End of Summer 2009 - Seattle (Day 1)

The adventure begins!!! We woke this morning, on time, and pulled out of the driveway at 8:15am, only 15 minutes later than planned. We drove to the bottom of the hill where we picked up some very nutritious and ever so healthy McDonalds breakfast sandwiches, stopped for gas, and by 8:45am we were on our way.

This drive, from SLC to Pendleton is one I've done several times over my lifetime, but this was my first time driving it alone... well, alone with Brandon. I was a little worried about the length of the drive because I do have a tendancy to fall asleep while driving, so the eight hour drive from point A to point B was a concern. We packed the car with snacks, waters, great music, books on tape, everything we might need to help aid us on our journey. I must say, this drive today went by faster than I expected, and much easier than I anticipated... and as I sit here in our Pendleton hotel room, I don't even feel the least bit lagged or tired the way I usually do after an 8 hour drive. What's up with that?? Excitement for the trip perhaps? Newly found freedom and sense of independence? Whatever it is, I'm not complaining!!!

The first leg of our trip was pretty uneventful. Brandon and I listened to Eat Pray Love on audiobook while I drove and he played his new PSP. God, how I love that book. I've read it previously, but hearing again while I drove put a smile on my face and held new meaning for me after the events of this year. Around 1:30pm, we met up with my friend Ryan (RJ) in Boise for a sushi lunch. I haven't seen my friend in a long time... since Christmas, and before that, years... so it was nice to grab a couple of hours with him over a meal. On our way home, we'll meet back up as we're planning to stay in Boise during the last leg of our trip.

Back on the road with full sushi bellies (Brandon even had some... way to go Brandon!), we enjoyed some amazingly beautiful scenery from Boise to Pendleton. I've driven through here many times when I was a teenager, but now that I'm in my 30's, I think I have a new appreciation for the beauty that abounds in Eastern Oregon. Even Brandon marveled at the landscape and made mention several times of how he was glad to be back in his homeland. I thought that was funny... since he's never been in this part of Oregon before.

The hotel here in Pendleton is very nice. Brandon is especially impressed and told me that this is the nicest hotel he's ever stayed in. He wanted to order room service, but we ate in the restaurant instead (I told him we'll order breakfast in the room tomorrow morning... he almost did a happy dance). The best part of the whole day... for me... was during dinner, when I allowed him to order cheesecake for dessert, he said "This is the best vacation we've ever been on together Mom!". That made my heart happy :)

Tomorrow... we're on our way to Seattle! Stay tuned :)

Brandon here:
Hello!... So this is probably the funnest vacation ever besides my fantasy dream vacation with pirates, ninja's, flying goats, and poison spitting kittens... well you get the picture (sort of...) But so far nothing has gone wrong :)

So today we left the house and went down to Mcdonald's and had a kinda nutritious breakfast. Then we hit the road. So as we were going through the canyon we were listening to the Chunga and Mister show and I was playing SOCOM: Tactical Strike for PSP totally kicking butt as the Navy SEALs. So then a few hours passed (actually about 5 hours not a few) and we entered Oregon (my homestate!!) and we kept driving till we got to the second canyon of the so far road trip. It was really pretty so my mom asked me to get her camera from the trunk so I could take pictures of the beautiful scenery. So I did (and let me tell you that the scenery wasnt just beautiful it was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!) I then played PSP for a couple more hours till the batteries died. (CURSE YOU BATTERIES!!!) So then my mom and I played 20 questions together and we laughed a lot. It was really fun.

Then we got to the BEST FRICKIN' HOTEL EVER!!!!!! (it has room service) and it is cool because the bed is really really r...e...a...l...l...y...zzzzzzzzzzzzz...zzzz OH! sorry, comfortable. So, yes, that concludes tonights blog. Tune in tomorrow on McLaughlin Travel Adventures.com!!

Here are some pics from the road... from Boise to Pendleton. So pretty!





This was the view from the dining room at the hotel... it's really pretty.