The last trip.

I discovered I was pregnant with Sonja nine days before Peter and I were married.  We had "pulled the goalie" a couple months before, but I was still surprised since I thought it would be months before anything would happen.  I was imagining a baby born in May or June, but Sonja was born in February.  Oh well.  We were married June 30th 2007 and I felt the first waves of morning sickness July 1st 2007.  Good thing we hadn't planned a big honeymoon trip, right?  Again, oh well.


The pregnancy (once the morning sickness subsided) went off without a hitch.  I didn't have a single issue and was extremely lucky.  I continued to work full time and even kept running (slower and slower) until I was almost eight-months pregnant and even ran two 5K and two 8K races.  Eventually I stopped because Peter asked me to stop.  I knew he was right; it was time to rest up.


My favourite time during my pregnancy with Sonja was when Peter, our dog Jett and I took a road trip down into the US for ten days in October 2007.  It was a lot of driving and most of the sightseeing was done through car windows, but it was such a memorable trip.  And Jett had a fabulous time, since we stopped at a lot of different beaches and he absolutely adores staying in hotels.  Really.  He would rush into each hotel room we stayed in and sniff all around, get up on the bed, tail wagging, so excited.  It made Peter and I laugh every time. 


We saw some amazing sights, from the coastline of Washington and Oregon, to the Redwoods of California, to Yosemite Park, to the surprising, pristine beauty of Idaho (I thought it was just potatoes).  Eventually we looped back up into Canada, stopped driving in Canmore, and stayed with our good friends Lisa and Andrew for a couple days before heading back to the Coast.   


Besides the gorgeous beaches, another highlight of driving through Oregon was stopping in Coos Bay and visiting  to Steve Prefontaine memorial.  "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."  'Nuff said.


The only bummer was not spending any time at all in San Francisco and I hope that we will get the chance someday soon.  Same goes for Yosemite.  We were in the park for a few hours, enough time to have lunch and take some great photos, but I would love to camp a few days and really explore around.  I'm no climber, but it would be incredible to do some of the hikes and watch other people climb.  We saw a few climbers on El Capitan and it was humbling to be down in the valley and hear them calling out to each other across that massive expanse of rock.


I didn't have a whole lot of cravings while I was pregnant, save for one.  I think I had a glass of lemonade at every single restaurant we ate in while on that road trip.  At home, I think I drank a Limonata or some other type of lemonade or lemon drink almost every day.  And I remember that Peter would always buy me a lemonade when he would go in to pay for gas, or if I was using the bathroom when the waitress came to take our order.  It made me smile.  For the record, I've loved lemonade since I was a kid, but that was lemonade overload.  Can't say I drink much of it now, but Sonja loves sour things and will eat lemons and limes with no problem; it doesn't faze her.


It was a great trip and one I will always look back on as a "Golden Time", meaning the precious moments I had with my Love before our first baby was born.  We will never have that time again, we will never be that young again, we will never not know the joy (and fatigue, and wonder, and trials) of having our daughters.  It was our time, more than any other time before I was pregnant, because I was pregnant and time alone together was finite.

Washington.

Long Beach, Washington.

One of my favourite photos of the entire trip.

Happy Puppy.

Posing at the Steve Prefontaine memorial.

Another beach, another stick.

Happy Puppy, Redux.

Heading into San Francisco, before heading right back out again.

El Capitan, Yosemite.

Fall colours in the valley, Yosemite.

I love this photo of Peter.  The trees grew right out of the rock.

Old stone building near a hot springs north of Ketchum, Idaho.

Snow in the mountains outside of Canmore, AB.

I can almost feel that crisp mountain air.