Cal's Graduation and a Road Trip

I was pretty impressed when 1500 plus miles could roll under my wheels and I still loved my kids at the end of it.  We actually had great fun!  I checked them out of school a little early on Thursday, March 15th, packed up and off we went!

Bridge over the Snake River Gorge.  We stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho for dinner.

We drove to Boise the first night. I was worried about whether or not I could stay awake being the only driver, but it was much easier than I thought. It helped a lot to have Spencer sitting next to me in the front seat. He became my navigator and got us everywhere we were going flawlessly. You should know that Spencer is not a chatty kid, in general, but ever since he's been old enough to ride in the front seat of the car, it's like his brain just spills out what it's thinking. It's kind of a fun change. I've often wondered what's going on in there. One conversation began with his question, sparked by driving along in the rain, "Why don't they make it so roads absorb water?". We discussed this for a while and I told him he should invent one someday. He actually came up with some pretty good ideas. He's one smart kid.

We stayed at a hotel in Boise Thursday night. Both the hotels I chose in Idaho and Oregon had two very important features that I would highly recommend to anyone going on a road trip with kids: A pool and hot tub open 24 hrs. and a free hot breakfast. I patted myself on the back several times for having the foresight to do this. The breakfasts were delicious, too, with choices of cereal (hot or cold), eggs, bagels, yogurt, fruit, juice, hot cocoa, and belgian waffles. Whatever hotel person dreamed this up, THANK YOU! We had a swim after breakfast the next morning then hit the road again for the longer leg of our journey to Boring, Oregon.

This did seem like quite a long haul. It was about 7 hours. The last half of it was very pretty as we drove along the Columbia River, though. We got to our hotel then headed out from some dinner. We decided that we ought to have seafood since we were so close to the ocean and it turned out the closest sea food was...drumroll, please....Red Lobster! Yes, the very place we could have gone back home. But, the kids all wanted to go there, so off we went. I blame my kids' taste for expensive seafood on Darrel. I didn't eat seafood until we started dating. So, Grace and Spencer shared a pound and a half of snow crab legs, giving a few tastes to Justin and I, Justin had "chicken hands" and I had clam chowder. They polished off the whole plate of crab. Impressive! We went for a swim after that, then it was bedtime.

Saturday was graduation day at the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus. When we got there the kids were looking at some cute stuffed animals as we waited for them to take us to meet Cal and his new partner. I told the kids they could each choose a puppy to take home. Of course, they all wanted the same black puppy that looked like Cal (complete with puppy coat and harness). Oh, dear. Grace was first to spot this puppy and has a thing about people "copying" her (there were only 3 different choices for pups). She was throwing a fit because Justin wanted the same pup and I looked over to see Spencer in tears. I took him aside and I asked if he was having a hard time. Poor kid! I found out which puppy he wanted and went back to where Grace and Justin were still arguing about which they were going to get. I told Grace that Spencer was having a really hard time and I was going to get him the pup that looked like Cal. I was really proud of her when she backed down and said she'd like a yellow lab pup instead. Justin got a black lab with a puppy jacket but no harness. Phew!

Waiting

When all the puppy raisers had arrived, they took us to the student dormitory. We waited while they went to get Christopher and Cal. Spencer was still crying off and on, but I was really proud to see him owning it and not trying to blame the tears on some imagined illness or injury (a method he's used before when emotions have been overwhelming for him). Progress! Cal came bounding into the room, almost pulling Christopher over. He certainly remembered us! Christopher kindly gave Spencer Cal's leash and we visited for the next hour.

Christopher works for the Air Force in a department that deals with F16 fighter jets.  He does something with accounting or numbers for them. He is originally from Syria, but has lived here for 25 or 30 yeas now. He's a very smart guy. He is married and we were happy to find that he has a daughter just Spencer's age and another that is 14. We had hoped Cal would be in a family with children since he was so good with them. Cal is Christopher's fourth guide dog. He has been blind since he was a child from a progressive genetic disorder of the retina. He says he likes to work his dogs for about 7 years then retire them before they get too arthritic or ill. He told us he'd give us a call when Cal is ready to retire to see if we have a home for him (I don't see Darrel going for that, but we put it on the back burner--that would be right around the time of Spencer's mission). Christopher gave Spencer a very nice picture frame engraved with "Cal 2012" on it. I put a picture in it right after we got home and Spencer has it in his room.

After visiting, they took the graduates to another room and left the dogs with their puppy raisers. They told us we could say a few words after we presented the dogs to their partners. I asked Spencer if he thought he could say something or not, but he didn't think so. Grace and Justin didn't want to go on stage, so Grace was our photographer. We took Cal up and Spencer was able to do it without being emotional. When Christopher passed the microphone to Spencer, he kind of shrugged and passed it quickly on to me. It was funny and very true to his usually quiet self. I talked a bit about what a good dog Cal was and how glad we were he'd have a good home. We took a few more photos outside after the ceremony, then said goodbye. Spencer's tears returned, but he gave Cal a hug. He didn't even shy away when Christopher gave him a hug and said, sympathetically, "You'll always be his first master."

We had another 7 hour drive back to Boise right after, so we hit the road. Spencer would break down every so often and held his stuffed puppy all the way to our hotel. I did my best to comfort him as we drove. It was a hair-raising drive through a series of twisting canyons at night (I was told afterward that truckers have nicknamed those canyons The Cabbage Patch) and through occasional light snow and rain. Adrenaline and many prayers kept me awake and from hitting deer or veering off the road to a fiery death. We got to Boise about midnight and took our last swim.

 Pendelton, Oregon

We had a delicious breakfast in the morning then headed off to visit a good friend of mine that lives in Filer, Idaho. On our way through Twin Falls on the first leg of our journey, I realized that she was right next door. For some reason, I had pictured Filer near Pocatello. So I called when we got to Oregon and asked if they'd be around if we stopped in on our way home. It was fun to see Joy and her kids and they were nice to feed us lunch. The rest of the drive home went pretty quickly, until I missed a subtle turn off where the highway divides into one that heads into eastern Idaho and the one that goes toward Ogden. Grrrr! We had to travel for a good 10 or 15 min. before there was an exit we could take and turn around on. By then we were getting low on gas.  We stopped at the first station we came to, but found it to be closed. We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere--you know, where the exits have names but say "No Services". Thankfully, we hit Snowville just in time and they had a Flying J open right off the freeway.

It was good to be home! Darrel had started dinner for us, so we ate and quickly went back to "life as usual". I had missed my baby and expected to see him twice as big, but the only noticeable difference was that his hair had grown long enough to lay down instead of standing up all over his head.

If I had to sum up this trip, I'd say to Spencer: It was fun to see you growing up and maturing and I'm so glad you'll talk to me, even if it's only when you're sitting in the front seat.  You have a great sense of humor and a good head on your shoulders and I don't think you'll ever get lost.  I'm so proud of you doing something that was hard for you.

Spencer, age 6

 ...and now!

To Justin, I'd say: You are the most cheerful traveller! Your positive attitude is contagious.  You take everything in stride and with patience that most 5 year olds don't have.  You enjoy all the little things.  And you definitely get a little silly when you haven't had enough sleep and are strapped into a car seat for 7 hours (hence the "Veggie Wedgie" song you improvised for the last hour of our drive to Oregon, which I will never erase from our answering machine in the message you left for Dad!)

To Grace, I'd say:  I'm really glad you've learned to entertain yourself on long rides even if it takes a lot of electronic devices to do it!  I love that you love to read as much as I did when I was a kid.  I love to see your generous, kind nature come out when you do something to cheer up someone who's sad.  You know how to make everything fun. And "Press Button Receive Bacon".  One of the best laughs we've had together.  It still makes me smile.

P.S.  Spencer has emailed Christopher and his daughter since we've been home and Cal is doing well.