I honestly thought it would be a little crazy when we woke up this morning but using this last week to prepare really made these final hours very smooth. We woke up around 7:30 PST and Greg ran out to grab some donuts so we wouldn't have to dirty any dishes. While he was gone I stripped all the beds, ran them through the wash, got everyone dressed, took care of the animals, completed our last minute packing, took out the garbage and cleaned the house. When he got back with our breakfast, we finished loading the cars, took our goodbye picture, and spent our final minutes visiting and saying goodbye to our close family.
My mom has been an angel all week. Despite working all day, she made time to help with shopping, cleaning, cooking, and packing. She let me talk about my fears and anxieties, always having the perfect words when I found myself filled with doubt. And as I saw the tears in her eyes the last few minutes before we parted ways, it reminded me how lucky all of us are to have her influence in our lives. Hers is the face of unconditional love. Despite wanting me close, she sacrifices to ensure I am living my best life. I don't know that I will ever be the loving mother she is, but I work hard every day to get a little closer!
This weekend will be one of the harder transitions of our whole trip. We'll be clocking around nine hours total in the car. Not so bad for adults but absolute torture for our kids. We took a short detour to check out the historic McCloud. What a beautiful town! It is very reminiscent of Hallmark Christmas movies. So much so, we have it on our list to come check into one of their gorgeous inns next Christmas to watch the snow fall and enjoy the lights.
The scenery to and from McCloud was a real treat. The stunning mountainsides were even more spectacular dusted in snow and hugged in low hanging fog. We felt fortunate that the roads were dry and clear and the sun was shining.
It was still early when we made it to Reno. It is shockingly quiet compared to the last time we visited during the big motorcycle show they held in September. We didn't have to deal with traffic, and the sidewalks were relatively empty. Parking was free and our hotel room was upgraded free of charge after we checked in. We ate a light lunch and got the kids craft root beer before we took them to Circus Circus. They were stunned! All the lights! All the games! It was amazing to see it through their eyes. Their pure joy was definitely worth the drive. $40 later they had cool prizes to take back to the hotel room before we took them to the official Reno sign outside. We were happy to get a picture with nobody else around.
We had a couple not so fun things:
1. Car has a fun new coolant leak that Greg has to figure out.
2. Our original hotel room was shady before we got upgraded.
3. Ava learned that she loves ginger ale and had to pee every two hours during the drive.
4. The heater in my office stopped working and we had to troubleshoot from afar.
It actually took me effort to remember these things because my head if filled with all the good. These minor issues were quickly resolved and we had so much fun! I'm going to mark this one down as a great day.
We're heading to Vegas tomorrow!
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