How we got here, part 6

Seriously going to finish this backstory right now.

So, we stayed at a shitty La Quinta near Denver for a night, then did the whole repacking the car thing again, and got back on the road.

Up until the previous day, our plan was to go north through Denver up to Wyoming, then take I-80 west to I-84, as that was the faster route. However, I talked to my brother who used to live in Denver, and he thought we were kind of crazy to not drive west across CO, through the Rockies as that drive is so beautiful. So, we changed our course and we ended up having a really awesome day driving through those giant mountains.

We kept stopping to take pictures of the gorgeous scenery, which definitely slowed us down, and Amelia had a giant diaper explosion in her carseat at one point and the aftermath that followed added close to an hour to our trip. We didn't have enough wipes for all the damage, and I ended up carrying a naked baby into a Dairy Queen and washing her in the sink in the bathroom. We stopped at Walgreens for more supplies, but man, just walking through the store was exhausting due to the altitude (around 10000 feet at that time).

After we got back on the road for a while, we stopped at a rest area where there was still a lot of snow on the ground, so Lily got her first encounter with the white stuff (Amelia missed out because she was napping).After playing with it for a minute, she started crying because her hands got so cold. I made a tiny snowman that fit in my hand, and Lily got over her cold hands to play in the snow a little longer (and throw some at me!)

Later that day, we stopped at a rest area that was right on the Colorado river. It was overflowing with snow melt, and the water was freezing, but that didn't stop Stanlee from drinking it.

We kept on driving (and driving and driving) and finally made it to Utah.

Not long after crossing the border, we encountered a freaky wind storm...are there tornadoes out there? We were low on gas and got a little worried because it seemed we were really in the middle of nowhere, but luckily found a station in time, and got the heck away from that storm. We really needed to start making some progress because it was getting dark and we were several hours behind schedule. We were supposed to be stopping for the night in SLC, but after several hours of Mark driving too fast through dark mountain roads, I was just so done. We got a room in Provo, which was basically the first populated area we had seen in the whole state. We ate some food and crashed very quickly that night.

The next morning we woke up excited because it was Oregon Day! We just had to get through Utah and Idaho, and we would finally be in our new state for the first time! After getting back on the road, we made a little stop at Target for some snacks, coffee and some shorts for the girls because it was so hot out and we were out of weather-appropriate clothes for them. We had a pretty uneventful day of driving, save for the 5 minutes we couldn't get our car to start (Mark forgot to put the car in park!).

One more state to go...

Idaho has some crazy high speed limits so we made it through in good time, and then finally, finally, finally, finally, after years of planning and days of driving, we crossed the border into Oregon, and I literally cried.

We made it!! 

 We stopped at the rest stop at the state line, and we took a lot of pictures. They had an Oregon Trail display set up, complete with the remnants of a covered wagon. It's just hard to comprehend how so many people traveled such a distance on one of those things, searching for a better life, just like we were now. It helped put our trip into perspective a bit, as we made it from Florida to Oregon with 5 days of driving in the comfort of our Mazda. It is simply incredible that in less than 200 years, what used to take half a year (from Missouri to OR) now takes only half a week.

Respect.

After our rest stop celebration, we got back in the car and kept driving west through our new state. We were amazed at how the scenery of eastern Oregon changed as we drove, but it was all beautiful. We passed through an idyllic valley as a train was going by in the distance - it seemed like a scene out of a movie.

We knew we were going to have to stop for one more night before making it to Portland, and eventually we got a room in Pendleton. We ended up having gas station food for dinner due to lack of options. Oh well. We got up uncharacteristically early the next day because it was Portland Day, and we were going home. By then, we were pretty awesome at packing the car and getting back on the road. We continued driving west on 84, and eventually we could see Mount Hood. Mount Hood!!

We had perfect weather as we drove through the Gorge, and finally we were in Multnomah County, and then we were in downtown Portland, on the Marquam bridge, and we were just ecstatic.

We drove past my new hospital, got off on our new exit, and stopped at our new apartment, all these things we had seen in pictures but now we were really doing it! It was only early afternoon, maybe about 12 or 1, and we got our keys and opened the door to the place we would be living.

And then, there was shopping.

We had to find a mattress first, because we had absolutely NO furniture. We had nothing to sleep on at all, so we needed something immediately. After a few stops we bought a floor model that was 50% off. We took that back home (HOME!) and went to Target. It was a painful Target trip, actually. The girls were just so, totally done at that point, but we needed things for living, like food and toilet paper and laundry soap. We spent $800 at Target, the first of several ridiculous amounts we would be spending in the next few weeks. That's what happens when you move across the country with only the things that fit in one car that's also carrying 4 people and an 80 pound dog.

...

So that's done.

We've been in Oregon for 6 months exactly, as of today. It's just crazy to think about sometimes. I know we're still in the honeymoon phase, but man, we really do love this state. I'll be putting a green heart in Oregon sticker on my car soon, that's for sure. Florida has a little place in my heart, but I feel alive here. So far, this place has been everything we hoped it would be, and more. My job is awesome. I've lost 50 pounds. Next year, I'll be doing triathlons and masters swimming. We'll be sledding and skiing on Mt. Hood, and hiking through Forest Park and all around the Gorge. There's so much to do, and so many things to see. The west coast is simply the best coast, and this is where we belong. Thanks for 6 awesome months, Oregon. We are so happy to be here.