Ending our summer road-trip (WA --> SD)

It was great to be reunited with Jason for Labor Day Weekend in Spokane with his family. His arrival also marked the near end to my grand summer adventure and I felt really disheartened by that. Living in S. Dakota the past two years has felt very isolating and while I knew we needed to return home, I was not feeling at all ready yet.

We had a nice weekend with Jason's family, enjoying dinners together with his parents, sister and nieces, going for a hike at the Iller Creek Conservation Area, attending church and meeting up with long-time friends, the Sandins, for a wonderful day at Coeur d'Alene Lake.

We left very early Monday morning to make the drive home in one shot. I realized as we started out that we would be missing the pretty part of the drive because it wasn't light yet. Bummer. We made decent time and got home 15 hours later. Hurray! Walking in the front door I realized I had forgotten how nice our little home is. It IS home. And Jason had been very busy working on DIY projects while we are away -- quite a labor of love which made for a sweet homecoming.

Picking strawberries in the garden with Mimi. Yum!

Beautiful hike with the grandparents.

A few photos with the whole family after church services.

These kids! Oh my heart :)

A lakeside picnic at Coeur d'Alene Lake with Jason's parents and the Sandins. 

Fun at the lake

A little extra fun at the Sandin's home, 4-wheeling, trampolining and strawberry picking!

A few more good shots from Marilyn :)

The long road home -- sunrise from the road, picnicking in Montana & enjoying a final "birthday" coffee to get us through!

Summer Road-tripping - 2,000 miles without Jason (CA --> WA)

After Jason headed home, we spent one more week in California and then headed North. Making our way through Oregon, up to Washington and over to Idaho before ending in Spokane 2 1/2 weeks later. Jason flew in for Labor Day Weekend with his family before we all headed back to Rapid City together.

The kids and I had a fabulous time seeing friends and exploring both old and new places. The grandeur of the scenery around us was utterly breathtaking. It made my heart ache with how much I have missed these beautiful people and places.

I do realize that this is a bewilderingly long post. I had trouble condensing it as it sort of serves as a photo diary for me, but I realize may not be entirely of interest to others :)

Fun at Nana & Papa's -- harvesting dry-farmed veggies, helping peel apples, enjoying popsicles on
the patio and pampering me with a face mask :)

Celebrating my birthday in California! Special coffee date with Mom & Bonnie, then to the beach with Bonnie, followed by 

an evening of picnicking at 'music in the park' with my family and delicious dessert back on Bonnie's porch. Perfect!

A quick test trip to LA for a few days - first stop to my long-time (and long-ago)
hairdresser, Lori for us all to get haircuts. Mabel's first!

More LA re-connection fun - lunch with gals I used to house/pet sit for, the kids use bunk beds for the first time & we visit
my alma mater (Azusa Pacific) as well as lovely downtown Glendora. Enjoying LOTS of special treats along the way.

A visit with my very long-time friend, Julie (we became pen pals nearly 30 years ago after meetingat summer camp).
A special visit of getting to meet her son, Mattias for the first time, taking giant bubble making supplies
to the park and sharing meals together. 

Back at my parents, Mabel learning to drive tractor. 

Papa putting Luke to work!

And then our extra week in California was up and it was time to head north, to Oregon. Our longest drive day with only me as
a driver. 10 hours before any stops. All went well until about an hour from our destination when our ride started making scary
sounds but still driving fine. We got to within 20 miles of our destination when I realized a lug nut had sheared off and the
others were very loose. Not good. 

Having a grand time in Gold Beach, Oregon with Ron & Trudy - they treated us to a visit at the Prehistoric Gardens.
They know what kids LOVE - Dinosaurs!

My veeery last day spent at the beach. Love the sunset from their beautiful home.

Heading to Grants Pass -- enjoying the fantastically beautiful coastline.

Driving along the beautiful Jedediah Smith River on our way to visiting my Aunt Yvonne & Uncle Dale - our picnic at the park got
rained out, so they suggested tailgating in the garage for something fun after our time on the road. Perfect! They also provided
a lot of entertainment letting the kids try on my aunt's medical lung-shaking device. And we loved having Uncle Dale's special
breakfast of 'cheesy eggs' before getting on the road again.

A quick stop in Portland for another re-connection from long ago -- Sarah whoe was a Peace Corps volunteer when we were
living on a remote island in Palau & who we hadn't seen in 10 years! Last we saw her, we were spending time playing scrabble
together at our tent cabin home & watching the island give her a beautiful send-off home. 

And on to Seattle! A wonderful overnight at Jamie's. A friend from our Peace Corps days in Tonga. Her kids are each six
months older than Luke & Mabel and it was a blast to see them playing together again.

Our next stop was to see our dear friend Allison who we met while living in Guatemala. We got to spend a wonderful 24 hours with
her and her husband Brandt on Lake Washington at her parent's home. She had an incredible line-up of fantastic activities
planned. From a trip to the playground to lawn games to swimming & hiking to making t-shirts to boat rides to lakeside camping.
Not to mention, delicious custom coffee drinks and amazing food! We all had so.much.fun!!!

Boat ride down the lake to Kirkland. Both kids got to drive the boat!

Playing in Kirkland - they treated the kids each to their very own dish 'unicorn yum' ice cream :)

An incredible end to the day - setting up our tents for the night in the middle of the sunset.
Totally awe-inspiring.

Some final morning fun, hiking through the nearby woods to Juanita State Park. 

Heading to Idaho, but make a quick stop in N. Bend to see a friend & go blueberry
picking together. And then the long road through to the east side of the state - not pretty. 

At "home" in Moscow. Attending a Resonate service & hanging out as much as possible with friends from our small group.

More time with special friends, in special places in Moscow. 

We are thankful to have a lovely home-away-from-home in Moscow, at the Rice's house.  This stay we got to have a super
special ride! In a 1933 Rolls Royce! So incredibly fun! This car has been in Matt's family since he was 10 years old!

And on to Coeur d'Alene to stay with the Hayes family! Luke and Connor have been fast friends since we met four years ago,
the summer we were both living at Priest Lake. The kids always have a fantastic time together. And so do Gretchen & I.

And finally, in Spokane at Jason's parent's home. Big sigh of
relief to know we made it and that I will get to see Jason in about 15 hours!

2019 Summer Family Photos

While at our family beach camp out in San Simeon, my Mom had organized a professional photographer to come take some pictures of our whole group. It is so rare for all of us to be together, it was really great to have someone come do that. The photographer also took photos of each family group which was really great. We hadn't had family photos taken for two years and with the kids changing so quickly it was an awesome time to capture us at my most favorite setting -- the beach! Thanks to Elizabeth @ 3E Photography for the updated photos!

Summer Road-tripping (SD --> CA)

This summer we got the amazing opportunity to spend time with family and friends in California. I hadn't been home (or seen the ocean!) in over two years and was really, really thankful to get a chance to be there.

My parents were coming up on their 50th wedding anniversary and had planned a family camp-out at San Simeon beach. Wonderful!

Jason, the kids & I made the 1,500 mile trek to California; spending a fantastic evening in Utah with friends we knew from when we lived in Vermont. We had not seen them since we left six years ago. Ada was Luke's very first friend as a baby and it was a delight to see them together again, six years later.

We got to spend a week in California together -- spending lots of time with family and making many trips to the beach -- then Jason flew back to S. Dakota to work while the kids and I stayed West for an extended visit. It was really hard/sad to not be able to have Jason stay on with us, but it was incredibly life-giving for me to have an extended time with people and places that I love and I am so grateful for that opportunity.

Views from Day One on the road -- SD-WY-UT

Ada, Luke, Mabel & Abel! 

Day Two on the road -- UT-AZ-NV-CA

Hanging out with Cousin Emma!

First day at the beach in over two years!!!! A chilly day, but a wonderful time with my sister and two of her boys!

Jason's Birthday -- a great day! A kid-free delicious Thai lunch + hike

together at Montana de Oro, then grilled steaks with the family,

complete with my Mom's amazing lemon meringue pie!!

Pictures my Aunt Lori took while we walked the Bob Jones Trail together in Avila Beach.

No trip to CA is really complete without a meal at In-N-Out Burger!

The beginning of the Hazell Family Roundup @ San Simeon Beach.

Everyone together for the first time in almost three years!

Cousin and grandparent time -- around the campsite and at the beach.

A morning of fishing and exploring at W.R. Hearst Memorial Beach. 

Plus a peek at the elephant seal rookery in the off season.

All too soon we were saying goodbye to Jason at the airport.