rechelle's lifelyrics

Our youngest of 5 kids was the only one still living under our roof. Levi was also the only one of our children still in High School, and the only one of our kids to attend public school – starting in Middle School. The side story is that his four older siblings are 8+ years older than he is, so he was essentially being homeschooled as an “only child” in 6th grade. You might catch the irony in the fact that he was forced to do school at home for a large portion of his High School experience, after choosing to attend public school for the away-from-home and social opportunities at public school.

One afternoon, we were sitting on the back patio, and I said, “So, Levi, what do you want to do for your 16th birthday?”

After thinking about the limited options he would have in June of 2020, with so many restrictions on social gatherings, he said, “Let’s do a road trip!”

He hadn’t had much opportunity to practice driving, so I got busy planning a route where he could practice highway, small-town, and big-city driving in places we had been wanting to visit. Of course, since we are a cycling family, I chose destinations with bucket-list rail trails we could enjoy. We loaded up our tandem, Levi’s bike, and all of our gear, and headed North for our adventure.

On our way to our first stay at Columbia River Inn in Cascade Locks, Oregon, we stopped in Portland. We really wanted to visit the Japanese Garden, but it was closed due to the pandemic. Instead, we went to the Waterfront Park area, where we had frequently stayed the year Ray was pursuing his Project Management Professional certification at Portland State University. I was in tears while driving past so many boarded-up businesses and intensely vandalized government buildings. Levi didn’t understand. I said, “my favorite thing to do was walk through this part of town while Dad was in class. I visited several of these shops and heard stories from the owners about their family legacies and 3rd or 4th generation businesses. I walked past several of these government buildings in awe of the beautiful architecture and honorable inscriptions on the granite or marble exteriors. I just can’t believe our governor told the press the “protests” were peaceful.” Levi treated me like I was overreacting. He just didn’t get it.

We wanted to end our stop in Portland on a positive note, so we went to the waterfront greenbelt and found a little sushi restaurant that was open where we could sit outside and enjoy the view of the river. I asked our server what it was really like when the protests (riots) were happening, since the news we had heard in Eugene, Oregon did not match up with what we were seeing with our own eyes. She said many of the local businesses that had been there for decades suffered millions of dollars of theft and vandalism. She told us certain members of her family who live in California would not believe her reports about what was really taking place, so she just stopped talking about it. It had been about a half a year since all the damage was done, and it still looked like a war zone. I’m really thankful we got to see the truth of what really happened in Portland, Oregon in January 2020 when we were there in July.

From Portland, we took Highway 84 toward Cascade Locks, Oregon. The picture below is from my digital trip-planning notebook of the restaurant we enjoyed there.

The notice in red font informed, “Beginning July 1st, the State of Oregon is mandating face coverings in Indoor public places statewide.” I was not a fan of wearing a mask, so any opportunity to sit outside for a meal was a big plus for me!

We stayed at Best Western Plus Columbia River Inn because of its close proximity to the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail. We really enjoyed our ride on a trail so rich in history and beautiful views.

One of the people we met in our travels encouraged us to keep going past the Dalles so we could see the full-size replica of Stonehenge! We crossed the Columbia River on Highway 97 into Washington, and drove up a very narrow, winding, steep road to a plateau overlooking the eastern portion of the Columbia River Gorge.  Maryhill Stonehenge was absolutely worth the detour.

Levi was getting lots of driving experience! We were enjoying the outdoors! We were making memories with our youngest son that we didn’t get to experience with our first four kids.

It was a beautiful ride heading back towards the coast from Maryhill to the Seattle area. We had a couple more bike rides planned, and hoped to visit the Space Needle and Pike Place Market to see the merchants throw the fish. Fortunately, we were not hindered from our outdoor activities, but the Space Needle was closed. We made the best of it. I found a harbor cruise where we could enjoy the beautiful Seattle skyline and learn about the commerce, shipyards, and unique buildings as we sailed past them. Since it was COVID time, only 50 people were allowed per tour (on a boat that normally carries about 200 people), which made for an uncrowded, relaxing excursion.

The tour guide told us about a great park to visit where a lot of people go to take pictures of the Seattle skyline at sunset. It was a beautiful experience! As we were walking up the flights of concrete stairs to get to the vista portion of the park, there was a solitary musician playing a mournful classical tune on her tuba. It was the perfect setting for our late afternoon hike up the hill.

It was easy to let Levi drive in downtown Seattle, because there was hardly any traffic. At one point near Pike Place Market, he had to let Ray navigate the narrow roads and parking, but overall he was able to experience a remarkable number of driving situations throughout our family road trip. I kept thinking, “We sure wouldn’t feel comfortable letting a brand-new driver navigate the streets of Seattle or Portland under normal circumstances!”

They weren’t throwing the fish at the market, but  we got to have some great conversations with merchants who told us about coming to America and building their family businesses. We didn’t have to stand in the normal long, long, line to get into the first-ever Starbucks. People had time to tell us their stories. We had time to listen.

It was an awesome trip. I always remember it with such gratitude because we got to experience so many things we wouldn’t have if we weren’t trying to find alternatives for the many things that were closed.