Through Sun, Rain, Snow and Ice

I didn’t have to drive alone! And I am so thankful for that! My mom joined Kayley and I on our trek back to WA so I wouldn’t have to drive alone with a baby. The northwest was hit with a pretty big snow storm the night before we planned to leave.  Not wanting to drive in snow and ice the whole way, especially with Kayley in the car, we put off our journey home. I had one more day to say goodbye to the house I grew up in.

Goodbye house. I will miss you. You were a good home.

When Tim moved into a different room and our room became my own, I sponge painted it with my Gram Belle.

To avoid the extremely snowy mountain passes, we took the coastal route. We had sun and rain the first day of our drive and drove past my college (sorry HSU peeps, we didn’t have time to stop and say hi). I really enjoy that drive, so I drove all the first day. 

The ocean was really churning

Kayley loved the closet mirror in our hotel room

She slept really well. So cute!

Day two we cut over from 101 to 5 at Grants Pass. We had more rain and we passed by many flooded areas. It was sad to see farm lands, home, and roads flooded. We even saw a farm that was flooded and their cows were standing on the little bit of soggy ground that was out of the flooded water trying to stay dry under a leafless tree. Thankfully there wasn’t too much water on the OR roads. 

Driving through the redwoods

Flooded farmland

That night we were able to stop in Portland to visit from family friends and meet Heather’s new daughter, Emery. Such a little cutie-pie! Although, Kayley wasn’t so sure about me or her Maimie holding little Emery. She was getting a little jealous, but she did really well and was very interested in Emery. 

Kayley: Maimie,who's that you're holding? Why aren't you holding me?

Sweet little Emery.

Childhood friends and our babies

 That night we only drove a bit further. We could have finished the drive that night, but parts of WA we had to drive through had ¾ an inch of ice on everything by 9pm, and the roads were reported to be extremely slick. They were actually asking people not to drive on them unless completely necessary. So we stayed a night in Longview and took it easy the next morning to give the ice time to melt. 

Playing with the camera settings.

On the third day we drove in more rain and falling snow (aka. snow that was falling off the cars in front of us). There was still a bit of flooding in some of the areas we passed, but as we drove further north we saw more and more snow on the side of the road. And a lot of fallen trees that fell due to the weight of the snow and ice on them. We also passed a car that had been completely on fire too and was still smoking really bad. It looked like they had gotten the person out alright, at least I hope they did. 

Snow!

Poor car

Coming up to Seattle I was disappointed in the amount of snow left. I was hoping there would still be a decent amount of snow for Kayley to play in and experience, but it had mostly melted away or was becoming extremely slushy. I took my mom to my sister’s house where should would be staying that night, and they had fluffy snow there still. I’ll tell you more about the snow later. 

Seattle

The temperature was dropping, so I went home before the roads became ice. Kayley and I waited for Andrew to get home from work. Hoshi was happy to see both of us again and was meowing for attention right after we walked through the door. Kayley was very excited to see her jumper. She didn’t have one to play with in CA and you could tell she missed it. She crawled right over to the jumper and pulled herself up, and I thus put her in it. She jumped and jumped happily for a long time (she still has a bit of the tadpole/frog in her). 

I missed my kitty

Happy in her jumper

Oh my was Kayley excited to see her daddy! When I heard Andrew at the door I did our little routine of saying “who’s that at the door? Is that Dada? Dada is home from work.” She got a smile on her face and started bouncing excitedly before he walked through the door (I’m convinced she knew what I was talking about), and once she saw him her smile expanded and she was leaning out of my arms trying to get her daddy to hold her. Andrew dropped his work things off as quickly and gently as he could and scooped Kayley up in his arms and smothered her with kisses and a big hug. You can tell they missed each other terribly. And don’t worry, I got attention too, but it was just so precious and cute to see Andrew and Kayley reunited once again. 

Kayley: Dada! I missed you!

Andrew: I missed you too! I love you!

I miss the California sun, but oh it’s good to be home.