Muir Woods is beautiful. I’m so happy I got to see redwoods. But before the redwoods, I saw stunning views from an 18th floor apartment in San Francisco. The views were almost as good as the conversation and food.

Oh, and the baseball game was great, too. Oracle Park is on the bay. Quite breezy, but at least the hometown team won 5-1 against the Cubs.

I didn’t have any trouble finding the stadium from the Caltrain. I simply followed everyone. Everybody was headed to the game.

Finished today in Sausalito.

As I’m about to take my UK citizenship oath next week, I’ve been thinking about the No Kings protests. I will pledge my loyalty to King Charles III and his heirs. That feels so weird because I was born in the U.S. and have lived here all my life. I am a U.S. citizen (and will maintain dual citizenship after next week); I’ve never had to pledge my loyalty to the U.S. unless you count saying the Pledge of Allegiance five days a week for 8 months a year for 12 years. But then, it doesn’t feel weird, because King Charles III is ACTUALLY A REAL KING, of a country that has a constitutional monarchy.

I gave my No Kings tee shirt to a friend in Oregon as I was leaving. On Sunday during the next protest, I’ll be at a baseball game watching the SF Giants vs. Chicago Cubs. Guess I’ll have to wear my Portland War Zone tee shirt instead.

Anyway, greetings from Eugene Oregon. I’m staying with my cousin and her husband in their lovely home. Yesterday afternoon I saw a man wearing a power T cap, so I greeted him with “Go Vols” and we chatted for a minute. I didn’t realize until later as we passed the U of Oregon track and field venue that the national track championships are being held here. That explained the other shirts/hats I saw from various other universities.

Currently sitting at this table typing this post.

My first leg of the summer odyssey was great. I enjoyed high school graduation and a spa day with my cousin, Bonnie. Then headed to D.C./MD to visit good friends, Betsy and Shelley and Beth. Shell and I do not realize before we became friends as toddlers. Lots of good food and huge laughs. This morning I even woke on time to get to the airport. We’ve been delayed due to weather. This will be a fun, short connection in SLC. Keep your fingers crossed.

My planned trip to Florida won’t happen due to schedule conflicts, so I’m taking another vacation to Canada at the end of July. See map above. This summer is like a yo-yo trip back and forth across the continent! Hey, we’re taxiing now. See ya on the other side.

After an alarm snafu for the 6:15 a.m. flight, the Southwest ticket agent was kind enough to book me on their next flight for free and refunded my pre-paid baggage fee. Yay for Southwest.

TSA was a riot. I am only traveling with a carryon size suitcase and my backpack. Traveling for 4 months worth of medicine in bottles would take up too much room. So, I decided to put all of my meds in a baggie with pictures of prescription labels. I was slightly concerned, but since none are controlled substances, I went for it. I knew the backpack would get flagged because of the cooler for my eye drops. TSA agents quickly check those because they see them all the time. The fun part began when they pulled out one of my big envelopes with my important papers because they saw something black. It turned out to be the pictures from the early 1900’s that my grandmother had taken – they had been mounted in a photo album and I couldn’t bear to part with them. Those two TSA agents spent at least two minutes asking me about the photos and who was in them because they were so enthralled. Then the next person came along and we had to stop. My grandmother, ca 1914.

My visit with friends and relatives has been wonderful. Both cousins have invited me to stay with them until my passport arrives. Convenient, since they are on opposite coasts!

I moved to the PNW about two years ago. Had visited only a couple of times before.

Adopted Adele from a senior rescue.

Baseball trip to Seattle for the Yankees game was the first adventure. A great time was had by all (we won!) Met this dude too.

Went to the coast and took a scenic train ride.

First brunch at a McMenamin’s and met my future co-MIL.

First volunteer gig with Pride Northwest

Also volunteered at the local food bank.

And then the election happened and my focus switched to the plan to move out of the country. Simultaneously I started my protest career.

Took many trips to downtown Portland for the Saturday market, waterfront, Pride Festival, Rose Festival, etc. I got familiar with the Max too. I also began my quest to cross each bridge in Portland – and met that goal eventually. I went to Scapoose, Vernonia, Oregon City, Government Camp, the Dalles, Maryhill in Washington, Vancouver, WA, Tillamook, Astoria, Newburg, and other places.

Then, I took the train to Klamath Falls. I broke my foot there. Note to self: don’t go anywhere with a dangerous name. I’ve circled the bullet holes in the “do not shoot” sign.

Went whale watching on Depoe Bay too.

Yesterday was my free yard sale for my neighbors. Setting up this happened (above). The universe is telling me I’m leaving the west coast. Almost everything was taken – yay neighbors! I had some great conversations and even got a going away hand-crocheted scarf from Lori. It is beautiful.

Today I wanted to drive up to Longview by way of Vernonia, because I wanted to eat lunch at the Blue House, which is owned by relatives of my friend, Michael. Oops – they’re not open on Tuesdays. So, I drove back home via the Vernonia-Scapoose road and then Logie through Helvetia. I’ve been meaning to do that for two years and got stuck in traffic! Construction traffic on little used roads. View at 1151 feet (below).

There are ten days left before I head out for my travels and move to another country. Days filled with sorting, packing, free yard sale, and plenty of saying goodbye. Today is my last coffee meetup with friends. Yesterday I sold my car, today is my last lunch with friends.

WE INTERRUPT THIS POST WITH A NEWS FLASH!

Not quite done with the west coast. Have an important wedding to attend in early September here, so I’ll be back for a minute! Below is my summer map before heading overseas.

This is a image of my brain right now. I had my travel all booked and arranged, including a 2 week stay at an AirBNB in the village where I want to live in England and two stops across the US to visit with family before I head out.

I received my invitation to take the citizenship oath. FINALLY. Five months of waiting is over. Except….. it is smack dab in the middle of my travel plans. Plus, I was assigned to the consulate nearest where I live in the Pacific North West. I don’t have an option to change it to a more convenient location since I am moving away from here in two weeks. Noooo, that would be easy peasy.

So now I have an email out to the AirBNB host. Will have to rearrange all the travel – thank goodness for refundable tickets. And have to figure out where I can temporarily stay for a couple of weeks before the ceremony.

Sigh

I grew up and have mostly lived the suburban life. It was great, it was fine. When I left my deep-red state two years ago to move out west, I ended up in a small town near a decently large city. One Direction Planes is surrounded by farmland and a growing number of data centers. ODP has a population of about 3400 in the city limits with another 2200 in the outlying area of the same zip code.

I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t expect I’d be walking to “downtown” whenever the weather cooperated. And when I walk, I typically run into at least one or two folks I know. I didn’t expect to find friends among my apartment complex neighbors. I didn’t expect to find a community of like-minded social justice activists. I didn’t expect to find some great volunteer opportunities. I’ve been here less than two years and have had to schedule a series of goodbye lunches/coffees/beers/meetups! I certainly didn’t expect to find someone who is from the city I had moved from and also someone who I worked with more than 40 years ago!

One day I walked into the local library wearing a distinctive t-shirt with the team logo and colors of the university where I worked previously. The librarian looked shocked and asked why I was wearing the shirt. It turns out she was born and raised less than 5 miles from where I last lived. Hi Emma!

Another day I was volunteering in our local food bank. Carol came in to ask about volunteering and we chatted. She came back later that day after I’d sent her an email with more information to let me know she used to work with somebody with my same last name. After I internally rolled my eyes, we discovered that we worked for the same small company in a state on the opposite side of the country more than 40 years ago. Hi Carol!

It is a small world.