Well, we're back, and I figure the best way to document the trip is to do it day by day. The reason it's taken me so long to post this will be explained on the last two days, so stay tuned!
Day 1We left Tuesday, the 14th, and drove to Spokane and stayed the night since our plane left early-ish the next morning.
Day 2We flew from Spokane to Portland, then from there to Oakland.
Here's Craig and I on Craig's first plane ride! I wanted to take this in case he becomes a pilot one day and I can show him his first flight. He did really well--he played for the first leg of the flight and slept for the rest. I felt really sorry for another lady on the flight with a baby. She was by herself and her kid would not stop crying for most of it. She was quite a ways from us, but I could hear the faint cries. Then there was the girl traveling by herself with twin boys, about 18 months old! But I think they did okay.
Once in Oakland, we went to get our rental car that we had reserved. It's long story, but basically one thing Robert really wanted to do was rent a Charger (he loves them). One thing he never in his life wanted to own or even drive is a minivan. But through a series of unfortunate events, this is what we ended up with:
It's a Kia Sedona and I loved it! It was just so convenient to have all that room and to be able to fit my parents with us if we all wanted to go somewhere, which we did end up doing later on.
After more than two hours of struggling with the rental car situation, we drove to Sonora. We got there only about 20 minutes before my dad got home from work (we were there to surprise him for his 60th birthday). We hid in the back room while he circled the strange van outside with the Pennsylvania plates. My mom had to lure him inside finally and we jumped out! Now that I think about it, it would have been great to have a picture of his reaction. Sorry.
Day 3I had arranged to visit my old work this day, so Craig and I spent almost two hours talking to my old coworkers and boss and friends. Everyone loved seeing this little guy. It doesn't seem I've been gone long enough to have had a baby. I was not quite 4 weeks along when we moved and we didn't know it yet. There were a lot of times on this trip that I forgot to bring the camera and I am kicking myself for it. Thursday night we met a friend and his kids in the new Copperopolis Towne Square. It's a little place with shops and restaurants that was still being built
Here's Bryan holding Craig and Kate in front. Somehow I missed getting a picture of Lily.
Day 4Friday was my dad's first day off of his three-day weekend, so we decided to go to Yosemite! Robert and I never made it there during the time we lived in Sonora, so we were really excited to go. It was great because we got to take the van with everyone together and since my dad has a handicapped plaque, we got in free, and at $20 per vehicle these days, that was great deal. We saw El Capitan and Half Dome, of course, toured the Awahnee, and had a picnic lunch in a beautiful spot. It was a really good day. That night, back in Sonora, my parents watched Craig for us and we went to my high school's homecoming football game! That was something else we always wanted to do when we lived there but never did. We lost :( but it was fun to go and remember the good ol' days. (I can't believe this year will be 10 years since I graduated!)
Craig slept almost the entire way there and back. He was so great the whole time.
Saturday was the big surprise party day for my dad. Not only did he not know Robert, Craig, and I her coming into town, he didn't know my mom had planned a big dinner with all his family friends. My other sister and her family was there, as well as our extended family. It was really tough keeping it a surprise. He was really suspicious and nearly sabotaged all of our plans for keeping it secret, but we somehow pulled it off. It was a lot of fun. My dad is one of those guys that you never know what to get them, so this year my siblings and I went in together and got him this
digital scrapbook (email is rsleal05@gmail.com and password is "guest" then click on "storybooks" and "preview") of his life. (Thanks Grandpa and Mom for the pictures!)
Day 6On Sunday we decided to hit two different wards. We went to our old ward in the morning then to my parents' ward in the afternoon. Again, it was fun to see old friends and show off Craig.
(By the way, Craig was as good as gold the whole time!)
Day 7There's an old mining town that's now turned into a state park near Sonora called Columbia. We've loved going there since I was a kid and I still love to go whenever I'm home. My sister and her kids met us and my mom there. We walked the little town, went to the candy store, and played in "Rock City" (that's an area where hydraulic mining washed away all of the dirt and left the big boulders). That evening, Robert stayed home with Craig and my sister's husband watched their kids while Laura and I went out to dinner and just hung out for the evening. It's been a long time since she and I have been able to do anything like that. I only wish our other sister could've been there too.
Day 8
There were a bunch of chickens and all but one had a significant amount of feathers missing. This one looked particularly funny to me.
Two cute little baby pygmy goats!
Maybe this is their dad..boy he was smelly.
This guy was a little suspicious of us. I think he (or she) needs a trim.
We finally caught up with the only person we hadn't been able to see yet, one of my former bosses, Loretta. We were able to stop by her place Wednesday morning before going to Oakland and she made us breakfast! It was great to see her, but we're sorry we missed Dave. :( We headed down to the Bay Area and stopped by my grandpa's house. He took us out to lunch and I got this picture.
Then we headed to the airport to return the van
(sigh) and wait for our plane to leave. While there, I began to feel a little dizzy and out of sorts. By the time we boarded the plane, I was feeling very poorly. I ended up with Craig in the sling, sleeping on me, holding the barf bag as far away from him as possible, and literally losing my lunch. I'd pass Craig off to Robert whenever I had to go get cleaned up, but the little guy was so worn out, he wouldn't be happy without me for very long. Poor Robert.
Day 10We made it back to Spokane and crashed in a hotel room. I was pretty weak the next morning, but we drove back the three hours to Stevensville, upon which time Robert began to feel sickly. So, that's why it has taken me so long to get anything posted. With sicknesses (Craig got a little of it, too), getting back on track with my new Primary calling, unpacking, laundry, and everything else, it's been a little crazy. Craig did get during the whole trip. He slept well at night was extremely patient with us during the days with all the things we wanted to do. What a trooper.
YAY! I truly never thought I would ever see gas below two dollars a gallon again. However, I still remember when $1.98 was outrageous, but let's not let that spoil our joy.
This is the latest culinary masterpiece which I was so fortunate to partake of. On the left we have the best squash/zucchini combo I have ever tasted and I don't like squash and zucchini as a side dish (more proof that if you add enough butter, garlic, and salt, you can make anything palatable), then we have the pork tenderloin with a very yummy rub, then there's a cranberry glaze, cranberry polenta, the orange sauce in front is a roasted red pepper sauce and the green one in back is a spring onion and olive oil blend. When Robert explained to me this dish and while we were shopping for it I said, "That sounds good sweetie, whatever you want to do," but thought, "Well, I guess we'll see how this turns out." Let me just say that this was possibly the best thing he has made that I have tasted in the three and a half years we've been married, and he made me some pretty awesome halibut once. The combination of the flavors was surprising and...well...just awesome. Anyway, enough about that, because I could on and on.
This is the latest culinary masterpiece which I was so fortunate to partake of. On the left we have the best squash/zucchini combo I have ever tasted and I don't like squash and zucchini as a side dish (more proof that if you add enough butter, garlic, and salt, you can make anything palatable), then we have the pork tenderloin with a very yummy rub, then there's a cranberry glaze, cranberry polenta, the orange sauce in front is a roasted red pepper sauce and the green one in back is a spring onion and olive oil blend. When Robert explained to me this dish and while we were shopping for it I said, "That sounds good sweetie, whatever you want to do," but thought, "Well, I guess we'll see how this turns out." Let me just say that this was possibly the best thing he has made that I have tasted in the three and a half years we've been married, and he made me some pretty awesome halibut once. The combination of the flavors was surprising and...well...just awesome. Anyway, enough about that, because I could on and on.
