stories of riding horses in the war, going to mechanic and gunnery school, and his 11 cross country moves while in the Air Force. His favorite place he was stationed was Bermuda (where he met my grandma) and he and his pals had a blast sailing and scuba diving the wrecks when tank diving first came out.

One story he told: Him and a friend came into possession of a 30 foot stiff sailboat with two tall masts while in Bermuda. They fixed her up and spent many days sailing. At St. Georges, a city on Bermuda, there is a 150meter cut into the rock that you have to tack out of before getting past the reefs and into the ocean breeze for sailing. Well two girls, friends of friends, had come to Bermuda and his pal and grandpa took them out on the boat. The wind was strong and it took awhile to tack out of the cut. His friend asks him if he’s looked at the girls lately. Grandpa looks and they’re both retching over the side, totally seasick. So they turn to go back into the bay, but as they’re heading in, a tug is coming out on underwater wires. This tug was responsible for keeping the bay deep enough for the cruisers to come in without riding aground. It had a shovel on the bottom and somehow moved on wires or cables unmanned. Their boat ended up getting tangled up with the tug, which ultimately snapped both of their large masts off. It ended up being quite an ordeal, and not a favorite day for either of the girls. Furthermore, they were given money to make 2 more masts, but it took months to piece together and he recalls that it never quite worked again.

The day ended with a family dinner at Auntie Catherine’s.

Auntie Catherine is a champ. Growing up she sent us the best presents and as kids, we always felt close to her even though she lived far away. Nowadays she’s a whiz at gourmet food and hosting, whipping up a wide array of drinks all with the appropriate glasses. We got the customary hug from cousins Gage and Callum before they disappeared to their rooms and cellphones, and we nibbled on appys and chatted while waiting for the rest. Auntie Robin and Annie arrived soon, and then Uncle Stephen; Uncle Doug, Auntie Jackie, Michael and Matthew as well. Dinner and drinks were delicious, company was lovely and it was fun to hear Uncle Stephen’s stories of caribou hunting in Alaska earlier this month...sounded very cold, but he got two caribou, yum.

Day 11: Santee, CA

Day 11: Santee, CA

Ah, blissful sleep. This was a day to relax. Slept in, patted the dog, enjoyed homemade banana bread by grandma for breakfast, read a book in the sun…

 Oh that sun. Soo, after hiking this summer and whatnot, I have a tank-top tan and I’m wearing a strapless dress in two weeks for the wedding. How to remedy? Aha! I will put sunscreen only on the tan and then sit outside in a strapless shirt for the sun to tan the straplines…brilliant. Welllll, I sort of forgot how strong the sun is here, or maybe how easily I burn, plus my book was engaging. I thought it was only 20 minutes later…

In any case, I have the WEIRDEST burns, one side a thin skinny snake running from my left shoulder down about six inches, vaguely in the pale band of my strap, but much thinner; the other side is burnt to a crisp and adheres fairly well to where I wanted it to, but is angry and red. Now in any top but a tank top, these super burnt strips look ridiculous…maybe it’ll fade in 2 weeks?

After a day of do-nothing-ness, Bry and I went to GTM, a marvelous store short for Get The Money. We loved this store growing up, mostly for its abundance of discounted candy. Nowadays I’m in it for the super cheap jackets, sweaters, work out clothes and whatnot. Picked up a Stormtech rainjacket for $30 and a workout zippy for $15.

Dinner with grams and gramps and that’s all folks.

Just for fun, Grandma vocabulary:

1.       What is a “mivvy?”

a.       A mistake

b.      A wonderful person

c.       A bathroom

2.       A person who is “puggled” is…

a.       Strange

b.      Confused

c.       Unaware

3.       An “FA” is a

a.       Fire ant

b.      Fat A**

c.       Fuss A**

“Good show! We ain’t got no dumb uglies in this family!”

Day 10: Yosemite to Santee, CA

Tuesday September 24

At 8:45am I finally emerged from my sleepy cocoon of a sleeping bag, forced to stay in the tent for another half hour by a sleep cuddly Bryan. Still limping, but feeling not too shabby, we decided that more hiking was kind of out of the question and the comforts of my grandparent's home in San Diego was calling.

At 10am we started driving, realizing that LA traffic would be terrible and we had better blitz if we want to get there before 3pm. Thus began a long day of driving with not a heck of a lot to report. Bryan drove like a champ, we hit LA just before 2pm and missed the bulk of the traffic, just sticky at the merge points.
We stopped to hit up some Micky D's wifi and finish my Washington Dept. of Health application that somehow has not been a priority yet.

Arriving at about 6pm, we enjoyed a delicious dinner, the wonderful company of my grandma and grandpa, their humongous, lovable, poorly trained dog Jamie, and the heat of San Diego. 2 days of rest here we come.

Day 9: Monday September 23
Yosemite Valley to Half Dome and back.

 In the wee hours, car doors slammed, voices, lights, people starting on the trailhead EARLY! We finally dragged ourselves up at 5:30am after a surprisingly restful, albeit short, sleep. Slowly searching our chaotic car, we managed to dress, pack, and hit the trail by 6:15am in the dark. It was COLD! Glad I wore a few layers we started the incline of the Mist Trail to Half Dome (16.4 miles round trip and 4800 vertical feet). We passed Vernal Falls in the early morning light, racing the sunlight down the mountainsides surrounding us. Knowing that much of the day would be in the blazing sun, I was glad to be in the shade, but still longed for just a bit of warmth from those rays. Soon enough.

We passed Nevada falls going up up up granite steps the whole way. This first few miles of the trip is pretty darn steep. After some more incline after the falls is a few miles of flat through a sandy meadow along a river before the forested switchbacks start. Half Dome looked really far away…and really high up from the meadow. But up up up we went and soon the subdome loomed through the trees. The first rays of the sun were blessedly warm; soon after, warmth became HEAT.

The granite steps of the subdome gain a ton of elevation in a few hundred feet. We met an older couple clambering up the steps who had started at 3:30am, almost 3 hours before us! What troopers. Then came our view of the famed Cables. To help hikers get up the last 400 vertical feet of Half Dome are two parallel cables strung about 4 feet off the rock face with a wooden slat about every 10 feet. Gloves required. In pictures of my brother’s ascents up the face, I saw a steady stream of people up the cables. Last year, however, the park limited climbers to 300 per day, hence the permit. I was super glad of this because I wanted to go at my own pace and not feel pressured/crowded by everyone else. We trucked up the cables, telling myself not to look down and not to freak out, and stood on the summit, 5000+ feet above the valley floor below with an amazing view of the rocky domes, mountains and slopes surrounding us. 

Truly stunning; nowhere in the world like it. 

Feeling super sleepy, I laid down and napped before snapping some pictures (including some with my football from the Panthers team) and heading down.

About halfway down, my right knee started to twinge, then hurt, then give me a good kick whenever I didn’t baby it enough. Thankfully Bry's knees were also hurting as well as his hip so he didn't mind the slow pace as much as he would have. It ended up taking 4:45 hours to ascend and about the same coming down.

A quick drive towards the park entrance led to an open campsite at Wawona Campground and for $20 bucks fee plus ibuprofen/advil for the knee, earplugs for the highway noise and chirpy bugs, eye mask to keep out the light, Sleep-Eze (just in case exhaustion isn't enough), exhaustion, air mattress and cozy sleeping bag, I slept for almost 12 hours and Bry did too. Praise the Lord; we needed that sleep so badly!

Day 8: San Francisco, CA to Yosemite Valley.

We spent the night at Kaitlyn’s beautiful apartment in San Fran, complete with a super cute kitty named Serious according to his tag, but actually called “Tiny”…um, he’s not tiny…oh well. The big fluffball was very friendly and cute.

Falling asleep on the couch was marvelous; I dreamt that I was friends with Russell Wilson and some other Seahawks and we were playing some pickup football for fun. Then some of the roommates arrived at what seemed like an ungodly hour and probably was. You know how people’s regular voices seem super loud when you’ve just woken up? It was like they were talking to their deaf grandpa; I tried to shut it out and return to dreamland, desperate for a good night sleep. Well, returning to dreamland was impossible so may as well wake up my hubby to enjoy sleeplessness with me. I departed comfy couch for bouncy air mattress and only shifted and shuffled for a little while (right hunny?) before mercifully falling asleep.

We ate breaky at a cute little place called Stacks complete with excessively humongous fake flower bouquets in huge pots and evergreen drapings along the ceiling. Then saw my sister-in-law’s design project, a boutique hotel called Hotel Zetta. This hotel has been written up in a number of design magazines for its unique and appealing style as well as its upcycled materials (discarded blown glass, old glasses, vinyl cds, scrap metal) made into neat design features. One of the coolest things is a lounge wall covered in sepia mug shots of famous Alcatraz prisoners as well as a lifesize game of Plinko where you toss squishy soccer balls from the second floor games lounge and watch them plink their way down to the first floor.

Then we were off to the game. Side road route, no traffic, woot! Parking, gasp, $40! We joined the scary teeming crowd of red-clad yelling people into Candlestick park with our silly little clear plastic “NFL approved” baggies of camera and snacks. For a first NFL experience it was a little bit overwhelming, but that’s how it’s supposed to be I guess. I just have never appreciated the gladiator-like aspect of a sports crowd (watched a Canucks game once and was not impressed by the enthusiastic fight-cheering). Anyways, seats up high, great view, yelling swearing old guys behind us reminiscing about “The Catch.” Saw Jerry Rice in a suit sprint up and down the field, still fast, watched the Niners umm…no other way to put it…suck at playing football. The worst thing about a season I find is when there is so much hype and the team falls short leaving all your enthusiasm for ‘the best season ever!’ disappointed. In any case, it was still fun. Luck and the Colts marched down the field making it look easy; Niners could barely get a first down. Granted they have many injured players and apparently no offensive weapons, but defense was not impressive. We had left the yelling old men to sit on the shady side of the stadium so we at least didn’t have to hear their undoubtable angry rants. Heard enough of those on the way back to the car.

Left a bit early, drove to Yosemite, picked up a young Polish hitchhiker bound for Yosemite when we stopped at a gas station (my first hitchhiker ever; please don’t be a stabber/axe murderer! He looked pretty innocuous with his backpack, climbing helmet and hair that hadn’t seen a shower in awhile). It took about 4 hours to get to the Valley in the ever-dimming light. He talked about his hitchhiking and traveling and a bit about finding himself and listening to his intuition by meditation and some New Age things and psychotic drugs. I wanted to tell him about Jesus and how truth is found in our loving God and Savior; how the ‘magic’ of being in nature is really closeness to its Creator; how listening to God’s Spirit in us is more profitable than listening to our own intuition. I told him a little bit about our faith, but it made me realize how much I need to study to have a good answer ready as for why I believe what I do and how God has spoken to me and proven himself real and true and good in my life. May He show Himself true and loving to (Voitik sp?).

By the time we passed El Capitan, lights were visible partway up the face of the climbers who were sleeping roped in to their synthetic platforms on the cliff face (it takes a few days to climb up the face of El Cap, necessitating a couple nights on the face). I applaud them for their ability to sleep thousands of feet off the ground in a harness strapped to the rock; not something I ever aspire to do, but I’m amazed nonetheless.

We didn’t have a campsite reserved, Yosemite was packed, we had to leave for Half Dome at 5am, we were both utterly exhausted and we didn’t really have any options. We left Voitik at Camp 4 to sit in line at 3am for a campsite for the next day and we parked at the trailhead, threw stuff in the front seats and curled up in the back of the car for a semi-sleep sans dinner, too tired to make anything or even eat. 

Right after falling asleep, lights shone in the window, a ranger knocked asking to come out and talk. Bry sleepily got up, explained that we had a permit for Half Dome, got here late, didn’t know what to do. The ranger was understanding, gave us a warning and explained that our license plates would be on a list/tracked in case we ever spent the night not in a registered campsite in a national park again ($275 fine next time) and let us get back to bed. Yet another not-so-sleepful night. I’m thinking to myself, no dinner and no sleep is not a good way to precede a “Extremely Strenuous” hike according to the Yosemite guide…oh well.

Day 7: Redding to San Francisco,  CA

I have never been good with change. When I was a child, I used to cry, bawl in fact, two weeks before school started, like clockwork. I’d cry because I loved my old teacher; cry because I knew what last year was like and this one was unknown; cry because I regretted not making the most of my time in the previous stage.

Then, I would cry two weeks into anything new, for about the same reasons. And then I’d love where I was and have a great time until two weeks before the next major change.

And this continued throughout high school…and University, oh dear. My mom used to call me 2 weeks before anything started, saying “Sooo, had a meltdown yet?” And I’d feel morose and depressed and melancholy for a day before chilling out. 

So, I wasn’t, or shouldn’t have been, surprised when it took me a few days to adjust when we went to New Zealand on a roadtrip earlier this year. And, in fact, same deal for this one. I think I’m getting better at change; it’s not really a meltdown anymore. Instead it’s more of a underlying heightened stress level making me a bit more irritable and on edge. Poor Bryan.

Anyways, today I felt that underlying stress current. We slept in in our cheap motel after being woken frequently by the obnoxiously squeaky door of our neighbor (not sure why he/she had to go in and out a bajillion times in the night).  It was still a decent sleep.

The drive to San Fran was mostly in a skyscape of dramatic clouds, which soon turned into torrential rain, but lightened up near SF. We drove over the Golden Gate (ooooh!) and had lunch at a nearby beach, then watched some sailboat racing and walked to Fisherman’s Wharf. Talk about a zoo! I have never been somewhere as crowded except downtown Vancouver during the Olympics. Tourist central, people central! But quite a cool waterfront. Bryan loved the barking sea lions at Pier 39. It was hilarious how they would flop their bodies on top of a raft of sleeping others and awaken a chorus of annoyed barks from the sleepers. Their expression was so easy to personify. Noisy and smelly, but neat.

Supper at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., mmmm. We need to watch that movie again. 

Thanks to Kaitlyn (spelling?) Torgerson, Bryan's childhood neighbor for putting us up in her awesome San Fran apartment for the night and leading us around the town.

Day 6: Bend, OR to Redding, CA

Highlights of the day included:

1. Walking a mile into an intact lava tube near Bend; it was cool how uniform and rounded the ceiling was. Volcanic action is pretty awesome, especially when it happened ages ago and is no longer threatening your life with molten lava.

2. Driving around a portion of Crater Lake. Again, volcanic activity is awesome. This lake is SO blue! So clear! And the walls into it are sheer and jagged. Beautiful.

3. Hwy 97 south from Crater Lake to Cali—great views of desert, pines, hills, rainclouds on either side, sunbeams shining down, views of Mt. Shasta, and a very zippy pace with little traffic.

Lowlights: Multiple U-turns and feeling sick. Both of us are feeling totally zapped and Bry’s a bit sick so we ix-nayed camping tonight and are at a cheap motel in hopes of fending off our headaches and promoting health. 

San Fran tomorrow!

Day 5: Roadtrip Time- Lynnwood to Bend, OR

Due to our rodent misadventure, our time of departure was delayed. By mid-morning we’d done all we could and were ready to get out of Lynnwood and hit I5. We grabbed some chai tea lattes for our am. fuel and despite some nasty traffic in the express lanes through Seattle (Whaa? Why the regular highway going so much quicker?), a quick stop at the Capitol buildings in Olympia, and some getting-lost-ness near Portland, we were soon on our way to Bend. Mt. Hood was gorgeous and glorious. Bryan and I decided that since we’ve already summited Mt. Baker, and it was amazing, and since Hood looks so incredible and climbable, we should try to climb Rainier, Hood and Shasta in the next few years. Not this time, but soon.

Just short of Bend, in Redmond, we stopped at a Starbucks so I could complete an online course on HIV-AIDS—a weird necessity on this roadtrip as part of applying for Washington Department of Health licensure. Thank you Starbucks for free WIFI and a comfy place to sit. The 40-multiple choice test at the end was totally bogus. Example “What county in Washington represents 2/3 of the state’s population with HIV-AIDS?” Goodness, I thought that was just a byline in a huge paragraph with lots of stats, not a need-to-know fact. Thankfully I’m a good guesser and there were about 15 “All of the above” questions for which the answer was always “All of the above.” 95% later, HIV-AIDS course completo.

We spent the night at Tumalo State Park, best campsite ever due to free, actually hot, showers in the morning. Bam. Plus, the sign said “Full” but we went in anyways and there was one site left. The host kept telling Bryan he was a lucky guy, because he sold it to someone who never came back with the payment slip, and then here we were. It was full every night of this entire month, except this night. Not lucky, but God providing for us in unexpected ways yet again. We have such a loving God.

Day 4: Part 2

Yesterday, Day 4, really required two posts.

Snuggling in bed with Bry, just about to roll over to sleep, we hear a scream from downstairs...April screaming and calling for Bryan while running up the stairs panicking. She had looked at her clock in the night and there, illuminated by the red glow of the time, was a rat, whiskers and all. She leaped out of bed, screaming, turned on the light and ran. 

Enter hero brother Bryan and his trusty sidekick wifey who thankfully grew up on a farm and knows rats are usually scaredy-cats, unless rabid...ugh.

Our plan: dress in protective clothing, find net and towel with which to capture said rat, open door, enter room, find the trembling thing and throw it outside. Done.

Then we looked into April’s room…wow did that little rat had plenty of places to hide and survive.

Side note:  April had moved home after living in a townhouse, intending to move out again in a couple months; but, given the housing market issues and complications, months turned into years, a true ‘unpacking’ never took place and her room was more of a latent storage system where she never spends time except to sleep.

After tiptoeing around the piles of stuff and randomly shaking this or that, we realized that finding the little guy was going to be tricky. Off to Walmart goes Bryan to find some traps; I begin to dig. In the back of both our minds is the fact that we planned to leave on a roadtrip early the next morning but instead it’s midnight and we are looking for a creepy-face rodent.

April, with a racing heart, stood in the hallway while I began to excavate the piles, shaking carefully before handing it to her to stow in the hallway or elsewhere. Stacks of beautiful books, design magazines, paper logo-ed bags filled with whatever merchandise came in them, stashed for a day of use that hasn’t arrived yet, a padded eye cover that she’d been looking for for 3 years, cases of wine, each gathered from her travels,  clothes, clothes…clothes. I think this is called sister-in-law bonding. But even after the mattress was lifted and Bryan looked under the cabinets with a light…no rat.

By this time, April had basically moved into the upstairs empty bedroom, accepting that she would never again enter her old room. We trooped back to bed, rat trap set, and a number of our guy friend who lives nearby on speed dial in case ratty shows his face, or his dead body, while we were away.

To be continued, if we ever discover what became of the nasty creature.

Day 4: September 18, 2013

The day before the roadtrip...dun dun dun! 

Number one, sleep in again...not quite as late as the other days, but still a good 9am, ahhh.

Number two, force mind to pray a little before the endless brain lists start dictating activity...a very difficult task today that I'm not sure I accomplished for more than a few minutes. 

Number three, figure out that applying for Washington Department of Health is actually not that hard and if I quickly find an online HIV-AIDS course that credits 4 hours, then I might be able to send the application off today before we go...Cue madly scrambling to organize and finish application. Ticked off boxes--no creepy crimes committed, check. Send email to supervisor as reference, check. Fingerprinted at Police Station, check. Get check (note American spelling...ugh, what an ugly spelling)...well that one didn't work because my new Bank of America account has zero money in it...hmm. 
Aaaaand, 1 hour of looking at a 118 slide powerpoint to do with HIV-AIDS in Washington = braindead. 
Conclusion- finish application tomorrow in the car and mail somewhere in Oregon.

Number four, kindly ask Bryan to stop working and making money and clean the car instead.

Number five, pack the car with all our hiking, climbing, warm stuff, hot weather stuff, and wedding stuff. 

Number six, Skype with my dear friend Jenna Lee Falk up in Grande Prairie whom I miss and who is so excellent. Congrats on the new job!!

Number seven, deliver Jordy to my marvelous Auntie Nelly and have a nice visit complete with a little pre-dinner and delicious tea.

Number eight, another dinner at Red Robin with April...a split basket of chicken strips was the perfect amount.

Number nine, last bits of packing and running around. 

Number ten, bed time with the hubster so we can wake up early and get on our way, woot! 

Tomorrow, Lava Tube Caves and Crater Lake! Can't wait to reap the benefits of our Annual National Parks Pass!!

Day 3:

Apparently when I don’t have a dark raincloud of stress over my head, I’m quite happy and productive, hence today. Sleeping in until 10am also helps, as does exercise. I need to remember how much happier I am after running around, even for a little bit. It’s consistent, must be chemical, yay endorphins.

 So today I went for a run in the morning around the nearby cemetary, watched Jordy bound off a deck and over a neighbour’s garden when we called him (that was a first, such enthusiasm), and then waited in line with a great attitude at the Social Security office to change my name and get a new SSN card. Done. Post this process, I shopped for our roadtrip, made a massive batch of homemade granola for our roadtrip breakfasts, made cookies for Bryan (no oats, no nuts, nothing interesting, just plain chocolate chip—once he likes something, there is NO switching it up),  and made soft tacos and sweet corn for dinner, which we ate late once April came home from work. Top that off with the last episode of Revenge and nailing down our roadtrip plans together while snuggling in bed and studying Google Maps…it was a great day. Funny how days flip flop from grey to sunny, both outside and within.  

Day 2: September 16

Day 2: Sept. 16, 2013

Not my favorite day overall. Rainy, grey, stressed, and exhausted come to mind. I’ll let you decide.

Cons: Rainy. Grey. Lots of running around and errands. Forgot SIN number at the bank so had to reschedule appointment later on. A $52 fee because Bry stopped using his Bank of America bank account without closing it. Worst new phone numbers ever in terms of remembering…not a single repeated digit. A grumpy, on-edge, overwhelmed cloud above my head. Bryan and I arguing in the grocery store.

Pros: Jordy the kitty went outside and found his way back. We were able to keep our old phones when we switched to T-Mobile. The most delicious chai tea latte from a little espresso stand. And a few episodes of Revenge with Bryan’s sister—very engaging, albeit confusing, seeing as we haven’t seen the first 35 episodes off of which these ones built. 

Day 1: September 15, 2013

Day 1: September 15, 2013

The first official day of homelessness/nomad-hood. Good thing we have generous, hospitable relatives.

A wakeful night sleep in my cousin Austin’s closet-turned-bedroom was followed by a pancake breakfast and a rained-out party (“corn boil”) at the de Putter farm. Eager to head south for the anticipated Seahawk’s-Niner’s matchup, Bryan pushed an early departure time and we left the farm in the rain, my mom calling out “Bye!!” from the porch in a pretend-wail that only a mother of an only daughter who is moving further away can pretend. The border was a breeze, a 30 second pause in the Nexus lane. Then, traffic was terrible. Despite a few accidents and stalls on I5, none could explain the sheer volume of traffic, sometimes slowing to a crawl, other times whirring at 50mph, all heading to Seattle either home from a weekend away or to the game, I’m not sure. In any case, after a weekend of moving and in a packed car with a meowing restless cat, cat hair blowing in our faces, the extra 45minutes of travel time was brutal. More brutal was a pathetic first quarter, a 60 minute break due to lightning, and a continuation of pathetic from the Niners for the rest of the game. Good thing we like the Seahawks too, and who doesn’t like that baby face of Russell Wilson? Some nice plays Russ….Kap, well, let’s just say that wasn’t fun to watch.

Praise God for many blessings this weekend for which we are very grateful and without which we could be in dire straits right now. One, piece of cake border crossings loaded with all our possessions. Two, safety driving humongo-rental-truck. Three, Nolan (and Amy) and Jared (and Julia) helping us load and unload. Four, mom helping clean. Five, very flexible kind landlords. Six, Nolan hauling our old futon frame and other junk away to the scrap heap. Seven, Auntie Nellie offering to take Jordy for the month while we roadtrip. Eight, Kotjans, April, Grandma, Goertz’s and other dePutter relatives for feeding and housing us while in limbo. Nine, Bryan being his wonderful self.

The end of day one. Emotions = so overtired that sleep might be tricky, melancholy, happy to be in bed.