Well, it’s been a minute, friends! We’re officially in Washington as of two and a half days ago. We arrived in the early evening on Tuesday, and we’ve been somewhat scrambling to set things up and start life here ever since. We’re so grateful because my mother has been with us since we left Fort Drum, and we truly couldn’t have done this trip without her. When I say it’s been a journey, I mean that both literally and figuratively.
We left Fort Drum and Black River early Saturday morning, and the next six days saw us traversing New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and, finally, Washington. We had some great days of driving, and we had some that we struggled…like, ummm 2 hours of stand-still traffic in Chicago? No thanks. But we did it, and we saw regions of the country I never knew existed every step of the way.
The boys were champions (thank God for iPads), and we averaged about 450-500 miles a day – some days more. Porter celebrated his second birthday somewhere along the way, and he deserves a post in the next few days, too!
We drove through rolling hills, steep mountain ranges, vast open plains, whiteout snow (thanks, Montana), scalding hot temps, and so much more. And, surprisingly, I think I left a piece of my heart in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is so gorgeous! We saw Mount Rushmore, we stopped in podunk little towns, and I’ve never been more excited to see the drizzles of Washington state.
The move-in wasn’t without its hiccups, but we’re here, and we’re oh-so-slowly settling. If you’ve followed my instagram stories, you’ve likely seen some of our trip, but I’ll be sharing more as we continue to settle down here. Today, we’re viewing the boys’ new daycare, and my momma (sadly) heads back to New Hampshire tomorrow. Real life is coming, and it’s wonderful, scary, beautiful, and daunting.
Cheers to Washington…we’re happy to be here!
