On the Road Again Pt. 1- Goodbye PNW. Hello Northern Cali

 Another job, another move across the country. 

Two years ago, we moved from Western Michigan to Eastern Washington. It was an adventure and a time in our lives that we will always cherish. See previous posts as to why and how much we loved living in the Pacific Northwest. 

But now we are on to a new chapter in our lives, and hopefully, a longer one. My dear husband has accepted a job at LeTourneau University in East Texas. So, in June, we were off.

As last time, we began our trip with a visit to some physicist friends. Jan, Michaela, and Pepper live in Wilsonville, OR. Edward met them through World of Warcraft (yes, we are that kind of nerd) and then in person at a physics convention in Rochester, New York. Michaela is in academia and Jan is in a corporate position, but they are both physicists. Pepper, the most popular of the three where Milli was concerned, is a two year old black Labrador. She was so excited to meet Pepper that she made a "Squee." She has made it a  few times

before leaving Washington, but she now makes it so often it is her new nickname.

We only stayed one night with Pepper, but they became fast friends, mostly because Milli loved being licked in the face, which meant Pepper was not held back from doing the thing he wanted most to do.

Our adventure had already begun with a small hitch. We had broken our camera on the top of Mt. Kit Carson the week before and had to replace it.

 The only place we could find that carried the one we wanted was a Radio Shack in Portland. We stopped there and bought it. Therefore, we have no pics of our trip into Oregon.

Hitch number two happened just afterward. We called Michaela as we were leaving the Radio Shack to say we were close. She reported that they were locked out of the house and were waiting for a locksmith. When we arrived, we found them waiting for us with sheepish looks  on their faces. No worries.

We joined them on the steps and waited. It didn't matter where we were in proximity to the house, but where we were in proximity to good conversation. Plus, Milli got some fun grass and puppy time.

We has a lovely dinner and breakfast with them and fabulous espresso in the morning! Please ignore the fact that I spilled some on my shirt. I also had my first soft boiled egg in a real egg cup. I felt so European. We hugged and said goodbye.

Then it was on to a fabulous seafood restaurant we had discovered the year before called Tidal Raves. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves good seafood and is going to be on the Oregon coast anytime soon. This is the view from our table. Sorry about the reflection. Last year we took a trip to visit Jan and Michaela over Ed's spring break, which was in February. Not exactly springtime. But there were things blooming in Oregon, even though there was still snow in Spokane. On that trip,

Jan and Michaela became the first to find out about Milli. And we took a long drive one evening to the coast just to eat at Tidal Raves. It is all that the reviews say it is.

So, we sought it out again. The food was just as good and the view almost as good as it had been 18 months before. The view was better on that other occasion because it was sunset and there were cranes cracking crabs open on the rocks. Still, Milli had a great time flirting with the wait staff and looking out the window.

 Then it was a beautiful drive down the Oregon coast. Pine trees, coves, beaches, inlets, cliffs, cabins, waves, wonderful.

It was a little overcast, but that just made the view easier to see. We drove south and would soon leave the PNW behind. We both mourned a little and we hope that there will be chances in the future to visit and to show Milli where she was born. 

At some point we crossed the boarder into Northern California.

Lasting Impressions of Spokane

 I've posted twice about my impressions of Spokane.

But this post is the one that touches my heart the most. 

Yes, we will miss the mountains and the climate, the river and Green Bluff, and the constant availability of good coffee. 

But what we will both miss most is the people of Christ the King Anglican Church. 

When we were planning our move, we made lots of lists. One our top priorities was to find a church home as quickly as possible. We thought we were only going to be in Spokane one year, so finding a church quickly was a must. Ed did some research and had a list of three that he wanted to visit. The first on the list was CTK.

It wasn't the first place we visited, though.

A customer at my Starbucks in Michigan has a niece that lives in Spokane and gave her my contact info. She emailed me right away and invited us to her church and to dinner at her house. She and her husband went to a mega church on the west side of town. Everyone was very nice, but it wasn't our style. We had a great time at dinner, had some salmon steaks on the grill and tomatoes from their garden. We even played a little Catan. They were expecting their first child in September and we were thinking of starting a family, too. It was a great day and I regret that I did not stay in contact with them.

But the second church we visited was Christ the King. We went on a Sunday that the priest was out of town, so we heard Father Jeff speak instead. It was a lovely service and there was lots of chatting before and after. We determined to return to hear the head priest. 

We then visited the other two churches on Ed's list. Both had very friendly people, but weren't just right. We returned to CTK and they have been family ever since. The above pictures are of the two youngest members (not including Milli). Ketziah was just a baby when we first visited. She is 3 now. These pictures were all taken on Easter Sunday, 2012. I didn't tend to take my camera to church with me, so these will have to do. The little girl in white is Epiphany. She was born in March of 2011, so we got to see her mom becoming more pregnant and all of her little life up through June 2012, when her family moved to Boise. Their exodus was just a few weeks before ours and the church lost both its babies.

 The Brown family were very active in the life of the church. Chad was the office manager and Keisha the music director. Their family was one of the ones we became closest to. Although, in a church as small as CTK, it is easy to get fairly close to everyone. Keisha is one of the sweetest people I know and her daughters are just beautiful. 

I wish I had a few more pictures of Malia. She looks so much like a young Summer Glau! That was one of the first things Ed and I noticed. We saw her walking from Sunday school and said, "Hey! That's a little River Tam!" Yes, we are very holy.

I will also note that it is very rare to have such a wonderful musician in a small church. Keisha plays the accordion, harp, and piano as well as writes beautiful music. I cherish the two CTK recordings as well as the various other CDs she has made for me.

 This is only three fifths of another family that touched our lives. Rachel Capezza has the camera and is Epiphany's mother. Her oldest, Kyrie, is also pictured. Kyrie is one of the most beautiful and contemplative children I know. She doesn't smile often, but is constantly thinking. 

Rachel is a bit of a crunchy mom, like me. She gave birth to Epiphany at the Birth Center of Spokane. At her baby shower, we began a discussion of natural birth and people became suspicious of my knowledge and interest. Someone asked me if I was pregnant and that was the first time I announced it to anyone. My mother didn't even know yet! Because of that and subsequent talks with Rachel, Milli was born at the same Birth Center and assisted by the same midwife. I love having that connection. The Capezzas also lived in Louisiana and used an East Texas midwife. If we have another baby, I will have to look her up!

Here is the rest of her family. Rick, above, and Antonio, left.

 

Epiphany and Milli became special friends. Piph is like her older sister and does not smile often. She is a watcher and she shows what she likes by being interested. She was very interested in Milli! Every Sunday you would find them together. 

Rachel's parents and several of her sibs also attend CTK. All but one of them were gone on Easter, so I only have Matthew's picture and this hand knit sweater by Alissa to show. I love all of them dearly.

This was a very common scene at church... actually, everywhere.

 Father Jerry has an interesting spiritual journey that includes a decade in the Evangelical Free Church, the same denomination that Edward and I were raised and met in. We liked his style, even though it was much different than Father Jeff's. They were a fabulous combination. We miss Father Jeff dearly, as he died of cancer the month before Milli was born. It was a sad time, but we know we will see him again. Jerry has had to carry on alone, so if you know any good Anglican priests, sent them to Spokane. Or Texas.

 These are Father Jeff's daughters- the one in the middle is also Father Jerry's wife. Took us a few weeks to realize that the assistant priest was the father in law of the head priest. There was a nice unity in that. So much of CTK was family by blood and Blood. The love was thick and rich.

I could go on and on about all the families, but it hurts my heart a little bit, so I will just show pictures again.

I will say one thing. When we were in Michigan for Christmas last year, we visited our church in Allendale. We hadn't been there since we moved and I was surprised at how much I loved being there that day. I was reminded of how much I had loved them. CTK was so wonderful that they made me forget how much I loved Allendale Wesleyan (now Lifestream). Our prayer is that we will find a church in Texas that does the same thing.

 

I will close with another picture of the two friends. Milli will not remember her first friend. Neither will Epiphany, for that matter. But we mothers and all the rest of CTK will remember how sweet these babies were together. I know they miss us and I hope they all know that we miss them.

We never know where God will take us in life or what He has in store here. But we do know that He has adopted us and made us his children. We are brothers and sisters, a beautiful and unbreakable bond. And we will live forever in his house. I look forward to the day when I no longer have to miss any of my family. 

But for now, my heart aches and I pray.

Second impressions of Spokane

 It's hard to believe that our life in the Pacific Northwest is over. We spent two years in one of the most spectacular places in America and I miss is already. 

I already posted of my first impressions of Spokane. We spent the first day or two running around town and I was amazed by all the little coffee huts. We had one in Grand Rapids, MI, but I always thought it was strange. Now I think it was probably some PNWite who missed home.

But we didn't wait long after arriving to take a trip to Mount Spokane State Park. This would become a favorite part of our life, hiking in the park and hitting Green Bluff on the way. I can't remember if we stopped at GB this day, but we did go up at least once a week for the first month, sometimes twice a week.

 Our first big hike was Mt. Kit Carson. Remember that I had really only hiked one mountain before and it was Harney Peak. Kit Carson is a bit shorter, but I think we began lower. It was a beautiful day, as you can see, and my husband hiked barefoot as usual.

We saw lots of plants we didn't recognize, including what turned out to be Huckleberries! We returned several times that fall and got about a pint on one trip. We saw wild animal tracks and had read the warnings about bear, moose, and mountain lion. We never saw anything more dangerous than a woodpecker in all our hikes there.

The first hike, we only made it two miles, but we reached the summit on the second hike. It amazed us how quickly everything gets dark even in August if you are on a mountain.

 This is the top. The view was spectacular. We enjoyed our hike so much that at the end of our PNW life, hiking Kit Carson was on the bucket list. We made it to the top twice in the first month of being Washingtonians and then again the last week. I was pregnant in between and you can't hike in Winter, so our chances were limited. Still, I think it was an accomplishment.

There were also very friendly chipmunks at the peak. They must be fed by people often because they were little beggars and not afraid to get within an inch of us.

Here is the view.

 Proof that I was there. I find that I have the camera about ninety percent of the time, so I feel like I have to convince people that it was me! I was really there! Must be some damage from my childhood because people just smile and nod as I get worked up over proving my presence. 

But, SEE! I was there! I swear it! I'm not photo shopped! That is really me!

And my wonderful husband.

 My mother wanted me to describe what Spokane was like, so I took her on a photo tour. I biked along the Centennial Trail, which ran right out in front of our apartment, through downtown, and all the way to Idaho in the other direction. Here are a few of the things I noted in Spokane. I am not going to caption all of them, just feast your eyes and start making plans to visit.

I will note that up until that point, Spokane was the smallest place I had ever lived, population-wise. I am now in a place about 30% as large, so I am dealing with the downsizing. But for being only a medium size city, Spokane has some really nice art and architecture. They also had the world's fair in 1974 (the year I was born, so it is easy to remember) and have some lovely things from that event. 

Have a look!

Our apartment is about half a mile up river on the right. And that is Mt Spokane in the top center and Kit Carson just to the left. Did I make you want to go to Washington? I hope so. I miss it dearly.