Oregon Vacation - The Beginning

We rented a car on Saturday, after one fiasco after another we were able to bring home this white beauty. Great on gas, puts no miles on our cars, fits four of us comfortably - it worked perfectly for what we wanted it for.

After church on Sunday, we packed up the car and we were off! Two hours down, only four more to go for the evening. Bethany chose to pass time the smart way, sleep through it!

We stopped in Winnemucca for the night. This is the halfway point of our journey. The kids were very, very hyper with all the excitement of going on vacation and sleeping in the hotel. They were wired! They are only pretending to be asleep in this picture :)

On Monday we started the second half of our journey. This year we decided to swing through Weiser, ID where I lived until I was 11. This is my grandma and grandpa's house. Under that white vinal siding is a brick building built on the Oregon Trail. My grandparents once found a letter in the rafters from the doctor that built the home that dated back to 1902. While seeing the house brought back so many memories, I am sad at the changes the new owners have made. It's hard to see all the roses bushes and trees gone.

There's one of my elementary schools. The building on the right was not there when I attended. It used to be 4th - 6th grades, but now only has 4th and 5th grade.

This is my old church where I first accepted Jesus when I was about 6 years old. It still looks the same on the outside, but I'll bet the pastors have moved on.

There's the apartments where we lived. Boy they looked like they shrank. I remembered the parking lot where I used to ride my bike being sooo much bigger!

We ate lunch at Jeb's Corner, which has been around since I can remember. It's an old fashioned drive in diner, even though we ate inside (I meant to zoom in a little but oh well).

Jeb's Corner used to be called the Bungalo when I was smaller then when I was about 7 it changed owners and they build the dining area around the outside of it. We especially enjoyed the milkshakes which were just how I remembered them.

On our way out of town we drove by Indian Head mountain. Most people can't really see it unless someone is showing them the Indian's face but his whole profile is there. On the left is the headress, then the flat spot his forehead. The small dip is the eye then the lump is his nose (which used to be bigger until some miners came and blasted it off; boy were they in a lot of trouble when they did that), then the lips. Can you see it?

Finally after another six hours on the road we arrive at my parents house in Oregon. After the kids said hello and gave hugs they headed right for the Mule.

If you read my 365 post last week (not the recent one the one before it) then you already know about the mule and my children's obsesssion with it. The dogs jumped in every time they were on it thinking they were gonna get to go somewhere.

The rest of Monday was spent unpacking and enjoying time with my family. The kids couldn't get enough of all the animals and fields and open space, but that's another post!