It was very tiring and logistically challenging to take the kids on an extended, multi-stop trip, but definitely worth it. We had so much fun! Some random observations:
- Portland is indeed as hip and livable as its reputation suggests
- The Oregon Coast is every bit as wonderful as I remembered
- I wish we had something like the Jamison Fountain in Ottawa
- Good lord do I ever love summer in a humidity-free climate
- I simply do not understand how or why so many Canadians cling to this idea that American beer is inferior to our suds. Please sample this baby (which I did repeatedly) and rethink your outmoded assumptions.
- I'm glad I made it to the reunion. I got to see a few people I never deliberately lost touch with. Funny how fast 20 years can go by.
- My parents' back yard is sure a nice place to be on a hot day
With everything we packed in, the trip was quite the budget-buster, so we'll probably be staying put for a good while. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. No matter how much fun you're having, traveling with small kids is hard work. Especially when one of them **cough cough DEXTER cough cough** is prone to titanic meltdowns over issues that are minor/completely incomprehensible to adults. Overall the kids were troopers, but lets' face it--you'd have to look far ans wide to find anyone who'd say a not-quite-2-year-old makes a great traveling companion. During more challenging moments on the road I reminded myself that family travel will probably get easier from here on out. I remember noticing that Henry got distinctively easier to deal with on the plane around the 2.5 year mark, mainly because his attention span had expanded past its previous 8 second limit and he could occupy himself with a coloring book or short video. Next summer Dexter will turn 3, and should be long past the screamy/smashy/squirmy stage that makes a toddler such a pain to deal with when you're moving from A to B. I can hope, can't I?
Photos soon.
