a record of our journey

{leg one}

day one

-june 9-

we awake at 6:40 to two children hopping by the side of our bed, exclaiming "it's time to go, today is the day". we rise, dress, eat, load the final pieces and head out. across the boarder by 9:40am, we are slow going but going. we watch the road pass us by, the fields, houses, and store fronts. we are on a journey, together. my heart is full, i love this time of year, the four of us with no place in particular to be or go, just cruising. heading south, looking for sunshine, looking for waves, looking for adventure. we cross the boarder to oregon, deep sigh, almost there. we pull up to our first stop at around 10:00pm, corvalis. ring the door bell and are greeted with deep hugs from old friends. freddy and erica chat with us through the night, there is remembering of old times, sharing of new hearts and adventures that await us. the girls are tucked into bed with their boys, and i smile as i check on them before i close my own eyes. our journeys begun.

day two

-june 10-

with sunshine streaming through the windows we wake to kids already playing on the trampoline outside. we spend the morning sitting with our legs stretched out watching the kids play in the backyard. an idea was hatched and freddy took us on an adventure. with each of us on a bike we head first to a park, we play, sophie learns to do the monkey bars. we continue to peddle around town, past greek row and through the university, then along tree covered paths to another park. penny is asleep, we play some more, find more monkey bars, and enjoy the sunshine. it seems storybook, this little town, i kinda like it. we ride to a pizza place for lunch, we sit on the roof top to eat. dreamy really. from the rooftop pizza place we ride to a fountain in the middle of town where the kids play in the water and catch flying cotton. the store fronts are old and quaint, bakeries and cafes, people walking and biking. we head back home where the kids play again in a pool before getting ready for a gymnastics birthday party. we join the party. we play. we pretend we are in the olymipcs...even scott, which makes for much laughter. back to erica and freddys, back to the little outdoor pool and trampoline, back to playing in the sunshine and then back to bed. we enjoy more conversations. we enjoy building a deeper relationship.

day three

-june 11-

back in the cruiser we say our goodbyes and head west, west to beaches and waves. west and then south to sunset bay. we travel well together, it's easy and i kinda like that, us and our dog. the girls taking pictures of the backs of our heads as we go...copious amounts of pictures of the backs of our heads as we watch the ocean move beside us. we stay at sunset bay state park, it is quiet and small. at night we walked across the little road to the bay to watch the sun go down. day four

-june 12-

the fog has moved in and given the place around us a different feel. we have plans to drive to bandon and see the west coast game park. there are animals walking around with us as we explore the zoo. penny just wants to pat a deer, but she is too fast and they don't seem to like that. sophie has her mind set on feeding the goats, but her little heart gets the best of her and she puts most of the food on the ground. we touch and pat a baby bear. we play with and pat a baby cougar and baby bob cat. it is amazing how close we can be to the animals, it is sad how small their cages are, it hurts my heart and i wonder what the right thing is.

back at our little home we set out again for the top of the hill where the sea lions bark and the waves crash against gnarly rocks. we imagine living there. we laugh and explore. we build a fire and eat amazing food back at camp. the grils find an old stump that makes the perfect stage. we hear many musicals and are invited to shows lots of shows. we crawl into bed. what amazing days we are having together.

day five

-june 13-

sophie declared that it was "beach day" and so we headed out with buckets in hand and a picnic packed to spend the day on the beach. we built sandcastles, buried each other, jumped in the waves and played all day long. the night invites us back for more and we watched the sun set in the bay while we jump off rocks and pretend to be pocahontas.