It's hard to believe that it's close to two months into 2021 and this is the first blog of the year. There is a little catching up to do before getting to where we are now, which as you probably guessed is Rosburg, Washington.
After our California Christmas we stayed a few extra days to enjoy celebrating Emma's first birthday. Although a few years apart, she and I share the same birthday, which made it really fun. We then headed from California back to Florida, which as has been our practice throughout the past year, we did while trying to be as safe and responsible as possible. Then we spent a few weeks in Florida, which was experiencing an unusually long period of cooler and windier weather than normal.
Toward the end of January we flew to Texas to help Ben drive back to Pennsylvania. He had the good fortune of being able to work remotely for several months. This gave him the opportunity not only to spend time with family in both Florida and California but also with friends in Colorado and Texas.
We, (Ben, Beth, his lovable dog Allie and I) struck out from Texas intending to make the nineteen hour drive in two days. Our goal for day one of the journey was a stop at our niece Kimberly's house near Louisville, Kentucky. She had recently purchased a new home that she is really proud of and we were excited to see. The home is great and she is such a magnificent host that we decided to stay two nights instead of one to further enjoy her hospitality and the area.
After saying our goodbyes, we took off to complete our journey up and across the heartland. We had covered well more than half of the drive getting to Kimberly's so the second day of driving was shorter. Not surprisingly, as we made our way further north the temperatures continued to drop and although the roads were clear, there was plenty of snow in the fields, yards and on the houses. When we arrived at Ben's his yard was covered with several inches of snow.
There were snow flurries throughout our three night stay at Ben's house. The flurries were light to moderate at best, but we enjoyed daily fires in the fireplace of his cozy house while watching them fall. Since we left his house, his area has been hit pretty hard with several winter storms which has added plenty more snow on top of what was already on the ground.
From Pennsylvania it was back to Florida for a couple of more weeks before heading out again. As I previously mentioned, by Florida standards the temperatures were a little chilly. However, you couldn't wipe the smiles off the faces of the folks visiting from "up north" with a brillo pad. I guess there just isn't much comparing 65 degrees to the near zero weather many of them left behind for a much needed break in the Sunshine State.
Leaving Florida, we spent a few days in Texas before flying on to California. We had left our car, the Silver Bullet in the capable hands of Sarah and Joey. Since leaving Florida in August the Bullet has been as far north as the upper peninsula of Michigan, across the heartland to Colorado, west to California and now to the beautiful Pacific Northwest and the small community of Rosburg, Washington.
Rosburg is a small, incredibly scenic community located in Wahkiakum County. It is two hours northwest of Portland, Oregon, one hour from Astoria, Oregon and three hours south of Seattle. With a population of less than 4,000 people, it is the second smallest county in the state of Washington. So like most places we've visited since the start of the pandemic, social distancing is not an issue!
We have the good fortune of staying at a fantastic Airbnb cabin located on the banks of the Columbia River. As we have learned from our first few days here, there is so much interesting history in the area to absorb. My mind is already spinning with stories that I have heard and read about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which on two separate occasions camped along the shores of where we are staying. There's also the family history of our Airbnb hosts and their connection to the well preserved (thanks to the Mayor, who you will learn more about in future blogs) salmon cannery which is located just a short, low tide walk down the beach from our cabin.
That's enough for today! I've got to get back to nature. It's a typical cool, damp day in this neck of the woods, but there is plenty of entertainment. Just outside our windows barking sea lions are frolicking about while bald eagles are perched in the tall evergreen trees along the banks, waiting patiently for a meal.
As Beth said on our walk this morning, "there's so much to see around here". We're looking forward to exploring and sharing our adventure.
