7-28-11 Day 108

We woke and got right into the car. I'm writing this from the car at 2:18 and we are just passed Harris Ranch. Paul is on a roll and doesn't want to stop at all. The kids are happy watching their last movie for a long time, Mary Poppins. If we don't stop we can make it home by 5 and that would be amazing so I'm going with it. I can't believe we will be home! It's funny I have wished we were home so many times on this trip and now that we are almost here it does not feel like I thought it would. I think mostly because I already feel that Santa Barbara is not our home anymore. Sequim is. Now it's just a matter of moving all of our crap there to make it official.

Either way we are excited to be able to sleep in our beds, shower in a real shower, relax in a space bigger than 20 by 10 and yell across a house to find each other.

Location:Home!!!!!

7-27-11

Today we head home. We are hoping to make it in two days. I think we can do it.

We packed up Mimi and dropped her off for some R&R. Then off to Portland to visit Laurie, Pauls cousin, for the afternoon. We had a nice little walk and visit with her then back on the road. We made it to Redding, CA at around 1am where we fell asleep as soon as we hit our Motel 6 beds.

Location:The road

7-26-11

Today was a mellow day. We went to IHOP for breakfast then went back to Mimi to play for a bit. Paul met with a mortgage broker to get that stuff all in order. The kids and I found another cool playground where Lola could also run around. We even met a mom, Angela, who was really friendly and had lots of good advice about schools and restaurants. She gave us her number and her husband is a carpenter in town who just started his own business so we will have to use him for all of our stuff when we move.

After lunch we packed up Mimi and the car to really leave tomorrow. She is clean and ready to go on vacation (without us!). We. Aren't sure when we will leave tomorrow because we may meet with the two employees at Jardin before we go.

We went to a great sushi restaurant, Wasabi, for dinner. We are so excited that there is a good sushi restaurant and the owners are really nice.

Back at Mimi the kids took their last bath in her for a long time and went to bed. It's sad that our trip is over but we are so happy that we found our new home and can leave feeling at ease with our decision and confident that no where else in this country is the right place for us. It's been a long exciting trip, one that I'm sure we will be talking about for many years. I am so glad we did this!

Off to bed to dream of my own bed. (and washing machine!)

Peace out Mimi. You are the best home away from home!

Location:Sequim, WA

7-25-11 Day 105

This morning was all about business, realtors, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, attorneys...bleh. The good news is the owners of Jardin accepted our offer. Just a few minor details and we're officially farm owners. Super exciting and super scary.

In the afternoon we drove over to Port Angeles and played at a park. The kids played hard and got super tired. In fact probably too tired as they are having a hard time going to sleep. Good night...shhhhh.....

Location:Sequim, WA

7-24-11

No one really works on Sundays, so today we just had to grin and bear the wait for an answer on the house. So we decided to head 15 miles up the road to Port Angeles. We had heard about a sand sculpture contest and thought we'd check it out. After driving too far and having to turn around at the paper mill, we finally found the festivals location. There was food, and music, and a ton of art booths. We browsed the booths for a while then watched a guy demo his Chapman Stick (which is like a bass and guitar all wrapped up into one) Jack was really impressed, he wants one. Then we spent some time watching a guy make wooden puzzles, which I have always wanted to do. Afterwards jack got to pick one out. He ended up with a mastodon puzzle. We then headed over to the sculpture area, where this years theme was sports. I liked the sumo wrestlers best.





After that we got some fair food...chinese noodles, egg rolls, sweet potato fries, and a crab chille relleno. We ate while barely tolerating the musical entertainment.
Then ice cream.

With full bellies, we headed back to the car where Lola was eagerly waiting our return. Just a few minutes later we found ourselves entering the Olympic National Park- Hurricane Ridge. This amazing place will literally be our backyard soon. The road took us up into the Olympic Mountain Range through fields of wildflowers, long tunnels, great views, and ultimately to Hurricane Ridge.











Usually this time of year the snow has melted off, but we were lucky this year there was still plenty to play in. The kids were giddy as they played and got soaked in the ice cold run off.











We spent a while checking out the ridge, then drove back down the hill. On the way down we got a great view of Sequim, The dungeness spit/bay, and what I believe is MT. Baker in the distance. Kind of reminds me of the view of Goleta when coming down San Marcos Pass.


There is tons more exploring to do here and I really can't wait. But tomorrow is back to business. Good night.

Location:Sequim / Port Angeles, Wa

7-23-11

All caught up now, today is really today that I am writing about.

Still no word yet but we really weren't worried about it. As soon as they countered they were locked into negotiations with us. They couldn't accept offers from anyone else and we were feeling good about it working out.

We wanted to go to Port Townsend again so off we went. This time we went to check out this old presidio turned state park. We had no idea what to expect. There was a beautiful sandy beach! I don't think we could have gotten out of the car any faster. We were all so glad to be on a beach and we didn't think there were sandy beaches like this so close to Sequim. As we sat there we were overcome with joy. We were really glad we are making this choice. This is a place that if we were just visiting we would be thinking let's move here! Of all the places we have been on this trip and all the things we fantasized about this place feels right. I feel good and excited to be moving here and am ready to go home and pack up. If it weren't for our friends we might not go back at all. (After living with no stuff this whole time, you really realize you don't need much.)

Charlene called to tell us that they won't carry back at all :(. She did say that their realtors father wants to carry back the rest of the money. It's weird, but he thinks it's a great investment. Either way we still want to see if we can make it work out. We will go to the bank and talk to this guy before we move on to Jake Way.

After some beach relaxing we got some lunch at a cute 50's soda shop. Then we did some shopping and headed back to Sequim. I imagine we will be spending a lot of time in Port Townsend.

We had dinner at Mimi and now we are going to watch some 30 Rock and go to bed. Tomorrow is our last day here before we head home.

Location:W Sequim Bay Rd,Sequim,United States

7-21-11

Today???? I can't remember what we did this day all I remember is we were waiting for an answer from the Jardin owners. Our realtor said they were really nice and expected them to counter. But the hours went on and no call. We were not feeling good about it.

We are really falling in love with this area. There is a lot of natural beauty and outdoor stuff to do. The people are all nice and not pretentious like a lot of the people in Santa Barbara. Everyone says hello and is just friendly. I am glad we thought of this place and are moving here. It's going to be a good change for us.

By the time we went to bed no call. Our hopes were down for Jardin. Oh well there is still Jake Way.

Location:W Sequim Bay Rd,Sequim,United States