Road Trip Of A Lifetime

Ever since I was a child and my Grandma Oma and her sister, Norma, went on a 6 week road trip across the U.S., it's been a life long dream of mine to do the same.

Max & I have discussed this fantasy of mine many times but never talked about a date or if we would ever actually do such a thing. This week-end I had an inspiration that it's what we should do to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, which will be September 10, 2008... 2 years from now.

We are now discussing the possibility in earnest. I even bought the book "Road Trip USA, Cross Country Adventures On America's Two-Lane Highways". It offers 11 potential driving tour routes... 5 running east & west, and 6 running north & south. If you click on the above link, it will take you to a website with a numbered map. You can click on the route numbers and be taken to a brief description of each route.

At this point, I am definitely interested in starting out, heading east, on the Oregon Trail (Route 8). Besides a keen interest in this historic pioneer route, Mt. Rushmore is the one must see along this route. We have been to Mt. Rushmore once, but we were in such a hurry I've always wanted to go back. Next time I want to spend at least a full day (or more) in the area.

After cruising east and arriving in New England for Fall foliage season, we could possibly drop down the Atlantic Coast (Route 6)... or perhaps the Applachian Trail. We could start the return trip west along the Southern Pacific (Route 10), and then the last leg on a modified version of the Border to Border (Route 2).

One of the biggest decisions is to establish how long we want to be gone, then make the route work within that time frame.

Stay tuned for further developments.

- Carol

1st & 23rd

Sunday was our 23rd wedding anniversary. Our friends, Amy & Troy Greenhalgh, who were celebrating their 1st anniversary on the same day, invited us to go out to dinner with them that evening. We went to The Windmill restaurant which is famous for their steaks and pies. Amy had ordered an anniversary cake, so we passed on the pie. When Amy ordered the cake by phone (from the same bakery that made her wedding cake last year) she asked for the smallest cake they make. Well... the woman who owns the bakery is Hispanic and apparently didn't fully understand what "small" means.

After dinner, we went to Troy & Amy's house (which I sold them, of course) for cake. When we took a picture of the cake, we put a full size bottle of wine next to it so you could get a perspective as to how big this cake really is! It is, quite literally, big enough for 40-50 people! We ended up splitting it up to share with our respective neighborhoods!

All in all, it was a fun evening. Perhaps we will make this a tradition in the future. Next year, however, Amy said she is going down to the baker and point to a small cake and say "I want that size"!

The Million Dollar Day!

Thanks to some very special friends, I can't help but report my first ever "Million Dollar Day". Two transactions closed yesterday, totalling $1,140,000 in dollar volume. D&C... thanks for trusting me to help you through this very important part of your transition in life!

I've had a million dollars in sales close over a period of a week before but never in one day. Not sure what my previous record was, but this is definitely one to use as a benchmark to work toward again. Next week will be puney, in comparison, with two transactions totalling $176,600! Obviously, I serve a wide spectrum of clients in the Wenatchee, WA real estate market.

Now, in the middle of Labor Day Week-end, we're looking forward to my favorite season in Wenatchee... the beautiful Fall. I love Fall here for the mild temperatures and beautiful foliage colors that lead into winter. It's the best time to golf, too!

Hope you're all having a great week-end and saying goodbye to summer in some fun, relaxing way!

-Carol

Days Gone By

One of my friends called from Redmond, Oregon this morning, chiding me for not having anything new on the blog. I told her there wasn't really much of anything new going on here. As Labor Day week-end comes and goes, we are looking forward to Fall and some cooler weather.

Then I got to thinking that it might be kind of fun to post some "old" pictures.... from the days when I was still young, cute (and skinny).

Here's one of my Mom & Dad at Crater Lake. Not sure when it was taken, but I would guess in the late 40's.

Here is my Dad holding Clair when he was just a baby. This was taken out in the front yard at our house at 11910 S.E. Ash St. in Portland, Oregon. It was probably taken in late 1951 or early 1952. Notice all those tall old trees?


Then there is me and my brother, Clair, when we were just little munchkins... taken out by the street in front of our house. This was probably taken about 1954 or 1955, when I was 2 or 3 years old. Clair is one year and 10 days older than me.

Until recently, this street, where we lived, was still one of the very few unpaved streets in the city of Portland. It's interesting to look at photos like these, when we were so young, and think about all that's happened since then.

Remember... you can click on any of these images to enlarge them.

-Carol