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.

Moving to England and I will be relying on public transportation most of the time. I am selling my car (not pictured) that I bought during the Pandemic. Six years later and it only has 44,000 miles on it. I swear I only went to the next county over from my home for the first year I had the car. Also, best interest rate I’ve ever had. 0.9%, zero point 9 percent. Do you realize that means more than 99% of my payments were to the principal?! Selling it the week before I leave and renting a car in the meantime. I’m renting an EV. It might pay for itself by not using gas at today’s prices of $5.05 per gallon at my local Costco.

I was approved for citizenship in early November 2025. We’re now in mid-May 2026 and I’m still waiting for the invitation to take my oath. My anxiety apparently knows no bounds.

I’ve had dreams. One where I contact the embassy in D.C. and speak with Clive. Clive remembers me from when I was a teenager hanging out at the Rabbit’s Foot, a bar in D.C. where they didn’t look closely at your ID. Another where my certificate never reached the embassy in D.C. because when the clerk in the Home Office was printing certificates, they didn’t sort by country, so they hand-sorted, and mine ended up in Uzbekistan’s pile.

I have created a playlist consisting of songs about waiting. I play it every night when I go to sleep. I choose to believe it helps.