On the last day of our trip, I really wanted to go to Crater Lake. It ended up being a mistake. The kids were done. Brian was done. The drive was long, and then when we reached our destination, we just kept driving and driving because there isn't much more to do besides hike down, and they all made it clear they did not want to do that. I was grateful to see this majestic lake again... even if only for a moment, but I hope I didn't poison the well for future trips. It was a lot of driving, and we were all tired by then. The good news was that we got to spend the night with Larissa. She fed us a delicious meal, and then the following morning we packed up for what should have been the shortest leg of our trip. Unfortunately, it ended up being the longest. About an hour outside of Klammath, we were stopped briefly for a construction job. There was a semi in front of us, and the stop was very abrupt. We had been stopped for a few minutes when we suddenly got smashed into the semi in front of us. The kids instantly started wailing, and I was panicked for a few minutes not knowing if they were injured, scared, or both. I'm sure the old man who hit us was panicking as well as he saw all those car seats. We all ended up being fine, miraculously, but it was a long day. Brian said he could see the truck coming behind us, and he knew we were gonna get it (it was a surprise to the rest of us) so he thought, by the power of the Holy Melchizedek priesthood, let everyone live. I have not doubt his pronouncement of faith protected our little ones... particularly Xiana and Kolton in the back. We were very lucky to all walk away unhurt from the accident. It took about two hours for Highway patrol to get there, and then another hour for the tow truck to tow us back to Klammath Falls. There wasn't enough room for all of us, so Xiana and Ekco rode with the Highway Patrol. The man who hit us couldn't have been nicer. He was a farmer, about to retire. He stayed with us for a long time, arguing with his insurance, offering to pay for the tow truck himself when we found out we would have to pay for everything and then get reimbursed. The police officer was very kind too. He assured the old man that he wouldn't leave us on the side of the road. Larissa met us at the shop with food where we were told in no uncertain terms our van was totaled. I emptied everything out of the van I loved, crying while also feeling such gratitude we were okay. I think Kolton was the saddest about the van. He kept asking me to promise I would buy one exactly the same. For some reason there was a minivan shortage at the time of the summer, so we couldn't get a car big enough to accommodate our family, so we ended up leaving Xiana with Larissa for a few weeks and left, again, for the last leg of our trip. The 4 hour drive took us 13 hours to make. We were very happy to be home once we arrived. After all the travel, the hotels, the different car, the different beds, when we got home, Argenta said, "this still my house?" I assured her of course it was, silly girl. With a confused look she said, "I not have a new house?" It was really funny logic... but to a baby, all the change made sense that her whole world would be different.
