Teresa Ingalls

Texan Oasis

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Feb 092012

Texas was the place I most dreaded for our road trip. I think of long stretches of straight, flat road under an endless sunny blue sky. No animals, no trees, just fellow travelers on the interstate. This was fueled by memories from past roadtrips, such as when several of my college friends piled in a van and drove from Nashville to the Grand Canyon. And when Clayton and I drove to San Antonio so he could ask for my parents’ permission to marry me. Those trips were fun because of the people and purpose, not the scenery.

We started by cruising through North Texas, specifically Amarillo (the “armpit of America” as one of my college friends dubbed it), then dipped down just skirting below the border with Oklahoma. We ended that first Texas day in Wichita Falls, a suburb without the burb. We will always think highly of that little place because we stumbled upon good shave ice and because of the Texas-shaped waffles we ate for breakfast the next morning. But not because of the scenery.

This all changed when we hit the town of Montgomery just north of Houston. We were meeting our friend’s Mike and Tami and staying at his parent’s house. I’m not sure what I imagined the house to be like, but it ended up being a little oasis. Off a back road in the middle of the woods, within sight of a lake, we were treated to some amazing hospitality and lovely scenery. They are both master gardeners so have an extensive green garden in their wooded backyard, complete with tall flowering arugula and red and yellow Swiss chard. Just one lot down was a horse that we could feed carrots to. We could view woodpeckers and chickadees on the bird feeder from the kitchen window as we ate a breakfast of baked oatmeal and thick cut bacon. Autumn followed the path in their backyard to the tire swing or on bug hunts for roly polies. It was a wonderful respite to see so much greenery and enjoy the company of laid back people.

Road Tripping

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Jan 232012

I probably wouldn’t have chosen to endure 3639 miles in a car with 2 small children if it weren’t for necessity. But there are certainly advantages to road trips.

1. Seeing People
This is the most obvious benefit to a cross-country road trip. We planned our route to see as many family and friends as we could. It’s helpful as we endure long days in the car to know that at the end we will see people we love.

2. Seeing Countryside
The United States is a massive country. I have been reminded of this the last two days as we drove south through 3 states. Weather changed from snow, ice, and cold slush in Washington to dry, sunny, high wildfire alerts in L.A. We started in city, meandered through mountain passes, and then ended in the flatlands of almond growing country in California. Town names varied from Grants Pass and Rogue River to Los Banos and Grapevine.

Living in Hawaii for the last 3 years I completely forgot about Rest Areas, “Next Gas 30 Miles” signs, and cruise control. And I know in my head that chain stores are everywhere, but it’s really amazing to see the same stores repeat across 1000 miles. We’ve gone to Starbucks every day and gone to Targets twice to restock supplies. Driving through the Sonoma area Clayton remarked, “It’s strange that we are in one of the culinary capitals of the country and our only options for lunch are McDonalds and Taco Bell.” Part of the road trip experience I guess!

Oregon Bound

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Jan 202012

It’s been a hectic few days here. With all the snow and ice making the roads crazy we had to delay picking up our car from the port. Today was the last day we could get it without incurring additional fees. Clayton and dad headed to Pier 18 this morning at 7:30am to make an attempt. Fortunately the temperature rose to 34 degrees, which meant that the ice had begun melting on its own and the salted roads were completely passable. They made it safely to the pier to get the car.

It was a sad little snow-and-ice-covered car. But it made it unharmed and with just enough gas in the tank to get it back to my parent’s house.

So this morning we head to Oregon! We are getting a late start but hope to make it to Eugene by this evening. We still need to book a hotel (we delayed making a reservation just in case we couldn’t leave today), but plan to do that once we hit the road.

The road trip begins…

4 Ways to Pretend You are Warm

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Jan 142012

Nothing says, "Stay away sleet!" like a gigantic cheery yellow umbrella.

I’m going to be honest. It’s freakin’ cold here. We have discovered a few ways to make adjusting to the mainland go a little smoother. Here they are:

1. Hot Beverages
We are drinking plenty of warm liquids like tea and hot chocolate. On average I have 4-5 cups of hot (as close to scalding as I can get) liquid a day. Mom put together a tea party for Autumn which included non-toddler-friendly china teacups, a real teapot, English tea, and petits fours. I might also have to go Russian and have some vodka at some point here.

2. Poofy Clothing
The general rule is that the closer you resemble the Michelin man the warmer you will be. Autumn has 3 new jackets, one of which has fur on the hood. I actually bought a pair of slippers. They go half way up my leg for optimal poofiness. In addition, I’m eating a lot of oatmeal cookies and peppermint bark to add to my natural poofiness.

3. Think of it as “Fun Cold”
It is forcasted to snow this evening and tomorrow, which would mean that the cold weather was a fun cold, and not just plain miserable cold. The plan is to go sledding if it really snows so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

4. Hot Tub
A heated pool and hot tub are also great ways to stay warm. We indulged in these at my parent’s condo clubhouse. Although not great for energy conservation, half of the pool is outdoors. In the winter you get some great steam coming off the pool and it makes for an otherworldly swim. For best results, you should stay in until sufficiently pruney. Other than having our hair freeze as we walked back to the condo, it was wonderful.