New Beginnings!

The last few months have been CRAZY... It all started in June when we found out my husband got a job in Seattle that was going to be starting in August, which then turned into October! But that is a different story... So all of July was spent planning, packing, buying safe foods for my daughter, changing plans, and then more packing, and finally leaving our home in San Diego. We got a PODS shipping container and had all our stuff sent to Washington. Then the four of us road tripped it all they way up the coast of California, Oregon, and then finally Washington.

The first stop we made was all the way up to Anaheim! YES, a whole 2 hours drive that first day. We stayed at the Howard Johnson Hotel and Water Playground. We just spent an exhausting week packing everything we owned into a single box and we just wanted an evening of relaxing and fun. A splurge well worth it in my opinion. The rooms were huge and there was a little patio area that you could hang your bathing suits up to dry. Our room overlooked the water playground area but it closed at 10pm and wasn't a problem. There was also an arcade at the hotel, but there was not many games and about half of them were out of order. Not to mention a little over priced. I recommend staying away from the arcade and spending the time at the spray-ground and pool. The room also had a microwave and refrigerator which made it easy to make meals for the family. A great money saver, but a necessity for us. Traveling with food allergies is doable, but not easy and takes a lot of planning. We can't just pick up and go anywhere. My son still talks about going back to the pirate hotel and wants to move there. When we go back to visit my parents and Disneyland we will be staying there again. A very reasonably priced hotel next to Disneyland that was a lot of fun. You could even watch the Disneyland fireworks from the hotel.

 

The next day we headed out early, and drove to San Francisco. It was a long drive that day, but the kids had backpacks filled with workbooks, stickers, toys, crayons, etc. to keep them busy. We arrived at our hotel late and it was very cold so we took showers and went to bed. The next day we spent half the day in San Francisco sight seeing and burning some energy off before we drove to our next destination.

Carousel at Pier 39

Driving down Lombard St

Biscoff Latte's

 After a nice afternoon we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge and headed to Eureka. The scenery started to change from coastal to beautiful forests. You realize how insignificant you are when you are witnessing nature and trees to that magnitude. The Redwoods were a real treat and the kids were in awe.

So much to explore in the Redwood Forests.

Picture with Paul Bunyan at The Trees of Mystery 

We drove our car through a tree!!

 After we left Eureka we drove to Oregon and came across this really fun Prehistoric Garden in Port Orford. It was nature, science, dinosaurs, and a lot of fun all in one. The garden has been there for 60 years and worth a stop. It was a fun place to stretch our legs and we learned things as well. A home school moms dream road trip stop.  They gave you a map to follow and the kids had such a fun time we went around the trail three times. It rains so much there that it looked like you were in a jungle.

So at this point we are on our fourth day of travel and after the Prehistoric Garden we drove a little farther and ended the day in Eugene Oregon. The next day we decided to only drive a few hours and we stopped in Portland and did some more sight seeing. The kids were getting tired of all the driving and we needed a day to rest. We stayed in the beautiful historic Embassy Suites by Hilton Hotel in Downtown Portland. It was built in 1912 and right in the heart of the city near lots of fun stuff. The room was amazing, it had a bedroom, a sitting room, and an office. Only one king size bed though since I booked it last minute, but I got a great deal on the room.

 

We first went to Stumptown Coffee and got some drinks. Its a local coffee roaster in Portland and the mocha was so good. The cold brew was also good, we got a four pack and tried each of the cold brews that they carried. My favorite was the chocolate. It came in a milk carton and tasted like chocolate milk. If there was lunch cafeterias for adults this is what they should serve. The price was a lot more then the 0.25 that I paid when I was getting chocolate milk cartons though.



After grabbing some coffee we headed to Washington park and let the kids play. In addition to the great playground there was also some museums, a rose test garden, a zoo, and much more to do there but we didn't have time to do everything. After playing we headed back to the hotel and took advantage of the pool and hot tub. After we got the kids to bed my husband ran over to Voodoo Donuts and got us a few to try. They were so good and I wished I could have gone to see the store, but Devyn is allergic to nuts and eggs so we couldn't take them with us. Plus someone had to stay at the hotel and watch the kiddos. I couldn't eat one in front of her, but nothing stopping me from sneaking it while she is sleeping. The hotel also had a pretty good sit down breakfast buffet that was included in the nights stay. We were able to get some oatmeal, fruit and bacon for Devyn that morning. After breakfast we got ready to leave and finish our trip. 

 

On August 1, the sixth day of our trip we finally arrived in Washington! Our apartment wasn't ready for us until the 8th so we stayed with some friends that were gracious enough to share their space with a crazy family of four. During that time we also attended my sister in laws beautiful farm wedding. We had a little trouble with the unpacking because our apartment didn't have a place to park the PODS so we ended up renting a uhaul. We had to unpack the PODS and then pack the uhaul. We then had to drive to our apartment and then unpack again. It was exhausting, I am so glad that it is all behind us now. We have been in our apartment for about a month now and are starting to get settled here in our new home. Everything is unpacked, we got our drivers licenses changed to Washington licenses, and most importantly we got our library cards. We are now looking forward to getting into a schedule and starting school again. The kids did incredibly well with the trip and the move. We are glad it is over and can get back to normal though. Now to order the curriculum, start the school year and explore our new state! This is going to be an adventure.