While Steve and I were in Hawaii, Sheldon had two job offers. One was in New York, and the other was in Washington. He decided to take the job in Shelton, Washington which is about 80 miles from Seattle. Julie called us towards the end of our vacation in Hawaii and asked if we would like to help them move. We were excited and happy to be included in their plans. I had been feeling sad that we went on vacation leaving Julie and her family at our house. Had we known their plans ahead of time we would have planned things a little differently. However, as it turned out, they waited for us to return before moving. Steve and I got home on a Sunday morning and by Wednesday morning we were on our way to Washington.
The plan was to make a little vacation out of the journey to Washington. The first day we drove to Reno, Nevada. We stayed at a Best Western Hotel in Reno, and the next day was spent at a water park.
After spending a day at the water park, we piled back into the car to drive to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Sheldon drove the truck rental, and Julie and Steve took turns driving their car. Once again we stayed in a Best Western Hotel in Klamath Falls. The next day which was Friday we spent touring Crater Lake which was less than an hour from Klamath Falls. It was a gorgeous, blue lake made when a volcanic mountain blew about 7,500 years ago. When the volcano erupted, it created a huge hole resembling a bowl.
Friday we stayed in Klamath Falls again. On Saturday morning we drove to Forest Grove, Oregon which is where Sheldon and Julie lived while Sheldon was in optometry school. They had stored some of their belongings in a friend's garage while Sheldon completed his fourth year of schooling which involved rotating to different locations around the country. They lived in Orem, Utah, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Lake Havasu, Arizona. When we arrived in Forest Grove, Sheldon and his friend Garrett, packed the truck rental. As it turned out, the truck was not big enough so a second truck had to be rented Sunday morning. As soon as the second truck was packed on Sunday, we began our last leg of the journey into Shelton, Washington.
We arrived in Shelton on Sunday afternoon, and for the next few days we helped Sheldon and Julie unpack and get settled. They are renting a home for the next year. Their back yard faces a lake. It felt like it could be a summer vacation rental. They are definitely living outside of the main town and in an area where there are tons of trees and tons and tons of water every direction you look.
To get a break from unpacking, we took one day and drove into Olympia, the capital of Washington. We went on a tour of the capitol and did some shopping while in Olympia.
On our last day in Washington we took turns going on a canoe ride. Later that night we had a hot dog roast outside in the back yard and ended our dinner with yummy smores.
Thursday we all piled into their car and off we headed for the Seattle/Tacoma airport. It was lots of fun to be part of Sheldon, Julie, and Jace's new adventure in Washington. Yes, Sheldon lives in Shelton now and soon he will be practicing optometry at the local Wal*Mart in the beautiful Northwest part of our country.
Here's a couple final pictures of Shelton.
