 |
| Helping me pack |
With Meric heading to Texas for 2 ½ months, I took the
opportunity to visit family and friends with Mel and the dogs. It turned out to
be one long crazy adventure.
We started our tour of the USA by heading to Kentucky. We
stayed with the Smith family and enjoyed being back home in Kentucky. I love
the Smiths and think of them as family and we had a lot of fun on our visit.
Mel loved cruising around the house in the walker they got for her. Mike tried
to get her to start walking on her own but Mel wasn’t about to give him the
satisfaction of seeing her walk. (She is one stubborn kid and we are still
trying to convince her she can walk.)
Mel loved seeing Emma every day when she
got home from school and the two of them were best buddies. The time went too
quickly and it was hard to say good bye.
My mom came down to Kentucky to help me drive up to
Washington State. A three day drive with a one year old and three dogs was not
something I was looking forward to doing, especially in the winter. We started
our trip with it snowing in Kentucky. When I got to Indiana I discovered the
joys of black ice and really started to question whether or not we should
continue the trek. We pushed on and once we got to the Missouri border the
weather had improved greatly. In fact it was sunny and nice most of the rest of
the trip. We safely completed the 30+ hour drive to Spokane.
With the exception of Lissy, nobody in my family had been
able to meet Mel until this trip. By making this trip Mel met aunts, uncles,
and cousins galore. She especially loved Ella.
Mel also loved watching videos
online with Gramma.
She continued to show her stubborn ornery streak with my
dad. It took a little while before she would let him do anything with her but
before our trip was over they had become friends, sort of.
It really was a
great time for Mel to hang out and spend time with her momma’s side of the
family.
We even had the chance to visit with Amanda (Meric’s sister) and her family
a few times since she lives in Spokane too.
 |
| Mel playing with her cousin behind the couch |
Next we headed to the other side of Washington to visit the
rest of the Powell side of the family. We spent a few days at Nana and Papa’s
house before heading up to Meric’s other sister’s house a couple hours away.
 |
| Mel and her cousin at the beach |
Mel loved having even more cousins, aunts and uncles to play with. She
especially warmed up to her uncles. (I think she was missing her daddy.)
After we got back to Spokane it was time to head down to
Texas and join Meric for the last couple weeks of his training. This time Kelli
got to spend 3 days in the truck with Mel, me and the 3 dogs. On the way down
to Texas we stayed the night in Utah with AJ and his family. It was so nice to
see my nieces and for them to meet Mel. Reagan especially loved Mel and I
wished we had more time for them to play together.
After a couple more days we arrived in Texas. Mel was a
little nervous at first seeing her daddy again but she quickly warmed up to him
and really has become more of a daddy’s girl. To thank Kelli for driving with
me, we took her to the zoo before her flight home.
The San Antonio zoo is
pretty cool looking. Made in an old rock quarry the walls to the animal cages
were rock in many places. It was very pretty.
 |
| Mel is #1! |
Mel, Meric and I enjoyed our time in Texas. We took Mel to
Sea World. She seemed to enjoy watching the different shows. We also took her
to a park near the zoo. The park is huge and had a train ride. Mel seemed to
enjoy the ride but was very serious while watching the scenery go by.
The park
also had a Japanese Garden built in the same old rock quarry as the zoo.
Walking into the garden felt like walking into another world.
Even though there were several other people there, the garden was very peaceful. The pictures really don’t do it justice.
It was nice to be able to spend those couple weeks
in Texas.
Finally Meric’s training came to an end and it was time to
head back to Georgia. I was so glad that the drive was only 2 days instead of
3. It was a little weird though coming back “home” but not having a place to
live. We pulled the trailer out of storage and parked in the campground on Fort
Gordon. It is a nice campground with a lake and peaceful surroundings but it
isn’t home yet. We can only stay in this spot of a max of 60 days before we
have to move for at least a week. So this is not a permeant home but we are
looking and hope to find our home soon.
 |
| These are Meric's 3 bears from when he was a kid. His mom made them for him and Mel loved them. |
This trip was a very crazy adventure. Mel, the dogs, and I
drove through 18 states and spent 11 days in the truck. But Mel got to see 2
sets of grandparents, 10 uncles, 14 aunts, 22 cousins, and several family
friends that might as well be related. It was an amazing chance to see everyone
and let them get to know my funny little monkey.
