On Saturday, April 5th, Sharon, Troy's mom, flew to Portland, Oregon. She spent two days here in Aberdeen with me, Becky and the three kids. I picked her up, we went to the beach on Sunday and then toured town and headed off to Seatac airport on Monday afternoon. That evening, Sharon and I flew to Portland, Maine via Newark, New Jersey. We we thrilled to notice that Newark boarders New York and at 7am (after being up for over 24 hours!) we could see the New York City skyline and even make out the Empire State Building. Our plane flew over the harbor and I anxiously pointed out the Statue of Liberty below us. What fun!
We arrived on Tuesday to beautiful weather in Portland and drove a rental out to Brett and Patricia's house in Hollis. Troy and I first met Brett in Juneau and he was kind - and patient! - to teach us to sail there. We cultivated a deep friendship and saw Brett many times even after leaving Juneau. About two years ago, Brett married a beautiful woman (both inside and out), named Patricia, and they have settled in Maine. The afternoon we arrived there was filled with talking and sharing and a bit of sightseeing the area. On Wednesday "the girls" (Sharon, Patricia and myself) ventured out to Portland Head Lighthouse, the Atlantic Ocean and two oth
er lighthouses in Maine. We were also able to visit Old Orchard Beach, where some of the last pictures of Troy were taken in Maine. Sharon and I both scattered Troy's ashes along the eastern sea. It was a wonderful day and I'm so glad we could share in these places together. On Thursday, Brett, Sharon and I drove to Cornish to the site of the accident. We placed an amazing stainless steel cross that Gary had made on a tree in the area. You can imagine that tears were shed as we nailed the cross to the tree and so lovingly remembered Troy - our husband, our son and our friend.
It was on this day that we also loaded our belongings into a Uhaul truck that Sharon and I would be driving west. We began our long trip together on Friday morning. My calculations showed it was approximately 1770 miles to Huron - which we anticipated on making in 4 days. When we phoned Gary that day he told of a spring blizzard in Huron - over 10 inches of snow, wind and even power outages. I wasn't worried. I told Sharon we would have good weather. We had so many people praying for our safe travels. Sharon's friend, Trish, even said that we would need dark glasses to keep the bright glow of the angels from distracting us along the way! Our first day we headed through Troy, NY and then Sharon Springs. What fun to find our family names along the route. We stayed east of Erie, PA, the first night and clocked just over 600 miles. It was odd to turn on the Weather Channel and see pictures of snow from Rapid City, SD! The second day was also fabulous weather, but we knew the storm was headed our way. We reassured our loved ones that we would stop when the snow came, we weren't in any hurry, we kept repeating. Saturday evening we came upon light snow flurries
and stopped outside Chicago - after passing through Gary, IN! - again with just about 600 miles. Sunday morning we woke to blue skies and no snow and when we looked at the weather the storm had passed by us in the night without leaving a trace. I was getting disappointed about not finding a "Lori" for a town and just then we saw a sign for Christmas Valley - HA! the family names were complete!! We arrived in Huron in time for a delicious dinner Gary had cooked. We hadn't run into any weather problems and only had a small traffic delay in Chicago. We'd completed this leg of the trip in three days instead of four. It was so great to pass the miles and the hours talking with Sharon. I think our journey would have made an amazing reality show - we talked about everything! We laughed, we reminisced, we cried, and I truly believe we healed each other, even if just a little bit.
Monday was a day of much needed rest for me and for Harvey the Uhaul. We couldn't spend that much time in the truck without giving it a name. On Tuesday morning I drove a short day (about 300 miles) out to Rapid City. I stayed with Bob, Candice and their family and met up with friends that night. I counted 14 people who came out to visit with me, hear about the trip to Maine and get
any other news. I had a wonderful time and hope everyone else enjoyed chatting, too. On Wednesday afternoon we drove to the Plateau in Hermosa where Troy's memorial service was held and ashes spread. Sharon and Gary had been up there approximately 10 days before and had told me the most amazing thing - that the roses were still red! I was so excited to go back and see the Plateau and surrounding area and also the beautiful red roses. I'll share a picture here for you to see for yourself. Truly unbelievable and just gorgeous!
Wednesday evening Maryjo joined me and Harvey for the rest of the trip west. We left after she was off work and drove to her sister's in Gillette. I told Maryjo we should call and let her know we had left a little later than we thought, but she didn't think it was necessary. Well, we should have, because Terri thought we were coming Thursday night and they were all in bed when we arrived! On Thursday we drove 620 miles to Haugen, MT, the home of Lincoln's 10,000 Silver Dollars. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Maryjo brought Traveling Jerry - a small vial of her Dad's ashes with a sticker on the front of Jerry's face on a gnome's body. We wanted to make sure and take pictures of Jerry along the way. I'm sure the waitress thought we were a bit nuts when we placed Jerry on the bar for a photo shoot! Friday took us through Coeur d'Alene and Spokane and then into Aberdeen. We had a great trip and only encountered snow on Snoqualmie Pass just east of Seattle.
Maryjo was able to stay in Aberdeen with me until today, Tuesday the 22nd. We went out to the beach, explored Aberdeen and even went into Seattle before her flight left. I don't think she wants me to share this little story - but I can't resist! On Sunday morning we were getting ready to go to the beach and Maryjo couldn't find Dad. He wasn't in her purse, her pockets or her suitcase. I cringed to think we had left Traveling Jerry in the Uhaul, but didn't know where else he could have escaped to! So we drove to the Uhaul store and spotted our truck in the lot. I ran over and looked in the window and there he was - just inside the door handle pocket on the passenger's side. Thank goodness! I ran back to tell Maryjo and then return to the truck, hoping the door wasn't locked, and to my good-luck, it
wasn't! I reached in, grabbed him and ran back and hopped in the van. Becky was convinced the police were going to be chasing us after they saw us on the security tapes :o) Thankfully we found him before he went on a whole new journey!
This trip was one that had been on my mind for a while. I didn't know
quite what to expect or how I would feel going back to Maine. I am so thankful that Troy's mom, MY mom, Sharon, was able to go with me. We both needed the time together to share our joy and our sorrow. I know that this journey has made a lasting impact on our lives. I am also so happy that Maryjo could come back to Washington with me. She's always fun and we can't help but have hilarious adventures when we're together. I thank Sharon and Maryjo for sharing this incredible experience with me. I wouldn't have wanted to do it without them.
Love you both!
Lori
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