After a fruitful evening of Christmas shopping we checked into the La Quinta Inn by the outlet mall and had a great, undisturbed sleep. This morning though we were up at 6:00 AM we took our time to get on the road. Overnight the temperatures dipped to freezing and everything (including the car) was covered in a frosty coating. Though the roads were a little slick in places, we successfully made our way into Portland for a stop at Trader Joe’s to stock up on things found only there. A couple hundred dollars later and with a very packed car, we headed north so we could get to Mission by mid afternoon.

Again we encountered nothing in the way of bad weather; no snow, no rain, just overcast skies and plenty of traffic. Washington from Tacoma to Seattle always seems to be congested and after the nasty storm they experienced over the past few days, I think folks were just relieved to be able to travel again without being blown off the road. The storm’s remnants were everywhere from broken treetops to toppled road signs and flooded fields and ditches.

Mission couldn’t come soon enough. After stopping in Bellingham for a late lunch (2:30ish) we arrived at the MacLachlan house to the best greeting we could ever want; Makai grinning from ear to ear, happy to hug “Ganni” and “Gampa” at last. Yup, we are definitely thrilled to be here and it is quite evident that it is a mutual feeling!