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!