*Mom, I love visiting with you and catching up, but the trips to G & G's are just so emotionally draining and tough! I have so much respect for you and admire your strength to live everyday and hour in that situation*
My aunt and I left around 10:30 this morning after careful research and discussion as to the best route home. It seems the entire State of Oregon dropped 10 degrees over the weekend causing the mountain we drove over on Friday was having snow flurries and 30 to 40 degree temps. We finally decided that the way we came was the way we would return. Even after our near miss with the semi, my aunt came to the conclusion that if you fall off a horse, you got get right back on.
We went back over to the house to say our goodbyes and make a quick lunch for us to eat during the drive. Hugs all around and grandma shed a few tears, but I promised to come back and asked her to take care of my mom for me. And off we went.
This trip home we listened to the audiobook we started on Friday and really enjoyed it! I'm gonna have to find it at my library so I can finish it. It's called "Traveling with Pomegranates" and is a true story about mothers and daughters (perfect for a Mother's Day weekend). It is actually written by a mother and daughter and the mom also wrote "The Secret Life of Bees", and she even talked about how she got the inspiration for the book. I could relate completely with the daughter, which made me want to keep listening.
We saw quite a few creatures this time, including a lonely coyote just meandering the highway like he wasn't sure what was going on. To me he looked little sad and I hope he finds a partner and is joyous once again. Even coyotes should have a friend to hang out with. I thought I saw a beaver on the side of the road at one point, but it could've been some sort of woodchuck. Oh and we saw turkey vultures eating something they found dead on the side of the road. I hope it wasn't the coyote's friend :-(
So, remember the first part of this road trip? How we were run off the road by a distracted semi? Well, instead of a semi it was 3 deer and 3 other cars! We were getting closer to Bend (our halfway mark) and there was some construction on the road which made the left lane merge into the right and caused everyone to slow down (thankfully). We were in the left lane trying to merge over and for some reason the car in the right lane behind us was not letting us in. So my aunt slowed down even more and then realized that the cars in front were slowing down considerably fast! We swerved a little and saw a deer peak out and walk in front of the front cars ... then a second deer followed ... and then a third! No one got hurt and the deers made it safely to the center grassy area of the highway...crisis averted! whew!
We stopped in Bend for some Starbucks, ate our lunch and continued towards the mountain which had some blue sky around it, but also some angry clouds. As we got closer it started raining quite a bit and on the mountain it snowed for a moment. But, we made it through and over all of it and my aunt dropped me off at my place. I got inside, hugged my kitties, and unpacked.
My daily routine will start again tomorrow at 4:30 a.m. when I wake up for work, and part of me is relieved, but a small part of me wishes I could sleep in and just be for a full day.
Hope you enjoyed this road trip adventure! Thanks to my Aunt Barbara for driving and letting me tag along. I had a great time talking and catching up with you!
Till the next trip ...
No comments:
Post a Comment