Day Sixty-Five...

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…the LAST day on the road. Our epic road trip has come to an end. The drive home was uneventful, save for all the smoke. It was still smoky this morning, we couldn’t see Lake Coeur d’Alene as we drove by it and the bridge crossing the Columbia River into Vantage was shrouded in the haze. Keechelus Lake, on I-90 east of Snoqualmie Pass, was dry due to the extremely mild winter. I’ve never seen it without water. I wasn’t even sure it was Keechelus Lake as we drove by it, but all the construction that’s been going on there for the past few years confirmed it. The thing that struck me the most about coming home was seeing all the Washington license plates. After two months of rarely seeing a Washington plate and getting excited when we did, it was weird to see them everywhere.

We pulled in, parked the rig, breathed a heavy sigh, gathered the few things in the truck that needed to go into the house and walked to the front door.

Opening the door, we were met with Alison and her camera videotaping the dogs’ reaction to our homecoming. This was planned. She and I had talked yesterday or the day before about how the dogs would react when we pulled up. We both predicted Tag dancing around and being extremely excited. Dino, Alison was afraid, would be so excited to see us that he’d have a heart attack there on the porch. As we neared home, I texted Alison a few times with our current location so she’d have a good idea exactly when we’d arrive.

So when we opened the door and neither dog was in sight…well...how’s that for a welcome home? At least Alison and Ryan were happy to see us…although they didn’t dance around and wiggle their butts. They just gave us each really big, awesome hugs. Our kids give the best hugs.

Eventually Tag came down from the bedrooms upstairs. She was happy to see us and immediately rolled over so we’d scratch her tummy. Dino didn’t even hear us come in, not that we expected him to, and was still probably under our bed. After calling him with my no doubt annoying yodeling of his name, Dino remained upstairs forcing us to go to him. Mike got down on his hands and knees, peered under the bed. Seeing Mike, Dino convinced his 14 year old body to come out from under the bed and be sociable. He welcomed us home with several sniffs…who are you again?...you smell slightly familiar, but I can’t quite place it…oh, now it’s coming back to me…you used to live here…it’s been a while…howya doin’?

The homecoming party finally broke up after several minutes and I noticed how clean the house was. They finally heard what I’d been telling them for years. It doesn’t matter how messy it gets while Mom and Dad are gone as long as it’s clean when they get home…even if you’re putting the vacuum away as they drive up. Advice given from personal experience. At least they didn’t have three younger sisters who were more of a hindrance than help.



This post was so long in the uploading because I wanted to attach Alison's video footage. After looking at it, the reunion was so anticlimactic I think the write-up is better...that's how meh it was.

All in all, it was a fantastic adventure. Thank you for following us and thank you to those who posted comments.

Until next time,

Mike and Aileen.

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The End?