Leaving Spokane and the Snow...hopefully

Whew! Day 1 complete!

We couldn’t have gotten out of our driveway and street without the help of the snow angels God sent us! PRAISE THE LORD! The kids helped get the icicles off Spirit and our good friend Mike snowplowed around the RV and driveway so we had a clear launch pad. Our first turn out of the driveway North and we got stuck in all the massive snow in the road. But Captain Geoff knew what to do! Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth… Then we hear from above the cab, “I can still see our house!” Yes, Kai. Thank you, we know. The wheels finally found good traction and we’re off! Oh - but right before we left, our neighbor brought us some goodies and told us how much fun all the parks are going to be for the kids. I grabbed her arm and squealed, “the TICKETS!” Yes, we almost left home without the precious (and expensive) tickets of gold that give us access into all the parks of wonder, fun, and exhaustion - the whole reason this trip even got planned in the first place. - Okay, now back to the snow - With tickets in hand we roll down our street in the main wheel ruts about a block - yes, one block, and we get stuck again. Geoff jumps out with a shovel this time and I’m thinking to myself, how many of us does it take to push out a motorhome in snow? J. says in his best Eeyore voice, “Oh, I don’t wanna be a Dad when I grow up. Then I’ll have to dig out the motorhome.” With God’s grace and Geoff’s determination we got out of dodge! Singing Jimmy B,’s “Volcano” (our best Rock Band score ever!) and “Ring of Fire”, we were off! It was a glorious 1st half of the drive once we got out of Spokane. We found the sun and it glistened so brightly off the blanket of snow covered hills. Lots of sparkles and gorgeous sky. God even gave us a vertical rainbow faintly seen against the clouds in Oregon. Our Beautiful Creator! Yes, God is with us - EMMANUEL! Praise Him!

We finally hooked up with our friends in Arlington, OR. We had a quick but sweet little pitstop with them. They’re heading to visit family in Cali. Then the 2nd half of our trip began on I-84 - yikes! I’ll just say it took us almost 2 extra hours to get to Vancouver, WA to see our friend Lawrence and his family. It’s hard to get anywhere on time when you’re only going 30 mph with snow coming down strong. The kids did great watching “AquaMan” and Barbie’s Christmas Carol. At one point Mary asked, “Which are we going to furst? Disneyland or Legoland?” In my best, soothing, motherly voice I answered, “Port-LAND!”

We were met with lots of love and hugs from Lawrence and family. And delicious Filipino food! Chicken adobo, beef something, crab, and ice cream. Thank you, Lawrence! Now we’re racing another storm so we best be off!

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