Sonya Dalrymple

Jeremie, Cindy, and Makayla flew up to Portland and brought a little of Texas home with them. Our daughter, Jadyn was on cloud nine with a little girl who knew her. She was happy as a lark the whole time.

We take for granted that we have been “freejourneying” for a while, and that we have become so comfortable with the unknown exploration of a new place. It keeps life fun and full of surprises, and keeps our hearts more at peace. Our friends were used to a bit more planning and scheduling in their past family vacations, so I was proud of their “go-with-the-flow” attitudes for the whole weekend.

I thought it would be fun to share Cindy’s perspective of their time together, so she graciously agreed to contribute a guest post for our blog:

From Cindy Kelt

I am both proud and honored to be linked to the Freejourners and the Dalrymple’s. We are the Kelt family, and this is our outlook on our visit to see our dear friends.

We packed our bags for Portland with no expectations, and no plans for the next 4 days. This was a trip out of necessity that we realized would happen the day they drove out of our lives.

We got a rough start as we were delayed 4 hours due to a snow storm out of Denver, and we all felt that Mother Nature, whom we all loved, shouldn’t be keeping us apart. At day’s end, we arrived back as two families and two friends whose smiles spoke volumes. We finally crashed into our beds resting for the days ahead that had no expectations, but that we all longed for in our hearts.

The last three days started with our powdered eggs power breakfast compliments of the Marriott Residence  Inn and were filled with fly-by-the-moment adventures. From sitting in the lobby catching up on the neighborhood and our lives, to jumping in the car to explore the city around us, we were just grateful for the company.

Without a doubt I would have to say our favorite day was our trip to Multnomah Falls. We hit the road, stopping for the occasional Geocache, and conquered the cold windy day to stand in wonderment amongst the verdant landscape and the majestic falls. The frozen path made it challenging to hike the entire path. We held tightly to each other and the chains to get as close as we could to feel the mist hit our faces and eat the icicles from the ferns.

We headed back to the car to to warm up and agreed to keep driving to Mt. Hood. Along the road we found scenery and mini adventures that ignited our excitement for nature, and brought out the laughter in Makayla we only see when sharing life with her best friend.

The day ended eating snow and drinking hot chocolate at the base of Mt. Hood. We drove home exhausted and cold with smiles on our faces and a warmth in our hearts.

The rest of the trip was filled with foodie adventures, carefree mornings playing at the hotel, and an afternoon of simplicity along the Columbia river with Snow Peak mugs and Don’s delectable hot beverage menu straight from his pack.

Voodoo Donuts were consumed as we conquered the line to enjoy one big sugar rush and mark this off our bucket list. The car rides were filled with chaos and conversation that took us from topics about life, scenery, history, tofu, and Ping….Pong. “Don, do you feel like your starring in the next family comedy?” Ping…Pong.

Thank you Honda Wanda for your guidance and sweet voice guiding us through each day, thank you Dee Dee for the good music, thank you Dalrymple’s for a friendship that will prevail no matter how far apart we are. Through the miles, through the years, and through the adventures our hearts will always be your neighbor!

As we walk away from you again, we say it once more…”God speed, be safe, and let’s start planning our next trip!!!”