Epilogue: Dreams Probably Come True

Having finally arrived in Oregon, our last major source of stress was finding a home. After all, we don't know the area, and, since I would primarily be working from home, we have hundreds of square miles of area to explore. Rachel and I have bought two homes together in Long Beach, and the search for each took us over a year. It felt like we might be living in rentals forever. Adding to the challenge, Rachel and I both have a different wish list for a new home. Clearly we have our work cut out for us.

As we were driving from Carlsbad to Phoenix, an amazing home came up for sale in the Portland suburb of West Linn. Great schools, a 3.5 acre lot, close-in commute, great looking house, and, maybe best of all, a gorgeous location on the Tualatin River. In fact, the listing noted that the owners had conducted a full ecological restoration of riparian habitat on the property, qualifying it for a special Oregon tax break. This house was truly too good to be true! Needless to say, we got right on the phone with our agent. We even talked about the possibility of having one of us fly up to Portland from Arizona to check out the home. Sadly, our agent informed us that the homeowners already had multiple full-price offers and that the property was as good as gone. We were crestfallen.

We spent the next few weeks mourning the loss while hoping beyond hope that another similar property might become available. I had diligently examined every home to come up for sale within 50 miles of Portland for over a year, and, though hope springs eternal, knew that it would be next to impossible to find something half as good.

Then, out of nowhere, we got a call from our agent on Thursday night to let us know that the house had fallen out of escrow and was back on the market. We checked it out Friday afternoon, and it was everything we'd hoped it would be. This morning, we put in our offer, and about two hours ago, we were notified that our offer had been accepted. There's still much to be done, and there's always the possibility of things falling through for one reason or another, but for right now ... we couldn't be happier.

The End (Final Tally: Mile 10,576, Trail Mile 207.33)

Monday morning, we packed up the Kia in full nomad mode for the last time. We drove down the mountain to Bishop to pick up the cats, packed them in the car, then drove back up the mountain.

Then we drove back down the other side of the mountain and continued north. At this point, the car was packed to overflowing, and we truly must have looked like crazy people. Thankfully, the cats were only with us for the first few hours. We were dropping them off with Rachel's veterinary school friend Twylah, who had graciously agreed to cat-sit for us until we finally found a new home. Twylah's hospital is in Truckee, just north of Lake Tahoe, and, given that this was a relatively short drive day, we took the scenic route around the lake. Oh, the memories! We'd spent two of our happiest Thanksgivings in Tahoe, and every corner we turned seemed to bring those good times flooding back in. But, unlike previous visits, this time we were merely transients passing through.

After Truckee, we continued to shed altitude (and outer layers of clothes) as we descended into the warmer weather of the Central Valley. That evening we hunkered down in a hotel in Chico, ordered pizza, and waited in anticipation for the very final leg of our journey.

The next morning was surreal. Could this really be it? The day that we finally arrive in our new home? Six months, over 10,000 miles, and what felt like a lifetime away from our time in Long Beach, we were finally ready to cross the border for the last time as Californians.

We got an early start. There was too much excitement for anybody to get a really good night's sleep, and we had a long day ahead of us. As we headed north, we went from flat agricultural lands to the mountains and pine forests of Northern California. In an emotional moment almost too difficult to describe, we crossed our own path the one and only time on this trip. It happened in Redding, California. As we drove north on I-5, an overpass crossed Highway 44, which had led us from McKinleyville to Lake Almanor, nearly six months ago on our second leg of the journey. There was an unintentional moment of silence as we realized what had just happened.

After that, the hills got bigger and became mountains. The trees were taller and greener. We spent a good chunk of our day looking in amazement as Mount Shasta grew larger and larger in our windshield and then faded away in the rearview mirror. When we finally crossed the Oregon border I felt like cheering and crying at the same time. 

In one moment of high comedy, we made a quick rest area pitstop along the freeway. This was in Oregon now, and, like much of western Oregon, was dominated by large pine trees and green grass. Nathan asked in wonder, "is this what all of Oregon is going to be like." We assured him that it got a lot better than this rest area!

Just before dinner time, we pulled into McMinnville, our first "home" in our new home. We were exhausted as we approached our house.

We unloaded our car, collapsed into the front porch chairs, and gave thanks for six months that none of us will ever forget.

 

  

The Last Hurrah

Our stay in Mammoth marked the end of an era for our family ... and we sure didn't want let that go to waste. This was a time for fun, snow, and friends. After a great visit with the Dolloffs in Arizona, we were once again longing for friendly faces, and we were thrilled that the Michelyras were not only letting us use their Mountain Ski Chalet (my term, not theirs), but they were joining us as well. We hadn't seen them since Santa Fe in November, and the thought of Nate being able to run, play, and have fun with his best bud simply warmed our hearts. 

And we couldn't have asked for a better time to visit! We had never been to Mammoth during the winter. We'd been several times during the summer months, but this place truly comes to life when the snow starts falling. We kept hearing folks talk about how it had been a bad snow season ... but you could have fooled us!

But, it wasn't all snowball fights and snow angels. We got serious too! Our first Sunday in Mammoth, we threw on some snow shoes (most of us for the first time) and trekked up a mountain to some of the most beautiful views I'd seen in months!

That Tuesday, we left the hard work the to the machines and amused ourselves on some pretty hard core tubing hills.

The boys also had a blast goofing around on a random roadside sledding hill. Mark also gave Nate his first impromptu snowboarding lesson! And yes, that "boy" in the first picture is Mark.

Our second weekend, we doubled down on the snow sports with a group cross country ski outing! As with the snowshoeing, this was a first for most of us. But, not ALL of us! Rachel and Nate had rented some skis and checked out the trails earlier in the week, so they became our resident Nordic skiing experts.

I spent more time on my back on the ground than I had intended (especially on the modest hills). That said, the snow must bring out the thespian in me because I could have won an Emmy for my "dying turtle" impression.

As fun as the sporty parts were, this trip wasn't just about adventure. We had some local beer ...

We got in a few good game nights ...

We drank some local beer ...

We took Bailey for lots of walks in the snow ...

We drank some local beer ...

A good time was truly had by all. But, as with the trip itself, all good things come to an end. Our second Sunday, we said a tearful goodbye to Mark, Tevis, and Miles, and we prepared ourselves for the last scene of this amazing show.

California, Here We Come!

Early Friday morning, Nathan and I (sans Rachel, since she had already headed out) packed up the car and began the long drive to California - the place where this crazy journey began. There were lots of mixed feelings. One the one hand, it would feel so good to be back on the West Coast ... and back to our home time zone! On the other hand, this chapter of our lives was rapidly closing. I felt happy and sad at the same time.  

The insane weather mirrored the emotional turmoil I felt inside. When we left in the morning, it was raining. And, mind you, this was in Phoenix, a town that averages 30 days of rain a year, and we were there for one of them. Shortly after that, we drove through the Mojave desert, where we baked and had to turn on the A/C. 

When we hit the outskirts of Palm Springs, it truly felt like a homecoming, seeing familiar places and realizing that we could be back in Long Beach in less than two hours. But, Long Beach isn't home anymore, and we kept driving west and north. Just above San Bernadino, we rose up through the mountains to the Cajon Pass, into the high desert. We left the 15 freeway near Victorville and turned due north on Highway 395, the iconic road that would take us between the Eastern Sierra and Death Valley to our destination: Mammoth Lakes. When we left the freeway, we were surprised to find ourselves in the middle of a snow flurry ... in 50-degree weather! When we finally made it to the home stretch north of Bishop, we found ourselves in a full-on snowstorm. 

It was short-lived, and by the time we arrived in Mammoth, it had stopped. But, it seemed a fitting end to the day.

We would be spending the next week in Mammoth with the Michelyras at their vacation home, and we were excited to see Mark and Miles that evening. They were scheduled to arrive a couple of hours after us. And thank goodness, because after unpacking the car, it was time for a nap!

This is what the day looked like.

 

Nathan's Stuff: Snow Stuff

 We finally got to Mammoth. Its been fun.  I've gotten to play with Miles (aka, a super awesome guy), go sledding, and even go snowshoeing.  We've had so much fun. I really hope we get to come here more often.  I'm also so happy we got Bailey back.  I have missed her so much.  I'm glad she's bad now. 

Today I went cross country skiing.  It was three things.  It was fun, it was tiring, and it was hard.  When I say it was hard, I mean two things.  First, it was hard learning to ski, and second, I got hit in the head with a pair of skis and I have a giant goose egg (it hurt). It was really beautiful. Though I fell a lot. It was so amazing. First we tried the flattest trail so my mom could teach me how to ski. Then we tried a downhill trail so I could get used to going down.  By the way, this is all in Mammoth, just as an FYI.  And thankfully I didn't get wet either. 

Nathan's Stuff: Haiku #2

I really enjoyed doing a haiku for my last post so I'm going to do another. 

I've loved our trip. 

Our trip has been very very fun. 

Though  it has been long.

Nathan's Stuff: Haiku

 We got the cats back. 

I'm glad we got them back. 

I missed them a lot.