Posting from the Road

(Backdated to Sunday, July 2nd) No photos today. It was just too hectic... We had planned to leave Seattle at 1pm and get down to the Oregon Coast before Sunset so we could watch the sun going down from Hug Point--yes, it's the point where you go to hug your sweetheart while watching the sun set over the Pacific. In the end, we finally got everything packed, repacked, thrown away, given away, stored, or stowed by about 6:45. We ended up taking up MUCH more space in the car than I'd planned. We did a dry packing run about a month ago--clothes for Houston/China, our camping gear, etc, and figured it would all fit in the trunk except for food which we'd stick in the back seat. Well, the backseat is pretty much full--Ella's carseat (in the middle) is sandwiched between toys, food, bags of diapers, and her stroller all occupying the spots which would normally hold other backseat passengers... well, the best laid plans... Speaking of plans, one of my resolutions had been to not eat any national chain fast-food during our 2 week trip to Houston. I gave up on that plan within a half-hour of our departure, with a Super Roast Beef from Arby's. Mmmmmm beefy. Hyunjoo thought I was crazy for such a stupid resolution to begin with. We never eat at fast food chains in Seattle, so why not do it on the road when we really need the convenience. She has a point. By the time we got to the coast, it was 11pm (well past sunset, even in midsummer in the far Northwest). Ella had a bit of a meltdown as we were heading through the hills along the Columbia river, so we had to stop and feed her. Thankfully she fell asleep and stayed that way. We finally pulled into our campsite at Nehalem Bay, which we were sharing with our good friends Michael and Lilly. They were asleep in the back of their station wagon, so we se up our tent up in the dark, to the light of my Petzl headlamp--thankfully th tent is very easy to set up. Ella didn't wake up for the transfer from carseat to tent, and we slept more-or-less like babies in the chilly sea breeze.