We left Oregon after work on the 22nd of September. The sun was setting on a beautiful 70-degree day as we made our way through Portland's rush hour traffic - the start of an 1100-mile trek - nonstop.
When the sun rose again, we were somewhere between Quesnel and Prince George doing 110 KPH on the open road. We ran into a few misty showers north of Prince George, but the skies cleared as we made our way through the Pine Pass - revealing the beautiful amber fall colors on the hillsides - a gorgeous site.
As we rolled out of Chetwynd, the steep slopes gradually gave way to gentle, rolling hills and a steady breeze - a sure sign that we had arrived in the Peace Country.
We phoned Steph's mom, Sandy, to see what was going on, and found out that Steph's brother, Marc, was heading our way - and we were able to meet him for lunch at an A&W in Dawson Creek (they still have good A&W's in Canada). Much to Noah's delight, Marc was in the Kenworth truck that he drives (for a company that provides service to the oil-field industry). As Marc headed back out on the road, he gave a few good blasts of his air horn - just for Noah.
An hour later, we were unpacking at the Nofziger place just outside of Wembley, Alberta. That's 1100 miles in 20 hours with a 2-year-old (including stops for food and gas) - not too shabby.
The following 9 days went by way too fast. They included beautiful weather, a golf game, a trip to Edmonton (and IKEA), getting donuts and coffee at Tim Horton's, playing games with Doug & Sandy and Marc & Kim (and Sydney, too!), meeting for lunch at Tony Roma's, helping clean and organize Sandy's craft/sewing room (this involved burning stuff, woo-hoo!), eating wonderful home cooked meals, a Chocolate Mousse pie made just for me (yes, I'm spoiled), taking Noah on his first combine ride, visiting family friends, and just relaxing and hanging out. Many of these events were captured on film, and I hope to post a few photos soon.
And then, sadly, it was time to go home. The drive out of the Peace Country and through the Pine Pass was not nearly as pretty - as a week of wind had stripped the trees bare.
We always take an extra day coming home because we aren't as excited to get there (and we need to be rested for work). 10 hours of driving on Saturday, October 2nd, put us at 100 Mile House, where we stopped for the night.
We were back on the road by 8:00 Sunday morning and met our friend Laurel Pritchard, near Vancouver for lunch and a quick visit. I wish we could have met her at a more exciting venue, but when you travel with a 2-year-old, you naturally look for a McDonald's with a Play Place so they can stretch their legs a little.
We finally made it home around 9:00 Sunday night. It was a long journey, but it was worth it - and we will do it again!
My pickup after 2200+ miles, a few frosts, and dusty gravel roads.
After a little elbow grease and a lot of car wash soap.
I enjoyed your narrative about the scenery on your trip, Jeff. You made it come alive. It is interesting to me that you drove 1100 miles one way, as that was how far I drove round trip to visit my mother a few weeks ago. It wasn't a bad drive but I had to break it up into two days each way -- I admire you for driving straight through heading for Canada although I can relate to your staying overnight on the way back. I like driving but I don't have the stamina to put in those kinds of hours! (And I was very grateful for cruise control because I drove many miles with it set, which saved my right foot from getting really, really tired.)
Posted by: Mom (Sue) at October 6, 2004 02:11 PMMy first comment here doesn't show up when I access this site but maybe it needs to gel a while. (Or it could be AOL pulling one of its usual strange stunts.) I wanted to add that when I left, I was at about 8850 miles on my odometer so expected to be at about 10,000 miles when I got back. What actually happened was that I rolled over to 10,000 miles exactly as I pulled into my driveway -- what are the odds?
Posted by: Mom (Sue) at October 6, 2004 02:16 PMwell, it was a long drive (i know first hand, but with a newborn, not a two year old) and we appreciate you driving for a visit. we miss you already!!
Posted by: kimmy at October 13, 2004 12:22 PMHi Kimmy!
The drive was a whole lot easier with a two year old Noah than with a three week old Noah, that is for sure. You can feed a two year old on the fly and entertain them with DVDs, but you can't really do any of that with a newborn.
I think it helped that this was Noey's third trip up there. He didn't even complain about the 5 hour drive to Edmonton (and back), either.
Can you imagine making the drive with two kids?!?
Posted by: Jeffy at October 13, 2004 02:34 PMWelcome to spammers anonymous. My name is Bob. It has been 30 seconds since my last spamming.