and then we moved to Portland

Well, we made it. After a lovely visit with our dear friends in Washington, we managed to get ourselves on the road. Our plan (that word! It almost invites interference, no?) was to split off around Vancouver, WA, where I'd go to deliver our sweet kitty to the house we'll be sitting in October, and Hubby would go on to the storage locker to meet the movers and unload. Except we'd gotten a late start, so he had to call and let them know he'd be late.

I managed to find my location and drop off Frenzie (our wee cat) with relative ease - it was a bit of a drive off course, but the house is nice, and I recognized some of the family from the Life is Good Conference we'd attended earlier in the year. She will hopefully be acclimated to he house and the cats there by the time we return to house-sit in October.

Despite several wrong turns due to failed directions from Googlemaps and ongoing construction in Portland, Hubby managed to fine the storage unit. Eventually after asking directions three times, I managed to find it, too. Hubby played 3D Tetris with our stuff and the storage locker, assisted by the guys we hired to help him, and much later than anticipated, the locker was finally loaded.

I ought to add that when I finally did show up at the unit, Hubby said, "Oh, thank goodness, I didn't know if you'd make it!" Then because the guys agreed to stay later, he needed me to get cash. Well, having just entered Portland and not knowing where anything was, I was unsure how to accomplish this task. But my friend Hedy lives on an easy street to find, so after mentioning the name of the street in front of the guy assisting Hubby, I had directions and was on my way.

I showed up on her doorstep and I'm pretty sure the first word our of my mouth after hi was, "help!". Not only did Hed help me with the ATM location, she took me there and to Burgerville for food for them, then sat and waited with me for them to finish so Hubby could drop off the truck and we could return to her house and collapse.

And then we had a beautiful time visiting her family and seeing bits of Portland. We made a huge breakfast for everyone the next day, then she and I took the kids to the park while Hubby rested to try and feel better from the exhaustion  and his cold. Then we found this fantastic vegan bakery and got Coconut Bliss ice cream for the kids and gluten-free treats for us. The kids got along swimmingly, watching TV and playing together - Hed's eldest and Kiernen were even snuggling up together on the sofa while watching - it was beyond cute. And when it was time to pack up and fly to St. Louis, he didn't want to leave them - he was quite happy in their home - as were we.

The flight was good: little TVs in the seats (with Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3), juice and fresh-baked cookies, and it was short. The Portland airport is just gorgeous! Very very shiny and clean and eco-friendly. So now we're here, in St. Louis. We had a lazy day today, followed by dinner with family. Tomorrow the boys are going on a hike with Hubby's best friend and his kids, and an ice cream social with family in the evening.

It's good to be back for awhile. It's good to be able to rest and relax. It's good to be around family.