Our trip starts in Maryville, TN...
Briefly...
This move was so unexpected! Dave and I have been married 12 years (13 this May). My family moved to WA state 2 weeks after we were married for my Dad to become the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Tacoma, WA. We have one daughter, Faith Malia who will be six January 18th. We said we always stay in TN, we were content and had friends, his family and church. We made some changes and started seeking the Lord and His will for our lives this past year. Dave put in for a position at Boeing and he was offered the job. It was in Auburn, WA which is 20 min. from my parents! He accepted the offer two days before Thanksgiving (2006) and we began to pack and get our house ready to sell. We had to be here in WA by the end of December.
Here's how our trip went...
After many all-nighter's, we had the house packed and all the remodeled rooms finished...With the help of Dave's Dad and brother, we loaded the 26ft. Penske truck on Thursday, December 21st. We also had my truck loaded. Faith had her toys, DVD's, etc. next to her...along with a purple Christmas tree :) We had blankets, snacks, etc. We stayed the night and next day with Dave's family then headed for Nashville on the evening of the 22nd. We stayed in the Country Inn & Suites and hit the road early Saturday morning hoping to get to Topeka, KS... We hit the Kansas line about dusk, we were exhausted and finally both of us agreed to pull over. We had reservations in Topeka and wanted to see some friends but we were just too tired. We stayed in a Hampton Inn, somewhere in Kansas :) It was a very nice hotel and we all got a great nights sleep. The next day we got up early and headed across the state of Kansas, we were about 3 hours behind "our" schedule. Faith said Kansas was sad, she said it had no trees, no water, no cows...she only counted 2 birds in the whole state!
We thought we would make it to Denver, CO, I had a very nice hotel reserved for Christmas Eve night...with an indoor swimming pool. Well, we crossed the Kansas/Colorado line and immediately the roads were covered in ice and snow. This slowed us down considerably. There are hardly any exits with hotels, gas stations, etc. the first part of CO. So, I called my Mom as it was getting late and snowing. We knew we wouldn't make it to Denver. She found us a hotel in Limon, CO...we slid off the exit and into the parking lot of the Comfort Inn :)
I went to Denny's and brought back something for dinner, Faith had fallen asleep and there was no waking her up. She woke up at 5:30 a.m. so excited...it's Christmas! We had bought her a small purple Christmas tree and had her gifts under it. The hotel had an indoor pool so we let her swim for awhile...we couldn't get out of the parking lot anyway! It was 5 below zero with the wind chill! After warming the trucks up for 30 min we started on our way. The roads were awful! Well, I say awful, but they weren't anything compared to what we were going to face.
It was very slow going through Colorado with the icy roads. We made it to Rawlins, WY Christmas night. Again, we slid into this town (Dave said the "one horse" in the town was dead - it froze to death). We hadn't stopped for lunch because the roads were so bad...lots of blowing snow, the winds were awful and really slowed us down. We had hoped to make it to Boise, ID...not quite! Anyway, the hotel had an indoor pool so Faith was happy...the door handle came off our room door in Dave's hand! We weren't too concerned, this town was covered in snow and there was no one around. We found one place that was still open for dinner...a bar/lounge...can't remember the name but they did have good burgers. Can't say we slept very well, but it was a warm place and we weren't on the side of the road.
Tuesday we were on the road early, still not making good time, the roads were still icy and snow covered. The wind was awful and we slid a couple times. Lots of prayer that day! Little did we know what was up ahead later...
We made it to Boise, ID and stayed in another hotel...can't remember the name :) ha, ha...too many! We were SO ready to get off the road. It was raining and dark and very hard to see. I told Dave not to get too far in front of me because I couldn't see the road...he said he was staying behind a trucker because he couldn't see either! We made it safe and sound and ran across the street to the grocery store to get sandwiches for dinner then we all got a good nights rest. We met my uncle for breakfast and headed down the road again.
What a day! My birthday, Dec. 27th. One day behind, exhausted and ready to be out of the trucks! We made good time until we came to "Cabbage", that would be the Blue Mountains. My Uncle had warned us of the 6% grade and to not go too fast. He said truckers go about 18mph in good weather...well, we hit it in whiteout conditions! Mom was watching the DOT site and said she couldn't see anything. We couldn't either! We pulled over and just kept praying the Lord would show us what to do. We had no idea, we couldn't stay on the side of the road, they were expecting 6 inches or more snow, and we couldn't make it down the mountain in those conditions either.Dave walked back to a trucker who just "happened" to have a set of chains that fit the Penske truck perfectly! Dave chained his truck up and we headed down the 6% grade. Praying and quoting "What time I am afraid I will trust in Thee" we made it down the mountain (15 miles of whiteout and icy roads) an hour later - safely, no problems. Thank the Lord! That was our last encounter with snow.
The rest of the trip was tiring but we pressed on and made it to Mom and Dad's about 10p.m. that night. Thank the Lord for a safe trip...3000 miles and no engine, mechanical problems, no sickness...just lots of memories!
I'll try to write more later...and add more pictures ... we've been busy, busy...
More Pictures...
Kansas - close to Colorado
Faith in the pool
Christmas morning in Limon,CO
Strong winds, icy roads, blowing snow and VERY cold in WY
Headed towards Idaho
Oregon headed to Washington...
