Gratitude journal after 2017 Oregon RV trip

2 minute read

This was mostly written while heading to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Stuff I’m grateful for:
• no rv troubles
• no car accidents (although there have been a number of other accidents for the children)
• no arguments; and loud chewing and smelly foods have mostly been kept out of the rv (or at least those sensitive to those things have avoided the rv at the right times)
• chillax wifey Amanda. She has been very good handling the super-busy pizza place yesterday (an hour wait, so we changed plans and instead just had leftovers), and the super loud and busy pool the day before (there were tons of loud kids, and the noise echoed tremendously in there so she correctly decided to leave before she lost it)
• pizza places
• tillamook yoghurt
• donut cereal and cookie cereal. Yes both tremendously sugary, although Honey Nut Cheerios is no better, it turns out
• squeaky sand in Cannon beach
• sand shovels and pales and little girls who enjoy them so much, and are so easy to take care of when they’re thus engaged
• church on Sundays and having the day off to rest from work and soul-numbing-but-I-usually-do-them-anyway-activities like tv and video games; and instead using the time to read scriptures etc and educational stuff like most great courses
• that the internet works (I’ve been reading a book on cyber security and there are a million things that could go wrong but it, so far, mostly works anyway)
• that Celeste was an excellent sleeper on the road yesterday, although today we stopped for gas in the middle of her nap and have awoken her, so I’m not sure how that will work out
• popcorn which is helping keep the girls (primarily Celeste, Danielle is now a fabulous traveller) happy for the remaining 30 minutes of the drive
• that despite Celeste getting tired of popcorn after 10 minutes and thereafter being inconsolable, she eventually forgot why she was screaming and was pretty chill. Also, at least that helps others to know why we dislike traveling with her so much (at least until she grows out of this stage, which Danielle did once she was about 2 and a half, if I recall correctly)
• being able to visit the Oregon coast aquarium and its shark tube (where you walk through a tube that goes through a huge shark tank).
• that I found tamales in the grocery store today! While probably not as good as what you’d get in Mexico (probably because these aren’t as fresh) at least they exist! They’re impossible at home. And in a way that’s good too: they’re a special treat this way, otherwise I’d probably become accustomed to them and they would no longer be special
• that Celeste calls out “mamaaa” at the grocery store while we’re looking for Amanda. It’s really cute
• father-in-law Malcolm getting his RV all ready for the trip and fixing it up after (it had an unfortunate encounter with a branch along the road, a fire pit leaving a campsite, and somebody else’s car door)