For Steve's 35th Birthday, I planned a surprise trip to Yakima Washington. Steve grew up there until age thirteen, when they moved to Las Vegas. He went back once when his sister got married, but that was a year after he moved. It had been nearly 22 years since he was back in his home town. He had told me every story that he could remember from his growing up years. With his memory that is a ton of stories! Anyway, he found out about the surprise, but none the less it was a fun and memorable trip. We flew into Seattle on Saturday and rented a car. We drove the two hours to Yakima! It was a beautiful drive! Unlike Nevada, Washington is so green and full of trees! The following day we drove around Yakima! It is around the same size as S.T. George, but feels a little smaller because it has a lot of open space. He showed me where he lived, the schools he attended, where he wrecked on his skateboard, the church he attended, the ice cream parlor his family bought half and half cones, the parks where he played, the trees he climbed, and the orchard's he would run through and eat apples. By the end of the day, I felt like I had grown up in Yakima! It was by far the best present I have ever given him! We even went to the same ward he attended in church. There were four families still there that he remembered, and who remembered him. Even his old scout leader was still there. They all came up to him and visited for a while! We had a great time!
2 comments:
What a great gift! I can just see Steve in heaven going around all those places remembering all the good times. I have memories of that place, too! I'll never forget Steve singing Billy Idol's "Flesh for Fantasy" in the downstairs basement!!! Happy birthday, Cuz! Sorry I didn't call. I'm such a slacker with birthdays!!!!
Sounds like a great idea for a fun trip. Washington is beautiful like Oregon. Wish we had more green here.
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