Day One

This morning I woke up in Buffalo, Wyoming and found our truck covered with blood and guts. This is hard to avoid when you're driving 704 miles in one-lane construction zones that are littered with carcass after carcass of dead wildlife.

What I'm trying to tell you is that our first day of the Spokane to Minneapolis move did not go as planned.

Gnome-Haul

Cedric's having a hard time deciding what to take to Minnesota with him.

I'm having a hard time making any progress on this whole packing thing. Every time I start, I feel like it's too early, like we aren't really moving in ten days.

Maybe it's the fact that we are both still working--and will be until only a couple of days before we leave.

Maybe it's the fact that we don't have a place to live in Minnesota yet--and won't find one until we get there.

Maybe it's the fact that it's 94 degrees--and won't be cooling off any time soon.

Maybe it's the fact that only a month or so ago I thought we would never get out of Spokane.

Whatever it is, something feels strange.

Off.

Unexpected.

WHAT'S THIS, am I starting to feel sentimental toward Spokane?

Nah. Probably not. I think it's just hard to wrap your head around moving to a place you haven't seen. To bring all your belongings to a city with no immediate place to store them. It's also hard to resist the urge to throw everything away.

But we did it two years ago, and we can do it again! At least this time one of us has a job.

Maybe I'm just more of a last-minute packer. At least Cedric has his act together.

Though some of his packing choices are questionable.

Don't worry, he's using a back brace.

Cooling Down

Although it's not 102 here like it was a week or so ago, Cedric is still sweltering.

Luckily he's just discovered a new friend.

In unrelated news, I packed my first box today!

And, last Friday, Joe and I drove down the breathtaking stretch of 195 south to Pullman, where we rode our bikes across the state line to Moscow.

The bike ride and the drive were both beautiful, filled with the endless rolling hills of the Palouse. Here are some pictures that capture only about 2% of the beauty.

Look at those tiny telephone poles!

New Birds on the Pend Orielle

We recently spent a couple days in a cabin on the Pend Orielle River. 

One of my favorite parts (other than the water, and the sun, and the company, and the food, and the lack of work) was the new assortment of birds: 

the long-legged killdeer scurrying around on their knobby knees,

the pretty little blue birds lining up on fences and wires,

the little ones waiting to be fed,

and the noisy yellow-headed blackbirds and equally noisy red-winged blackbirds perched atop pine trees and clinging to the cattails near the pond.

And the views weren't too bad either.

 We've got about two and a half weeks left in Washington, so we're rushing to see all that we can see.