I came across this photo online of this little area of old license plates that are all nailed to trees and it sparked a memory for me. Don't you love when that happens? Something so small, a smell, a song, a picture of something familiar, (in this case), can bring back a whole flow of emotions. I want to share our story about when Ryan, Junior, and I flew to Washington to see his family, (and for me to meet them), and drove his old Dodge truck back thru Canada - what an adventure it was!!
This was about 2 years ago in June. Ryan had just gotten out of the military and we made our decision for him to move up here to start our journey as a couple (in the same state). He had driven his truck from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, all the way to his parent's house in Fort Lewis, Washington. Then he flew up here to get me, we flew back down to Washington together and I got to meet his mom, 3 sisters & their kids, grandma, and of course, this was the first time meeting, Junior, who is now my step son. It was an amazing trip!!We went out to eat at new restaurants, spent time at home with the family, talking & laughing, cooking (well, I talked while his mom, Degie, cooked). This is when I learned where Ryan got his cooking skills from! We had such a blast; we took Junior up in the Space Needle, visited the EMP Museum, checked out the zoo, walked around Pike's Place Market where we went out on a little ferry ride (my favorite!), and had lunch out on the pier. The whole trip was fantastic, it was very emotional having to leave this new family (that would soon become MY new family).
I remember the last day, packing everything up, knowing we had to begin our LONG journey back to Alaska, with Ryan, Junior, Ryan's lab, Sky, and I - plus all of our luggage, AND all of Ryan's things that he had packed from his move from KY in the back. It was going to be a full ride. We set out to Wal-Mart for snacks, toilet paper, paper towels, a cool for waters and drinks, and said our goodbyes to the family. Promising to text and call as we made our safe journey home.
I can't remember now how long it had been that we were driving, I want to say we made it to the Canadian border that night, but I could be wrong. We had heard so much about crossing the boarder that we were beyond prepared with letters of consent, shot records for the dog, easy access to passports for all of us, and anything they might have asked to see. I don't even know if he looked at our passports long enough to read our names, but needless to say, border patrol was the easy part of the trip.
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After a few hours of driving, Junior snuggled up with Sky in the back seat, I was dozing in and out of sleep with my feet up on the dash, and I hear Ryan mutter, "Wtf"... We were getting pulled over and had no idea why. (Mind you, Canada speed limits are in Kilometers per hour, so it takes a little getting used to). So the cop walks up, with the thickest Canadian accent I've ever heard, to inform us that A. Ryan was speeding, and B. That we weren't going to get far because the road up ahead was washed out completely and we would have to find somewhere to stay. Not just for a few hours, or overnight until the crews could get it fixed, but DAYS, and they couldn't even promise that. He wasn't as concerned with Ryan's speeding when he saw our shocked faces with this news. We had the truck PACKED full, so overloaded, with a DOG, what the hell were we going to do??
He also so kindly informed us that all the hotels in the little town up ahead were full, because all the truckers and travelers trying to get back to Alaska were all stopped there (this was the last town before the wash out). We had no choice but to drive on and find a place to "park" for the night. I'd never seen anything like it, there was semi after semi, motor homes, campers, trucks, cars, SUVs - EVERYWHERE. Filling the sides of the road, the shoulders were spilling into the road with vehicles & equipment. It was nuts! Of course I panicked because I was supposed to be back to work the next Monday and now I had no idea WHEN we were going to make it back home - it was a very scary feeling. We slept on the side of the road that night, and the next morning started talking to some of the other people that were stranded in this tiny little road pull off town. Thankfully it was summer time, and most of our day could be spent outside. We went to a little diner to get breakfast, only to find out that our debit card wouldn't work. Turns out our bank suspended the card due to "International Usage". Did I mention this town had NO CELL SERVICE. Ugh, it was awful. We had brought some cash along with us, but not enough for a week's worth of being stranded.
You can read the article about the road closure & see pictures here.
It actually became a little humorous the more we realized how stuck we really were. After talking with some people that frequented the area, we found the towns "Rec Center" that actually had public showers, a phone we could use, a pool, basketball court, pool tables, and TV's. Unbeknownst to us, this place would become our Safe Haven for the next 5 days. We showered there, played basketball, stayed in contact with our families, and they had wi fi, too, but it was always so bogged down with the overload of people trying to use it. Thankfully it was summer time and we had pretty great weather for the most part, we even went swimming one day at the center, (Junior loved it!). We walked around a lot and found a park with a lake (Watson Lake) behind it where we skipped rocks and thru the ball for Sky. We ended up moving our "camp" to this parking lot behind the rec center, where others had really set up shop for this unexpected venture with tents, camp chairs and coolers. We found a baseball field that was right behind our parking lot, so we all got to play baseball and fetch with Sky. We set up a fort inside the truck every night and watched movies on Ryan's iPod. Then every morning we would let Sky out for her morning walk, find out the status on he road work, gather our shower things and head over to the rec center to take a shower with borrowed towels and sample soaps.
Once we got back on the road it was a very slow journey back home with all the people that were stranded, we were in the midst of a ton of traffic. It had been a rough, but enlightening 5 days and we had made it thru - together. We met some really great people, willing to help, sharing little treats with Junior every time we saw them to keep our spirits up, and we saw some pretty cool things. We got a SMALL taste of being homeless. We lived out of a truck for 5 days, not including the rest of the drive time. Eating, sleeping, breathing in a truck with 2 adults, a child, and a large dog. It was quite the experience and I will never forget it! This was my first time meeting Junior. What better way to get to know someone than throwing them a curve ball like this and sticking them in a truck together for a week? God had a plan here, and we made it out alive. Ryan & I didn't kill each other, and we were stronger as a family. I loved this trip looking back, it was a great beginning and an even better story to tell for the rest of our lives!
Thanks for letting me share!
Jess
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