Operation Ocean 2010 - Part 2 -10 days

So once we made our way to the coast. We set about trying to do as much as possible in the 10 days we were there. This is an accounting of the 10 days we spent in Bandon.


Day 1 - Sunday. We decided that we would sleep in. Didn't take long to come to this conclusion, after 4 days of driving and dealing with kids and tires, sleep sounded like a nice idea. Besides, we didn't really have anything set in stone that we HAD to do on Sunday. So, with the hour change from Central to Pacific time, we made it 7:30 am! We took our time getting up and showered, finished setting up camp and headed into town.

The first place we went was to the overlook just south of Face Rock. That first glimpse of ocean was so soul settling. All four tires on the Truck could have popped at the same time and at that current moment... I wouldn't have cared! We then went to Old Town and walked around for a bit and headed back to the camper for naps and supper. A very lazy first day! It was so nice.




Day 2- Monday. Holy Laundry piles! We had planned on doing laundry on Tuesday, but according to my laundry baskets, and the fact the Blake was out of pants... Monday it was. So, I got up early, left everyone sleeping and went into town to do laundry. $12 and 2 hours later. We have 4 clean loads of laundry! The only other thing on our agenda for the day was to have supper with Matt and Pat Monroe, my second parents and incidentally my ex-boyfriends parents. We had a great time hanging out with them and catching up on old times. Justin said later that of all the things we did, he wished we could have spent more time with them!


Day 3 - Tuesday. Coos Bay Day. We needed to hit up the Walmart for some supplies and some groceries. We also decided to take Rocky to Puppy Love to be groomed. I worked there for 2 years, its where I got my grooming start. Rocky was in sad shape and was stinking up the WHOLE camper. He doesn't travel to well and gets quite droolly, and him being a full male, he ends up peeing on himself in that stinky boy pee. So, all things added up and I ended up getting caught up on the happenings of the grooming world on the coast. And had fun chatting with old friends.

In the morning, when I was dropping off Rocky at Puppy Love, Justin was parked out front with the kids. I got in the truck after I was done only to see steam coming from Justin's ears. When I asked what was wrong, he calmly pointed to the driver side mirror. The Glass was gone out of it. Someone had driven by, gotten too close and clipped it, luckily it was a breakaway, and it folded towards the front end. Justin was able to clip the mirror part back in but still that isn't the point. They didn't even stop or slow down! Pure Idiots.

Day 4 - Gamma and Papa Arrive! We slept in again that morning had great anticipation when we woke up. My Mom and Art were going to be there today! Mom and I had been texting back and forth all the way down the coast! When they were about a 1/2 hour away, we decided to meet them in Coos Bay for lunch and some beachy things later that afternoon since it was nice. We ate lunch and then went to Shore Acers and walked around the gardens and the beach. I was grateful for Art to be on Blake duty! After Shore Acers, we made another trip to Walmart, then had supper at Tai's Dynesty. YUM!

Day 5 - Thursday - WILD day. Woke up in the morning with no real game plan. But we went to the West Coast Game Park Safari. Blake got a kick out of running with all the goats and deer. I enjoyed being able to hold a Lion cub and seeing all the animals running around. After there, we went to lunch at The Station, and walked around in Old Town some more. I had laid out Iowa Pork Chops for supper and we went back to the camper, had supper, and sat around the fire. Very peaceful, and enjoyable, regardless of our useless fire!

Day 6 - Redwood Hwy. We got up early and drove down to the Redwoods. Our friends, the Johnson's, live in Cescent City, CA and near the Redwoods. We also went down to Trees of Mystery, in Klamath, CA. Well worth the money! We walked what seemed like a thousand miles around the little redwood forest. We saw trees that had walkable passages under them. Trees that had other trees growing straight up off its branches! And Trees that have formed into a cathedral type shape and is notorious for weddings and wonderful acoustics! After there, we drove through a State Park on a one lane BUMPY road to see Redwoods that aren't "touristy". Amazingly HUGE trees! We had a wonderful supper with Joel and Tara and their boys in their covered yard, and sadly departed back to Bandon. When we were making our way through Brookings, we caught a spectacular Sunset!

Day 7 - Saturday - Family Reunion. It was very nice to be able to see family that I haven't seen in years! We were able to meet up at Marj Shulls, and got to hang out with Cousins, Doug, Cindy, Sherry, and Everett. We spent the WHOLE day out there, soaking up the sunshine and the warm country air.

Day 8 - Sunday - Church Day. We again, got up early to be at church at Riverview Christian Fellowship in Coos River. Had a WONDERFUL service and once more got to catch up with old friends. We later went to the Siegrist's house in Greenacers and had a MEGA lunch and bonfire. Spent the rest of the afternoon there and prepared to say Good Bye to Mom and Art when we got back to the camper.

Day 9 - Monday - Lazy, Get ready to head home day. Again I did Laundry... its one of those things that never seems to end! We also went to Coos Bay again, went to a few more stores we didn't get to before and made one last trip to Walmart to pick up groceries for our trip home.

Day 10 - Tuesday - On the Road again! We were up, showered, packed and on the road by 9am!

Operation Ocean 2010 - The Journey to the Coast

Our vacation this summer was to the Oregon Coast, to visit friends, family and favorite places. This is a recount of our trip. Its too hard to try and put everything into ONE blog, so its going to take a few. Here is Part 1.

Part 1 - Day 1

Travel from Home to Lincoln, NE. Simple enough right? Justin had to work from 2am to 3pm and the plan was that I would have everything packed so all we had to do was hook on and go. I would venture to say that for the most part... that's the way it worked! I felt like dog poo on the bottom of a tire that keeps getting run over and over and over...Praying against all hope that those antibiotics would be kicking in shortly! So, Justin comes home and within an hour, we are on the road. We made it to Lincoln in fairly short order. Only to discover that I didn't print the correct directions on how to get to the park we were supposed to be staying at. No biggy... the next gas station we saw, I stopped and asked for directions. I can do that because I have indoor plumbing! We get there, set up camp for the night and crash.

Day 2

We wake up early, eager to get on the road, and it is POURING down rain. Had been raining for most of the night too. Such a wonderful way to start your vacation right? It took us a bit longer to pack up because of the rain, but we managed and was on the road by 9am. We made it across Nebraska without any problem and had starting climbing the mountains in Wyoming by 6pm. Still had another 3 hours to go. Then a tire blew...

I had about a minute warning that I had to PEE. I told Justin to peel off at the next rest stop, which luckily was about a mile down the road. We get to the bottom of the off ramp and he stopped and asked me, "Do you need to go now? or can you hold it until we go the two miles back to the rest stop?" (The rest stop was about 2 miles back after a hair pin turn from the off ramp.) I said that I had to go NOW. As I grabbed the camper keys from the cup holder and jumped out of the truck. I made my way back to the door of the camper and was trying to get the steps out while trying not to pee my pants and was having a hard go of it. The steps were stuck and very stiff, not a normal thing! I make it inside and went potty. It was upon exiting the camper that I noticed the tread was GONE off the tire itself and that the tire would pop at any second. I ran back up to the truck and told Justin what was going on. We decided to try our luck at limp it to the actual rest stop itself. so we could work on this on a flat surface and not half hanging on the side of the road. The actual rubber tread had wrapped around the Axel about 4 times and gave Justin a fit trying to come off. So, I called my mom to have her look for a place for us to stay at the next closest town, because we were not going to get much further down the road. Blake and Logan were crying, I was on the phone with mom and Justin was harping directions at me and yelling for tools from the truck... I ended up in tears, the stress of it all at once was too much. I got off the phone with mom, soothed the kids as best I could and retrieved the tool the Justin needed. About that time an Emergency Roadside Assistance guy pulls up beside and asks if we needed any help. Mind you this has been an hour of trying to get this tire undone and finally help arrives! I was able to go and tend to the kids and Justin and this stranger were able to get the rubber off and the new tire on. I called mom back and said, "You were praying for us weren't you." She replied with, "Yes. Why?" "Because not even 90 seconds after I get off the phone this guys shows up to help!" A true answer to prayer!

We drove another 20 miles into town to Rawlins, WY and got a motel room. It was cold, and late and we had not had supper yet and the last thing we wanted to do was mess with the camper anymore!

Day 3

New tire in the bed of the truck and we are on the road again. Pushing for all we are worth to make it Oregon. The rest of Wyoming was uneventful. Then we get to Tremonton, Utah and Poosh! ANOTHER TIRE ON THE CAMPER BLOWS OUT! This time the tread went flying off and we were able to change it and be back on the road in ten minutes. Had to detour through town to a tire shop so we could buy yet another spare tire!

We pushed and pushed and pushed until 10:30pm and made it to Fruitland, Idaho. We had to stop for gas and had made the decision that if there was a campground close by, we would stop for the night, if not, we would keep going until we found one. Turns out, this particular gas station had a campground attached to it! So, we stayed the night.

Day 4

Up early. Driving, driving, driving... made it through to Portland, Oregon around 2pm. Finally made it to Bandon at 8:30pm.

1804 miles, 18 stops for fuel, 2 tires, and 4 crabby people!

Jahovah Jireh!

As, most of the world knows, we are leaving on vacation in 2 days! (woohoo!) It was a goal of ours to have all our bills paid and current before we left on vacation. Mostly because in the past we have been caught up in the excitement of actually getting ready to leave and we space our bills, only to come home to past due notices and late fees. This time we put them first and our trip second.

We have three bills left to pay before we leave; Gas, water, and satellite... We have our trip budget set aside and we have vowed not to use it, or dip into it until the day we leave. So, trying to be on the ball, I total up the bills, and match it against what I will be making in the next two days with grooms. (Not wanting to take my checking account any lower or I wont have any spending money for fun things.) My heart sinks... $30 short. In my brain, one dog groom short. The one groom who had an appointment that would have made everything balance, who cancelled two days ago...dang.

Frustrated, I head back to the laundry room, my second home these days. I am folding laundry, my resolve to go on vacation with all my bills paid is fading, and I am just about ready to dip into the vacation fund for that extra $30. Then from out of nowhere, an old song from church comes into my head. Jahovah Jireh, My provider... I am humming along and all at once everything clicks! My provider, if its meant to be, then HE will provide that extra $30 for me. About that time, like almost the same instant that the little LED bulb went off above my head, the phone rings. Its a client, who "desperately needs to get their dog in..." come to find out, they can only do it at the exact same time slot as the cancellation from a few days ago.

And Voila! Just like that... Jahovah Jireh!

Kids are like Cats?

I was sitting in the recliner the other night with Logan on my chest, his sweet little face all nuzzled into my neck. How precious are moments like those?! Then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it reminded me of a childhood cat named Macintosh. Little Mac was an odd cat. When we got her as a kitten, some like 7 weeks old, the reason why we pick her out is because we thought she was a HE. She had a perfect little tuft of hair back there that even the vet's mistook it for a set of nuts. I remember dropping her off at the vet and getting home in time to have the vet call and ask if they could SPAY her instead of NEUTERING him! So, needless to say, she started off ODD.

Time went on, and she grew up and this cat was bi-polar I swear! If she climbed up into your lab to curl up and take a nap... you didn't dare, move her, pet her, touch her, even think about touching her... she would bite and claw you to death. Other times she was the most lovable cat you can imagine. You could be petting her and scratching her behind the ears and she would purr and nudge you with her nose to encourage more pets, then with no warning, she would bite, wrap her front paws around you and start kicking with her back legs. Like I said BI-POLAR!

The other thing she would do is she would sleep quite literally on your head. If you were sitting up, she would get just as far up on your chest as possible. This was okay at first, then she started getting warm, then she started getting heavy and the next thing you know you feel like your chest is going to cave in from the weight. But you don't dare move her, lest you want your hand removed.

This brings me back to Logan. He was sleeping so peacefully on my chest, all nestled into my neck with his head... sweet as can be... Then I realized, cant feel my arm, there is something warm and wet running down my shirt...(drool...) my chest is heavy and my neck hurts from holding it kinked to one side for so long. But, I don't dare move him, lest I want to sit up with him for the next hour and wait for him to get sleepy again. And I would never trade either of those memories for the world.

7 Days and Counting

Have you ever been so emotionally linked to something that you cannot think what to do next? It could be like when you first hear bad news... that state of shock, where the world stops spinning and its up to you to make it go again. In my case, its not bad news at all. Its 100% pure excitement! There is one week left before our vacation. I know there is a mountain of things that need doing, but for the life of me, I cannot think of a single thing! I guess its time to make a list.

SPEAKING of lists... My dear husband, bless his heart, is more excited then I! In all his excitement and his lists, like at 4 of them, he managed to pack ALL the diapers from the nursery. So, at 5:30am when Logan decided that the rumble in his tummy would prevail over sleep, I had to trek a half naked, half asleep, crying babe down the stairs in search for a daiper. While I love that my husband is trying to think ahead and make sure he thinks of everything, somethings should just be put off until the last minute!

Other things, need to be done ahead, but its those things in which I cannot think of! I suppose, instead of sitting here typing my thoughts, I should be getting started on my list. But, maybe, after I switch the laundry again?

Happy Mothers Day

Yesterday was a good day. Dispite my migrane of a headache all day long, things went pretty good. Went to church, took a brief nap then Justin came home and we headed down the road. Justin treated me to supper at Hickory Park, in Ames. It was Delicious as always! We wondered around Target for a bit and came home.

On the way home we were practicing our ABC's and 123's with Blake... The alphabet when like this.

(my voice in the capitals...)

A...b...C...?...D...ddd (Blakenese for DVD)...E...e...F...e...G...go...H...ahch...I...love you...J...justin?...K...k...L...ell...M...emm...N...emm...O...okay...P...poopoo...Q... coo?... R...? S...ess ...T... tee... U... me! ... V...vee? ... W ...? X... sex... Y... I dunno ... Z ... zee!

Then once we got done with the alphabet, I tried the 123's... this is what I got.

Me, "1...2...3..." Blake, "Good Job mommy!" I gave up...

Blake the Bully

Tears found my eyes as I drove home from church with my little bully in the back seat. Its a conversation that no mom wants to have with the caretaker of their child, "Blake pushed down every child, and was throwing toys."

I guess I can honestly say that I am not surprised. He learned to throw a few weekends ago, a milestone, and a skill that every quarterback will need, but not a desired habit for inside. And certainly NOT one that you want for a 2 year old to be doing at another child out of anger or rage. We have known for a while that Blake has his fathers temper. A temper that has mellowed significantly since Blake was born but still a temper that flairs none the less. As far as the pushing down of other kids... I have no idea. I have seen him hit his little brother on a few occasions, mostly linked to him not getting his way. I feel as though if this keeps up, we will not be able to attend church anymore, or other functions where he will hurt other kids.

He honestly and completely broke my heart. Not my child. My child wouldn't hit another. I think its one of those things that you think your kids wont do. I thought I had taught him better then that. Apparently not. On some level I feel as I have failed as a parent. BUT, I cannot dwell on that. I must fix this! Some research must be done. I WILL NOT LET THIS CONTINUE!