Mr. Nielson got back from Bluewater with four sleepy children and a new haircut.
In fact, the whole family got new cuts thanks to Auntie Darin,
who has been the Nielson family's personal hairstylist since
Mr. Nielson was in high school.
.
They told me that their days were spent at the ranch on the quads and horses,
while the nights were filled with fireside dinners and star watching.
Sunburns, bug bites, and root beer bottles filled with
orange-colored rocks all greeted me at the door.
That night as Mr. Nielson and I snuggled in bed and I asked him if he
was ready to road trip again.
He told me yes because on this trip I would be joining him.
After a nice restful weekend and lots of wash, we packed up the navigator and
headed to Whidbey Island, in the beautiful state of Washington.
Mr. Nielson pulled the trailer behind the car so we could bring our bikes
and enough room to bring back fresh salmon and Washington berries.
We also invited Umi, and my niece Lindsay Kay.
After farming out Jimmy and the birds (Michael and Sara) to dear family members,
We had to make a few stops before heading out of town.
Somehow Nicholas left his saltwater sandals at the ranch so I made a quick run into
Nordstrom’s for the last pair of little boy (with chubby feet) navy sandals. Whew!
And of course, we picked up Café Rio for lunch before departing.
The drive was pretty smooth sailing until Mr. Nielson got pulled over in Idaho.
As we got closer to Le Grand, Oregon we drove parallel to a train.
I rolled down the window and asked Ollie to come to sit on my lap so he
could stick his head out the window to hear and feel the power from the train.
He was practically in heaven.
It was a moment of gratitude that I felt to my Heavenly Father that I was still here.
Umi and Lindsay took care of Gigs' every need in the backseat, and Mr. Nielson chewed on his sunflower seeds the whole time occasionally rubbing my neck while singing Sinatra songs.
Umi suggested we sing "99 bottles of beer on the wall" and so we did and just
as we hit zero bottles we came to our exit where our hotel was.
We all clapped and cheered because it was perfect timing especially for
Jane, who must have told us she needed to go to the bathroom 938,439,0280,48,000 times.
Tomorrow we will head into Seattle and on to the island.
