Our moving van which was supposed to arrive at 8 am finally showed up around 2:30 pm on Saturday. The reason why was unclear and seemed not OK. They took about five hours to load up and then got stuck in our condo complex trying to leave. There was much swearing (by the driver) and angry neighbors. We just went inside, ate take out Chinese, and tried to pretend it wasn’t happening. The next morning the truck was gone.

After our closing on Monday morning we hit the road. Each car started with a bag of trail mix like this:

Our first stop was Highline Sate Park on the Colorado/Utah border (~300 mi from Manitou).


This is the view looking back on Colorado from a rest stop just over the Utah border. Bye, Colorado.

Our second night was spent at a campground in the Curlew National Grassland. It was located on the Utah/Idaho border (~700 mi from Manitou).


We stopped to feed Emmett at a ‘gas station’. It appeared to have been converted to a zoo. There were miniature donkeys, a sheep, some alpaca, and a couple of dogs.


Our third and final night of camping was at the Cylde Holliday State Park in John Day, Oregon (~ 1000 mi from Manitou).


Some details about traveling with M. First, the Element is the most amazing vehicle ever and why Honda discontinued it continues to confuse and amaze us. Check out this small person changing station in the back. We would stop every 2 hours and 40 minutes to feed the little man and change his diaper. Although we feel like we are putting him in the rack when we load him into the car seat, he really seems to enjoy it and for the most part was an amazing passenger.

The folks at T@G will probably want Kyle to come to work designing more baby friendly campers when they see this awesome baby loft - complete with bassinet and changing station.

Little M approved.

Remember the trail mix bag from the start of the trip? Bags from both vehicles were seriously depleted, but one more than the other...

So, now we are in Bend and getting our bearings. Our new house was just like the pictures, phew.

Just a five minute walk from the house is the Deschutes River and a very nice trail. We haven’t explored much - a frantic trip to Target was about all we could handle the other day with the little man, but there will be plenty of time to see things - especially when the help starts arriving!

The huge moving truck, along with our furniture, is MIA. Last we heard, our driver was gone and a new individual would deliver our furniture. The details of why there was a driver change were sketchy - perhaps our driver was fired?! Anyway, they claim our stuff will be delivered Monday if the driver can find help on the holiday, otherwise he will deliver Tuesday. No rush guys, no rush. In the meantime, M has more stuff than Mom and Dad.