Epic Winter Road Trip - The Quest for Sunshine

 This December, we set off on a long awaited 2 week vacation.  And by long awaited, I mean we've been counting down for MONTHS. During those months, the idea of 'x more days until...' felt like the brightest spot in the midst of an onslaught of illnesses. (Anytime the kid is sick, work becomes chaotic, as does school, therapy appointments, etc. Life gets extra messy.)

Now, when My Sailor is serving on a submarine, our trips are kept short and local. Travel is difficult to schedule and usually approved last minute - which also tends to make it expensive. So while he's spending more time on shore (and Holiday Stand Down is a thing) we try to make the most of it. That includes making memories and engaging in experiences as often as possible. I suspect it's fairly typical for Military families, and in that aspect, we are much the same. 

We started our road trip with a detour to see some of The Impossible Girl's cousins in Seattle. Since she'd spent at least half of the last 3 months sick, she missed them a lot, so we made the trip over to Seattle to see them before starting our journey south. 

Road Trip with a Mermaid Tail blanket from the cousins. Makes for great sleep!

We were surprised by a heavy flurry of snow on our way out of the city. It was a beautiful way to start a grand adventure that would cover over 2000 miles.

Our first official stop was a couple hours into the road trip. We stopped at the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon. 

Well worth a visit, there was a LOT for the kids to do to learn about the importance of forests on the planet, and the responsible use of them. Admission was an affordable $5/person, and we could have spent much longer than the hour we had there. 

Other cousins joined us to play.

It's hard to leave such a cool place to play, but we stopped for dinner and then headed further south. 

A few hours later, we finally stopped for the night in Ashland, Oregon. The first day was easy and lots of time spent with My Sailor's family along the way. I'm lucky. They are all pretty cool people and it was nice to visit on our way off on the adventure! 

In the morning, we stopped in the hotel breakfast spot before hitting the road and broke out some of our games. 

Dollar store felt checker travel set.

Two older ladies were also having breakfast at a different table and made excellent commentary on The Impossible Girl learning checkers. it was a nice slow start to the BIG driving day. We'd spend the next 10 hours or so on the road.

We also worked on The Impossible Girl's Travel Journal. Our first leg was 460 miles.

A neighbor in the Buy Nothing group suggested a sheet pan made a great lap table. Perfect for Lego building on the go!

Finally we made it to our destination. Hollywood. 

Along this trip, The Impossible Girl discovered the Lyle Lyle Crocodile soundtrack. Top of the World definitely fit our hotel situation! We spent two nights with the hotel with this fantastic floor to ceiling window, about 12 floors above Wilshire Boulevard. Hotel Indigo was lovely. Though the food options were highly limited there, we did discover some chocolate chip pancakes, and the bar was pretty generous - a nice way to start off the vacation.

Tomorrow we'd check a big destination off the kiddo's bucket list (and mine!)

When the World Paused - Day 120 - Masks Mandated and The Great Outdoors

The world is turning quickly these days. A lot has happened in just the past week. Masks are now a mandatory thing in Washington to enter businesses, and in Seattle, they are mandatory all the time. (A brief stop on a drive today went further in to prove that.) 

But this past week, my brother and I made good on our first 'vacation' together - while sanitizing like crazy, wearing our masks, and doing lots of social distancing. Now, I'll admit - hanging out with my big brother has always been an awesome thing for me. He's on a bit of a pedastool, even though we're both in our 40's now. I see him through realistic glasses, but he's turned into kind of an amazing guy. Since our dad passed away, I see a lot of little quirks of Dad's personality in him. Like I've always said, blood may be thicker than water, but love is what binds us all together. We're a choosen family - not a biological one, but however we came to be - I won the family lottery.

This weekend, we put our bodies to the test and did some socially distant amazing hiking through the Cascade Mountains - with The Impossible Girl en tow, of course.

The trip started with a visit to FinnRiver Cidery and Fort Worden on the Penninsula. Both were easy to stay socially distanced. I wasn't sure how things would go once we got to our home base for the trip - the tiny town of Leavenworth - but it turned out they have also made adjustments. 

They shut down the main street to cars and put picnic tables in the streets to help assist with social distancing, and to help keep the businesses (which rely almost entirely on tourism) to stay attractively open. 

The Impossible girl doesn't love masks or the sun, but she's great at understanding that it keeps her germs to herself. She is also a pro at sanitizing and understanding the purpose behind all of this without letting it really get to her. It's just a change. We miss play grounds and sporting events and movie theaters, but this vacation taught me something I plan to carry forward into my life in all my future parenting. 

 

If you've known me for more than a couple hours - you know I am team 'TAKE THE TRIP'. Don't wait until a small child will (might) remember it clearly. Don't wait until they are perfectly behaving or potty trained, or weaned. TAKE THE TRIP. (I mean, by all means, do what's right for your family. This is just the advice you'll get from me if you ask.) It's EXHAUSTING traveling with a small kid. There is a lot of gear to lug around and things you may not need to worry about at home. It's easier to stay home - or is it?

When we travel, even if it's somewhere like Leavenworth, we try to learn something. Sometimes it's just seeing people that don't look like us, or talk like us. Sometimes it's just to walk a different street and experience a different way of life. Sometimes - like this time - it was to discover that nature has built some wonders that even Disney hasn't been able to replicate. 

In Deception Falls (a fairly easy 1 mile hike), we all learned that the water is SO cold and the rocks and sand do such a good job of filtering the water that NOTHING will live in it. It's fresh and frigid and breath taking.

(We also learned that her legs are magically too tired when she's at the bottom of a hill or a staircase..)

I am always grateful that I can carry her, even now at 40 pounds and nearly 5 years old, around without much of a second thought.  

The hike a Deception Falls was one she did almost all of herself. She was afraid of the roar of the waterfalls for a while, but by the end, she was screaming, "THIS IS SO COOL!" I was also astounded. I've seen waterfalls before, but something about being so close to that one, that was rushing so fast, was just amazing. 

The hike we did the day before she wasn't really up for. She tried, but tired quickly (and the asthma flare up didn't help). I carried her nearly the entire way. 4 miles, about 2.5 hours - and some sights I'll not soon forget. 

My brother snapped this photo as The Impossible Girl and I walked on a bridge crossing a raging river. Summary of the trip is all right there in that photo.

We saw some amazing things - although no animals. It was hot and the middle of the day.

I would never have really considered taking a hiking vacation with The Impossible Girl at this age. Honestly, at this age, if it isn't Disneyland or a Disney related adventure, I don't think I would have bothered with taking her hiking. Camping with a 4 year old sounds like a special form of torture - trying to keep track of her while trying to set up camp.

But this was a great trip. She was a great traveler and was very excited about the whole adventure (and equally as excited to play with all of her toys at home when we returned).  I would never really had considered it, if it was just her and me - because being 'on' as mom doesn't end or really even change just because we change the scenery. But it did recharge my heart a bit. And maybe that's exactly what I didn't realize I needed. 

It was a much needed reminder that we can safely travel and marvel in the things out in it. ...

And follow it up with quite possibly the world's best ice cream...

This kind of trip may be a new summer time favorite. 

 It's not the kind of vacation where all the worries go away. (In fact, you're looking for things like bears constantly.) But it is the kind of trip that deepens our understanding of each other as well as the world around us. 

Tax Return and The Rule of 3rds

I'm doing the happy/relieved dance today! The Tax Return came in! My Sailor and I decided to use the rule of Thirds to decided where the money goes this year. 1/3rd will go to bills. 1/3rd will go to savings. 1/3rd will go to us. Man, does it feel good to see that extra money sitting there!

This is the first year since 2001 that I've gotten money back on my taxes. As a single adult with a good job - the government LOVES to stick it to ya. Sure, we're paying for important things, but I'm happy if I break even. I'm THRILLED if I get something back! Now to decide which bill gets to disappear! I'll be checking out interest rates and making sure it goes to the highest one.

We're also going to be cutting back a bit when we move. We'll be canceling cable - which makes me VERY happy. Currently, we pay over $100/month for internet at TV. My Sailor wanted his sport channels when we moved and didn't really have an idea on how little he'd be home. Now that he does, it's time to cut that back. He's rarely home enough to catch a full game, and I prefer to head to the sports bar for a change of scenery and a beer. Most sports networks are available online, so we're going to let the cable TV go. We have a computer and a PS3 hooked up to that TV. We can watch things on Hulu.com or online for free or next to free. This has the potential to result in a savings for $750 PER YEAR! Pretty significant if you ask me!

I'm not used to being financially stable. I'm used to freaking out over money. It's kind of funny how it's working out. Sure, I'm still the chief breadwinner (what do you expect? I've been at my job since 2005), and I handle most of the money, but we make decisions together regarding how to save or spend it. I think it's proving to be a nice balance for me. I'm making headway in paying down my debt, my car is paid off, and we're looking at BUYING A HOUSE! Yeah, I know. I've mentioned it before. We're waiting on our pre-approval.

It looks like it's going to happen in this order:
House
Wedding
Baby

So that brings up the last one on that list - Baby. We're talking about starting the adoption process at the same time we pull the goalie, since chases are more than likely that my body won't cooperate. Filing for adoption will take the stress off for "must have something that looks like us", so in some ways, it might actually INCREASE our odds of getting pregnant.

I wrestle a little bit with the kid thing because it means I seriously need to beef up my writing resume, so I can work part time at my day job, and bring some money freelance writing. My current gigs pay in bragging rights mostly. I'm VERY proud to be following my passion and be part of the Celebrations Press team. It's my FAVORITE gig and I'm hoping to expand it. If I had the funds, I'd LOVE to do a Disney Parks International column for them as well. So far, I haven't been able to afford to take research trips to Tokyo, Paris, or Hong Kong, but the desire is there!

But I know I'll have to get books rolling if I want to get out of the Medical Coding world. Medical coding just pays really well and is steady. Being a starving artist is overrated.

So we'll see how things pan out, but one thing is certain -
Little Sailor's first trip to Disney is going to ROCK!

Me?! A Mom?!

(Me and Gerber Baby)

If you would have told me in high school that I'd ever want to be a parent,I probably would have treated you like you had the plague.

If you had told me in my early 20's that I'd consider family life, I'd still have laughed you out of town.

But around 25 years old, it hit. With the help of the man I was with at the time, I began to picture myself being part of a family.

Probably not your typical family though. I have no designs on being a stay-at-home domestic goddess. I have a picture of traveling the world, with a baby on my back and my husband right there with me. I can't blame this "unconventional" family ideal on my upbringing. We did a little globe trotting, but not the degree I hope to in the future.

My family has been fairly conventional, aside from not being biologically related to any of the people I grew up with. They are still "Mom" and "Dad" and "Brother" and always will be, despite what DNA may say. I find that as I grow older, I find myself facinated by that "new family" smell that many of my friends are living in. It's a completely alien concept to me, but a beautiful, wonderous one none the less.

Saturday, I got reminded that "Hey, I can do this," as I spent some time with Gerber Baby. (If you've read my blog long enough, you'll realize that I prefer nicknames for blogspot. You all know who you are.) While his parents got a short break from Gerber baby, I watched him for a while.

That said - I am a LONG time out of baby sitting anyone I couldn't reason with. So this was a new challenge.Thankfully, Gerber Baby is probably the easiest kid on the face of the planet. At first, I was tenative, but after sharing a ride on Winnie the Pooh's ride and riding "topside" (that's where he is sitting on my shoulders, for those that don't speak Munderloh) for a while, I realized, "Hey, this is actually pretty fun." Maybe because it gave me an excuse to be a kid again myself. Maybe this is a little tiny taste of the fulfilling feeling parents get as they play with their kids and teach them things?

Granted, parenting is a very different bag from simply babysitting for a few hours. But I guess it helped build my confidence. There is no real manual to parenting. Kids don't come with an instruction manual. I think adoptive parents have a particular challenge because we adoptees are DEFINATELY our own people. We don't resemble the people who come to love us as "Mom" and "Dad", but we are definatley driven to be our own people.

The affirmation that no young child will perish under my watch felt great. But one step further, I may have something to offer the next generation, amazed me. It's easy to feel like I'm sitting on the other side of the world from experiencing all that for myself; I mean, the closet I have to that kind of bond is, well, me and my dog (which is COMPLETELY different, but he's the only dependent, somewhat trainable life form depending on me). Afterall, I'm divorced (and not willing to have a child out of wedlock - just a personal decision) and there is no ring on my finger. I am a family of one. And right now, that's okay. It's as it's supposed to be.

Anyway, it was a great experience. It always feels great to have a part of the heart dusted off and awakened.