The Big News...

Well, hopefully everyone who wanted to read this blog got an invite since I changed it to 'Private'. I've gone back and forth on this several times but I finally decided that it's for my peace of mind and I don't need anything else to stress about right now.

I'm sure those of you who read our blog have already heard that we will be moving soon...to Orofino, Idaho. It is 254.53 miles (thanks, mapquest) from where we currently live and takes almost 5 hours to drive (more when you've got 3 kids in the car). This is going to be a HUGE change for us since neither Jeff nor I have lived this far away from home, with the exception of when Jeff went on a mission to South Carolina. The hardest/strangest thing will be not living near family, I don't think that I've quite wrapped my brain around the whole idea and reality of it yet.

I've only been to Orofino once in my life, and that was a few weeks ago when we drove 'up north' for Jeff's work over Spring Break. He had an interview that Thursday and received the job offer. They paid for us to go up and check out the town to see what we thought and then we accepted the offer last week.

I've gotten all sorts of reactions from people when I tell them where, exactly, we are going, and not everyone has had positive things to say about Orofino. But, since it's going to be our home for at least the next year, I decided to do some research and here are a few things I learned:

"Orofino" means "Fine gold" in Spanish and it was originally a small gold mining camp established in 1861.

It is near the historical "Canoe Camp" where Lewis and Clark built dugout canoes and headed downstream to the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 7, 1805.

The Dworshak Dam is located 4 miles northwest of Orofino and is the highest straight-axis concrete dam in the entire Western Hemisphere and the 3rd highest dam in the United States.

The Dworshak National Fish Hatchery is one of the largest combination producers of ocean-going fish in the world. These fish make a round trip of 1,000 miles and spawn in the nearby Clearwater River.

The town hosts a celebration on the 4th of July and they even have fair grounds where the annual Clearwater County Fair is held. In September you're all going to want to join us for the Lumberjack Days that includes a carnival, parades, and of course plenty of "Lumberjacking".

The average temperature throughout the summer ranges from 80-90 degrees and the yearly average low temp is 39. They receive around 27 inches of precipitaion and there are more than 3,500 people that live in Orofino. Lewiston, Idaho is just 41 miles away and is home to Lewis-Clark State College. It was actually the original capital of Idaho until 1866 when Boise was made the capital city. More than 30,000 people reside in Lewiston, so civilization is not far away.

While we were driving to Orofino we noticed that the rivers flow North, which felt really strange. The strangest thing, however, was the town's mascot...

Behold, the Orofino Maniac.

I have no words.

There's a movie theatre and I noticed at least one gas station while driving through town.

There is a nice hotel right on the Clearwater River where we stayed and they also have parks, a video rental store, and several restaurants. I didn't see any drive-thrus or fast-food chains, which will probably be a good thing. I guess. There are grocery stores, so no one has to worry about me having to go out back into the forest to kill our dinner. I'm not sure I could if I had to.

There's a golf course right in Orofino and Lewiston also has several to offer, so Jeff won't go insane.

The boys are excited, although they were a bit confused and thought we would be living at the hotel. They are still scheming up ways that we will still be able to use the indoor pool...

Jeff is looking forward to a change at work and he will be managing the branch in Orofino and eventually the one in Kamiah, also.

I'm trying not to stress about everything that moving involves, but rentals in Orofino are hard to come by so we are hoping and praying that we will find something that will work for our family. It will be an adventure, that's for sure, and bring us closer together as a family. We are grateful that Jeff has this opportunity to advance in his career and we know we have been blessed.