One Last Visit, Then Home

 We left Colorado then headed west to Northern California. 

Stopped for gas and some hot chocolate. Beth gets hot chocolate every Sunday at church so she was very happy to get some this Sunday too!

We ended up driving by the Great Salt Lake and the salt flats. We're the blue dot at the bottom of this pic. That's where we were when I took these pictures.  

Chuck and I are on ancestry.com and about 15 years ago a lady named Joan emailed me and asked about her aunts picture on our page. Her aunt is my great grandmother. She was putting together a book of the history of our family and mentioned that back in 1928 my grandfather and his cousin, went with an aunt and uncle on a road trip from Massachusetts to San Diego, up to Seattle and home again. She had letters that her aunt wrote to her cousin (mom and daughter) during the trip. What she didn't know was that I had all the photos of that trip. We've been writing back and forth all these years, and finally got to meet.

We crossed Donner Pass, the same road they took on that 1928 trip.

This a post card of a snow shed up on Donner pass.

Here they are visiting the giant redwoods in northern California -

My grandpa Robert on the left, with Uncle Henry and Aunt Lou.

We met Joan and Don for lunch and talked for almost 2 hours. But we wish we'd had more time. It was so good to meet them.

We stayed overnight in Redding, then had breakfast at Black Bear Diner in the morning. The food was so good. And they're known for their biscuits.

Mount Shasta

Drove through Oregon, then into Washington, and home to Seattle.

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Right now we're going through some things at home so I may not be on here for a while. Please keep our family in your prayers.

Our Very First Was With Our Second

Our very first road trip was in 1986 and was actually from San Diego to Seattle. Chuck had an aunt and cousin that lived here and we decided that year to visit them for Thanksgiving.

 Beth was 2 and Sharaya was just 1 month old.

 Home from the hospital

I remember they both slept almost the entire way. Well, not really but they sure slept a lot and we couldn't believe how easy it was! To be honest, I don't remember a whole lot about the road trip itself.

Beth - the hood of the car was warm!

Chuck and Sharaya 

I do remember we stayed at a Motel 6 in Weed, CA and we were at the base of Mount Shasta. We didn't have mountains like that in San Diego and waking up in the morning, seeing this majestic, snow-covered mountain was just spectacular!

It's been more than 30 years but I've never forgotten the sight of that mountain on that cold, November morning. (Wouldn't you know it, I've spent 3 days looking for the picture I took of our car at the motel with Mount Shasta in the background and I can't find it anywhere.)

These pictures will give you some perspective of the mountain in relation to the geography around it. (These next 3 pics are courtesy of Google.)

This is Mt Shasta, taken from the parking lot of the motel we stayed in.
 

But this is what it was like when we were there. In fact, it had snowed the night we stayed at the motel and even though there was no snow on the roads (thank you Lord!) the air was cold and there was snow on the trees when we woke up. It was a spectacular site!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. It was so much fun being in Washington and with Chuck's family, they told a lot of stories about him growing up!

Mary Ellen and Aunt Virginia

The 4 of us all slept in one room, the girls were in the playpen (Beth was 2, but small so they both fit) and Chuck and I in the bed. It was pouring rain and the thunder was so loud I thought it was gonna wake up the girls but thankfully they slept through it. Chuck and I laid in bed and listened to the pounding rain, the thunder and lightning, the sound was deafening and I was so scared! It shook the entire house! I'd never experienced anything like that and I told Chuck I never wanted to come back!

Despite the rain though, we did have a great time. Our very first road trip was one to be remembered and it began a passion that has lasted many years!

By the way, two years after that trip to WA State, we moved here. Never say never! :)