scenes from a passenger window ~ posted by Melissa

I had idyllic notions of how our 3-day, 4-state, spur of the minute road trip was going to be.  When we left midday Friday, I was imagining a blog post when we returned worthy of loritimesfive's travel/knitting blog.  It wasn't to be.  Although I did get these few stunning photos, our trip was, let's just say, an epic adventure.

scenic lookout I-84 in Oregon

Pendleton Oregon at dawn

These pictures were some of the few that were actually taken from outside the car.  We had thrown gear and sleeping bags in the truck thinking we were going to camp both nights of our 1700 mile journey  (reasonable assumption ~ we do have a month of spring under our belts!) but, oh, were we wrong!  The drive across Washington on Friday was done in torrential rain while towing a boat (more on that later), which we luckily dropped off a little after 8:00pm in Spokane Valley.  And since we were running behind schedule (we had a destination ~ more on that later also), we decided to keep driving.  Did I mention that we 'luckily dropped off the boat' we were towing?  Just want to make sure...

 

We crossed over into Idaho and as we approached Coeur d'Alene, the driving rain turned to snow.  Alot of snow.  And I should probably stop here and mention a few things:

1. I'm a nervous passenger
2. I don't like driving in the snow
3. we were beginning to cross Lookout Pass (elevation 4725 ft)
4. Lookout Pass is part of the Bitterroot Mountains, which you are in the midst of when you cross the state line into Montana
5. our trip took us into Montana...nuff said?

 

A little before midnight my husband decided that I needed to get off the road (bless him!) and we pulled into a rest stop about an hour outside Missoula and slept in the truck (I guess I should say 'he slept' ~ I was too frazzled).  Then back on the road before dawn (we do have a destination, you know!) and on to the happiest place on earth:

 

Missoula Montana Starbucks at dawn



Never was a girl so happy (or tired!).  It was the best cup of coffee ever!   Then it was back on the road towards our destination of Idaho Falls (yup, the quickest way to get there is to leave the state of Idaho and then come back in through the back door).  We knew when we left on Friday that the time crunch was on the front end of our journey so we drove straight through to Idaho Falls (unbelievably it snowed almost the entire way), and other than a few pitstops to let Dozer out of the truck:

 

no, the rest stop was not here but the exit took us past this gorgeous gateway

we reached the purpose of our trip:

 

 

Thanks to Jim at Hyde Drift Boats and all his advance help leading up to this weekend, we were back on the road within an hour, with my husband's dream boat following behind.  Luckily, we purchased a boat cover since the weather gods were still messing with us.  Just as we had arrived in Idaho Falls, a severe wind storm kicked in and for the next 286 miles to Boise we drove in 60 mile an hour crosswinds that blew hundreds and hundreds of tumbleweeds across the interstate, as well as causing an enormous dust storm the entire way:

 

 

 We're 24 hours into our trip and we've seen rain, snow, wind and a dust storm.  Camping?  Did somebody mention putting up a tent and sleeping under the stars?? Ha.

 

The weather finally got better when we reached Boise (don't get too excited just yet) but the trip was not going as planned so we decided to drive until we were tired and sleep in another rest stop before heading home this morning.  We made it to La Grande, Oregon (hooray ~ state #4!) a little after 9:00pm last night hoping to find an open coffee shop (no luck) and decided to grab something to eat before hitting the road again.  And then it started to snow.  Again.  After not sleeping much (at all) the night before, we decided to stay put til the morning and pulled in with the campers at Walmart (I slept in the truck at Walmart...does this sound like a loritimesfive blog post...I think not!).

 

This morning we were up at 5:00am and on the road home.  But not quickly since snow in La Grande overnight meant snow in the Blue Mountains and we crossed Deadman's Pass before dawn this morning in these conditions:

 

 

If you don't know what you're looking at, it's compact ice.  And unlike the first night's snowy mountain ride, this time we're towing a boat.  Needless to say, but it shall be said...we were not driving 65mph...not even close.  And while my husband is slowly making his way up...and then down...this icy slipslide of a highway, I was frantically looking online to see what the next mountain pass held in store for us.  Bad idea.  Snoqualmie Pass in Washington, which had been completely closed the night before was reopen with chains required, but was about to be closed for avalanche control and it was still snowing hard.  We were still about 4 hours away, which is a long time to stress about conditions (which I did) that can change in a matter of hours (which they did).  By the time we reached the Cascade Mountains the sun was shining and the ice on the roads had melted.  But not before we made a quick pitstop for a heartmelting moment:

 

 

Please excuse the way I look ~ take into account the 3 days I've had and that I haven't had a shower ~ but I so want to share that I officially got to meet our goddaughter for the first time (I saw her when she was 8 hours old but she was sleeping).  Neoma is sporting a darn cute crocheted cap her grandma made her and a sweater I knit for her , remember?  She's almost 7 months old now and I'm pretty sure I left a little piece of my heart there with her when we drove away.  And with a request for this 'cool cowl bear hood' thing her mama saw (I was excited to tell her I can make that!!)


So, although our trip didn't go as I had imagined, it was sure an adventure and I enjoyed the time I spent with my husband and Dozer, who is a great traveller.  The goal of the trip was met (I hope Jeff enjoys the boat as much as JR and then Jason both did):

we'll miss you, Morning Wood

and my husband was only boatless for about 15 hours:

 

tentative names: Jas thinks 'little blue pill' ~ I love 'sea alice'...think about it :)

Sorry for the long post ~ alot happened in 3 days ~ and I doubt we'll forget this epic adventure for a long time to come.  I know Dozer won't ~ he was so ready to come home that the last time Jason got out of the truck, he jumped over the jockey box (not allowed) and was ready to finish the drive on his own...can't you tell from the look on his face?!

 

dog is my pilot

Hope everyone had a less eventful weekend than I did and here's hoping that the next journey we take is just as much fun but a little (lot) less stressful!   ~ Melissa