San Diego (July 5, 2010)

July 5

We woke up the next day feeling much better. Mom had woken up earlier and sat on their front porch and sewed binding onto some finished quilts. She got a little too much sun and there was some sort of lizard staring at her, so she took some pictures of it.


I eventually woke up from my coma and got ready for our day. I convinced mom to walk up the hill in their back yard with me, which was a state park Cuyamaca Ranch State Park. We took some pictures of our view and I sat on top of a rock to get a better view.





I got down so we could get ready to go into San Diego and we headed towards the house. While on my trek back, I got stabbed in my right leg by a branch poking up out of the ground I didn’t see. Yay! An owie! We made it back to their house and got Doug motivated to get ready to go into San Diego. We all go in the car and guess who got to drive? That’s right, I did. We went to Walmart just outside of El Cajon to pick up some stuff before we began our long day. Before we left Nate and Genna’s, they let us use their GPS, which I called the “magic box”. (Nate and Genna had the day off due to the holiday). I was hungry so I asked Doug to program In and Out in to the magic box. We had lunch at the In and Out near El Cajon and the stadium where the Chargers played. Mom had never been to an In and Out before. She was surprised on how simple the menu was. A #1, #2 or #3 without onions and whatever kind of soda you wanted. It’s an awesome place. I wish we could have had it more than once and that they had some closer to where we lived.



After lunch we went to Balboa Park. We parked in the parking lot near the Naval Hospital since it was free. I had no idea Balboa Park was that huge! We started off at the International Cottages and only a select few were open because of the holiday (they are usually open on Sundays.) We checked out the ones that were open and moved onto the next thing to look at.



We then walked around the park looking at the buildings, museums (which most of them were closed), lily ponds, and the fountains.











We went into the gift shop and got a few postcards and then walked over to the fountain. We took a few pictures with the fountain and then walked over to the San Diego Zoo, just to see it. We didn’t have the money or the time to go inside. Mom had to buy a bag that said the San Diego Zoo on it.





We called it a day at the park and decided to drive around downtown San Diego. He showed us the convention center, some of the buildings (the jail he spend the night in) and saw Petco Park, where the Padres play. We also went to Historic Down town and took a few pictures. Mom wanted to see Old Town and some Missions while we were in town.





We got out the “magic box” and plugged in the address. For some reason it was freaking out on us and the ‘P’ button was pressing itself, even when we turn it off and turned it back on again. So we got frustrated and just shut it off completely and just wing’d it. We found Old Town and mom was satisfied with her old houses, which were being renovated and we went and saw one of her missions north of Old Town.





By that time, it was around 7:00 p.m. and we headed back to Nate and Genna’s house. We had the same thing for dinner except we had lentils with our meat and bread. After dinner, I went and took a shower. I went to our room, laid down and watched some Friends before passing out. Mom and Doug came in a little while later. Tomorrow was the really long day.

Rainier to San Diego (July 3-July 4, 2010)

July 3

We left our house around 8:55 p.m. and headed towards Rainier. We stopped and got gas on our way towards I-5, the freeway we will be on for a very long time. Doug drove all of Washington and all of Oregon. We crossed into Oregon around 10:45 p.m. Our first stop was just after Salem, at a rest stop called Santiam. We used the restroom and Doug got some free coffee. During our long trip down Oregon, we watched Friends, the complete collection that my friend Shauna let me borrow this summer.



July 4

I watched and he listened to it while he drove. It was time to get gas when we got to Sutherlin, Oregon. We used the bathroom, got gas (which Doug almost got out and pumped himself) and got a couple of snacks while we were at the gas station. From there we drove all the way to the border. We entered California around 3:45 a.m. A few minutes later we had to stop; at what it looked like was a toll. We were like what? A toll on I-5? Neither of us remembered coming down to California in the past and had to stop before. We started digging for some change. We stopped and the guy asked if we had any fruit. We were like, no. He said okay, thanks and we continued on our way. We did have some fruit in the car, canned peaches and pears, but the guy probably wasn’t looking for that kind of fruit. A bit later, we stopped at the first rest stop and I took over driving because Doug could not drive in California because of his DUI.




This was the reason why we were going down there in the first place. It was around 4 a.m. at that point and no one was on the roads except the random semi-truck every now and then. I drove throughout Northern California near the mountains and you could see Mount Shasta as dawn approached near the horizon. We came out of the mountains and into Redding, where we stopped for gas and a potty break. To our surprise, not a darn thing was open. We expected things to be open at 6 a.m.




First we got gas but the store wasn’t open, so we looked for another store that was open. We found one after Doug had walked over to the Denny’s to use the restroom. I bought a little thing of milk to go with our doughnuts we brought with us on our trip. I had a few and drank some of my milk. A while down I-5, I really needed to brush my teeth and wash my face, so we found the nearest rest stop. It felt so nice to get a little cleaned up, since we had been in the car from about 10-12 hours already. We started to hit up the boring-out-in-the-middle part of nowhere of California.

As we approached Sacramento, something all of a sudden hit me and I needed to find a bathroom NOW! Thank god we were near a rest stop. As luck would have it, the women’s potty was being cleaned and we had to use the porta potty across the parking lot. Just my luck once again, the porta potty I picked had no toilet paper in it. I couldn’t call anyone to bring me some because I left my phone in the car. So I sat there pondering what my next move was. I was so thankful that the porta potty had seat covers. I took a bunch of them and saved the day. I went out to look for mom and she was walking around because we’ve been sitting for at least 150 miles. By the time I caught up to her, I had to rush to the other porta potty, the one that HAD toilet paper in it. Oh man it was awful, mostly because I knew me being in there was wasting precious minutes of our drive. We still had a long way to go. I thought it was over so I got back in the car and it was mom’s turn to drive. We got going almost out of Sacramento when the uh oh feeling came back. “Uhhg…I hafta poop again!” “Well, let me find a place to pull over.” We stopped at a convenience store, went in and died. A while later I returned the key and bought a Gatorade, thinking that I was dehydrated after all the pooping I’ve done so far. I got back in the car and we were off once again. A bit later it hit me again. This time we had another convenience store at our disposal. While I was in there, mom and Doug made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I bought some Peptol Bismol to see if it would take the horrible away. We got back in the car and we were off again. I was so tired I passed out for about a half hour-45 minutes.

Then it started getting hot in the car and it was uncomfortable. I don’t know if it was a side effect of the tummy meds or not, but I had to pee so bad, we pulled off on the next exit and peed off of the side of the road. We then started down the road once again. Mom said we should stop and get gas soon. We found a Shell station off of the next exit near the Fresno county line. I got out to help mom get gas and to wash the wind shield, when we heard this very loud hissing sound. We looked down at the front driver’s side tire and it was losing air so fast, it was already flat. I got into the car to move it into the parking lot out of the way. Our hearts sank. More time wasted. It was hot, we were frustrated and we were out in the middle of the San Joaquin valley. Mom went inside the store and asked about getting the tire fixed. They gave her a bunch of business cards and she chose to call a 24-hour tire repair from Firebaugh and he would be at the gas station in about 20 minutes. My phone was on the verge of dying so I scouted out an area to plug it in. I found an outlet near the ice machine in the front of the store while we waited. I also looked at my road maps while we waited. I tried to stay out of the sun as much as possible. The truck finally rolled in and he got to work finding out why the tire was flat and mom hoping that the problem wasn’t too expensive.



He had trouble getting his air pressure machine going. Once he did get it going, it didn’t take him long to jack it up, take the tire off and to find out why the tire all of a sudden became flat. He got our attention and showed us the plastic pointy piece that was poked into out tire and the tire tube. We looked at it as it almost looked like it came from a bumper of another vehicle and we only could have run it over while getting on the short road to the Shell station. We paid the man $115 bucks for an emergency holiday flat tire fixin’. After an hour of waiting, we were finally on our way again. We stopped again to get gas and to go potty once again at the rest stop just before the Grapevine. That’s when mom decided that it was time for me to drive again. From there, I drove the entire trip until we got just north of Salt Lake City on the way home. The Grapevine was not that bad, there were a few trucks, cars and SUV’s on the side of the freeway with very unhappy people waiting for some help. Once we got up and over the Grapevine, you could see the smog indicating we were getting closer to L.A. I’ve been to L.A. a total three times and all three times were horrible horrible traffic. This time through was a miracle. I didn’t have to stop or slow down or wait to have California drivers cut me off or swerve in front of me. It was actually a nice drive through L.A. Probably because it was the 4th of July and everyone was either camping, at an event or celebrating it at home. I found out fireworks were illegal in California. I was still bitter at my brother for being stupid and taking my favorite holiday away from me this year. Just my luck huh? Oh well, there is always next year. While we drove through the L.A. area, we pointed out certain things mom has never seen before. This was her first time to L.A. since she was a teenager. Things had changed a lot. From L.A. there were still lots of miles to go before we were in San Diego. A few hours later we finally made it to San Diego and it was over case and much cooler than we were used to. We got to I-8 and headed towards El Cajon and Descanso, where Genna and Nate lived. Doug even showed us where he got pulled over as we passed that exit. I thought San Diego was a lot closer to where Genna and Nate lived. We thought we should stop for gas so we pulled over in Alpine for a few minutes. We kept driving east and the drive kept going and going. When would we get there? Doug kept on saying oh, it’s just around the corner. Yeah right, 20 miles later we finally hit the exit and got off. At this point, Doug and I have been up for over 36 hours. We got there and they welcomed us to their house and had steaks BBQing in their pit.



Genna showed us the little guest house where we were going to stay. We started unpacking the car. The food was done so we went inside and had some steaks, homemade bread from flax, that Genna made, we had some of our potato salad we brought with us and she made a cake to enjoy after our meal. After I finished my food, brushed my teeth and washed my face. I watched some Friends on the portable DVD player we brought and then passed out. Doug stayed up longer with Genna and Nate as they watched Hot Tub Time Machine. He ended up spending the night on the couch. Mom and I were in the guest house, she on the futon and me on my sleeping pad/sleeping bags. For some reason it was the best sleep ever.

Colfax 2010

It was nice to go back to where I spent almost five years of my life. That area of the state is so comforting to me and I have no idea why. I always enjoy what little time I get to spend over there. This year Todd asked me to help out with the team. I was to coach the JV kids. Since June 1st, I have gotten to know each and every one of them. They're great kids, full of humor and laughs. We drove over on a Sunday afternoon with a school van and a borrowed motor home. I drove the van with seven kids and the rest were in the motor home with Todd. It rained until we got to Cle Elum, where we stopped at the rest area to have a sandwich picnic that the Eygabroad's made us. From there we traveled 100 more miles before having to fill the motor home up with gas. As soon as we stopped I heard "Val, come smell the motor home!" I was a little scared. Apparently the Spivey's (who we borrowed the motor home from) forgot to empty out the tanks and the waste that was left in there sloshed around as Todd drove down the rough roads. He mentioned that he had a rough time steering the darn thing that's why I saw him swerving from one side of the road to the other. We rolled up into Colfax about 6:40 and found out we had a JV game at 7. I told the girls to hurry up and get there stuff together. The Varsity kids had one at 8. We won both games. After the game we set up our bed areas and had spaghetti that Erika prepared for us before we left. Todd and I went into the cafeteria and hammered out Monday's schedule with the rest of the coaches and Corey. I walked back to my sleeping area, it was such a long day, it was nice to pass out.


Monday we had a couple of early games. We got up, some of us ate breakfast (cereal) and got ready for our games. We ate lunch as a team (baked potatoes) and finished up our second games for the day. Played our third games and finished up the night with pizza for dinner. We had movie night, we watched The Proposal and ate popcorn.


Tuesday my girls didn't have to play until 1 that afternoon, the varsity girls had a 10:30 game in Steptoe. We had bacon, eggs and muffins for breakfast. I took that time and drove out to the Moscow Walmart. Really didn't find what I was looking for but bought some new flip flops. Drove into Pullman and went to Shopko, found out they are building a Walmart across from the Safeway. Went to Crimson and Gray before taking a picture of the Pullman sign on my way back to Colfax. Got back just as Todd and the motor home pulled up. For lunch we had French dip sandwiches, the dip part was awful, a lot of us just ate the plain sandwich instead. Everyone had a couple of close games, I had a bunch of one point losses. Willmarth showed up around 4 and told me he got the job at Ike. He was there with Granger. Todd took some of the girls to Pullman to visit the campus. Dinner was pasta. There was a guest speaker who survived an avalanche, he was a pro snow mobiler. I took a few girls to Zips because they were hungry. Afterwards, there was a coaches basketball game. I didn't partake because I didn't have my shoes. Later on I played basketball with Ashley, Steph, Kayla and Aryn and got all sweaty before they turned the lights off for bed.


Wednesday we had to get up really early to eat breakfast together (biscuits and gravy) before the Varsity played their 8:15 game. Lunch was Texas Straw Hats and dinner was hamburgers. My girls played hard but lost. Before skit night, the girls got ready and practiced their routine until they were comfortable with it. As it got closer to the talent show we all funneled into the auditorium. Todd gave me the video camera and he took pictures. After all was said and done we went first and it was a tough act to follow. The girls did a routine off of the show Glee. They all were a character from the show and they picked out three songs and had a choreographed dance to it. It was pretty cool. Everyone loved it. We would have won first place if it was judged. That night we were talking to Todd outside of the motor home when we got to watch a dry lightening storm up over the hill. The girls were hungry around 11 that night and decided I needed to take them to the store. We got back and headed to bed. I was woken up several times that night. A few of the girls stayed up until 3:30 writing on the freshman's faces with eye liner. The next morning was rough.


Thursday morning we had Mcmuffins for breakfast. I walked into the cafeteria and saw some of the girls faces, I laughed because they had beards, uni brows, mustaches and other random lines. I also found out that Turk and Riley stole Kayla and Tori's bed. Tori and Kayla had a problem, they believed that it was their mattress and it deflated, they couldn't pump it up because it was too late to use the pump, due to the noise, so they slept on a deflated mattress and Turk and Riley enjoyed a pumped up one. We spent a good hour packing up all of our stuff and cleaning out our area before leaving Colfax. We left around 9:30 and stopped in Othello again for gas and to eat lunch at A&W/KFC and Burger King. We decided to go the Yakima route because Snoqualmie had some avalanche controls and delays. We got to the school around 4:30. Good times.

The one thing I really don't like at Colfax is that we had to stay in the gym. You hear just about everything and you have no control of the lights and in the morning you wake up to basketballs and whistles. We better get a classroom next year.

Next Adventure:  TBA