Spring Break-away to Spokane

After Josh and I returned from our couple's retreat in Utah, we worked a day and a half, and then the school's spring 10-day break began! Most of the time, the boys and I just hung out at home and worked on a few projects. But nearing the end of the break, I drove up to Spokane by myself to visit my Grandpa P. for two days and two nights.

 

The first night I got there, I made dinner and we ate together, and then we sat in his den all evening while he watched TV and I got some work done for school. He had just gotten out of the hospital a few days prior, because he'd had pneumonia. And after driving the 6 hours to see him, I was a little tired. So it was good for both of us to just chill for a few hours! I slept in the upstairs guest room, virtually unchanged since the last time I'd come to visit:

The next morning, we ate breakfast together, and then the nurse came and checked his vitals and condition, and then I drove him around doing errands and we ate lunch together at Taco Bell. That afternoon, we worked on clearing out some of his food storage from the basement and a few cupboards full of Grandma's old cookbooks from the washroom.

Then for dinner we cooked some ham in his rotisserie, and ate it with some potatoes. It was yummy! Grandpa talked a lot about his history and about life with Grandma whenever we ate meals together, and I enjoyed sitting across from him and listen to him talk about his life. That night, I went to the Spokane temple alone.

The next morning, Grandpa drove himself to a Dr. appointment, and I loaded my car up with all the stuff we'd cleaned out the day before. Then I got to work doing some light cleaning around his house until he returned. We ate breakfast together, and then it was time for me to go.  

I really enjoyed my visit with Grandpa. He is doing so well, and I'm so impressed at his ability to live alone and be independent at his age of 92. I am so glad I had the opportunity to go up to see him again! I really treasure the time I've had to do that!

In a matter of a week and a half, I'd been in southern Utah, Eastern Washington, and Western Montana. There were flowers in Utah:

There were flowers in Spokane:

But when I crossed the Idaho border, and saw the sign for Salmon, this is what I was greeted with:

SNOW! It was so not the welcome I wanted, and it was rather depressing to return home to snow after having sun and rain in the other states. But I appreciated the fact that I at least got to travel to places where the sun and rain were during sring break, so I could experience something other than snow at the end of March!