Well, today was an exceptional day. Certainly the day that has made this whole journey worthwhile. We had breakfast in Redding North California and headed up the I-5 through an excruciatingly hot Siskiyou Mountain pass.

We stopped for several cool down breaks. Too hot to accomplish anything. Hailey and Reilly were feeling the need to burn off some energy so they ran relay races and exercised. They had watched the movie Kicking and Screaming and decided they had to have a soccer ball and needed to play. So we took the opportunity to shop and cool down in a air conditioned store and picked up a soccer ball in Medford. Briefly scouring the town for a park or field we decided to head down the highway and find a place along the way. Fifteen miles down the highway we found the Rogue River Rest Stop. We organized the van and kicked the soccer ball around.


Strangely enough, we found ourselves thinking yet again that it's true what they say, everything does happen for a reason. It's not the first time on our journey that we have been overwhelmed with the feeling of there truly being a higher power. At this rest stop we were honoured with the privilege of saving a woman's life. She nearly died in my arms. We came across her and she approached me handing me an epinephrine kit and a cell phone. She had been stung by a bee and was severely allergic. She was unable to give herself the shot. We administered the shot and called an ambulance as well as her family. She lost her eye sight. I had to hold her to keep her from banging her head and talk her through it while she convulsed and spasmed. She was gasping for air and struggling to breath. Her eyes rolled and she went limp, unconscious. Realizing I may have to give her mouth to mouth her body stiffened and she came back, thank God, and began gasping once again. It felt like forever waiting for the ambulance and checking her breathing, while she slipped in and out of consciousness. Finally they arrived and took over. Then it sunk in what we had just faced. We are updating our first aid. You never know. The kids were amazing. They were calm and stayed clear. Reilly of course provided comic relief and in a brief moment of clarity could be heard singing at the top of his lungs in the tune of a marching song, "I don't know what I've been told, there's someone unconscious in the bathrooooom, I don't know what I've been told, there's a lady passed out on the flooooor!" Or something like that. Hailey peeked and asked questions later. She was afraid that something might happen to her.
We found out her name was Jackie and she had a husband and two kids and that she was going to make it. Hallelujah!


Take nothing for granted, live every moment and accept all situations even if they are the worst. Move forward to the good moments again and appreciate everything. Trivial things don't matter. It doesn't matter what your job is or your education or how much you have or don't have or whether your tall or short or skinny or not or rich or poor, if you're liked or not. It's all meaningless. Every moment we have is all we have. Do your best and live in the moment. Don't judge people, because you never really know a persons story or why they are they way you perceive them to be. Life is good and there is a God. We have been made aware of this more that once. There is never any reason to worry because everything has a place and a time. We have walked away from this trip learning and reconfirming the most important lessons we ever could have imagined to learn.


Can we go home now?

With energy and emotions still high, we drove on until two am. Replaying the previous events over and over in my mind I had come across several things we could have done differently or better. She lived and that's all that matters.
We slept in a rest stop in Vancouver Washington. We had breakfast and picked up the newly released and anxiously awaited Miley Cyrus cd hot off the shelf and on to Seattle. We did what we had to do in Seattle and stopped for lunch in Everett. We are exhausted and I wish we could cross our arms, snap our fingers and blink ourselves home.

There's no place like home!


6201 km later we have arrived. We accomplished most of what we wanted to do and then some. We are safe and healthy and very grateful. We are truely blessed. Now, let's get on with life.......



The Finale.....Oh Canada!