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Vacation Part X – Oregon to Nevada

Posted on July 20, 2014January 25, 2018 by Sherri

We made our way through McDermott, hotter than hell and then we get the amazing welcome of the sign on the door that read “bathrooms for customers only”. WHATEVER. not happening. We have 5 kids and they all need to pee. I do too. So not in the mood for anymore. No one stopped us or said anything. There was also another small problem I was having on top of all the rest…I had these weird bites on my legs that were very itchy and painful. I felt terrible overall. I just could not shake these weird bites of whatever they were. I was beyond miserable. Add to that that when we got to Winnemucca, my mom’s gate was locked. She had gone fishing. OMG…could this get worse? Still 106 degrees outside and oh man…it was rough. And I still had to get our 1/2 beef. And I was exhausted. And I was in pain. Perfect storm. Chip threw the stuff we needed over the fence and we climbed the fence. Luckily I had a key to the house. We overnighted at moms. Next morning, hubs loaded up all the stuff and kiddos and headed home in a jam-packed minivan. I stayed behind to get the meat in the big ole diesel pusher Dodge. The final leg of the McVey Vaca. This was fun, but not without its own bunch of crazy, and a lot of driving.

I’m still having trouble with my legs/feet. Finally, I was able to pick up our beef. Jim’s wife commented on my legs/feet when I picked up the boxes of beef. I felt like a lepper. It was all I could do to get that loaded and get going. I high tailed it out of there because I too was worried about my legs/feet and wanted to (hopefully) get to an urgent care. I had reached my max. The itching. The heat. The kids. The lack of air conditioning. I made my way out of the Mucc, headed for Reno and over to St. Mary’s Quick Care at Walmart about 15 minutes before they closed. Because it was so hot, Chip came and grabbed the truck and I would take the minivan home. I walk in and they say it’s too late and I can’t be seen. At that moment, it was so overwhelming. The tears came. I was so DONE. There was no more to give. I begged them. Luckily they saw me. It was flea bites. From somewhere. Really? Great. Just great. Then I had to trek over to CVS for antibiotics. Wow. Amazing.

Regardless of all of that, a big, huge THANK YOU to all of those who housed, fed, partied, laughed, and put up with invasions of the McVey family. It’s quite a big undertaking to take on 7. Hopefully, we didn’t leave too much devastation as we left each place. We’re grateful to all that we were able to share special times with so many. Friends and family that we didn’t get to see, we are sorry we couldn’t make it happen. We hope to get up to WA/OR again soon. Now a week from now I must start to work hard to remove some of the vacation food and drink indulgence weight gain. Gillian was a trooper too. Hard to be tied to a bunch of rambunctious little boys for days on end when you’re right smack in the middle of being a teenager. Chip, Gill and I had some great conversation about all of it on our last night. Wish I had one more day to breathe, but it is what it is and we’ve had a fun time with our travels. Thank you hubs for packing, unpacking, packing and unpacking with all the kiddos in tow.

Vacation part IV…Washington

Posted on July 11, 2014January 20, 2018 by Sherri

So we got on the road from Othello and headed over to Washington. It was, theoretically, a 4 1/2 hour drive. So we took off about 9 or so.

It seemed to take forever to get over into Western Washington, but boy when we did, we knew it. Seattle was horrible to navigate through. It wasn’t even rush hour, it was right around noon time. Oh.my.god! The amount of traffic we encountered was atrocious! That slowed us down by an hour probably.

Once out of the mess of Seattle, we headed out to Dawns in Sedro-Woolley. Before we got there, somewhere around Bellingham, we stopped at a Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. It was later in the afternoon and we were so hungry. I could have eaten my arm. So we walk in and we stand. Restaurant has a few people eating. I mean it’s late afternoon. Around 2 or so. There were a few different choices for eating in the complex we were in, so we opted for something we knew would be okay. Buffalo Wild Wings has never been a favorite. When we think of them, we think mediocre or less.

So we walk in and we wait. People walk by and then we wait some more. Finally a third person takes us to our table. Then we wait some more. By now I’m about ready to lose it because I just couldn’t take it anymore. So we get an appetizer. No plates. No extra napkins. Takes a while for that to arrive. Then we wait some more. No one says much, they just go about their business. No sense of urgency. Food comes out and we eat. Not impressed, not impressed at all. In fact it was disappointing. I should have taken to Yelp right there, but I didn’t not worth my time.

So then we arrived at my sisters. YAY! Cousins finally got to meet. It was fabulous! The kids took to the video games right away. Aurora showed them the dance game via connect and they tried to show her Call of Duty. Um yeah…no. It was funny because the boys seemed surprised that she hadn’t seen it before. Between the five of them they settled on a Spongebob game.

Ben went right into the kitchen with Auntie. It was SO cute!

Boys playing video games at Dawns

We only had a few days with Dawn, so we made the most of it. Dawn whipped up a great breakfast the next morning and we headed out to the lake cabin. Oh.my.gosh! We had no idea how much fun we would have! The place is so beautiful. Truly.

Of course, we had to spend a lot of time packing vehicles and all of that, so we had a bit of a slow start. Worth every bit of effort.

All of the kiddos and adults suited up for a fabulous day on the lake. The cabin is about 30 minutes from Dawn and Rusty’s. Once we drove in, we saw a beautiful lake. We got everyone into their life jackets and swim gear. It didn’t take anyone long to be in the water and to head out to the party barge. Dawn had a great BBQ planned along with sparklers for the kids…the boys had never done those before.

Then we got out the s’mores equipment and the fishing poles. Dawn and I, being the tough Alaska chicks that we are, we did all of the hooking and weighting for all 6 poles. Yes, 6 poles. She secretly told me that she didn’t think there was any fish in the lake, but we kept that between ourselves. Everyone had a great time trying though!

The next day…only one more day in Washington…we treated all of us to a 3D movie! We all donned the glasses and saw “How To Train Your Dragon 2”. Really, really good! Definitely worth seeing in 3D. The kids had so much fun! Mostly because of the massive amount of popcorn and soda they were permitted to ingest. Hahahahaha.

Dawn headed back with the kiddos and Chip and I headed to the Walmart to replace the crappy tent that bit it at the beginning of the trip. So, like smart peeps, we bought 2 smaller tents to replace the 10 man. Then the boys have theirs, we have ours and Gillian could have her own.

That evening we snapped some family pics and did s’mores and of course enjoyed wine. It was such a quick visit, but so happy we could make it happen. So lucky that Dawn has a big house that we could invade for a few days.

I think all of us enjoyed this special time. I know it won’t be another 7 years before we see each other again. Thank you my seester. We had a blast!

So the next morning we packed it up. Chip did an amazing job of getting both vehicles loaded. Buh-bye Washington! Hello Oregon. Oh yeah…I was STILL itching. Only worse.

Vacation…part III… Leaving the campground and Othello

Posted on July 8, 2014January 20, 2018 by Sherri

Super happy to have any coffee and percolator coffee in Cars movie cups was just fine. We start to take the tent down and up rolls Ranger Rick. Well, right away I renamed him, Ranger Dick, because he was just that. Now keep in mind that we slept horribly in the “vestibule”, was up very late and then up very early the next day. Prior to the Ranger Dick’s arrival, I did more freeze-dried food preparation. This morning it was scrambled eggs with ham and sausage. Um yeah…didn’t go over well with the kiddos either.

So Ranger boy rolls up and asks if our van and truck have been there all night. Of course (naively) I told the truth. Yep, we couldn’t bring our trailer so we had to bring two vehicles. He then tells me we owe $9 more because we have an additional vehicle. Um yeah, that didn’t sit well with me. I was not so quiet as I told him we were tearing down to leave and had arrived late. He says “it’s my job to make sure everyone is in compliance”. Whatever buddy. That’s not happening. Then I said even louder “you mean to tell me that because I didn’t bring a trailer, but 2 cars, I have to pay MORE!?!” “Yes,” he says. HELL, no is what I’m thinking. So basically we went back and forth for a good 5 minutes or so. Finally, I told him that the ranger on duty said “no problem” when I told her we had two vehicles. Then he stepped off and said that since that is what we were told, I didn’t have to pay it. By then I screamed “we will never come back here!” and went back to tent folding. It was horrible. Just unbelievable. I was a little worried because yes, this was only day two. I think this is the point I started itching. Must be stress I figured.

So we were out of there as soon as humanly possible. Not awesome. Definitely not awesome.

Off we went into Washington and arrived in Othello about 1p. The party had already started at Snuffy’s Bar and we were more than eager to join the fun. Especially since we were hot, tired and had had enough of being in the car with kiddos for hours.

When I had been in Othello the past February, we had these awesome little tacos. Super awesome, true Mexican food. So I had to do it again. This place also has THE best green salsa I’ve ever eaten. Green, hot and yummy. I quite possibly could have just drunk that and been happy. Well, not quite, but you get my drift. So we loaded up on a ton of tacos and Cindy and I went and got them.

It was so awesome to visit with Larry and Cindy and their furry family. It was so cool to introduce them to the boys. Cindy brought out the 4 wheeler and gave everyone rides. Gillian and Chip also drove it. They were bitten by the bug and now it’s a “must have”. Cindy also made the boys a “redneck slip ‘n slide”. I had not heard of such a thing, but man the boys had a blast on it. Carter basically rolled down the hill and squealed with delight as he did it. It was funny because he was anything but sliding. The other boys plowed down the slide with awesome speed and absolutely no fear. Even Chip took a ride or two down the slide. They also ran through the sprinklers and ran wild all over the place. So much room to roam.

We also took the kiddos to Country Mercantile. They loved it! So many things to taste, touch and see. Debbie led the charge. We had some lunch and let the boys just roam about the store. If ever you have the opportunity to visit one, do it! Amazingly yummy stuff. The boys had ice cream too. So fabulous to watch them take soooo much time to choose their flavors and have samples. Gillian showed them how it was done. Very cool.

More evening adult fun.

The next morning I was up bright and early and headed to the Walmart for doughnuts and stuff to make potato salad and ranch bacon pasta salad. We are on vacation after all. Everything turned out great, so we headed to Debbie and Mark’s. We had a great time in the pool and the incredible spread of food and drink in the pool house and of course the good company. What an awesome day. Very hot, but awesome.

Mark and Debbie both filled us in as to the hay cutting works. It was really cool to understand the process and the precision that goes into it. Learning that it goes to the Middle East was surprising. What was very clear is that farming is hard work and every bit of prosperity that comes from it is earned and then some.

The next day, still hot, sent us back over to Debbie and Mark’s. After hanging in the pool for awhile we thought we’d head out and see some wineries. Gillian said she’d watch the boys so off we went for some adult time. After seeing more farms and talking our way to the first winery, my phone rang. It was Gillian and apparently Ben had a stomachache. So after about an hour, we headed back to the farm with a quick stop to the grocery store to grab our own wine. I even found a Seahawks wine for mom. I didn’t buy it but took a pic. Of course, you get a discount on 6 bottles, so we loaded up on Washington wine.

July 7 was our 11th wedding anniversary. As in the usual way, we were busy with the family and didn’t do anything spectacular to celebrate. It is becoming a pattern. One we’ll hopefully change, but both of us were busy enough that until Cindy said Happy Anniversary, it wasn’t even front of mind.

Back at the farm, we opened and imbibed with several bottles and ended up staying the night at Mark and Debbie’s. I felt pretty lame that I didn’t call Larry and Cindy as I realized how late it had gotten. Not an awesome way to treat our hosts.

As the night got later, I did go out to the farm and saw the measuring of moisture as hay was being processed. Due to the fact that we had over-imbibed, Chip was looking for me, wanted to leave and drive (wasn’t and didn’t happen). Ummm, yeah…no. When I got back from the field I was done in.

Boys had long gone to sleep on the sofas, which would turn out to be a BIG mistake. Chip and I were both up hella early, as we were headed to my sister’s in Bellingham for a few days. Neither one of us were at our finest, but we managed to wake the boys and then head back over to Cindy’s to pack everything up. So I wake Gillian and then both Chip and I wake the boys. OH MY GOD! They had wet through blankets onto the furniture. Debbie and Mark’s main living room furniture. Not only was I frustrated, but also embarrassed. I’m still embarrassed to this day. I sent Debbie a text but was beyond embarrassed.

Once back at Larry and Cindy’s, we said our goodbyes, which is always hard. All the Hollenbecks and families were so generous and great to us. So, so, so much fun. But hot. Very hot.

We stopped at Burger King on the way out of Othello. The slowest drive through and the lowest enthusiasm that I had seen for a long time. It took a good 10 minutes to get through the drive through. Chip and I ate very little and passed the rest on to the kiddos. And then did our best to get out of town. What an adventure! I hope on the next trip we haven’t worn out our welcome.

The next leg would also have its own adventures. And oh, by the way, my legs were starting to itch…worse.