Germany – 10/4-14/19

I have a really good friend, Scott, who gives us cheap deals on flights and this trip to Germany was basically a steal. Jesse has some extended family in rural Bavaria and has visited one family’s farm a couple years ago – I couldn’t wait to meet them, see the farm, and of course, be in Germany!

Our timing was such that we were able to catch the last bit of Oktoberfest in Munich as well. We flew over on Thursday, spent Friday catching up on sleep and being lazy (and also snuck in a run).

On Saturday we met up with Jesse’s sister, Hanna. She arrived mid-afternoon so we peeked in at Oktoberfest (in the rain!) before picking her up at the train station (and also walked around the alpine museum). We were lucky to have a family friend, who lives in Munich, as our tour guide and expert in tow! We spent the evening at Oktoberfest, eating all the pretzels and chicken, drinking all the German beer (or for me, spezi), and enjoying a lovely ride on the Ferris Wheel.

On Sunday we drove to the farm in Haidlfing and enjoyed a wonderful Bavarian feast with the family! It was so special to be welcomed in such a warm way by 20+ people!

We spent a few days here and enjoyed visiting the small towns, riding ponies, playing with puppies, learning German with the little kids and teaching English to the older kids, and just being around family in such a beautiful spot.

Jesse has family from both his Grandma and Grandpa’s side of the family in the area, so it was really nice to be able to spend some time with both. Everyone is so lovely and interesting and funny and made it very difficult to leave!

But, as it always does, the days flew by and soon Jesse, Hanna, and I were driving over to Austria for a few days. I wanted to see Hallstatt, a gorgeous mountain town, and to check off another European country while we were so close. It was everything I dreamt it would be. And while Hallstatt was touristy, just driving around the smaller hamlets was enough to satiate me.

One of the highlights was a particularly rainy day where we ran to the shore for a photo then aborted our hiking plans and instead had the most delicious lunch with an incredibly moody view, and then picked up our hiking plans around the lake after.

A second highlight and funny memory was trying to find said lakeside hike and ending up at a random woodshed where a man wielding an ax was not too happy to see us tourists coming up his road! (And also this sweet photo of Jesse and me, wherein Jesse basically threw me to the ground to escape an oncoming car!)

Eventually we made our way back to Germany, stopping off at the gorgeous Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. We spent the day wandering around and had tours in both, eventually ending up at our last minute AirBnB – a barn in the middle of nowhere. But I have to say, the fresh cow’s milk for breakfast was fantastic!

The next day, we made our way north to Ulm and climbed the 700+ stairs to the top of the world’s tallest steeple for a view of the classic red roofs of the city. We continued on to Rothenberg to walk the wall, eventually landing in Nuremberg with our beloved aunt.

The next day, Jesse and Hanna explored downtown Nuremberg while I snuck in a 13 mile run. It was quite possibly the slowest 13 miles, as I met up with them for lunch, walked around a bit, and enjoyed all the sights! Running is my favorite way to explore the city. And I never tire of Nuremberg.

We ended our trip with a lovely Greek dinner and all went our separate ways in the morning; Jesse and I driving down to Munich for our flight home and Hanna taking the train to Frankfurt to catch hers.

We had a really great catch up with family and also packed in some good sightseeing. As always, it’s never enough time, though.

Bay Area Baby Shower – 4/26-29/19

A friend I’ve known and loved since way back in 2012 (our “Kolisch” days) lives in the Bay Area now and she decided to have a baby and the baby is now here! He’s tiny and perfect and everyone is doing well. But, of course, before his arrival was the baby shower, where baby shower things happen: gift-giving, quiche-eating, game-playing, acquaintance-meeting, etc. To help her celebrate, I booked a flight to Oakland, grabbed a train, walked some blocks, and spent the weekend at her house, running errands, catching up, and watching the parents-to-be spend their days prepping: for the day, for the weekend, for the next few weeks, and, essentially, for their lives to change exponentially and forever. It was equal parts fascinating and totally ordinary / expected.

Because she was too pregnant to run with me on this trip, my friend’s husband took me to the hills for “a 60 minute run” on Saturday morning. Nearly 2 hours and 9 miles later, we were back at home. We didn’t get lost, it’s just that the loop we picked was longer than expected. Whoops! But it was a beautiful run and I’m jealous of their proximity to such great trails. We met back up with my friend and then hit up a trendy spot for brunch and spent the rest of the day grocery shopping (my friend’s pregnancy had perks for me, too: extra large samples of cheesy bread = yes please!), rearranging patio furniture, hitting up “the most amazing yard sale of your life” (update: it wasn’t) and ending with a movie and ice cream.

Sunday was the shower, which took up a good chunk of the day, and then we relaxed at “home” for the evening, ending it with deep dish pizza and lounging around.

On Monday morning, I snuck out for a quick solo run, then we went for a brief shopping trip and breakfast out and soon I was back at the airport for home.

Admittedly, on Saturday morning I woke up with a sore throat and I was desperately trying to fight off the cold by drinking endless tea with honey and Trader Joe’s strawberry lemonade. I wasn’t feeling 100% by the time I was back at the airport on Monday, but I hoped it would be subdued and subside in the next day or so…more on that later…

This Is 30

My third decade is here and I felt indifferent to its arrival. I’m not afraid of or sad about getting older – I had a lovely 10 years in my twenties, with many happy and sad memories, and I look forward to the ups and will survive the inevitable downs of my thirties. So it begins.

I don’t remember having planned anything particularly special for my day this year, but I generally spend my birthday with my favorite things: Jesse, cake, and some sort of exciting event. For the majority of my birthdays over the past decade, I was never home, and, well, why break from tradition now?

Jesse had to be out of town for work, and being the spoiled princess that I am, I tagged along for a pseudo-vacation. I had never been to Washington DC before and there was no better time to visit than during the longest government shutdown in history (so far), so across the country we flew.

Jesse had meetings with his client during the day, so I enjoyed a long, relaxing, and delicious breakfast by myself, followed by a massage, and then a bit of work (and napping) back at the hotel, and a sunset run. We were staying just two blocks from the White House and I enjoyed seeing Washington DC when it was so quiet.

Later that evening, we walked up to a lively Cuban restaurant for dinner, followed by, naturally, cupcakes on the balcony.

The next day was more run-sploring (I even found $40 on the sidewalk!), a hotel change, and a bit of work.

On Saturday, we found a local Parkrun (and then a subsequent Parkrun, as the first one was moved, as the location was inaccessible due to the shutdown), and then on a whim, headed to Pennsylvania to explore a bit of the Appalachian Trail.

(Side tangent: back when I was twenty, a then-colleague of mine gave me the idea of the goal of visiting all 50 states by the time I turned 30 (no, airport layovers do not count). I didn’t do too bad, having set foot in 31 states, so a visit to DC netted me a couple extra. Does visiting the rest within the year I *am* 30 count? Is it even reasonably possible? Can I subtract the number of other countries I’ve been to to offset the difference? I’ll join the All 50 States Club at some point, I’m sure, so I won’t fret about it, but working on the goals you’ve had since college feels fun!)

The AT was a fun little excursion and we just took it pretty casually. It was a short out-and-back hike/run, as it was incredibly icy. After we’d had enough slip sliding around, we made the brief drive up to Gettysburg, PA. We parked in the tiny downtown and found a cute restaurant that allowed our disheveled selves to dine in. We asked the nice waitress what we should see with our remaining 20 minutes (we had to get back to return the car) and she all but said “don’t bother”. In a town as historical as Gettysburg, apparently more time should be allotted!

Our last day in DC, Sunday, we went for a long morning run to Arlington Cemetery and back around Tidal Basin as a big loop. After a lunch near the White House and a quick stop for our obligatory souvenir purchase, we took the train to the airport for home.

The following weekend, my parents came out to spend a few days with us and we enjoyed the weekend in our friend’s cabin on Mt. Hood. We went for a little “snowshoe” and a beautiful dinner at Timberline Lodge, as the snow fell in the darkness. As I mentioned before, I’m a spoiled princess.

Holidays 2018

Just a few days after my DNF at Run the Rock, a friend and I took the afternoon off and drove to Seattle to watch the Packers play the Seahawks. I, sporting my green and gold of course, and she in her blue and green; we were an odd couple, but both just love the game. In a whirlwind evening, we stood in line for far too long at the concession stand, sat next to some rowdy fans, and had a very American Football night. Because why not, we drove back home afterwards, talking smack about the Packers’ loss, all in good fun!

Thanksgiving rolled around and my parents, my sister, brother-in-law, and one of my nieces (and 4 additional dogs) came over for the long weekend. In a (not so) veiled attempt to squeeze in some running, we got my niece excited for the Turkey Trot at the Zoo and went for an early morning 4-miler! That little country girl experienced a roller coaster of emotions through those miles, beginning with excited, to too hot, to slightly chilly, to very tired, to unprecedentedly dehydrated, to sprint finish. I love that she earned her medal and chocolate turkey and I was impressed with her endurance – though she could use some work on the mental training!

Even though the Turkey Trot includes zoo admissions, we also wanted to be there for the Zoo Lights, so we were back at the zoo after our feast to enjoy the displays.

A few weeks later, Jesse and I began the ever-exciting task of decorating our house, for the first time, for Christmas! After many hours of research and price comparisons, our exterior lights arrived, as did our rented potted Christmas tree. I won’t bore you with details about either of these things, but am adding a mental reminder of the trials and tribulations of both to remember them for laughing material later!

To celebrate our first Christmas in our new house, Jesse and I invited his father, brother, and sister to spend it with us. Well, they are always invited and welcome, but we somewhat strong-armed them to make it happen in 2018. They all flew in from their respective corners of the world and we spent a really lovely holiday season adventuring, lazing around, playing games, hanging out, and catching up.

We went snowshoeing (and got stuck in horrific traffic on Mt. Hood):

We went hiking (several times):

Everyone spent a day downhill skiing (while I worked) and another spelunking (while I worked). We went to a few museums (and my SIL and I failed at going to the water park next door), and we watched countless hours of Portlandia and the Great British Baking Show. We enjoyed dinners out and dinners in. We went shopping and did some Portland exploring. And we ended the visit with a small getaway to the Oregon Coast.

It was exactly how we hoped our holidays in our big house would feel: full. Of people, of laughter, and love. I’m so lucky to have such smart, interesting, caring, funny, warm, and adventurous families.

Canada – 8/31-9/5-18

For the long Labor Day weekend, Jesse and I made a trip to visit his family in Canada. On the flight there, we were seated in an exit row that had ridiculous leg room!

We were able to visit a few more family members who don’t live in the area this trip, which was a real treat. One of the first days of our visit was spent hiking some local trails and we finished the evening with pizza, drinks, and an ice cream cake to celebrate a birthday. This lovely lady definitely wanted in on it!

I am incredibly lucky to have these “in-laws” and I adore spending time with them. It’s always filled with good catch ups, delicious food (and ice cream, invariably!), laughter, nature walks, and craft projects. For the past few years, I have wanted to take up knitting and on this trip Jesse’s aunt replied with “well, let’s teach you then!”. And so it began. (Update: my scarf is nearly complete, however, I know nothing about knitting except the simple garter stitch, despite countless hours of YouTube tutorials. It’s a funny shape and has many visible errors. But to quote Mister Rogers: “I’m not very good at it. But it doesn’t matter.”) I was gifted a few skeins of Grandma’s yarn and Jesse’s great aunt’s knitting needles. I look forward to improving my skills and perhaps even making something worth wearing someday!

Hello. It’s Me.

My last post was 7 months ago; 220 days to be exact. I am wondering how I let my little blog slip so far behind and then I think back over the last 220 days and remember: I’m busy.

We’re all busy, though, so it’s certainly no excuse. Life is busy, whether we’re working, traveling, running, volunteering, blogging, or just simply being. And I’m not always good about making the things I want to do a priority. But tonight, here’s an update.

The thought of making an individual post for each blog-worthy thing that’s happened in the last 7 months overwhelms me. I want to catch up with just snippets of the memories. So here’s a outpouring of life from the last few months:

I was injured all winter. On October 1st, I was running in Forest Park, a long run on a perfect day, and something in my foot went horribly wrong and Jesse had to come rescue me and we abandoned my car in the park. I couldn’t walk without a limp for days, and the following months were filled with scans, physical therapy, podiatrists, MRIs, chiropractors, insurance forms, injections, swimming, strengthening exercises, foot massages, shoe inserts, and toe correctors. I was in a very frustrated mental state. Nothing makes a runner want to run more than injury.

No breaks or fractures!

I had to drop out of all my fall races and focus on staying happy and in shape in other ways: swimming, volunteer trail work, horseback riding, hiking…

Eventually I began slowly running again, building strength in my foot, mileage in my legs, and confidence in my brain.

And then we bought a house. It is equal parts exciting and daunting to be a homeowner, especially as first-timers. We drove by the place on December 8th, did a walk through December 9th, made an offer December 10th, which was accepted December 11th, closed on December 28th, and moved in on January 2nd. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year indeed.

We spent the new few weeks cleaning the new house, moving in, cleaning out and fixing up our rental, and all the horrible things that go along with moving. My parents, sister, and brother-in-law came to help us move and I am so grateful for all of them! A few car loads, two pickup loads, and a U-Haul and suddenly our life on 84th Ave was over. No longer will we be “first time homebuyers”. We’re loving it, though, it’s beautiful and I just want to spend all my time here. Wonderful enough to live in, but old enough to have some projects (the list is long and boring, but I did just paint the master bathroom and we’re getting a new roof next week, so there’s that).

Just a few days ago we had ducks in our yard. Sometimes an ice cream truck drives by. Everyone wears reflective vests when walking after 8 PM. I like to watch the hummingbirds from my office window. It’s home.

Riley, trying to fit on the fireplace tiles

Promptly after moving in, we went on vacation for 3 weeks. We had a trip to Moab, UT for my birthday on the books since forever, then our friends in New Zealand announced their wedding date was the weekend after, so we made a thing out of it. Moab first, then NZ, then Australia. Because why not?

Morning 15K (and half marathon) then a hike on Dead Horse Point

The famous Delicate Arch

View from the NZ Skyrunner 10K

Hiking NZ’s Motatapu Track

Rock climbing in Australia

Just a typical morning sunrise walk on Australia’s Sunny Coast

We returned to real life in Oregon and resumed work and responsibilities. We hosted friends from Idaho and Seattle, my parents have visited several times, and we had our housewarming party. We spent a long weekend in Bend and Jesse went to Germany for almost two weeks. I started to ramp up my running, with half marathons, girls running weekends, and all the trails I could get.

Sunrise run with Smiley Riley

Some mules blocking the trail during a run in Northern WA

In May, we traveled again for another wedding, this time to Mammoth, CA, and took in more adventures while we were there:

Hiking around Convict Lake

Peeking into Yosemite on the drive back

Jesse started his new job this past week and my job is crazy as ever. Up next is summer with weekends booked with events and experiences. Just like I like it. Here’s hoping I can make more time for sharing it all.

Misc. Summer Fun!

My mom, sister, and nieces visited for a weekend in late July and we had a little excursion up to Ape Caves, then hit up Target for back-to-school shopping, and the market for some fruit and face painting!

Jesse and I did some summer training in Forest Park and another quick trip to Silver Falls (on the one day it kind of rained all summer).

We also went with a friend to an all-day outdoor climbing class. We learned knots and anchors and had a nice little climbing session. Almost makes me wish I loved running less so I would make more time for climbing..!

Lake Michigan Loop + Canada – 7/20-24/17

The minute I turned on my cell phone on the plane from SFO, I had notifications that Jesse & I would need to travel to Canada that week. That night, we had flights booked, dog-sitting arrangements made, and 2 days later we took a red-eye to Chicago. As we all know, last minute flights are either horribly expensive or ridiculously cheap. Facing the former, it was going to be hundreds of dollars cheaper to fly directly to Chicago, rent a car, and drive to Canada. So the adventure began.

One terribly turbulent flight later, we arrived in “The Windy City” in the middle of some sort of monsoon weather. We were soaked just running from the door to the car, a mere 50 meters or so. Butting up to Thursday morning commute traffic, we hit the road to avoid any rush hour mayhem, heading east toward Michigan. Eventually, the hunger set in and we stopped at some random town for a basic breakfast in a tiny diner. We continued on in the rain for a while longer. Eventually when it cleared, we stopped at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and accidentally napped under a tree for an hour or so. When we awoke, it was blazing hot and the sun was out. We attempted a brief hike while we were there, but neither my mood nor my attire were right for such a feat. We aborted that mission and hunted for some lunch instead.

Tempting, but we passed on this place..!

Finally, we had to start making up some time, as we had an entire state to drive up. A few hours down the road, we made another pit stop in Grand Rapids. We stretched our legs in Millenium Park and watched the turtles, grabbed some iced coffees, and began again.

The final stop was in Traverse City for dinner and the sunset on Lake Michigan. I fell in love with the cleanliness of the town, the water, and the summer-y vibe. I look forward to returning with more time on our hands.

We made it to our family’s house in Canada late and just slept. It was nice to no longer be moving.

The next few days were filled with family, ice cream and Tim Horton’s, hugs, laughter, and memories. We scrambled the shore of Lake Superior one afternoon, skipping rocks and looking for critters.

Our drive home was through Wisconsin, to complete the loop. It was a fun game to compare America to Canada and even Michigan and Wisconsin to each other and to Oregon. We stayed one night in Green Bay and wandered around Lambeau Field briefly. I always love being in the heart of Packers country!

The next day, back to O’Hare and back to PDX (after a frustrating and confusing delay at the airport where we boarded and deboarded the plane due to “mechanical” issues?).

Easter in Canada (4/14-19/17)

It had been over a year since I journeyed to Ontario (and almost 6 months for Jesse), so we thought we’d take a few days this spring to head east to see the fam’. Luckily, tickets were reasonably priced over Easter weekend so we booked it!

We took the red eye from Portland to Minneapolis and while I’d ideally be sleeping through this, I was captivated by the sunrise (while true, it’s also a fact that it’s difficult to sleep when your 6’2″ husband is sprawled across your lap trying to catch his own zzzs), which was subtle, yet beautiful.

We arrived mid-afternoon (EST, of course) and hung out in Michigan on the banks of Lake Superior, enjoying the cloud-free day and walking off our jet lag.

No Easter weekend is complete without some egg-dyeing. Round 1 of simply dipping the eggs is on the top row, while round 2 with the more carefully crafted, hand-painted eggs are on the bottom row. As a small tribute to April the Giraffe and her new baby, Jesse painted an egg in her honor.

One particularly cold and windy morning beckoned us for a run along the HUB Trail through Sault Ste Marie. We managed a very slow 14 miles around the city and I enjoyed running with Jesse, as we are seldom able anymore. I put most of the blame for my sluggishness on our trip to Gilbertson’s for some maple syrup-y goodness the day before, but it could have just been general travel fatigue. I guess we’ll never know!

My favorite spot was in the Fort Creek Conservation Area. It was a quiet green space tucked away in the northern part of the city. There were signs warning us of bears and I was secretly hoping we’d see one but alas, no such luck. Only dogs and Moms with strollers.

We had such a great visit with family and friends; loving and being loved is the best.

Whistler – 2/3/17 – 2/11-17

We had this trip planned for the better part of a year. Our dear friends invited us to their timeshare in Whistler for a week and we blocked out the vacation on our calendars and all but forgot about it.

Finally, 2017 arrived and it occurred to us that we probably need to buy ski passes, arrange for a dog-sitter, and generally start planning to be gone for 9 days. With two days eaten up for travel, that left 7 days to play. Our discounted ski lift options were either 1, 3, or 5-day passes and it was agony deciding which way to go. We settled on 3 days and it ended up being the perfect amount.

We left Friday mid-morning, after slipping and sliding our way through an ice-coated Portland [insert funny stories about gas stations, fragile credit cards, bank teller errors, and a transient person here]. We stopped in a very snowy Vancouver, BC for a beautiful dinner with our friend’s former colleague, and continued slowly to Whistler (after a quick stop at Canadian Tire to invest in some decent ice scrapers). It was a long travel day in wonderful winter weather.

Our Creekside condo was lovely, greeting us with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, a washer/dryer, and a lovely view of snow-covered trees. The elephant in the room was the bedroom scenario: who gets the bunk beds and/or twin beds? Since we were technically the guests, Jesse & I channeled our inner 5-year old selves and embraced the bunk beds. We were in Whistler, who can complain!?

Saturday was a settling in day, of sorts. We slept in, went to brunch, stocked up at the grocery store, picked up everyone’s respective ski rentals, and wandered up and down (and up and down) the snowy sidewalks of Whistler Village.

Sunday we skied. It dumped an incredible amount of snow Saturday night and was a gloriously sunny day that morning. As expected, the line to the lift was 45 minutes long. It was cold, but the snow couldn’t have been more ideal and I couldn’t get enough of the views from the top. We were cutting through powder all day long.

We stopped for lunch near a random hut and sat in the snow to eat our sandwiches. Soon several fat little birds were swooping down on us, trying to steal our lunch! They would stalk us from atop our skis and then make their move. It was cute at first, but then they became brave and obnoxious, diving right at Jesse’s mouth!

After our 6 hours of skiing, Jesse and I scrambled up Blackcomb, literally ran to catch the last P2P gondola, and raced down the mountain before the last run call. It was a stressful, yet hilarious endeavor, but we made our happy hour date. We met at the bar for German sausages, hot chocolate, and the end of the Super Bowl (complete with an upsetting come back from the Patriots… what the actual f***?).

Monday was day #2 for skiing. The snow was still pretty good, but it was an extremely gray, cloudy, windy, and cold day. Because we spent most of Sunday on the backside of Whistler Mountain, we traversed over to Blackcomb for some variety. The snow seemed a bit icier and I was frustrated with how cold I was. We ended up stopping at the lodge for lunch and buying hand and toe warmers. It was hard to enjoy the day when I couldn’t warm myself up at all. We called it quits about 30 minutes early and headed back to the condo where I bee-lined it for the hot tub.

Tuesday was another sunny day and we slept in and slowly got around to making breakfast and then headed over to the Olympic Park for some snowshoeing. We ended up doing about 4 miles through the woods. It was much warmer and again, BC was too gorgeous for words. After several hours wandering through the woods, we headed back to Whistler Village because our friends had booked a bobsled ride! They went through an hour or so of training and then raced around the bobsled track for about 45 seconds. It was quite cool to watch! Later, in the hot tub, the relaxation of the evening was ruined by some drunken locals talking about Donald Trump, incompetent snow plow drivers, and seasonal employment. It was awkward and unpleasant but they eventually left and the world was good again.

One of our friends had to head back to Portland on Wednesday morning, so we dug her car out of the parking lot and said our good-byes…at 6 AM. Then the 3 of us headed to the trailhead to begin our Garibaldi Lake trek. It had snowed a fair amount and was going to be decent weather day… until the late afternoon. So we were working against the weather AND daylight, but were really just out to enjoy the snow. The first mile or so was up the road, as it is not plowed in the winter. We decided we were following the tracks of a skier and/or snowboarder combo, but were the only ones on the mountain otherwise.

The trail featured ~3,800 feet of climbing in a few short miles and about 650,000 switchbacks. We crossed a frozen lake, found a few incredible viewpoints, and enjoyed being in the Canadian Wilderness for the day. Besides my lengthy argument with a squirrel, we didn’t see anyone else on the trail until we were on our return trip. Eventually, we had to make the call to turn back before reaching our destination. We had no intention of sleeping on the mountain and the storm was rolling in. We headed back down, making up time on the descent and finishing just before dark. It was an epic day and I look forward to returning to complete the adventure in finding Garibaldi Lake.

My little toes were trashed from 14 miles in my snow boots. I suppressed a scream as the hot shower water rushed over my raw little piggies. Soon after that, I happily crawled into bed and fell asleep immediately. It had been a long day.

The plan all along was: on Thursday we rest. And indeed we did. It was a PJs-all-day type of day. It was cold and snowing all day long. The fireplace was on, the 3 of us nestled in, plugged into our various electronic devices, wrapped in blankets, and truly relaxing. That evening, we dug out the car and Jesse & I wandered to Whistler Village for a bank run (because who doesn’t need a foreign bank account in this political climate?) and, randomly, a haircut… and also a Whistler Blackcomb Hydroflask. Now there’s an adventure story.

Friday was day #3 of skiing and we were all in pretty rough shape. Jesse was sick and had black and swollen toes, our friend had leg/foot cramps, and yet again, I couldn’t warm up my body enough to enjoy the day. We begrudgingly spent a few hours on the slopes and just after lunch, we all gave in to the struggle. We made our way back to Creekside, enduring the icy moguls of Lower Franz’s. We spent the afternoon at the condo, slowly packing up the place and trying to eat all of our remaining food (which we gave up on and went out for tacos anyway, after several frustrating trips to the post office waiting on some important mail).

On Saturday, we made the drive home. It was a spectacular week and almost makes me want to invest in a timeshare of our own.