Driving and driving all day long, but
we are so thankful to finally have made it to Portland for the
night. Tonight, we are staying with Natalie and Sherry’s
friend Jan, whom they met along the road last year at the 50K in
Portland. The last few days have been eventful to say the least. We
have been stuck in more traffic than anyone could imagine, and Sherry still has
her drive back to San Francisco. Even with all the stress from
traffic we had some great times!
To start our day out yesterday, Sherry
and I decided to do The Grouse Grind… I had no idea what I was getting myself
into. We woke up and started The Grind around 9:45 a.m. Let me
tell you, it was a grind all right! No one had prepared me for
the mental challenge that it was, but I finished in one hour and a few minutes. While
waiting for Sherry to finish, I did a little shopping and sat out on the
balcony to watch for her. A couple of hours went by and being
worried a missing persons report needed to be filed. Sherry had joked
that it was going to take her four hours, but no one believed her when she said
it. While filling out the forms, patrol searched the parking lot for
our car to make sure she didn't leave, and then Sherry comes hiking up the
trail! WHAT A RELIEF! In my mind I debated what time should someone contact
Natalie and say her mother is missing, because we would have had no clue what
to do in Canada. After Sherry made it to the top, she told me that
she had stopped to help a couple who was carrying children up the mountain and
that it took a while. Natalie got a good kick out of the story when
she heard it, but we both made it to the top, so there was no reason to
worry!
That evening we stopped at the Fire
Station in Vancouver across from the tennis club where Natalie was
playing. Natalie’s brother Nic who is a firefighter in Georgia, sent
us with a patch from his station to try and trade it with another station up
here. At the station, Natalie was very hesitant to get out of the
car, she thought it was “awkward”, but the second one of the firefighters
walked out to the bay she was out of the car talking away. He led us
inside and we met the rest of the crew, and they even ripped a patch off one of
their uniforms to give Nic! We went home with a station t-shirt for
Nic and some stickers for the Natalie’s scrapbook.
Jeff, myself, Mark, Natalie, Athena,
and Dustin smiling out front of their “vintage” truck!
After stopping at the fire station we
joined Natalie’s Vancouver host family Greg, Victoria, and Julia Smith for
dinner. We enjoyed great company and sat out on their deck for
dinner and looked out over the Pacific Ocean. It was great to get to
know another family along the road who supports Natalie and her career so
much. Meeting families like the Smiths make it worth the
travel. Sitting and having great conversation, other than talking
tennis, is always relieving on these trips.
Natalie couldn’t do it without you guys
and we all appreciate the effort you give to help her succeed, and we are
grateful to have you apart of Team Pluskota.
Till next time...
Loree
