The Escape is Seattle-bound, Clark family to follow

Today we dropped the Escape off at the Vehicle Processing Center to be shipped to Seattle (but not before getting it detailed and cleaned for inspection at Top Gunn! Seriously, see below. Super nice guy, though, & great service). It passed inspection without any issues and our inspector thoroughly enjoyed blasting the super cold air conditioning while inspecting the rest of the vehicle...he could not get over how cold it got and it's been 90 degrees here the last couple days so all the Brits are roasting! We even got to hear about his last night's cold shower & chilling naked in the garden. Yup. I wanted to tell him that we're used to super cold a.c. in America but didn't want to rub it in :) For now, we're miserable with them and I'm glad he got to cool off for a few minutes.

Today, it felt like the PCS officially began. We shipped the first part of the family back to the States.

A car a family member, you ask? Well, sure. To some, maybe to most, it's just a car.

But to me cars always hold a lot of memories. It already has a road trip to Wales with friends and a beach retreat with the dogs under it's belt. It was the shiny new Christmas/birthday present we shopped for after the Audi died on me and provided me some of those comforts that we happily went without while here but, let's be honest, sometimes really miss. Comforts & peace of mind like....knowing the car will start.

It has so many adventures and road trips in it's future in Washington. I can't wait to throw the dogs in there and take them to lakes and mountains and parks. Maybe that's the thing about cars. They are full of memories and stories, like houses, but they can move from place to place and bridge the gap between all of the change. Maybe I get emotionally attached to cars because of all the places they takes us.

And if the car is headed back, then *surely* we are too. See you when we land, Escape. I know you'll be there to get us to our next stop on this wild ride: Spokane!