2 Girls, a Boy and 824.09 Miles

My brother that lives in Sequim (about 45 minutes and a ferry ride outside of Seattle- it is northwest of Seattle) came down on Saturday. He came to pick up a car and drive it home - to his house that is. Well, I told him that I would drive with him and catch a flight back and that way he could have company. So, Brent booked a flight for me on Wednesday to come home. My sister did not have to work so she offered to go as well. So the three of us left on our journey from Layton to Seatac Tuesday afternoon - okay late morning - okay really it was 11:50am and then we drove to Riverdale Walmart to get the oil changed. We had to wait 45 minutes, and my parents were going to meet us at Walmart to tell my brother (their son) goodbye. So, what do you do in Walmart for 45 minutes to kill time?

~~"How do I look?"~~

Well, as you can see from the photo we tried on sunglasses! We each purchased a pillow to take in the car, excpet, some of us just wore the pillow on our heads though, as we walked through the store - and no, that was not me or Doug!

After about an hour we decide to go see if the car is ready, which it is. Now my parents are here so we say goodbye and we are off on our way. Oh wait, we first had to stop at Chick-fil-A and get some lunch, so quick detour to the Newgate Mall.

~~Say Cheee-eese!~~

Okay, NOW we are on our way - 2:00pm. First Doug drives and he drives somewhere into Idaho - just past Twin Falls, I think. He drove for about 2 hours, just a little bit over that. Then I drove. I put on my iPod and listened to....Coldplay, their new cd -Viva la Vida and no honey this is not a hint that tickets go on sale for their concert on Saturday.

~~Some of us slept more than others....lol~~

Then I listened to Carrie Underwood and Garth Brooks -I have no idea why country music, but driving and scanning through an ipod just do not mix so that is what I came to first. Prior to me taking the wheel, my brother and sister kept getting phone calls.

~~Oh wait, there is another corpse in the back...~~

But me, did anybody call me? No. Nobody called me. So finally I tried to call people to see if they would give me a call and NO ONE answered their phone. I was feeling like no one liked me. So my sister sent out a mass text and told people to call me and because of failure to get reception it failedthe first time to go through. Really, nobody liked me. I FINALLY got through to Brent or more like he picked up his phone and told I him that everyone was calling Holly and Doug and nobody was calling me so I did not feel loved. He did not care....lol. But my brother-in-law called and left a message and said he was supposed to call me - at least someone cared. Kylie said that she tried calling (my niece) to tell me she loved me - she cared. And, here is the pathetic part, my children, Brent told them to call me, and they did not, I guess they thought it was a joke! Some peoples children! lol :) (in all honesty, this is meant in fun - so I am being very sarcastic when I say nobody loves me).

Then, conversation evolved, to I don't remember what, but it was a blast! We laughed - mostly at my expense, but we laughed. So like I said, somewhere I took over driving and drove us to Boise. Holly wanted to go to Papa Joes Pizza (I think that is what it is called) so that is where we headed. But, I am so good, I remembered exactly how to get there - no need for a tom-tom for us when you have me in the car - right Brent? (more on this in a little bit).

~~No pizza, then lets take PICTURES!!!!~~

~~Human Todem Pole~~

Not like we had not eaten a ton of junk food - snickers, 3 different kinds of crackers, sesame seed snacks, m&m's, lemonade. More fun was had here at the restaurant. We asked the waiter if we could do a combo pizza because no of us wanted what the others was having, so we wanted our pizza in thirds. He said he guessed the cooks could do it but they would not like it. Holly - cheese, Doug - meat, me - everything! The waiter brings us the pizza and just stands there and admires it - really! But, once again, prior to this, the pizza being brought out, once again, at my expense - my brother and sister gang up on me. They filmed me with my own camera unbeknownst to me! I was off in some other land watching the tv, Entertainment Tonight to be exact, but I was wrapped up in Bobby Brown so she sabotages my camera and makes a movie of me gazing at the television with my brother imitating me! Who can you trust these days, first not my husband, then my children, and now my brother and sister! Sheesh! Off we go, heading to who knows where after dinner.

~~We never ate here - only took a potty break

Do you still call it a potty break if you are

an adult? Or is it Restroom Break?~~

Seriously, we knew we would be stopping to sleep somewhere, but we did not know where. I call Brent, Holly calls Trent and we are trying to figure out where we can stay. Doug would be on the phone as well proving to Holly that he could get a number faster than the operator - 1800free411 or some number like that. At one point she called some number I think for Holiday Inn and asked for their 800 number and she mentioned the name specifically to the lady on the other end and then the girl tells her that she has just called Ramada...oops wrong number.

Okay, so Brent gets us reservations with a Comfort Inn in Hermiston, only it is miles away from Hermiston. We do not have Sue-Sue (our name for our talking GPS, car one) with us. Brent does not give us directions either or tell us where this place is located when he sets up the reservation, so when I do call and tell him where we are and that I need help to find out where the hotel is, he asks where we are? I tell him in Hermiston. Well, come to find out the hotel is by the freeway, and we came into town a different way so we are miles away from the hotel. The hotel is miles away from the city and we are in the city. Brent is trying to tell me what streets to take (he is looking at mapquest) and I am telling him what streets I am passing, mapquest and the city streets did not read the same. Brent is telling me he knows where I am, I am saying no you don't. I tell Doug and Holly I am going to take pictures to prove to Brent how the street signs read so that I prove I am right, but they would not go back and let me take pictures....lol. Doug is driving by the way, and anyway, Brent and I are in a very heated discussion. At one point Brent tells me that we are "HOPELESSLY LOST!!!!" prior to hanging up -no he did not hang up on me, we just ended the conversation - I, I mean we, we were going to find the hotel on our own!

Everyone in the car found that so funny - okay it was just Doug, Holly and Me. UI had to call Brent back and get more directions and honestly, I told Brent sorry and that he was ............right. This morning, looking back when we were taking our drive through the city trying to find the hotel, before I admitted to Brent that he was......right...... I realized that we would have been driving and driving and driving and we would never have founded the hotel. I think we saw every "Welcome to Hermiston" sign. I also found the Hypertension/Kidney Center, the place Brent was going to send me after my blood pressure rose from our heated discussion in which he was.....right....Once we got to the hotel, it was quite nice and more fun was to be had. I shared a king size bed with my sister, Doug stayed in the other room and slept in the queen size bed.

I am quite familiar sleeping with my sister, we shared a bed growing up, well until I was 8 or so. She had her side and I had my side. Do not cross the line - the imaginary line. So last night same rules applied. Except, she broke the rules at 5:28am! I was pushing her legs back, she would spread eagle, I was pushing her leg back, she would try to throw it over me - okay at least the foot, this went on and on, and at one point - oh and I am hugging my edge of the bed, I did not break the agreement - she wakes up after I moved her leg and looks at me and I said, "You are on my side." She rolls over, but first says okay, and falls right back to sleep. It continued, but not as bad.

~~While everyone slept, I saw lots of orchards and vineyards

...sorry this is a drive by picture - stick the camera out the window and shoot~~

~~Like the dead bugs? Heading up Snoqualmie Pass ~~

~~another pic heading up Snoqualmie Pass~~

We left at 8:25am and hit the road. Doug drove to the outskirts of the Tri-City area and then I drove from from there to Snoqualmie. Doug and Holly took naps, long naps, just some took a really long naps that lasted from the time we switched places to Snoqualmie Pass. We went to Snoqualmie Falls and then went to the hamburger place. I guess it has been featured on tv and in magazines, but they have a car show every weekend. And they are huge car shows - VW, Italian, Porsche, Corvette, you name it, they probably have a car show featuring it. But they had great hamburgers and the place was very 50's style theme!

~~Smile, family portrait!~

~Even when I don't have kids with me I still take picture of trains for them - thnx Holly~

~~Snoqualmie Falls~~

~~There is nothing bad about it, maybe calories, but that is it~~

~~OH MY HECK!!! Look at there gas prices!!!~~

Now, off to the airport. Doug drops us off at the airport and Holly and I flew home. That concludes, after officially leaving Ogden, our 29 hours of fun! I am not sure if I lost weight from laughing so hard and so much or gained weight from eating junk food - you know the kind that is in the fridge that you throw away (and I do not mean in your mouth!!! lol :). Sorry, it is one of those topics that we discussed on our drive. The longer you drive the sillier you get. Junk food led to "what is junk food?" which somehow led to "isn't junk food what is in your fridge and gets moldy so then you have to throw it away?" hence the name "junk food." Okay, inside joke.

Thanks for the fun Doug and Holly we need to do this again!