Eleven weeks spent near Portland, Oregon. Two weeks of quarantine and nine weeks being joyously close to our sweet grandchildren. It’s hard to leave. This is what we are going to miss:
Hanging out with Jake and Julie
Admiring their parenting skills and glad we are the grandparents
Eating meals together (and all the ups and downs that entails)
Watching millions of jumps on the trampoline
Going on neighborhood walks
Junior Ranger adventures
Endless games of Candyland and Twister!
Cuddles on the couch with breakfast cookies
Sleepovers
Backyard fun
The enthusiastic greetings we received EVERY DAY!
Preschool in the Playroom
Learning new songs that will NEVER leave our head (Hi, Ho, the Merry-o, to Rhyming Land we go!)
Paisley singing and dancing non-stop
Griffin moving non-stop
Griffin’s messy face (messy, mischievous and so beautiful)
Paisley playing with her teeny tiny toys
Griffin racing his cars and building space shooters
Coloring, painting, green and pink sandcastles, playdoh…
Peas on the floor
The cheesy smell of Goldfish we go home at night with
Rosie (the dog) hiding from all the commotion next to us
Easy peasy laundry
Backyard poop patrols
Paisley and Griffin bestowing so much love on us!
And then the incredible pleasure of holding our darling Beckham – his adorable little body snuggled tight against our shoulders. Those big soulful brown eyes staring into our hearts. His chill relaxed outlook on life. The awe you never get over of a new life entering the world and being a part of you.
And…
We’ll miss spending time with Doug’s 98-year-old father, Creighton and his sister Bev and brother-in-law Barry. We love being with them.
But…
We had good news that makes leaving a little easier this time. We have a volunteer position at Champoeg State Park, which is close by all of our Pacific Northwest family. We will be working as Volunteer Hosts in the Visitor Center/Museum/Garden next July and August! Our first job with Oregon State Parks and one we are very excited about. This means we are putting off our volunteer gig in the Black Hills of South Dakota for another year, but we think that is best while the virus is still so prevalent.
This new job at Champoeg will give us plenty of time to see everyone since we will be working 2 days on and then 4 days off. Champoeg is a beautiful park with a fascinating history that we can’t wait to explore further. It’s nice to have a plan for part of next summer.
For now, we are on the road – staying at the same sites we hit on the way from Arizona to Oregon. These days of travel are simple: breakfast; prepare the RV to get on the road; ride for a few hours; lunch – usually at a rest stop in our RV; ride some more; get to new site by around 3 pm; set up RV; rest; dinner; tv; projects; sleep. It will be about 8 days of this. All one-night stays except for once when we will spend 2 nights. No rush. Keeping safe. Wearing masks. Staying to ourselves.
We will be at Kartchner Caverns on October 13th and will quickly settle into our home there in the beautiful Whetstones. Muffin Top here we come!