Home Away From Home

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Road to Leavenworth & Monroe

We wrote a review for how awesome a hotel room was. Like, who does that? Apparently we do. Our road weariness was multifaceted by the time we rolled into Missoula, MT. While Katrina had gone hunting for hot food in Yellowstone, I was using the cabin WiFi to book our next room. I didn’t want a repeat of the prior night, and knew that we had a full day ahead of us in the park… so I purposely chose around a 7 hour drive. That landed us in Missoula. We stayed at Staybridge Suites, and wow was it good. Down to the last detail. It was AMAZING. Book it if you need to stay in Missoula, you won’t regret it.

The amount of things that ticked the box for us was off the charts, from the ample parking, to the easy room access, to the living room and full kitchen separate from the bedroom, to the cartoons being already on when Aiden and Tori plopped on the couch in front of the TV. To the level of comfort and cleanliness, to the hot prepackaged full breakfast the next morning, to the pool and hot tub that Katrina and the kids enjoyed.

We didn’t even realize how much we needed all of it, and getting it was rejuvenating.

I went to post our first Instagram pic the next morning, and realized that we didn’t have a hash tag. We didn’t really have anything. Katrina and I had been kicking around what we could call our story in a way that could maybe be relatable to others. We ultimately wanted others that were dissatisfied with the status quo to express their love of country, too. So we tossed ideas around as we drove.

A lot of the things we were coming up with felt defensive, or even had some negative connotation, like fighting or taking stuff back. It didn’t sit well with either of us. So one of us offered “American Journey.” Hey, there’s a good hashtag! It was inspired by music that reminded us of the Playstation video game.

We agreed, and it was settled… until I went to make the first post. I searched the #americanjourney hashtag to make sure it didn’t have some super right-wing conspiracy theory affiliation. Then I realized it was a brand of dog food. :facepalm:

So… that was out the window. We had to come up with something else. My internal thesaurus started activating. How about just substitute the word “journey” with “odyssey?” Cool, except for that hashtag seemed to be affiliated with some person’s obsession with a TV actor. It had creepy vibes to it.

Somehow This American Life podcast came up during conversation, and that was what sparked the connection. #thisamericantrip was both a riff on This American Life, and it was just enough of a double meaning to be satisfying. I mean, what a trip it’s been trying to survive 2020. We had our hashtag!

Earlier that day, we decided against traveling up North to Glacier National Park. We originally had planned on doing another stop between Yellowstone and Seattle. But the last several days told us we needed to slow down. We were at our breaking point, let alone the kids, so we pressed on to Washington. We talked to Trevor while we stopped in Spokane, and he booked us our next room in Leavenworth!

Leavenworth

We went to check into Bavarian Lodge in the quaint tourist trap nestled in the Cascade foothills, and were thrilled to find that we were treated to our room. Already taken care of! After Yellowstone, that was just wonderful. We’ll always be grateful.

We felt like royalty accessing the indoor parking and all the amenities. And the bar was open! I even enjoyed some beer for the first time in more than a year. Just a taste was enough. Katrina had champagne. We crashed hard and went meandering around the main shops the next morning.

We’d been there before, probably 5 or so years ago, and we were thrilled to stay there and relax a bit before heading into Monroe. We shopped for chocolates in a bit of a family tradition in Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I made the pretext of buying almond bark for Trevor and Ryen, but I figured I’d get to enjoy a bunch of it over some gaming. I was right.

In true Washington fashion, our lucky streak of weather changed at last. It started raining, and then pouring. That drove us into a little restaurant named Loui’s Cafe, and we might not have otherwise stopped there. We really enjoyed the experience. The pandemic has made eating indoors a little weird, but we were able to get seated quickly.

We visited a few shops afterwards, bought some toys for the kiddos, and then decided to hit the road.

Monroe

After a short but terrifying drive through Stevens Pass in the driving rain, where even 40 miles per hour around the elevated highway risked hydroplaning, we came down on the other side of the Cascades and into Monroe.

I made the pretext of buying almond bark for Trevor and Ryen.

Staying with the Taylors is always a pleasure and we’ll always be grateful to them for hosting us, and for their hospitality. For the board games, and VR games, and console games, and food, and alcohol, and company and conversation, and giving each other shit, and for all the things that swirl around their house providing us an escape from our months-long cabin fever.

And the kids got to be kids, for days. Playing and building forts, and finding lizards, and eating sweets, and going in the hot tub, and marveling at the dog and the swelling streams from all the driving rain. And then there were the animals, and feeding the goats and chickens, and getting knocked over once or twice by one of them nudging for food, and the fresh eggs for breakfast. All of it. And the snooty poured coffee, or the Folgers reheated in the microwave. I seriously don’t mind it. It was wonderful. And we needed it, and we already miss it. We didn’t get enough. Because any amount seems like it goes too quickly, and then it’s back to “real life” or the road.

For us, this time, it was the road that called. But not before our tradition of hitting up Five Guys in Monroe, and narrowly missing a landslide due to all the pouring rain for days – only 10 miles from where we stayed, and even getting some pizza at Ryen’s. We departed with full hearts, full bellies, and gifts for the road. Jerry put his leather working passion to work and recreated a purse and wallet sets for Katrina and the kids.

We loved our stay with the Taylors, and can’t wait to visit again!