Kiersten’s Blog

This year for our vacation, we drove to Portland.  Taylor had a Viola da Gamba Society of America Conclave there so the rest of us decided to tag along on the trip.  If you’re wondering what the conclave is, Taylor explains it on his blog.  We all stayed with my cousin, Nick, and his family for a week.  It was so nice to see them and play a lot.  They were so generous.  Taylor and Nick were gone all day every day, so most of the week I spent with Karli and the kids.  More on that later.  Sometimes they did drive us nuts.  The girls also drove around the yard in this Barbie Jeep.  Mylie is a CRAZY driver!

Our drive was mostly uneventful.  We left on a Wednesday evening and drove to Sacramento, where we climbed into bed at my Grandma’s house around 2:30 a.m.  The next couple of days were spent with my family in Sacramento.  It was nice to have a break before taking another long drive on Saturday.  This time we went all the way to Hillsboro, where Nick and Karli and their 2 and a half kids live.  Taylor has never been to Oregon before and the only time I’ve been was for a day or two when I drove up with my parents and siblings seven years ago for Nick and Karli’s wedding.  I didn’t remember how beautiful the drive is.  Of course, there is a lot of boring brown, but there are areas that are just breathtaking.  We drove across Shasta Lake and drove by Mount Shasta and Mount Lassen.

Shasta Lake. Pay no attention to the reflection in the window. I didn't want to roll it down for fear of waking kids.

The two glaciers were really striking next to the greenery of the summer.  Driving up through Oregon was gorgeous with all of the forest areas.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Although the drive was long, I did enjoy it.

Mount Shasta

On the way home, we again stopped in Sacramento and stayed for a couple more days.  Wednesday morning around 5, we hopped back in the car and drove home.  It took us a little longer than hoped because we hit traffic in a few places.  We even drove by a fire just south of Magic Mountain.

You can see the flames through the smoke

We are happy to be home, safe and sound.  Ashton was really excited to get back home to his books.

I was a little worried about the kids on such a long trip, but they did great.  We did have a few meltdowns and now Ashton hates his car seat more than ever now, but for the most part, it was a pleasant and quiet drive.  I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have a portable DVD player.  That kept London occupied for a lot of the trip.

She was awake the WHOLE drive from Sacramento home until we got off the freeway at the exit to our house.

Ashton didn’t care much about it unless they were watching Cars or Sesame Street or They Might Be Giants: Here Come the 1, 2, 3s, but he was okay for the most part, as long as I kept the food coming.

Ashton got into these Rice Krispies all on his own. What a mess! He sure was happy, though.

Now, 2200 miles, 4 long days of driving, and 2 weeks later, we’re happy to be home.