August 31 through September 3

Nora and I started our visit in Redmond just after 5 PM on Friday August 31st. We headed straight to a place to eat since I didn't stop for anything after leaving Eugene and was quite hungry. Our plans were to arrive in Florence the next day at noon to join with some friends at Siltcoos Lake. I figured that we essentially had plenty of time on Saturday morning to get to Florence by noon and we could just head for the coast and drive highway 101 for a few hours. That may have worked, but several factors combined to make it impossible.

We did head for the coast immediately after eating dinner. Once off of I-5 at Chehalis Washington, we looked for a campground to set up a tent and camp. Just after dark, we found Rainbow Lake Campground. My heart sank as noticed the campground was entirely full. One by one as my headlights illuminated the next space, I realized that either we would be driving back to Harrisburg that night, or we were going to sleep in the back of the truck along the road somewhere. Because it was dark, I wasn't seeing the camp spaces too well. I had passed one that was empty, but hadn't confirmed it was empty until passing it. Wouldn't you know it, there was someone behind me that turned into it! This happened another time with another vehicle behind me. Now we were the big losers. After deciding to leave the campground, my headlights shone on an unoccupied camp. I turned in and there we were! We found where we were going to sleep.

Nora helped me set up the tent with flashlights and set up our mattresses and sleeping bags. This was familiar to Nora since the campout we went on when she was here last May. It was even the same borrowed tent. After setting up our beds in the tent, I told Nora I had a surprise for her. We took out the box that Grandma Stapf sent for Nora's birthday. With flashlights we opened the box and found pretty clothes and a fairy dress. Nora wanted to put the fairy dress on right then, but I said it was an "in the house costume" that might get dirty in the woods. She was OK with that mainly because we were about to start painting with watercolors in the tent. The watercolor paints came in an art set from Andy, my roommate.

A couple of weeks ago while working on Andy's BMW, we were approached by two salespeople in the auto parts store. They had these art sets with pencils, crayons, oil pastels, markers, and water color paints for $5.00. Andy paid the salespeople so I told Nora it was from Andy. Since the moment she saw the art set, she wanted to paint. I had been telling her in the car that we would paint in the tent that night. Well, there we were, in the tent and she was very excited to begin painting. She was saying "Me and my Dad...me and my Dad are going to paint." We painted a couple of pictures and then started getting ready for sleep.

By morning, we had both slept well. I woke up to the sound of rain on the tent. Ugh, I thought. But it wasn't a downpour, just a nice morning sprinkle, so I went back to sleep for a bit. I woke up to the sound of another camper chopping wood. Just then, it started to rain hard. The chopping stopped, but I was beginning to get concerned because of the rain. The tent was doing great and was designed to handle water falling on top of it and running underneath, so I wasn't worried. What I was worried about was getting it disassembled and packed up with rain.

Just after Nora woke up, the rain stopped. During the time we got up, got dressed, had some breakfast fruit and juice, the water that had fallen earlier had run off or percolated into the ground. It was very pleasant to tear down camp. We were on the road at 8 AM when the rain started again. It wouldn't let up again until we were almost to Florence.

So, I figured that we would be a little late into Florence because it takes 4 hours to travel from Aberdeen to Harrisburg on a good day on the interstate and we were within 50 miles from Aberdeen. I figured we would be even more late because it was ten by the time we reached Astoria. With the rain and fog, visibility in Astoria was about 100 to 200 feet. It was a mess outside, but Nora and I were occupied with LDS Primary Children Songs.

By the time we reached Newport, Florence was still another 180 miles away and it was 11 AM. Since breakfast was light and it was apparent that we were not going to meet our lunch appointment, we pulled off and ate lunch. Before eating we tried to call our friends, but only received the response that the customer was out of range. Ugh. So, we were going to be late and they would be wondering what happened to us.

Even though it was raining quite hard, there were people out on highway 101 going to and from recreation. As we approached small fishing towns, the traffic would be backed up at least a half mile. Once in the cities, there were no extra parking spaces along both sides of the highway and we saw signs that read "Oyster Feed" or "Salmon Feed". Even with all the rain, people were still attending these events and seemed to be happy about it.

Nora heard me ask the questions "Don't these people have houses to work on, families to be with, Home Teaching to do, lessons to prepare for?", and make the statement "Go home, drive home." She starting saying "Go work on your house." It was cute and further reinforced that she picks up on and imitates everything.

At 3:30, we finally made it to Florence. Marie said she gave up on us. After eating again, we prepared to ride on the boat. Apparently Nora had not been on a boat before, or she wasn't sure if she had. The boat belongs to Jeff who used to live here in this area. He and Marie are fishing buddies. While we were on a short tour of the lake, Jeff invited Nora to steer the boat. She did and had a lot of fun. I'll post the pictures after they are developed.

We finally got to Harrisburg at about 7 PM. What a day! Nora did great. It's been a very long time since Nora has even fussed about traveling. She is such a well mannered child.

The next day was Sunday and we attended Church. Shortly after noon, we returned to the house for lunch and a nap. Nora slept longer than I did so I got up and went to read the paper. After about another thirty minutes, Nora staggered out to the living room where I was sitting. She leaned up against my leg, then turned and holding her arms up said "Sometimes little girls need their Daddy's." You had to spoon me off the floor after that! I picked her up, held her tight with her cheek resting on my shoulder, then said through tears, "Sometimes Daddy's need their little girls to need them." With that, she squeezed tighter and I sobbed more. It was a very special moment.

The next day was Labor Day. Expecting to work on the Brigg's motorhome for a few minutes, I hadn't packed any tools or clothing to change into and out of. Once we arrived, Pat and I spoke about digging in and starting the big job of dropping the oil pan and changing the gasket. By and by, we got it done. Meanwhile, Nora was playing with Sierra and Mikael Briggs. After that, there was only time enough to drive back to the halfway point to exchange Nora.

It's always a long lonely trip back without Nora or the expectation that I'm going to see her soon. But I drive it anyway counting my blessings that I have a daughter that knows and loves me and knows I love her.