Road Trip 2010

HOORAY FOR A STATEMA FAMILY ADVENTURE 

Part 1: 

Driving up Chinook Pass

Gracie's babies all came with, but baby Grace got to join us on our first stop

We pulled over to the side of the road to throw rocks in a rushing river.

And, Bailey enjoyed every moment of it.  She sniffed everything.  Ran free.  And, drank the cool fresh mountain water.  I have never seen her drink that much at one time.

Part 2: 

We wanted to find this.....

Photo taken one year ago

But instead, we got this.....SNOW!!!  Same exact place.  Almost a year apart. But, a very different view.

Shocking, yes!  Fun, absolutely!! 

Who knew that on July 5th we'd be throwing snow balls.  

Since the picnic benches were buried under the snow, we decided to find a different place to enjoy our lunch.

When we got in the car, we turned the corner to find.....

What a beautiful, ever changing state we live in.

Loren had an idea for a place we could have lunch.  On the way there we got to look at this.  

Part 3: 

Lunch at a camp ground next to some small rapids

Great job picking an absolutely stunning place for a picnic, Loren.

We decided after sitting there for awhile that we were going to come camping here one night this summer.

Only dilemma: no camping stuff.

But, I think we've found someone who will let us borrow their RV for a night.  So blessed.

And, we are hoping to get this exact spot when we come back (below)

Part 4: 

A Mystery.

After our picnic we were just going to go home, but Loren asked me if I trusted him.  

I said yes and we kept driving.  

We ended up driving to Yakima (2.5 hours away from home)

We went from lush Forest to an almost dessert like view.

It felt like we were in a different state. 

Amazing!

Part 5: 

After driving quite a ways we stopped at Miners to get Grace her first milkshake. 

She picked a mint chocolate chip one and shared it with daddy.

Mommy had a horrible headache and was down for the count so I didn't get to really part take.

They had a really wonderful outdoor area, over grass, picnic tables shaded by many trees.

Loren and Grace played and got out all their wiggles so they would be ready for some more driving time.  

Part 6:  

After playing for a bit at Miners, Loren drove us around Yakima to show us where he use to live and where his Mom went to church growing up.  It was neat to finally see the places Loren had talked so much about.

Part 7:  

On our way home, we stopped at a look out point. 

It over looked Ellensburg.  

I could have stayed there all day.....if I knew I didn't have a 2 hour drive ahead of me with a sleepy girly girl, that is.

My little adventure girl did not want to leave the look out point.  Too many fun things to explore.

Hello Ellensburg....see you in  a few weeks for the Ellensburg Young Life Reunion.

And, finally 

Part 8:  

On the way we got a bit loopy.  

We were tired and hungry and very silly.

Hooray for an 11 hour Statema Family Adventure.

Days off together don't happen very often so when they do we try to make the very most of it.

And, coming up with inexpensive things to do is easy here is glorious Washington. 

I can't wait for our next day off together.  We'll see what adventure awaits.