Floor It!

We woke up today and ate some breakfast while talking with the Staples. By 11:30 am, we had all our stuff packed and were ready to continue our road trip. We said farewell to our spectacular hosts and began our long journey to Bellingham, Washington to visit our friends the Baxters. The trip was supposed to take a little over six hours and the drive was not very eventful. We listened to the second book in the Maze Runner series which has kept us interested and spawned conversations about what will happen next. We drove across Washington with the east half lacking scenic views. When we stopped for gas, Mom handed me the keys and I drove for about two hours, passing the occasional truck.

There was a brief moment of excitement when I was passing a large truck. I was in a two lane highway, in the process passing the truck, when I saw a car with its hazard lights on speeding uncontrollably down my lane. I couldn’t slow down and get behind the truck I was currently passing without hitting the oncoming car. Instead, I floored it and quickly passed the truck and crossed into the other lane as the car sped past me. The quick jerk to the adjacent lane scared my Mom, but I’m sure getting hit by the car would have been more frightening. 

We went fast, but not that fast

About 100 miles from Seattle, Mom took the wheel again and continued the trip to Bellingham. When we came close to Seattle, we hit some traffic and took an alternative route via some state highways (which also had some traffic on them too). After we moved past the minor delays, it was a straight shot north to Bellingham. We arrived at the Baxter’s house at 6:40 pm and they had a delicious taco salad and tasty nachos waiting for us. The Baxters used to attend our church and moved to Bellingham about eight years ago. Mr. Baxter used to sing on the worship team with Mom and I remember Mrs. Baxter co-leading the children’s Christmas programs my brothers and I participated in. We spent the night catching up and watching their dog Dexter sprint upstairs and back to the living room in about three seconds. Mom even received a new paper map from Mr. Baxter for when our cell phone coverage fails us in the middle of nowhere (e.g. all of Montana). The Baxters are quite gracious hosts and it’s been a pleasure to see them again. Tomorrow we’ll head down to Seattle and do some underground tour and visit our friend Mavi.

Dexter, the family dog

For a different perspective of today’s events, read my Mom’s blog here and my brother Joe’s blog here.