Here is what happened... Why people are awesome.

Here we are just getting into Texas on our way to Dallas where we intended to turn North and go to Oklahoma City. As we get into an area of I-20 about 2 hours east of Dallas we see traffing being slowed with everyone getting into the left lane. There was a idiot in the right lane not in a car trying to pick something up. I was being safe and minding my own business and slowed down to a stop in the left lane.

In my rear view mirror i see what looks like a giant F-350 (found out afterwards it was hauling a trailer) which is NOT slowing down. In panic mode I attempt to move into the right lane to get out of his way but I didnt make it in time - he struck the rear-driver side part of the car at what I would guess was at least 50-60 MPH given where we ended up. We were pushed through the right lane where we spun once then rolled over a full rotation and landed off the side of the road in the ditch where some trees caught us - pinning Katie's door.

As we are hanging upside down we both yell we are ok and unclick our seatbelts which had kept me from being ejected as the driver side door was busted open and our stuff went out. We both fell down with a thud and I crawled out then helped Katie out my side which was open due to the door being destroyed. There were people there instantly, a man named Richard led the first-aid efforts and had me lay down as I was dizzy and disoriented while they tended to Katie who was bleeding badly from her legs. Other people stopped and helped (of whom I will talk later) and the police/paramedics showed up to take us to the emergency room.

Katie got a small room and they taped her wounds closed since she didnt want stitches and that was all (she was hurt worse but I got all the attention since they thought I had a concussion). I got a cat scan, 2 x-rays, and a 4 hour stay in the ER. We are discharged with minor injuries and we get to leave.... problem is we have no car, no phones, and no clue what to do.

We found a city police officer named Bryan. We asked how to get to our car which was towed to a different city (Marshall, TX). Bryan was so helpful, he tried to get his cousin to drive us to Marshall but they finally talked us into going to a hotel and taking care of things in the morning. Officer Bryan drove us to a mariott and even let us use his phone. Once we got there we checked in for 2 nights and went to wal-mart next door to get some clothes for the night and today.

The insurance company and car rental places gave us the run around and we ended up calling this nice couple, John and Margaret, who offered us any help we needed when they stopped to help us during the wreck. These people are amazing, they drove from Marshall to pick us up and take us to the car, helped us go through the wreckage, took us and our stuff to their house to help us sort and box stuff up to ship, then drove us back to our hotel after buying us drinks and paying for our shipping supplies. They even stopped at the crash site on the way back so we could look for our wedding album and phones which are all that are missing. These people made our lives so much easier.

Mom left a day early from work and is coming to pick us up in a rental car and got us free tickets to fly back to portland tomorrow.

We have most of our stuff, more importantly we are alive and will be ok - with a new car!!

Athens, GA to Jackson, MS

An eventful day on our first leg back towards Oregon... Once we got our Dunkin Donuts and got on the road the weather was beautiful and we were ready to go! Traffic through Atlanta was minimal - travelling in a giant city is really not bad on a Sunday. We did happen to see 5.. count them 5 DeKalb county sheriffs pulling over a mass of people all within a quarter mile of each other. One of them pulled back into the lane next to me only to pull over the guy next to me for not getting over for the OTHER ones pulled over at that spot.. it was insane but we got through ok.

We stopped in Birmingham for lunch at Jason's deli and wandered around the mall there near Samford for a bit to get some energy back as we had gone through the worst rain I have ever seen in a lightning storm that kind of came out of nowhere once we hit the Alabama state line.

After that it was a race to Jackson where we got into the same Mariott that we had stayed at on the way down to Florida. Same irritating staffer was on duty and I am not even sure what they are charging us for this room since I think I interrupted her 8:15 break. She should catch up at her 8:30 break though so it is ok!

Tomorrow's plan is to shoot for Wichita, KS but to stop in Oklahoma City if we are tired or push on to Hays, KS if we have lots of energy. There are Fairfields at each place so we know we have some place to stay that wont be like the Columbia mess last week.

We have 10 lbs of Dry ice in the cooler keeping our BBQ and Left over wedding cake frozen, including everything around the cooler since it is that cold. MMM BBQ...

-Nathan

Cullman, AL to Athens, GA

I have a lot of friends. And by association, so does Nathan. I just wish they were closer.

We checked out of the motel and drove out to the project for breakfast with the dwindling crew at the Carpenters' project. After a few last hugs we hit the road. Only for an hour though since we were stopping at Samford. We went to the bookstore to get a few things we hadn't found to order online and then met with the alumni director, David. He's a really nice guy who I had only spoken with by email. Definitely a good connection to have. While we were at the bookstore, I saw Sherry who worked in Human Resources and got a hug from her. In the food court I talked to a different David and was amazed he remembered me even 3 years after graduating. I saw Miss Dot in the caf and she was just as sweet as ever. I got to show Nathan a few things we had missed last year in our stop at Samford but there's still plenty more to see the next time. I kinda like it that way....it means we have to come back. =)

Our next stop was in Gainesville to have dinner with Ashlie and Derrick. That meant driving thru Atlanta....on a Friday afternoon.....on the downtown connector. This may sound simple if you're not from here. Our side alone of the downtown connector (I-75/I-85) had 7 lanes. I can only imagine the southbound side had 7 lanes too. We criss-crossed traffic changing interstates 3 times or more. We had a massive lightning storm while sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. And we saw a couple people merge 5 lanes of traffic in one swoop. Nevertheless, traffic really wasn't that bad. Most of the time it stayed moving and we were always in the right lane thanks to accurate signage being posted in advance!

We got to Applebee's and had good food and good service. Mostly I was intersted in the good fellowship so I think I forgot to eat. We had such a good time we went to Starbucks for after dinner coffee and I got a slice of marble loaf since the Pacific NW has decided never to serve it again (meanies!). It was wonderful to realize how similar married life is, no matter where you live or how long you've been together. We definitely enjoyed an adults only dinner (though the boys are precious...) and wish we could do it more often. So if anybody would like to invent an instant travel machine.....

The drive to Athens from Gainesville wasn't bad. No deer and no cops. We have been on the road quite a bit today but it was worth it. We are now in eastern time zone and not quite used to it. Maybe it is better to fly and settle into it faster than a one hour adjustment every few days...not sure. Soon enough we'll be back in my favorite time zone (Central) which is where the majority of our trip takes place, surprisingly.

My favorite car (detail) wash also does oil changes so we're going to go there tomorrow since we've definitely gone 3000 miles! We'll also be negotiating our return route as the bonus of our trip has been canceled. Maybe another day.

'Night, y'all.

Cullman, AL - Carpenters Work Day

Short post tonight as we are exhausted. It was fun to do some work today, mostly spent doing electrical as well as making CDs of the photos for people to take. Good food, good times!

We will be heading to Georgia tomorrow after we visit the project to say goodbye to everyone. We will be going by way of Birmingham (stopping at Samford) and then on to have dinner wth Ashley in Gainesville.

-Nathan

Navarre, FL to Cullman, AL

An exciting day on the trip as we left Florida to head to the Carpenters project. We were up at 5:30am with Bryan as he got ready for work and had the car packed and ready to go by 7, right on time.. Morning rush hour out on the beach area was kind of rough but we were able to get ourselves into Alabama with very little effort. There was construction all the way up I-65 which we joined well before it hit Montgomery. Long story short, we made it in time but ran into an unexpected situation...

As we were about to turn into the driveway at the project a little kitten was in the middle of the turn lane running towards us. Katie got out and picked the little guy up and noticed that he was dirty and had some sort of eye infection. Not having any idea what to do we gave the guy a little box to lay in and then hooked up the wireless modem and had google find us an animal shelter. The timing turned out great as we got the kitten to the shelter not long before it closed. Not being a vet i dont know how sick he was but he seemed to have energy enough to climb all over Katie and was purring like a monster. He drank some milk from a plate but we arent even sure he was old enough to know what to do there. The shelter people werent excited about taking him in since he was looking kind of pathetic but it turns out that a girl came in to turn in a stray dog and she was a foster for kittens... she took him to the doctor and then assuming he only needed a few shots and some meds, home. He was adorable and I am glad we were able to get him to someone that could help since 3,200 miles is a long way home for a kitten.

For the record, since I dont live in cullman county the lady put my address down as:

Nathan Speulda

319 NE Autumn Rose Way.. Oregon

Anyhow, We went to get some lunch since we missed it while taking our little friend to the shelter and then headed back to the project. The weather was beautiful and we milled about until it was dinner time. Dinner was Catfish and Hush Puppies - very nice.

The people were great, it was like meeting 20 different uncles of Katie's. Tomorrow will be interesting as Katie works on electrical and I either work on CD burning or putting up interior walls (which I did in my community service class back in 8th grade so maybe something will come back to me...).

We will post more on the CFC project tomorrow after everything is finished.

The hotel we are at is the Best Western just down the road from the site which was a good deal and is pretty clean.

We are working on an alternate route home since our plans are changing... we will post the updates here.

-Nathan

Jackson, MS to Navarre, FL

We're at the beach! Jackson was wonderful. Dinner last night was so nice and the hotel felt like a palace after the night before. I still can't believe there was a dehumidifier in the room! We are in the South!

We slept in a bit and got Chick-Fil-A biscuits on the way out of town. Hwy 49 is nice, not interstate like we've gotten used to, but easy to handle. Saw lots of roadside stands selling everything from tshirts to watermelons to peaches to boiled peanuts....

Took about 5 hours and only two fishy steps in the directions but we've made it to Bryan and Katie's. We'll go out to the beach itself tonight and feel the sand between our toes and a warm ocean (gulf) current.

Tomorrow we leave to go to Cullman, AL where we'll be working on the Carpenters for Christ mission project of Stoney Creek Outreach. Should get there roundabouts lunch time if traffic cooperates.

Columbia, MO to Jackson, MS (Replaces St. Joseph to Memphis)

So let me recap the fun that was last night..

We decided to push through past Kansas City to avoid the traffic that would surely be a nightmare this morning on our way to meet Jeff in St. Louis... Had we stopped in St. Joseph like planned we would have had to get up at 4AM to make it in time. The decision landed us in Columbia as basically the farthest I could get without falling asleep (I was thinking, hey college town like Corvallis or Athens right?). We used a coupon book and found a Days Inn.. not great but not bad right? heh, wrong. It looked good at first but the room was horrible and the area was terrifying. We decided to just post the blog then go to bed since I had driven 15 or so hours and had another full day today..

I basically ended up staying awake all night because I didnt trust the place if i fell asleep, I had joked earlier today about staying awake to make sure we still had our kidneys in the morning but I am not sure how far off the truth it was! This being said, once I finally did fall asleep a massive lightning storm rolled in (though my snoring is too loud she slept like a baby with artillery shells exploding outside).. We got up at 6 and got ready and left as fast as we possibly could - 2 hours earlier than planned. This got us into St. Louis at like 9:00 at which point we found the mall where we were meeting Jeff and getting Chick-fil-A.

Thanks to Jeff's directions we made it in and out of St. Louis with absolutely no effort, I like to know where i need to be and at least there is some order to the freeways there. Because we had made it way further last night we decided to power on through to Jackson where we had found yet another Fairfield Mariott.. a great relief after last night. I was sure I was going to crash on the way, going 15 hours then 1/2hr sleep then another 15ish hours but I am here typing this blog with plenty of energy and not much caffeine in me... go figure.

The trip from St. Louis to Jackson was boring and when we got there we found our hotel... hallelujah and then got our first real BBQ food in forever.. it was a great little place called the Hickory Pit - complete with a metal pitcher of sweet tea, college baseball on TV (The super-regional that OSU got knocked out of) and good food.

We got into town with lots of time to relax and can sleep in tomorrow because we are so far ahead of schedule. Overall we are having a great time despite my lack of sleep. Katie is in love with the weather here in Mississippi - 85 degrees and humidity that makes me break a sweat by just clipping my finger nails. I partially appreciate the humidity since the -50% humidity at 7,200 feet in Laramie was even worse.

It is amazing to think that in four days we have gone over 2,500 miles and are in the deep south... Today was a good day of Sweet tea and sunny weather.

Laramie, WY to Columbia, MO

Yes, you read right. We skipped ahead to Columbia instead of stopping in St. Joseph. Nebraska was the most dull state ever (from the I-80 perspective) and Google's directions scared us a little when we left the intestate in Lincoln. They were right, they just didn't look right in real life. SO when we got to the Missouri state line (not much to see in 5 miles of Iowa either) we decided to keep going since we weren't all that tired and Kansas City would probably be a nightmare in morning rush hour. Turns out we were right that the interchanges of highways and interstates in KC are kinda complicated and as Jeff warned us, drivers aren't nice! But, we made it thru there in one piece and not too flustered. Columbia is where University of Missouri (aka Mizzou) is located so thinking of other college towns we're personally familiar with (Corvallis....Athens....) we decided it'd be a good stop. The Days Inn at Exit 124 had the best rate for what you get (wireless internet, hot breakfast, etc) but it's kinda sketchy and outdated. The mattress sinks at least 6 inches when I (Katie) sit on it. Truly, it's clean and functional....just not pleasant feeling. We definitely got spoiled by Marriott's and have learned you get what you pay for.

We plan to go ahead tomorrow and try to make it to Jackson, MS. We will be stopping in St. Louis for Chick-Fil-A.....and to see Katie's friend Jeff (just kidding, we would've stopped to see you even if you didn't have a Chick-Fil-A...it's just a nice bonus!) Then we're looking forward to some good southern BBQ in Memphis as an early dinner before cruisin' down to Jackson. This should let us get some good sleep there before going down to Bryan and Katie's in Florida. Mmmmm 2 days til I can walk on a beach! =)

For those of you with schedules and want to know how they'll be updated, we'll still be in Central time (+1 for Eastern, -2 for Pacific) taking 9 hours, 24 min to go 618 miles. This does not include stops for food, etc. Rough estimates are to leave Columbia around 8am and get breakfast. We plan to get to lunch w/ Jeff in St. Louis by 11ish. Then 6ish we'll be in Memphis for BBQ. With stops, that should put us in Jackson by 10pm.

We drove 813 miles today which pushed the car over the 10K mark just outside Kansas City. Pretty amazing =)

There wasn't much to see so most of the pictures I took were of interstate signs....and one at a rest area warning us about rattlesnakes! I'll add some tomorrow as this part of the country looks a lot more interesting!

Time to try to sleep now.

Boise, ID to Laramie, WY

Well this was a fun drive, 696 miles is an awful lot and ended up taking us 11 hours (with stops) but it really went well. We found Katie some Starbucks and then hit the freeway... I-84 was boring right away and never got much better with an exception if a mid-day rush hour-ish festival in Ogden. We followed I-84 until it ended and split into I-80E somewhere in the northeastern part of Utah. From that point on it was nothing but mountains, plains, and an overwhelming load of nothing. There were some deer I think too but I was driving so I didnt look.

We stopped at four rest areas to stretch, one just before Twin Falls in Idaho on I-84, One right before the Idaho/Utah border, One right inside Wyoming at Bear Park, and the last one was at Bitter Creek off of I-80. The first three were ok, somewhat clean but the Bitter Creek one was nasty!

We got to enjoy Chick-fil-A for lunch after a relatively tense drive through the commerce district of Ogden, Utah right before I-84 and I-15 head apart from each other. Have never had bad Chick-fil-A and this time was just as good. It was kind of funny that this place had won regional best branch 2 times since there is no other Chick-fil-a for like 1000 miles in any direction.

The driving was not bad, I discovered the benifits of cruise control today - my legs wouldnt have survived otherwise - There was *no* traffic on I-80 so I just put it on 79 (75 limit) and cruised.. i did think the car was gonna asplode as we went up into the mountains and the CC kept the engine at about 5k rpms. The result of this technology is that I feel just fine after 696 miles. Tomorrow will be almost as much but it is more of I-80 so it shouldn't be bad at all. I just hope I dont have to deal with Trucks passing Trucks going up a mountain and pointless construction.

We got into town and found a Brand Newish Fairfield (2/2 nights so far) and though it was a bit more than 60, it should get us free stays somewhere with our rewards...

Next stop, St. Joseph, MO!

-Nathan

Hillsboro to Boise

We made it! We left a little earlier than planned (which was good) and arrived a bit earlier too. Google seems to be ok on estimated travel time for now. 7 hour trip. We got drinks/snacks from 7-11 and made it thru the Portland interchanges in the most miserable gray weather.

First actual stop was at Memaloose Rest Area where we were greeted by the biggest and most friendly squirrels! The term "tree rat" seemed most appropriate for the rascals eatting from tourists fingers! Note for future travelers: bring snacks for the squirrels and try to stop right after they've cleaned the bathrooms because it's nice =) I picked up 2 travel coupon books that cover the entire Pacific NW (Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Utah) and found quite a selection for Boise.

Tonight we are staying at the Fairfield Inn (Marriott) for a mere $60 from the coupon book. I thought it was "ok" til I saw the listed room rate on our door of $169 and found online that next Friday night w/ no discounts is $84. Wow for interstate books! =) Who knows what deals we'll find the rest of the trip! We are near the airport but I can't hear any planes *inside* our room, only in the parking lot. We're also near Boise State University...home of Smurf Turf!

Baker City was a great spot to stop for dinner (Subway) and gas (we made a full tank last over 300 miles!) The attendant was really nice. He just graduated high school but didn't start caring about his grades til his senior year so he's gonna do some extra classes to improve his transcript and then he hopes to go to Oregon State like his uncle Brad who just got the highest meteorology degree possible! Oh, and his cousin has a '06 Tiburon. Yes, he was talkative. =)

A couple different thunderstorms along the way but mostly good weather and good traffic. The Columbia River is fun to follow. And these mountains are huge...especially when seen in perspective, such as a farm house in the valley at the base of one mountain.

I took 183 pictures while Nathan drove. He had plenty of caffeine (and adrenaline) which is good because my left contact has been giving me fits all day. The car has been fine. Cruise control is great! We made a playlist on our iPod that has ~750 songs and on shuffle, it created a varied selection that was fun!

We miss the boys. It was hard to leave them but honestly, who wants to travel in a coupe w/ TWO cats??


For tomorrow: We are in the Mountain Time Zone now. The hotel has a continental breakfast which should hold us over til we get to Ogden, Utah. Ogden is one of my favorite cities on our trip. Why? Because it is the first city we come to that has a Chick-Fil-A!!! =) We have 696 miles to cover in 9.5 hours. We will be taking I-84 down thru Utah to pick up I-80 which we will be on for a looooong time. Our plan is to stop in Laramie, WY tomorrow night. Laramie is near Cheyenne and is also the home of University of Wyoming.

Thanks for keeping up with us. See you soon!
Much love,
Katie and Nathan

Road Trip 2009 - The Plan

This is our estimated schedule for this summer's road trip. Actual details will follow in daily posts during the trip.

Fri 6/5:
Hillsboro, OR --> Boise, ID

Sat 6/6:
Boise, ID --> Laramie, WY

Sun 6/7:
Laramie, WY --> St. Joseph, MO

Mon 6/8:
St. Joseph, MO --> Memphis, TN

Tue 6/9:
Memphis, TN --> Navarre, FL

Wed 6/10:
Navarre, FL --> Cullman, AL

Thu 6/11:
Cullman, AL (CFC mission trip)

Fri 6/12:
Cullman, AL --> Athens, GA

Sat 6/13:
Athens, GA (Katie's family)

Sun 6/14:
Athens, GA --> Birmingham, AL

Mon 6/15:
Birmingham, AL --> Nashville, TN

Tue 6/16:
Nashville, TN --> Columbia, MO

Wed 6/17:
Columbia, MO --> Hays, KS

Thu 6/18:
Hays, KS --> Vail, CO

Fri 6/19:
Vail, CO --> Twin Falls, ID

Sat 6/20:
Twin Falls, ID --> Hillsboro, OR

6739 miles in 104.5 hours