It's been a while since i've had a chance to put some thoughts and feelings down in black and white. I'm sitting downstairs as i like to call it, in Dora. My toes are wrapped in an extra blanket and the heater is on - its warmer than its been to date but still a tad chilly. Freja actually asked to go to bed tonight - she loves sleepng in "The Brown Van" as she calls it. As an avid Dora The Explorer fan, no amount of explanations will convince her that she is in fact driving along in Dora!
As we woke up in Olympia this morning - I'll admit i'm not a morning person and Matty bore the brunt of it before breakfast - the rain had stopped thankfully. Our motel breakfast left a lot to be desired but we filled up nonetheless and got packed up. Taking advantage of the bath and shower availability, we were all sprarkly clean and bright eyed and bushy tailed after a good nights sleep in our queen sized beds.
We hit the road and headed straight for the coast on the 101. It took a few u-turns, many detours, and a lot of telling Karen (our Australian tour guide GPS narrator) that she didn't have a f#&$^%& clue what she was talking about but we got the right route eventually. Karen has since been relieved of her position and Daniel (very British -must know what he's talking about) has replaced her, he's doing OK so far.
The road from Olympia to the Washington coast was quite a disappointment in that so much of it has been clearcut. Cancerous holes in the forest make for a very sad sight. Our eyes opened wide however when we saw the Astoria-Megler bridge across the Columbia River. It's the longest truss bridge in North America and links Washington State with Oregon. We stopped and had a picnic lunch just underneath it in Astoria, Oregon.
Then off again heading further south and excited to be seeing the Oregon coast so many people have told us about. I was driving, and after a few "what are you doing"?s and "where are you going?''s and "you're in the wrong gear!"s from my co pilot and navigator (i've only been driving 6 years more than him - what do i know?)we were putting along nicely meandering through the beautiful dense, vivid green trees, through quaint little immaculate seaside villages. There's a place actually called Seaside. The smell of sea and fresh green forest was intoxicating.
I had the huge realisation while driving along this route......WOW....we're actually doing this! This is real. We have friends and family all over the world doing what they are doing, living their lives, but this is my life, and i have my husband and kids with me in this van - our home - on this immense journey together. The realisation of what i was doing at that exact moment hit me square on in the heart actually and i felt it leap momentarily with excitement. Then my brain may have exploded a little as i tried to comprehend it all - will i ever?
And then we saw it! The most magnificent beach i think i have ever seen. From the top of our cliff vantage point, stretched out in front of us was a neverending coastline of beautiful calm blue sea, crisp white waves fawning onto a pristine golden sandy beach nestled at the bottom of an evergreen tree lined hillside, and the picture perfect arrangement of beach houses completed the perfect postcard scene. We stopped to breathe in the beauty - and had to try pretty hard to restrain an excited Freja from hopping off down the cliff face to build some huge sandcastles.
Then off again, we wanted to get as far as we could before the sun went down. Feeding 2 tired, hungry babies is tough at the best of times, but when they've been cooped up in a van most of the day and dinner is a la camping stove and you have to dig their bed out from under all your worldly possessions and do some nifty rearrangements in the dark..........daylight hours are precious. Not to mention the fact that the youngest one would gladly chow down on all the rocks from the carpark given half a chance under cover of dark......its most definitely a juggle. But when moments happen like the one this evening at the campsite when Freja picks up the American flag posted at the end of our campsite and yells ready set go and cheers with encouragement at Eir as she brings down the flag to start the race and Eir dances with joy....or to see both of them in hysterical laughter, rolling about hugging and kissing each other in the sleeping bags when getting ready for bed.....suddenly everything's OK and we're doing the right thing.
We're just south of Lincoln City, OR. We'll try for California tomorrow.