On the Road Again...

So Ellie and I are at the end of Day 1 of 2 of a lot of driving. Today we woke-up at 6:30 in the morning and were on the road by 6:45. The itinerary was pretty simple - Richland, Spokane, Richland. Originally the plan was to go to Seattle, Spokane, Richland, but I decided against that earlier in the week.

Anyway it took us just over 3 hours to get to Richland the first time. Driving along Interstate 80 was really nice. The Columbia River is amazing and the scenery is incredible... until you get through the Columbia River Gorge. Once you get on the other side of the gorge, it seems as if you go from a beautiful forest to a desolate desert. I agree with my friend Megan Haslam, who calls Eastern Washington/Oregon "Ugly Washington." I accept her opinion as she is originally from this part of the world. Although after thinking about it, I would like to think of it as different and not ugly.

Getting back to our drive, we show up in Richland, grab some breakfast at a Starbucks and wander around the temple grounds. This temple isn't called the Richland Temple, or even the Tri-Cities Temple, but the Columbia River temple. I was excited when I saw it and realized that it doesn't look like most of the other new temples. It is similar but it is definitely distinct. The grounds were fairly large, and they had a beautiful water feature on one side where we were able to get some pretty good pictures. I was also very happy to see the parking lot packed on a Friday morning. These buildings are incredibly important, and so it is nice to see them being utilized. If only I could say the same thing about the Los Angeles Temple, but alas that is another story for another day.

After the photo shoot was complete, it was back in the car for the hour and forty-five minute drive to Spokane. The drive went by quickly, and Ellie fell asleep almost immediately. She slept for nearly the entire time. The drive up to Spokane was great. About halfway up there, the scenery completely changed. It went from the ugly desert to the beautiful pine forest near Spokane. I couldn't believe how quickly changed. It was rather surprising. Anyway, we got to the Spokane Temple and it was packed, just like the Columbia River Temple. Unfortunately the Spokane Temple, looks just like the Memphis, Columbus, Detroit, and Fresno Temples, among others. We took a bunch of pictures and then it was off to our "University of the Day," lunch and then back to Richland.

Our university of the day was Gonzaga University. We got there, bought a couple t-shirts, took a couple pictures in the heavy wind that Spokane was experiencing today. I was actually a little surprised at the campus. I was expecting overwhelming beautiful like the University of San Diego and Duke University. It wasn't ugly or anything like that, but it wasn't amazingly beautiful like the other two. However, there is a gorgeous chapel on campus that we took some pictures of. You can't tell, but Ellie is wearing a Gonzaga t-shirt in the picture. That may be a tough pill to swallow for the Pace Clan, as Gonzaga is the mortal enemy of the University of San Diego basketball team. :)

Anyway once the pictures were taken, we grabbed a lunch of a quesadilla and black beans, which was Ellie's lunch request, and drove the hour forty-five back to Richland to Vickie and Dan's house.

We got to Vickie's and visited with them for awhile, trying to catch up. This wasn't the easiest thing to do, as it may have been 20 years since I last saw Vickie, but I am not really sure. The last time I remember seeing her is in 1989. Anyway, we visited, then they took Ellie and I out to dinner, and we saw some ducks on the Columbia River. Now Vickie is chasing Ellie all over the place, and reading books to Ellie, while I get my blog caught up. :) I am such a good father.


Today's stats of the day - 550 miles driving, 2 temples, 1 university, and 2 visits to Richland, and 1 attempt at herding geese and ducks. :)