Washington, Here We Come

 

The bridge is one of the longest I have driven on, others being in lower California.  It always unnerves me a bit knowing I'm driving over the ocean and if something happens I doubt I could get away from the falling debris, escape the van, and swim to safety.  But, alas, we made it with no problems at all.

We stopped just inside of Washington, at a beautiful little rest stop.  It was filling up quickly so we found a spot and settled down for the evening and night.  What a beautiful view we had of the green of Washington and the Pacific ocean.

 

 Sadly, this is the day that Dean said he had had enough traveling and needed to go home.  We made it into Washington and I had hoped to go up the coast further and maybe make it to the top before turning for home.  His anxiety had gotten the best of him and he was grumpy and tired.  It was frustrating to not be able to go out and enjoy a great meal, but rather just cook in the van and drive and see sites from a distance.

We decided to head into Washington, toward home, and see a famous waterfall. I don't know exactly what happened but we couldn't see it from the road and, of course, it was closed, so this too was a bust.

We drove as far as Moulton, WA, and then got out and stretched out legs.

The joy was gone for Dean.  He was now existing instead of embracing.  He had gone quiet and wanted to do more sleeping than driving, which was fine with me.  I was over my eye problem enough that driving was not a problem for me.

However, the stress of watching him struggle so much and not knowing what to do to help him was a bit overwhelming.  I had thought that seeing new country and feeling the fresh air and getting a little exercise would help with the anxiety but it was as if the trip over the bridge broke something in him.  He was just done.