Dear Friends:
I must get this story down before I forget the details. Although, realistically I doubt I will ever forget this trip!
I think I will just start at the very beginning of this saga. Long before I got on that bus. Back to when my first grandchild was born. Just to give some perspective. But if you just want to here the Greyhound Story, feel free to check back tomorrow for Part 2!
The Prequel
When my first granddaughter, Grace was born, I was in a transitional living situation. It seems like the past 10 years or so have been transitional for me.
Ok, truthfully, since I left home at 18, my life has been transitional. I will be 60 years old in less than 2 weeks. And I am still in transition.
But I think I finally know what I want to be when I grow up:
"Teacher Zit"a to my piano students
"Zma" to my grandchildren
"Mom" to my kids
"Aunt Zita" to my niece and nephew
"Great Aunt Zita" to my great nieces
and "Baby" to my fiance.
I guess I wear many hats!
But I digress, as usual. When my first grandchild was born, my daughter and son-in-law offered me free room and board in exchange for caring for her in the mornings so that they could both work. I was in heaven! Babies are so precious. And she and I have an eternal bond!
Granted, taking care of babies is hard work. Harder than any job I've had before. But the rewards are immeasurable!
Fast forward to 2021. I now have 4 grandchildren with one on the way! When my grandtwins were born 7 1/2 months ago, I had three kids to watch every morning! I was petrified. I did not know if I could handle it!
Fortunately I have a Type A, extremely efficient daughter (she didn't get that from me!). From day 1, she had the tiwns on a schedule. After just a few months, she had them sleep trained. I also have a wonderful partner who loves all of my grandchildren. He has become a big part of all of their lives (as well as mine) and very helpful when I was so tired, I felt like passing out!
So when I watched them, I was given a clipboard with very specific instructions, when and what and how much to eat, nap time, etc. My supermom daughter even breastfed for the first 6 months! Not tandem feeding, much milk pumping!
But alas, discomfort was brewing. As it has been for many other people in the Portland/Vancouver area. The high crime and exhorbitant housing costs in particular has sent manty people packing and moving east.
My daughter and her husband became fixated on the town of Twin Falls, ID. They even told me that God was leading them there. And indeed, after I heard all of their experiences, that did seem to be the case!
The awkard moment came when they asked me to move with them. They even invited my boyfriend. But the more they talked about the move, the closer the departure date came. What was once a fuiture dream, becamse quite imminent.
After some and soul searching, I realized I need to stay in Portland. My teaching at the music center where I have been for over 20 years was high on my list. My man did not feel like he wanted to rush to a decision to move. And my son and his wife have a 2 year-old boy and a baby girl on the way. I feel like I have given so much Zma time to my daughter's family, that it is my son's time. And his little boy is so sticking cute!
So the plan was, I travel with my daughter and my granddaughters when they moved and my soninlaw would drive the U-Haul.
My partner was even going to come along.
But then, on December 20th I got an urgent knock on my door. I was enjoying my afternoon nap. I groggily lifted my head and said, "Hello?"
It was my daughter. She said it was urgebt. Plans had changed. A big snowstorm was forecast for Eastern Oregon and Idaho. Instead of departing 12/28, we would have to leavce on the 22nd (2 days!) to beat the blizzard. She was particularly concerned about Cabbage Hill and Deadman's Pass.
I opened my door in shock. She noted my pale face.
"I''m serious, Mom", she said in a very serious voice.
So, long story short, we emptied out our entire town house and hit the road on 12/22. Three days before Christmas. I missed a lot of family gatherings. My boyfriend opted to stay in Portland, so he wouldn't miss time with his kids and family.
It was exciting, and horrifying at the same time! When ended up leaving about 1 1/2 hours later than planned. So we hit Cabbage Hill at the beginning of the storm. Visibility was poor, but at least there was much accumulation of snow, yet. Someone must have been watching over us because we were behind a very cautious truck driver who was taking it slow and steady. We soon noticed that he was directly behind a snow plow.
And the biggest miracle was the twins slept through the entire storm! We had lunch in La Grande. The babies sat in high chairs at the table. A sweet older couple ooohed and awwed at them. And we felt like warriors!
We made it to Twin Falls after dark.
My son-in-law arrive much sooner than us, and actually rented a Penske truck. He was so exhausted, it wasn't sure if he could unload it all before we got there. So my daughter posted on a Twin Falls page on Facebook and immediately two men agreed to come help him unload. They offered to pay them both, but one declined.
He just smiled and said, "Welcome to Twin Falls!"
Twin Falls is simply lovely. Population of about 48,000. The people are friendly and helpful. The air is refreshingly clean as is the whole city! I did not get to explore until days later because of the snowfall. I also suffered from altitude sickness, Big headache and enormous fatigue.
I took the early morning shift with the twins and then took a nap everyday!
They have a lovely townhouse, in a brand new complex. My daughter's half sister and family live just across the back yard. Her daughter has been such an enormous help with the babies and my 4 year-old granddaughter.
I know she's in good hands.
So I was ready to return to Portland on Wednesday, December 29th. I was so looking forward to ringing in the New Year with my partner!
But the saga began Tuesday afternoon, the 28th. Ironically the day we were supposed to have all gone to Twin Falls. Before the snowstorm.
I got an email from Greyhound saying my trip to Portland had been cancelled. They didn't say why, and when I called to reschedule my trip, the agent on the line would not give me any information. I assumed it was because of the weather.
It was a bit confusing to me, however, Idaho had much more snow than Portland each year, and the roads were plowed. According to their website, the bus ran every morning at 5 a.m.
Why suddenly cancel the trip?
To be continued in Part 2! Which will be coming tomorrow. I need to grab lunch ad go teach piano!
Happy Monday!
Love,
Zita
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