From Ohio to Oregon 2018

by Laurie Miller, Leslie Shalduha and Emma Williams

Welcome to an adventure of the 3GenChics, three generations of women at different stages of life, from Maiden to Mother to Elder, each with a different perspective on life. Over the years we have done a good bit of adventuring together and enjoy writing about our experiences. In this entry, daughter and granddaughter move Gramma to Oregon from Ohio so she can enjoy Emma’s last few years of childhood before moving to be near her other grandchildren.

August 16, 2018 Day One - McConnelsville, Ohio to Moline, Illinois

GRAMMA'S Vantage Point- And so it begins! My journey, my new life begins with our cross-country trip with my girls!! The trip begins leaving Morgan County in my rear view and driving all the way to Cracker Barrel in Zanesville for our first stop! Off and on rain, 5 pee stops, a maintenance oil light warning (nothing to worry about), hellacious truck traffic on 70 west all the way to Indy, crazy bad potholes on 70 west out of Columbus, a few snacks, Illinois drivers are crazy swervers! But approx 550 miles down and 2000 to go! YIKES! Emma's playlist and Leslie's driving skills made day one a big success! Stopped for the night in a delightful town, Moline, Illinois. Quote for today provided by by very insightful daughter Leslie, at a rest stop along the way, "Have you ever noticed how different the shade feels then being in the sun? I mean, it’s hot but it feels so much better." No dear, had never thought of that. HAHAHA!!

Mama's Vantage Point - What an interesting day! Eleven hours after we started our trip we are spending the night in a super nice Radisson hotel on the Mississippi River. After a hot, delicious meal at the Barrel House and a dip in the warm swimming pool and hot tub, I find myself ready to hit the road again. Gramma drove the first hour, a fitting way to leave the home she has known for most of her life. After breakfast I took over the driving, with Gramma navigating and Emma on DJ duty. Lots of talking, singing and maybe a little dancing got us through the day, with lots of potty and stretch breaks. About midway through Illinois we started noticing the cornfields stretching as far as the eye could see. At first glance beautiful, but then I realized where I was. We drove through hours of GMO, Monsanto/Round Up Ready fields, and it made me so sad.

I cannot believe our dream of having Gramma near us in Oregon is finally coming true. After months of planning our trip, hours of pouring over our atlas working out the details, it seems surreal that we are truly on this journey. After a summer missing my daughter Emma, I am feeling blessed to be spending this quality time with her. This is the beginning of a big year of change for us all—Gramma making this BIG move, Emma starting high school and my decision to go half-time at work. Cannot wait to see what adventures tomorrow brings!

Emma's Vantage Point- We had a great day on the road today! I played an awesome playlist I created, with everyone's favorite music, dancing and singing along. We talked, told stories, and laughed. The whole ride was a lot of fun. After eleven long hours of driving, we stopped at a nice hotel in Illinois, where we stopped to check in, and then went to the Barrel House, a delightful restaurant where we had Boom Boom shrimp, that I ate most of.….they were so good! On our way back to the hotel, there was a lightning storm bigger than I've ever seen, a good distance away. We got into the warm pool and hot tub when we arrived back at the hotel and enjoyed talking and relaxing there together. We are finishing the night watching Grey's Anatomy and relaxing in bed. I've been away with my dad all summer long, and I am happy to be back with two of my favorite people! I'm so excited for Gramma's big move and the rest of the road trip fun!

August 17, 2018 Day Two - Moline, Illinois to Mitchell, South Dakota

Gramma's Perspective - Day 2 starts out a little later; on the road and across the mighty Mississippi at 9:30 and stopped for late breakfast at Perkins in Iowa City, Iowa. Finding places to eat has been a real challenge and usually disappointing! But the miles and smiles far outweigh! These girls are too much fun!! At one of our 4 pee stops today we all had a case of the giggles bad. There was another group of 3 chics in stalls before us and had no sense of humor at all and looked at us with bewilderment. They were from Kansas. Poor ladies—no way they are having as much fun as we are! My Iowa observations—hilly and very, very green. We stayed in Moline last night and have turned Dolly Parton's song Jolene into Moline and sing it quite frequently. We seem to have a way of finding out we just missed the exit for some exciting stuff! John Wayne's birthplace in Desoto; the Bridges of Madison County;Laura Ingall’s hometown; and I found out too late my Grandfather on my Mom's side is buried about an hour north of Moline. Oh well, maybe next cross-country road trip! As we explore on this trip, Leslie and I find ourselves divided on several issues but somehow we compromise, high-five and all is well, so quote for the day is "Explore, divide and compromise!" And Emma chimed in with a good one, "I am not weird, I'm a limited edition." Love these girls! Cannot wait to spend tomorrow doing a lot of sightseeing in South Dakota. Tonight's sunset was amazing!

Mama's Perspective - Laughter and singing, the best road trip ever! Traveling with two such delightful chics is more fun and meaningful than I even imagined. I felt a little grumpy towards the end of driving yesterday, and my body complained loudly from being in the car all day, but today there was no grumpiness and no pain! It always makes me happy to see the Mississippi River, and this time was no exception. Driving over the river, we crossed into Iowa. An absolutely gorgeous state, so very, very green, with the fields of corn and soybeans literally covering every inch of ground as far as the eye can see. It felt very surreal to be surrounded by all that beauty, and know it is what I consider "bad guy" crops. We drove from one end of Iowa to the other before we crossed into South Dakota. The difference was immediately obvious; while there are corn and soybean fields here they are not nearly as prolific. We are starting to see cattle grazing, which always makes my heart happy. You know, when some people see a cow, they just see a cow. When I see the cow, I see the world (inside family joke, hahaha!). We saw semis carrying windmill parts (BIG!!) and one carrying the largest tires we have ever seen. Gramma had a big moment today when she was signing a Visitor Log at the Iowa Welcome Center. In the space to fill in where you are from, she started to write McConnelsville and then stopped, realizing her new home is Corbett! We laughed so hard we nearly peed our pants in the bathroom at the rest area where we caught a crazy case of the giggles. Food has been a challenge but not just because I have interesting (is that the right word??!) eating habits, though that is a piece of it. Restaurants can be few and far between, or not even exist even though Yelp says they do. We are in Mitchell, South Dakota tonight, at a Holiday Inn Express. We enjoyed a dip in the hot tub, and are preparing to crawl into bed to watch some tv. Another exciting day tomorrow, no doubt!

Emma's Perspective - Wowowowow. The things you learn about your mother and grandmother being stuck in a car with them all day! So much fun! This road trip has been an absolute blast so far. At every rest stop today we were all laughing so hard we could barely breathe, plus there were people in the bathroom hearing us, and they had no sense of humor. Half the time someone would say something and would start cracking up, and we wouldn't even know why. In the morning we drove around trying to find a restaurant that apparently doesn't even exist anymore, so we drove by at least three exits down the highway in Iowa, finally deciding on a pancake house. It was crazy hot today, and just a great day over all. The sunset this evening was beautiful. Gramma, Mom and I were playing quizzes for a while and that was just so fantastic. I can't imagine going on a road trip with two better people. Even though my Mom's navigational skills are hilariously not great, it is still fun. I think I might be done looking at corn all the time. SO MUCH CORN. So far everything we disagree on, we figure it out and end up deciding to do something completely different. But that's okay, because it all works out. We sang a lot today, because would it even be a real girls trip without singing loudly? This trip has been so fantastic, and I have a feeling it's only going to get better!

August 18, 2018 Day Three - Mitchell, South Dakota to Custer, South Dakota

Gramma's Reflection - Started out today on mile 1080 into our trip! After another disappointing breakfast at Marlins, we hit the world-famous Corn Palace; murals and designs made from corn and other grains. First of many tourist traps on Interstate 90, but WTH, we fell for some of them and had fun doing it. I mean, today was all about sightseeing and we sure did! At mile 1080 of our trip we saw the beautiful Missouri River. Next stop the 1800 Old west town; Dances with Wolves filmed here. Also, a really old train-turned diner which was very cool. Next stop was the World’s Largest Prairie Dog; oh, and some real ones we fed peanuts. Somewhere in here we also took pictures with a big bison statue and had some real laughs watching Leslie and Emma climb on! Next the Route 240 loop around the Badlands. Awesome sights! A very hot day, so this old woman did no climbing, lol. Next, we headed to Wall Drug Store which was a bunch of shopping opportunities we skipped. Did have a good lunch at the Badlands Saloon and Bar here! Moved on towards Mount Rushmore, the wind was so strong our 80 mph speed limit was lowered to 60 so we could stay on the road. Leslie is rocking this driving business!!! So on to the highlight of our trip for me, Mount Rushmore; kinda left me emotional to see this! So happy to be sharing with my girls. Crazy Horse (work in progress) memorial next. Will someday be amazing but probably not in my lifetime. What a great day. The adventure keeps making me smile! Quote for today—Jeff Foxworthy would not know how to handle them all, but "Here's your Sign" for the zillion advertising signs for all the little tourist traps along this road.

Mama's Reflection - Today these two chics wore me out! Each of these days turn out to be 10 to 12 hours of being on the road. We did so much sightseeing and touristy stuff today that I was plum worn out by the time we hit the hotel for the night. We began the day at the Corn Palace. All I could think of was Ode to Corn! The artwork was incredible and I enjoyed thinking about how the artists put this all together. The 1800 town was an unexpected stop. I have a big love of trains so I was so excited to find the train diner there! I expected a dive diner attached to a gas station with train paraphernalia but it was a Real Train! Still a dive diner, though, hahaha!! When we got back on the freeway the wind was insanely strong. Each time we drove over a little freeway bridge or under an underpass it felt like we were going to launch over to the Land of Oz. So I kept it nice and slow until we turned off onto a less windy road. Traffic is so much lighter on I-90, and it sure has been nice. The Badlands loop is a scenic wonder! It was too hot to get very wild there, so mostly enjoyed the view from the car. We stopped at the Visitor Center and saw some awesome fossils found there in the park. The volunteer guy told us that camels originated in North America; I do not know if that is true or not but if so, that is pretty fascinating! We finally arrived at Wall, after being inundated with all those signs. Here we finally found the crowds, but enjoyed a lunch and the shops. Coming out of the Saloon we walked straight into a crazy dust storm, dark rolling clouds and big wind. It was tough to be out in that and we rushed to get inside. While driving to Mount Rushmore, Gramma read us the history of Wall Drug—super interesting! On the road to Mount Rushmore we came around a corner and all of a sudden we had an incredible view of it. Gramma gasped, putting her hand over her mouth and got a little teary-eyed. I am so happy that Emma & I were able to share such a meaningful experience with her!! I have been there once before, so knew what to expect but it was still amazing. On to the Crazy Horse Memorial next; what an undertaking that whole project is! The Visitor Center there is absolutely breathtaking, The architecture, design and museum inside is maybe the most well done I have seen ever, and I have been around the block a time or two! I am looking forward to Gramma reading the history of these two places to Emma & I tomorrow as we drive to our next destination. We all just realized we did not stop for dinner, so I went to the car to retrieve our snack box. Cup of soup for Gramma and Emma, and bacon jerky and chips for me. I sure hope we find a restaurant sometime on this trip that is a happy place for me where I can get a good, solid meal. Wish me luck!

Emma's Reflection - Today was AMAZING! We woke up, got some breakfast and got on the road as soon as possible, talking, story telling, teasing each other, etc. Our first stop was the Corn Palace, in Mitchell, South Dakota. It was weird, but also strangely amazing. I mean, the art they did with those ears of corn and their husks. It was very pretty and cool, honestly. After that interesting stop, we drove to the Badlands, counting the number of signs for the place 'Wall Drug' we saw along the way. We ended up seeing 63 signs for Wall Drug just today. Yesterday we saw just as many if not more, but we didn't count. The Badlands were incredible. Absolutely amazing, so breathtaking. It really is something you look at and just can't believe the beauty of it. We took pictures, and my Mom and I climbed part of it, which was terrifying. Suddenly the wind started blowing really hard when Gramma and I were standing on a ledge, and we thought we were going to blow over. It was insanely hot today, so every time we got out of the car to do something we could only be outside for a few minutes at a time. Next stop was Wall Drug. Finally, sign after sign, we got there. It was a pretty cool old store, lots of gift shop items, and an ice cream place. It was just a cool place, but of course the Drug/Apothecary part of the store was closed, the part we all wanted to see the most. We ate at a place across the street which was pretty good and walked around that side of town. There really wasn't all that much there. We went to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse next, and those were amazing. Crazy Horse isn't done yet, so of course we couldn't see it all that close, but it was still amazing. And Mt. Rushmore was just so incredible to look at and imagine what it must have been like to build it. After all that we came to a small little town nearby and stopped for the night. It's been another great day!

August 19, 2018 Day Four - Custer, South Dakota to Cheyenne, Wyoming

Gramma's Point of View - Well, you all should know we started out this trip with a bucket list of things to accomplish. We are working on it! Today was a little different in that we only traveled 250 miles. We started with a great breakfast in Custer, SD at Bakers's Bakery and Cafe. Best sausage gravy this side of the Mississippi! Today started 1421 miles into our journey and our first taste of crappy weather with rain and wind and 50 degrees! Our goal today was to get to Cheyenne, Wyoming to spend the night. Today's drive was miles and miles of flat, barren countryside. Occasionally, black dots appeared in the distance; turned out to be cows, haha. We traveled on two-lane roads today and passed thru only a few towns the whole trip, but one cute little town was Lusk, Wyoming. One thing on our list is to get a picture at every sign for each new state. As we crossed into Wyoming today, it was crazy windy and rainy and throw in a lot of laughter, we got it done. The picture will tell the story. We had some wild hair going on!! We drove by a sunflower field which was on Emma's list to find. She and Leslie went out in the wind and rain to play in the field and I opted to sit that out. Arrived in Cheyenne and are staying at a Tru by Hilton hotel that is way different than any I have ever seen. Actually kind of hard to describe. Nice but different, lol. Had dinner at the Rib and Chop Housein downtown Cheyenne and was fantastic! Leslie's cousin from Ft. Collins drove up and joined us and we had a great time. Just chilling in the room tonite. I am excited to see a couple of states tomorrow I have never been to—Utah and Nevada!! Quote for the day came from Leslie (and Prince) to me. "I am something that you'll never comprehend"! Ha, tell me something I don't know !! Goodnite friends!!!

Mama's Point of View - A fairly peaceful day today, with only a 4 hour drive to Cheyenne. It felt so nice to get to the hotel early in the day and just relax after such a whirlwind these last few days. This hotel is pretty rad. Yes, I said rad. Feels like a dorm room! Lots of bright colors and really modern. Pool table and tons of snazzy seating areas in the lobby. Finding the a Flintstones Village was such an unexpected delight! Emma and I went up to get a closer look at a cool building and discovered the village behind it - we climbed a rock wall and went on in, hoping we would not get arrested! Then we noticed an open entrance from the playground so figured we were safe. Gramma waited in the car so Emma and I made a quick tour and took some pictures. This point of view way of writing is helpful, I think; Gramma described the scenery as flat and barren. I about fell off my chair! I saw green rolling hills, cool rock formations, and beautiful grasslands as far as we could see. Funny, that perspective business! The further West we go, the happier I feel. These wide open spaces make me feel so light and free. I was also very happy to see my cousin Jess, She drove up from Ft. Collins to see us. It has been four years so we had lots to catch up on. Spending this time with her made me remember how much I love and miss her and I am grateful for the time we had together. We went to a fantastic restaurant where Emma & I split a grass-fed prime rib. It was incredible, and I also had the first green salad in days and my body is thankful. I have been on office hours most of the evening, working on the behind the scenes of this blog and doing a massive reinstall of my MAC operating system. Now it is time to tune out from the world and watch some mindless tv—big travel day tomorrow!

Emma's Point of View - Today was a pretty relaxing day. It started out raining and being freezing outside. We found a Flintstones village across the street from our hotel and that was super amazing. It totally made me and my Mom's day! Next, we found a good place for breakfast, where we waited a long time for our food but it was worth it. The drive for most of the day was rainy and cloudy, but it was kind of nice having a relaxing car day. We stopped at the Welcome to Wyoming sign, and tried to take a selfie with it, but everything went wrong! We didn't get the actual sign in the picture, well not all of it. We kept crouching and standing back up, plus it was so unbelievably windy that my hair went into my mouth and down my throat so I choked and my Mom was blowing away! It was hilarious, though! We also found a sunflower field that we were able to stop at, and that made me super happy! Once we got to our super awesome and amazingly modern hotel, we waited in the lobby for our cousin Jess to show up. When she did we all hugged and talked for a while then went out to dinner which was an absolute blast! We talked, lots of stories were told, and we laughed a lot. It was an overall great day. We came back to the hotel afterwards and just relaxed in bed, watching Grey's Anatomy and Jane The Virgin.

August 20, 2018 Day Five - Cheyenne, Wyoming to Wendover, Nevada

Gramma - The Way I See It - Today began as per usual; good intentions to get on the road by 8 a.m. but actually was 10. So this kid of mine, Leslie, she has proven time and time again that she can seldom get it right on the first try. Finding restaurants, for example, 9 out of 10 times she puts her trust in Yelp and well, today she picked Luxury Diner in downtown Cheyenne, said Yelp says best place to eat in town; as we drove through the seediest part of town, we found it, with meth poster on the side of the building and the characters slithering around sent us packing. We ended up at a delightfulEgg and I (now Epic Egg) and then headed out for the day. No, need tea first. Leslie first tried to turn down a one-way street; then down a closed street, then drove all the way around the tea place with no drive-thru. Awww, gotta love her. And she has done all the driving this trip so I should be nicer to her. Anyway, we were laughing and crying before we ever got on the interstate. Took forever to get through Wyoming! And, every rest area going west was closed!! But reaching western Wyoming, from Rock Springs to Green River was absolutely magnificent! My speedometer rolled over 100k at Point of Rocks, a beautiful coal mining area. Emma started a contest for the first person to find a license plate from New England. Took 5 days but I won seeing a plate today from Vermont! We had dinner at Salt Lake City. While driving around the city, a storm was brewing and we saw some pretty fantastic lighting. Stopped at the south end of the Great Salt Lake so the girls could put their toes in and enjoyed the scenery so much. Today was a long one on the road but pretty much went according to our plan! Thank God for Emma's playlist and online quizzes to keep us in stitches. Found out today if Leslie was a shoe she would be an ugly old mans's shoe and if I was a cactus, well, I was pretty ugly, too. Quotes today when I asked the girls for one word to describe trip—Emma said delightful, Leslie said entertaining and I say AWESOME!!

Mama - The Way I See It - I always write last, and enjoy seeing Gramma & Emma's posts before I write. Funny how similar theirs are today! We started the day at around 50 degrees, and end it now around 90 degrees. We saw rain, lightning, sunshine, wild clouds, and were surrounded by smoke which made me think we were in the Twilight Zone. It is truly amazing to drive through so many different climates and scenery in one day! We truly did see flat, barren country on the drive today, but also majestic rock formations, incredible high desert and low-mountain ranges. We crossed the Continental Divide twice; that tripped me out! I loved Cheyenne! What a sweet little town. I would enjoy spending some more time there, I think! Green River, Wyoming was a lovely little green space in the midst of big, open lands. We drove through a tunnel there that my Uncle Lloyd says he helped build back in the day, very cool! Wyoming is a very long state to drive through; while there were some pretty parts, we were awfully happy to get to Utah. We decided to stop in Salt Lake City for dinner (did not forget tonight!!) and took one of the first exits to grab something quick, right off the freeway. Unfortunately, this exit had a ton of construction and we chose the wrong way to cruise the restaurant row. Turning around would have meant sitting in a very long line of traffic so we used the trusty Yelp and found a place near where we were. After driving around the block, we finally found it but not before doubt was creeping in! It is true what Gramma says about me, directions and Yelp. I cannot be held responsible for Yelp giving us bad info, though, right??!! Hahaha......Another happy dinner for me, though, at the Trestle Tavern. We drove on up to access the Great Salt Lake next. Whew, it is one stinky lake! It also seemed to be pretty dirty at the places we stopped, so we decided to skip tasting the water/dirt, hahaha!! It was magnificent to look at, and I feel pretty darned happy that we were able to do this together! After that we drove to our hotel, here in Wendover, by way of the Salt Flats. That was so eerie, gorgeous and long! Tonight we are staying at the Montego Bay Casino & Hotel. Our room is like a little mansion! Emma & I are headed down to the lobby area to see what kind of exciting things are here. Then hoping for a good night's sleep to prepare for another big driving day tomorrow! Last night we ended up staying up later than intended and woke up early today so I am just about beat. We have two days left till we arrive home in Boring - anxious to see my hubby, get Emma home after a summer away and help Gramma get settled in her new home. Summer Lake Hot Springs is tomorrow's destination!

Emma - The Way I See It - Today was a long day. We planned to get on the road by nine in the morning, but were set back by a long breakfast wait and then a long tea wait so we didn't get on the road until later then we wished to. We started the day still in Wyoming. God, that's a long state. It felt like we were never going to leave it. But we did, of course, and got to Utah. Where we celebrated leaving Wyoming with a nice meal at a happy tavern restaurant! It was really hot today, but also windy and it rained for a few minutes. The weather was really all over the place! Driving into Utah was beautiful. Of course, I've never driven through Utah or been there to look around, so it was amazing for me to see for the first time. We stopped at a rest area that had a gorgeous view of these orange cliffs and rocks, so we went over to the viewpoint and took pictures. After that, we drove to Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake which was beautiful, of course, but very low water. We took pictures and my Mom and I walked down to the water from the state park to touch it. The water was actually very warm, a good swimming temperature! From there we drove all the way to Nevada, but on the way there we drove through the salt flats, and we were just inside of this huge wall of smoke and clouds. We aren't sure what fire the smoke is from, but there is a lot of it. We couldn't see anything behind us or in front of us or all around us. It really felt like we were in another dimension or another world! Once we were out of the smoke zone, we found our hotel, which is crazy huge and nice and me and Gramma got lost trying to find our room. Now we are sitting in the hotel room just hanging out, and me and Mom might take a walk around the hotel just to see where everything is or what kind of stuff is here! It was a good day. I'm so sad our trip will be ending soon. These girls are so amazingly fun and entertaining to hang out with!

August 22, 2018 Day 6, 7 & Road Trip Wrap Up! - Wendover, Nevada to Boring, Oregon

Gramma's Experience - Tuesday, 2250 miles into our trip. We left our hotel at Wendover, Nevada and headed out around 10:30 am. I played in the casino the night before till 2:30 am and had a good breakfast and ready to go. About 130 miles further into Nevada, stopped at Elko to gas up and 30 minutes in a little casino there. You all know why I never have gone to Vegas, I like it too much. Didn't lose so all good! 2485 miles in, we stop at Winnemucca, Nevada. Pee stop and held up with some construction but motoring on without much excitement except the fun we had just yakking, singing and storytelling. Most of the day's drive was boring and we kept looking for the animals they kept showing us signs for that was gonna cross the road. Fun part was figuring out what the animals were. Leslie called the horse pic a mountain lion and the burro was a mountain goat. Needless to say, a lot of laughs. Then, as we are driving, we see a warning for an 8% grade - assuming we are going down a big hill, oh wait, it is a 3 mile long frigging mountain cliff with no guard rails, a 1000' dropoff and slow as we could go; we could not even look; Leslie with her eyes on this curvy mountain road, Emma and I looking right because our stomachs were in turmoil. When we made it to the bottom, we just lost it. We will be talking about this experience for a long time to come. Moving on to Lakeview, we had a nice meal and calmed down. Moving on to our destination of Summer Lake Hot Springs, we encounter a wildfire near there; I started to panic a little but the owners assured us we were safe and we were. A relaxing dip in the hot springs last night and again this morning. On the road for Day 7, only a 5 hour trip till home!! We finally saw some animals today. A coyote crossed our path and a beautiful wild horse herd. 2749 miles into our trip, and driving through beautiful southern Oregon, I am reminded of the reasons I have made this incredible move, and am thankful for my Oregon family and the downright beauty I am surrounded by. At some point today, we passed a sign saying we were halfway between the North Pole and the Equator, at the 45th parallel. Ok, then! So here we are, 3036 miles later, 9 gas fill ups, 9 states and a lifetime of memories in a 7 day Road Trip. I am blessed. Thanks for reading!

Mama's Experience - Tuesday morning we left Wendover, Nevada at a fancy casino hotel so Gramma could get her gamble on.....It was super nice! Driving through Nevada was pretty, but definitely desert! In Winnemucca we turned north, headed towards Oregon. We saw very few cars from here on out, and nothing but desert. Turning onto Highway 140, which runs sort of parallel to the Oregon border, it was very isolated country. We stopped near Sheldon Wildlife Refuge for a bit and prepared to enter our final destination state! Not long after this we passed a Summit sign - we had not even realized we were climbing! Then we began to see Downgrade 8% signs ahead, Warning, Slow Down, Prepare,Final Warning.....I was wondering what the big deal was. Well, we soon found out! We spent the next three miles driving about 20-25 miles an hour, with me gripping the steering wheel with a tight grip, tears leaking out of the sides of my eyes, and trying awful hard to keep it together as I knew Gramma was freaked out, too. Luckily we were on the rock wall side of the mountain, a lane away from a 1000 foot drop straight down to a plateau. I could not even look that way! I would say that I was Giddy Hysterical. As soon as we reached the bottom we pulled over to shake off the tension and pee! Gramma got a nose bleed at the bottom, too! It was quite an experience, and it was at dinner a couple of hours later before I felt the tension fully leave my body. So crazy how adrenaline effects a person! From there on out, the drive was so pretty and peaceful. We reached our dinner destination at a place called Julia's on Hwy 395 in Lakeview, Oregon. I do not know what came over us, but it was the whole rest stop bathroom scene all over again with the laughter. We started laughing there, and laughed so hard we could not breathe. Folks were looking at us like we were crazy, but at least one of the waiters was enjoying our antics........So. Much. Fun! From there we drove to our final sleep destination, Summer Lake Hot Springs. On the way we noticed signs saying Fire Activity Ahead, Use Caution. It was going to be about 5 miles before our destination, so we thought we would go ahead and scope it out. In Paisley we passed the Fire Command Center, a small city of tents, vehicles and folks, but no one stopped us so we carried on. As we came closer and closer to our location, Gramma noticed the smoke around us was turning orange. When we arrived at our destination, imagine our surprise to see the fire on the ridge across the road from where we were going to stay! Scary, yes, but also incredibly beautiful to see. We spoke to the folks that run the place, and decided to give it a try. The wind was blowing in our favor, and it was not as scary as it might seem. The bed that Emma and I shared had a window facing the ridge, and I fell asleep watching the fire burn and smolder. It also made me sad, too, as Dan and I (along with friends Christi & Zac) drove that ridge last year, and I had just been telling Gramma how beautiful the woods were up there and how we enjoyed the drive so much. The three of us enjoyed a dip in the hot springs last night and this morning before we hit the road. The smoke was much worse this morning, and so our view was pretty limited for most of the day. We passed two more fires burning around Madras/Redmond. I think we started being surrounded by smoke in South Dakota, and with a few exceptions we only had about a mile or so visibility for much of our drive. The world was white from ground to sky! We drove to Bend and celebrated our Oregon arrival with lunch at our favorite place, a McMenamin's called Old St. Francis School. After that we made a quick stop at Kah-nee-ta, a resort area on Warm Springs Indian Reservation that is closing down in a couple of weeks, to say goodbye (it has since re-opened!!). We saw wild horses, and came across a herd of them crossing the road. So pretty!! Once we hit the Mt Hood National Forest, I knew we were home and that last hour seemed to take forever! I cannot believe what a week we just had; thinking back on everything we just did is sort of mind-boggling! It was definitely the trip of a lifetime, and marks a new stage in the relationships I have with my daughter and mother. So happy to be home!

Emma's Experience - Yesterday was crazy! We started out the day with breakfast at the casino in Nevada. We started driving around 10:00 A.M. and it was just desert. Very dry, not much to look at. I mean, of course, there was the occasional beautiful area, but then it was straight back to the same old desert scenery. Once we crossed the border into Oregon there was a crazy road that we had no idea we were about to go on. There was a sign that said to slow down to 25 mph. But that was nowhere near enough warning for what was about to happen. We started out thinking, "Okay, this is just a winding road" and laughing, but then it got steep and intense and nobody was laughing anymore. We were literally driving along the edge of a mountain, with a one thousand foot drop right beside us, with no guard rail. Now you might be reading this, and my Gramma's and Mom's perspective, and you might be thinking that we are exaggerating, but we are not. This road is on an actual list of most dangerous roads. It was way too steep, way too narrow, and you could not go slow enough for comfort. Once we got to the bottom, they both started crying, Gramma's nose bled, and I was just there taking pictures of everything. Now after that bad experience we couldn't stop talking about it, even though they kept saying, "We need to stop talking about it." We drove through a few more less scary mountains, and drove through some beautiful desert heading towards Summer Lake Hot Springs. About halfway there, we saw a warning sign for fire activity five miles away from where we are staying. I guess this is Oregon's way of welcoming Gramma here, lol. We called, it sounded like everything was safe to still go, so we did. The smoke was horrible all the way there, and when we finally got there, BAM. There was the fire! Right across the road, up on a ridge away from us! We could see the flames moving, and we actually watched it spread. It was kind of scary to see so close to us, but also kind of cool to watch at night from our cabin and from the hot springs (which were amazing and so warm!). We could see the fire amazingly clear all night long, but this morning we couldn't see anything at all. It was such a thick layer of smoke where we were, it was like someone built a wall in front of our window overnight. Speaking of this morning.…We woke up, went swimming again, and left. We had a pretty lazy, sleep-in morning because it was the last day and we didn't have that long of a drive, so it was nice. The drive was smoky, but there was a lot of beautiful scenery too. Of course it was a super fun ride. I'm so sad it's over, but also happy to be home. We danced some more in the car, we sang, and laughed A LOT! We also stopped at Kah-nee-ta because it is closing soon, which is so sad! Anyways, this was the best road trip ever. I had so much fun, and I wish it would never end! But we are going to keep the 3GenChics around forever! Also, there are so many inside jokes, and hilarious quotes from this trip that will be funny forever!