It's not Ore-GONE. It's Orygun. Learn it.

If you are an avid reader of this fabulous blog, you know that this Friday is MIDDLE SISTER'S WEDDING! Woo!!! Well...when you add up airfare per person to be $250+ each, the shuttle service down to LAX to be $150 total (which is way cheaper than parking your car), and the Canine 4 Seasons puppy hotel....your butt hole puckers at the thought of shelling out one thousand dollars in just travel costs.

So.....ROADTRIP!

That's 732 miles from Wookie & Co. headquarters to Mrs. Wookie's hometown which cost us less than one ticket from LAX to Hometown.

In total, it was nearly 11.5 hours in a car where I got fat feet (I suffer from mad bloatage when traveling). We went through one pack of jerky, a box of Jujufruit, half a pack of JollyRanchers, half a PowerBar, 3 travel mugs of water, half a pack of sunflower seeds, and plenty of XM radio (a must!).

And I may or may not have lost it mentally after the jerky kept falling on my feet from sharp mountain turns that I chucked it into the back of the Jeep. Bitch.

But we got here. Finally.

Somewhere 3 hours South of the Oregon/California border is where the land transitions from the depression-inducing mid-California landscape of flat as a pancake and brown. We hadn't been that happy in seeing landscape changes in awhile (maybe Northern Arizona during our PCS to California?). There's something about seeing real mountains, trees, and 2 Oregonians getting "nature boners" from the excitement of being "back home." Fun fact: Mr. Wookie hasn't driven back to Oregon since he left post-college on his first PCS to Pensacola, Florida for Naval flight school! That was almost 4 years ago...to the day!

The car's mood definitely changed when we started driving around the mountains. Oregonians belong in the wilderness. Unshaved legs and all.

On a sad note: Near Woodland, California (somewhere in the middle of the I-5 corridor), we passed the most atrocious accident we've ever seen - it gave me goosebumps! The Southbound lane of I-5 was shut down after a fiery multi-car accident. And what made us feel worse, we later learned from the Sacramento news that the baby was in a separate vehicle than the 2 adults that were killed. Gah. No bueno.

But to lift our spirits to the fact we were gaining elevation, trees, oxygen levels, and higher quality beer in Oregon, I started to play with the camera.

This huge cloud-covered mountain is Mt. Shasta. Elevation: 14,000+ feet. So bad ass, you need a base camp to summit this bad boy. It's teetering on my "bucket list" of whether I want to hike it. How much will it cost me? And how cold will I be and for how long? But one perk...it's a mere few hours drive from my hometown. Hometown = free lodging!

But alas, our beloved home state welcomed us with a tiny sign I almost missed and am thankful for having a camera that can keep up with the last minute shots. Ahhhh.... Orygun.... the land of gas attendants who pump gas for you, where there's no such thing as sales tax, and where Subarus are as common as fake tits in Santa Monica.

30 miles over the border and we were home....where we belong. Okay, that's not my house. Just kidding. But omg, can you imagine?? That's a LOT of vacuuming. No thanks.

 

Okay, now we're home. Thanks Baby Sister for lurking. Baby Sister was awesome in running the dinner/beer errands for us so when we got home all we had to do was open a bottle. Baby Sister's concierge service is now open and taking appointments!