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Monday, August 13, 2007

well

i missed yesterday. it just blew by and i totally forgot to post. oh well, im back today with the second installment of our trip to the Northwest.

When i left off we had just arrived at my dad's house in a tiny farm town he and my mom grew up in many years ago. It's interesting when i visit because my grandfather (mom's dad ) held many high ranking jobs in this small town during the 50's, 60's and 70's. He was a well known tough attorney, held some city position at the courthouse that i cant remember, and was very respectable all around. My dad's dad owned the local grocery store during those same years and my uncles and dad all worked there until they went on to their own careers. Both grandpas are gone now, and my mom has sinced moved away, but my dad has come back to the city after almost 20 years in Alaska and is now County Commissioner. So whenever I visit Im running into people who remember me as a baby, or knew one of my grandpas, or are some sort of relative. It's kind of surreal, but also makes it "home" in ways no other place could be.

So like I was saying above, my dad moved to Alaska when i was about 8 years old to find better work. He and my mom had divorced when i was 3. He would come back to visit once or twice a year, and I visited twice during the years he was there.I went once by myself, and once when Nate and I flew up as we were planning to get engaged. He moved back down to the lower 48 when I was about 25, so as you can imagine there was a lot of catching up to do. The first few visits were pretty dawgon awkward, but it's amazing how the girls have helped us find a common bond the last few years. I think our relationship has grown by leaps and bounds lately and the visits to his home are now something I look forward to.

So we were there 4 days, and they were 4 very relaxing, laid back days. They were a perfect start to what was going to be a big journey!

We headed out to Portland a day earlier than anticipated because Dad had a few things come up and that seemed to be a good day to go. Of course Luxie was thrilled because we were heading to Ava's, her favorite cousin whom she hadnt seen in months! Again, Zaine was absolutely THRILLED to be in the car for 4 hours (who can blame her? ) But Luxie was such a blessing along the way, handling it all like a pro. We arrived during rush hour, or, um, normal Atlanta traffic and started cheering as we were winding our way to our long lost family's home. We drove up to find Ava waiting in the window and stop #2 of our trip had begun.

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