feeling autumnal

I love fall, but this year I've been sad to feel the temperature getting cooler. Maybe it's because I had such a lovely summer and I don't want it to end.



On Saturday, some friends and I drove out to Aspen Alley to see the fall colors. It was even more beautiful than I thought it would be. We sat in a meadow surrounded by aspens.



It was a gorgeous day with bright blue skies. The aspens were big in some places and small in others. Most leaves had started to turn yellow, but some were still green and others were already bright orange and red.



The light inside the aspen groves made everything and everybody look magical. I found myself finally excited for fall and energized by being with friends and spending time in the woods.

meme me!

I don't put much stock in these memes, but sometimes they hit pretty much on the nose.

Your Autumn Test Results

You are a dynamic, vibrant person. You aren't afraid to pursue your passions. When you're happiest, you are outgoing and expressive . You love celebrations, and you enjoy showing off a little. You tend to be afraid of change. You are never ready for things to be different. You find abundance to be the most comforting thing in the world. You love shopping and having nice things. Your ideal day is spent in contemplation. You enjoy a quiet day where you can take time to think and day dream. You are very impatient. You spend more time waiting for something than actually enjoying it.

The Autumn Test

love/no love

You know what I love? Putting on warm jammies straight from the dryer.
You know what I don't love? Realizing I used the wrong homonym in a previous post and now people think I don't know the difference between who's and whose.
Love? Having fun, interesting people show up to a book discussion.
No love? Coming home and being hungry again even though I ate dinner.
Love? My friends and family.
No love? Realizing I've been so busy I haven't talked to any of them in too long.

If I've neglected you, I'm sorry. I do think of you and want to call, but usually it's the middle of the night, or I'm in the middle of a meeting. It's crazy around here, but being this busy is an anomaly, and I'm sure it will get better soon.

what I'm up to

My friend and colleague Laura Crossett posted about her upcoming travels and I was inspired to do the same. This should probably go on my much-neglected IL blog, but I am too ashamed to face that thing right now.

This week is crazy. I'll be at ReVisioning the (W)hole II: Curious Intersections, on campus here at the University of Wyoming. On Thursday, September 25, I co-present "Interdisciplinary or Inextricable? Considering Research and Writing Within and Without the Disciplines" with Rick Fisher; we're paired with Lisa Hunt, whose program is "The Parchment Project: Engaging Experimental Archaeology through Independent Study ." I think our programs work really well together and the whole conference looks amazing.

Speaking of amazing, there are too many fun things happening on campus this week, including a visit by Salman Rushdie, Religious Studies speakers, a New York Times reporter speaker, and oh, yeah, my actual job to attend to. I'm co-facilitating a second book discussion of The Satanic Verses tonight, which should be pretty fun.

Next up is the Wyoming Library Association annual conference. As Laura said, she and I will co-present "2.0 Toolkit for Libraries Large and Small" on Thursday, October 2nd. Turns out we get to offer our program twice during the conference. It's always fun to see the librarians from around Wyoming, too.

Then I get to go to Denver on Friday, October 10 for Library Camp of the West! I'm really excited about this meeting, because it's all about starting conversations with other librarians in my region. Also, I'm not presenting at this one, because it's not that kind of event. It will be my second change in as many weeks to see Laura, too. I'm looking forward to seeing people I know and like from Colorado (like Steve), as well as meeting new people, too.

Soon after that, Cass Kvenild and I will present at the Colorado Association of Libraries annual conference, on Friday, November 7. Our workshop is called "Embedded Librarians: Moving Beyond One-shot Library Instruction."

I get a much-needed break from conferences and presentations for a while after that, but I will attend ALA Midwinter in Denver, though I'm not presenting anything there. I'll be working on the ACRL conference poster session committee work, as well as whatever we having going in my other committees by then. I'm kind of thankful that Cass and I didn't get our ACRL roundtable proposal accepted for Midwinter, because I ended up with lots on my plate as it is.

I am happy that Rick and I got our program accepted at ACRL 2009, though! The schedule's not available yet, but I can report that our program is called ""Widening the Net: A Research-based Collaboration to Foster Success Among At-risk Learners," and it's based on survey research we're doing on first-year college students' reading habits, attitudes, and experiences.

So, that's where I'll be. I try to keep my upcoming calendar (in my sidebar) updated, but it's kind of interesting to write out what I have going on from time to time. It makes me alternately excited and tired to see my schedule in print.

magic formula

Over the past 14 months or so, I've lost 50-odd pounds. People often stop and ask me how I'm doing it and, without fail, look really disappointed with my answer. That answer is exercise and portion control. Truthfully, I didn't cut anything completely out, though I don't eat fried foods or drink soda very often. I think people expect and want to hear that I'm on some kind of program or drug or that a special combination of foods is working.

It's when I say "exercise" that I see a pained expression. I get it, totally. Nobody wants to hear that the answer is basic math. Exercise means I burn more calories than I'm taking in, so I'm burning fat. Yay! But there's another benefit, too. Exercise boosted my metabolism, so I can actually eat more now and still lose weight. And honestly, it doesn't take a ton of exercise to make a difference, especially to start. I try to do something every day, because tiny things add up.

I started by going for walks several times a week. Then, I stopped using the elevator almost entirely and started riding my bike a little. Then I started going on hikes, and tried to get out once a week. Once it snows, that will turn into snowshoeing. But seriously, I'm not really putting that much time and effort into it and it's still paying off.

This is not a lecture. Losing weight is simple--burn more calories than you consume--but it's not easy. It's really difficult to change habits and make them stick, and I don't blame anybody for wishing it was easier. I wish it was easier, too. If I were more dedicated, I could be stricter with what I eat and exercise more. Everybody has to decide how to balance all that for themselves, and for me, that means making time for fun, too. It's all good, right?

weekend highlight

my car, ready to ford the river, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Addie and I drove to the Sierra Madres today, and it was a lovely time. I'd never been before and can recommend it as a beautiful drive. We didn't stop to hike, thinking we'd just enjoy the drive. It didn't work out to visit old ghost towns because, as you can see in the photo above, water was over the 4WD-only road we needed to use to get there. I forded the river the first time, since it was only a few inches deep, but then came to a bigger stretch and decided not to try to be a hero. Still, it was a really nice time.

road trip, day 10

giant ice cream and Rick, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

We hit the road pretty early on Tuesday because we had to drive from Seattle to Twin Falls, and hoped to make it before dark. First, we said goodbye to Melanie and handed over our keys. It was so sad to leave her after only seeing her for two days and knowing it will probably be Christmas before I see her again. We had such a great time together and it was so amazing for me to be able to introduce her to Rick--seeing two of my favorite people hit it off so well was way cool. I'd had a similar experience the day before with SJ and another sad goodbye.

We decided to wait to grab a coffee until we'd been on the road a while. We had planned a completely different route for the trip home, and I was excited. It was surprisingly easy to get through downtown traffic to I-90 during weekday rush hour, and we were all the way to Snoqualmie Falls before I knew it. The water level was moderately high, so the falls were pretty impressive, which made me happy. I don't get over to Snoqualmie very often, and when I do, I invariably think of Twin Peaks. Another reason to feel happy. Anyway, I discovered that the Salish Lodge doesn't have a coffee bar, which I think is a wasted opportunity. Somebody needs to serve coffee and pie at the falls.

We drove on, getting on I-82 and winding through the Yakima Valley. I had planned to stop for a few boxes of fruit, but indecision and the urge to keep driving won out. We had a pretty full car already, but I wish I would have grabbed a couple of boxes of apples and some peaches to put up. Regrets! Anyway, we did stop in Sunnyside at the Dairygold factory because we were taken in by the giant sign proclaiming "Cheese Tours." Turns out the tour was a self-guided one, and the factory store/diner was kind of disappointing. We did buy giant ice cream cones for like $2 each, so that was a winner. It was so hot out that I ate my ice cream faster than I probably ever have before. It was delicious.

After we passed the Tri-Cities (home of the Dust Devils), we took I-84 and dropped into eastern Oregon. We kept debating the best place to stop for some lunch and decided to try to make it to Baker City. When we got there, we decided we could wait until La Grande. I can't remember exactly where we stopped, but I know we picnicked in the grass outside an elementary school and sandwiches have never tasted so good. At this point, I'd done all but 100 miles of driving the whole road trip, so I had Rick take over. It felt great to sit back and relax for a while.

Everything between there and Boise was a blur of farms and blue skies. The change in landscape between Washington, Oregon, and Idaho wasn't as dramatic as it had been on the way west, when we were driving further north. All of 82 and 84 kind of looks the same--lovely, but the same. When we got to Boise, dusk was coming. We ended up eating at the McDonald's express at a gas station out of sheer tiredness and laziness. Their iced coffes are pretty good, though.

It was dark when we got to Twin Falls. On the way into town, we stopped at a bridge that's supposed to have spectacular views, but it was almost too dark to see and definitely too dark for pictures to turn out. I could tell it was pretty cool, though.

We finally got to Rick's friends' place after 9:00pm. Jeff and Natalie and their daughter are really nice, fun people, and it was fun to meet them after hearing about them for over a year. We all spent some time chatting and looking at some of my trip photos while watching some Olympics. It got late pretty quickly, and I promptly fell asleep in one of the most comfortable guest beds I've ever experienced.

One more day to go!

Labor Day weekend

making foil packet dinner, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Hey, I went camping last weekend. Overall, much fun was had by all. However, there was one stressful segment shortly after we arrived and pitched tents. I think I wanted to forget about it because it was so upsetting, so I'm only getting around to writing about it now. Three of us were laying around in the tent, and we heard some shotgun blasts pretty close to us. We yelled to let the people know we were there. Then, three bullets whizzed by in rapid succession. It sounded like a semi-automatic. After yelling again, we ran up to where our other friends were and told them what we observed. As we were all talking, more bullets whizzed by us, and we all hit the deck, yelling.

I heard the sound of two vehicle doors slamming and a car driving off really fast. Three of our group run up to the road to see what was up, but only got a glimpse of the white SUV (which was probably a Land Cruiser). It was too far away for them to see the people or the plates. Anyway, we reported the situation to the sherriff's department, but the deputies weren't able to locate the shooters. It was really infuriating, because these people were so reckless as to shoot blindly into the woods and then run away without knowing whether or not they hit anybody. And there will be no consequences for them.

Shooting can be really fun. I like target shooting, and I have friends who hunt. I think responsible gun ownership is a good thing. But idiots like the ones who shot near us shouldn't have weapons. It's legal and safe to shoot out there in the national forest where we were, as long as you have a proper backstop and can see where you're aiming. Standing at the side of the road, where you can see vehicles indicating other people are around, and shooting downhill into trees is the very definition of irresponsibility. End of story.

But the rest of the trip was great. We went to the hot springs and stayed until we were pruny and tired. Of course, we ended up back at camp way after dark, so we cooked and ate dinner by flashlight. I have to say that the foil dinners were really good, and would have been excellent if I'd been able to find the potatoes to include them. But we had some mac 'n cheese as a first course and had bread with the sausage and veggies, so we were in no danger of dying of carbohydrate deficiency. Heh.

The next day, after eating breakfast and lazing around for a while, we all walked the road up to the top of the mountain. It was really pretty. Instead of walking back down the road, we hiked straight down the side, through the brush. That was fun, and though I got pretty wet, not as difficult as I thought it would be. By the time we got back to our campsite, the rain was really starting to come down, so we packed up and went to Steamboat Springs for lunch and a bit of shopping before hitting the road to get back to Laramie. I managed not to buy anything, though I was tempted by several pairs of cute shoes, some of which were on sale.

On Monday, Rick and I went for a morning hike, which was pretty nice. I kind of wished I would have gone out longer. It was nice to get away from town again and there really weren't that many people out. It was definitely cooler, and made me realize how little time is left for running around outdoors. That makes me sad, but I have to remind myself that soon I'll be able to go out snowshoeing. And I'm thinking about taking the cross country skiing class this year. So, I guess I'll be able to stay busy.

road trip, day 9

abandoned sign in the underground, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Monday was our last full day in Seattle. Rick and I started out by taking the bus downtown and exploring Pioneer Square. After wandering a bit to check out the ferry terminal and walk under the viaduct, we met up with SJ. We decided to go to the first restaurant we saw for some lunch, and it turned out to be really good sushi with the weirdest service ever. After that, we took the Underground Tour, which was not at all what I expected. I thought I had taken the tour as a kid, but I might be misremembering.

The historical anecdotes were pretty interesting, but we basically had to sit through a lecture for a half hour before actually touring. The underground portion was kind of interesting, but got old fast. I think I was expecting to see more existing stuff left from the place being sealed up, but the guide explained that people have renovated and are using that space again. Makes sense.

Once we finished the tour and SJ dropped us back at Ed's, Rick and I drove up to Everett to see Jamie. I should have left R. to explore more on his own instead of dragging him to listen to me catch up with an old friend. Noted. Anyway, after a while, we drove back to Seattle to meet up with Melanie.

After a brief debate of the best choice for Indian food (I supported Taste of India because the chai is better and it's cheaper; Melanie is an unwavering Chutney's supporter because the food is admittedly better), the three of us headed to Wallingford. We feasted on Chutney's amazing food: the naan basket, mutter paneer tikka masala, chicken cashew masala, and saag with chickpees. So good! I wish there was a good Indian restaurant around here.

That was pretty much the end of our day. We had a big driving day ahead of us on Tuesday.

road trip, day 8

R and K, spoiling the view, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Sunday was our second day exploring Seattle. First, we met up with Melanie to get settled at Ed's place for the remainder of our stay. Then, we headed downtown. I tried to drive to the end of the SLUT line, but got all turned around because A. I haven't been here during the construction, and B. the roads were torn up and I kept having to turn around. So, basically, I gave up that plan. Instead, we parked for free in Belltown and set out on foot.

The first stop for us was to be Seattle Public Library Central. Of course, it being Sunday, the place wasn't open for another hour. Also, a pidgeon pooped on my head on our walk down there, which was not cool. Rick was a champ and helped me clean up at Hotel Monaco, which has some nice bathrooms, FYI. I remembered that from when I was at Midwinter last year (I usually don't spend much time in Seattle hotels).

Once I was presentable again, we went back to Pike Place and looked around for a while. It was lousy with tourists because it was a weekend, and our enthusiasm waned fairly quickly. I did buy some honey to take back with me, but not much shopping was on the agenda. Once we'd hung out in Steinbrueck park a little and watched some cheesemaking at Beecher's, we were ready for some food. In this case, crepes--yum!

Bellies full, we walked back to the library and spent over an hour exploring. I'd been there a couple times before, but it was cool to experience it with Rick. The highest viewpoint still makes my stomach flutter, and probably will every time I visit. Once we'd taken pictures of every nook and cranny and I'd shopped in the Friend Shop, we were off for the next sight.

I decided to grab the car and drive up to Kerry Park, because there's no sense in bringing somebody to Seattle and not giving them the best views of the city. Even though it was overcast, the skyline looked really great. After snapping a few photos and talking to a nice couple from Ferndale, we were off to yet another park.

It took me far too long to point myself to the Olympic Sculpture Park, another feature new to the city since I moved away. I was really irritated with all the "don't touch the art" signage everywhere. In my opinion, you can't have it both ways--either hide your sculptures in a museum, or put them outdoors and let the weather and the people touch them. Way to put art behind a barrier, Seattle Art Museum.

Anyway, I touched whatever I felt like touching. There's actually so much to see in the sculpture park that we didn't end up walking to everything. Next time, I guess. Again, the views were lovely, as you could see up Alaskan Way to the piers, which we didn't ever get around to visiting. The art was a mix of stuff I liked and stuff I don't, but that's a good thing. I do really like the Ellsworth Kelly mounted on the pavilion, which we neglected to go into before it closed. Doh!

Anyway, by the time we burned out on looking at art, it was time to meet up with Melanie! We had planned to go see the X-files movie, but none of us were as jazzed at the prospect of sitting in a movie theater as we were to just hang out together. Instead, we headed to the International District for dinner at Saigon Bistro, one of my all-time favorite places in town. Stuffed to the gills, we rolled over to Uwajimaya, where Rick and I bought things that are more expensive or hard to find in Laramie, like masaman curry, tamarind paste, and Men's Pocky. Hee.

Our final destination for the evening was Capitol Hill, where we stopped for a drink at Chapel. It's one of my favorite spots in town, and their drinks are tasty. I had a hibiscus martini, my old standby, and Rick had one called Ruby Cowboy or something like that. Melanie's drink was also fruity and delicious, but I can't remember what it was. We also shared a big old slab of chocolate cake, which I think finished me off for the night. It was a big day!

bonus rainbow

closer rainbow, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

road trip, day 8

Kaijsa with skyline, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

We packed a lot into this Saturday. We started off by eating at Dick's, because I can't visit Seattle without doing so. Then, I took Rick to Fremont and we checked out Archie McPhee. The pictures of us trying on wigs still makes me laugh. It was kind of a drizzly day, perfect for visiting the water, so we drove down to Ballard and hit the locks.

It's been a while since I visited the locks. There wasn't much boat traffic, so it wasn't as exciting as it could have been. Still cool, though. We also checked out the fish ladder, and there were tons of salmon going through. There were also tons of people crammed into the viewing area, and I uncharacteristically told of a kid for having no manners as he pushed past us on the stairs.

We looked around the botanical garden a little, but it soon started pouring. It as kind of warmish out, so I liked it. We met up with an old friend of mine for some fish & chips and beer at the Lockspot after that. I'd only ever had fish from the walk-up counter before and remember it tasting better than it did that day. Oh, well.

After we said goodbye to Chris, I drove Rick up to Gasworks Park in Fremont. The sky had gotten really pretty, and the water on Lake Union was kind of rough. We climbed up to the sundial and then went down to the bulkhead, as you can see in the picture above. I really like the views of the city from Gasworks. We didn't stay there very long, but it was nice. Does anybody know what the concrete arch thingies are there? I've always wondered.

After Gasworks, we drove back up to the U-District, where we saw a gorgeous full rainbow. I stopped on Roosevelt in front of the yarn store and took some pictures. Speaking of pictures, I look at mine from this trip and laugh about what I focused on and what I totally neglected to snap. I'm so weird sometimes.

by request

new haircut, slightly messy, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

It's far from perfect, but here's the new, shorter hair. Maybe one of these days I'll remember to take a picture when it's freshly combed. Hee.

road trip, day 7

countdown to the Winter Olympics, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

We went to Canada on our seventh day, which was a Friday. It was an easy, quick drive up to Vancouver. We stopped on the way in Skagit County for a coffee, and I was surprised and happy to see Scott, best friend of my brother and sister-in-law at Starbucks. I knew he managed a store up there, but had forgotten and didn't know which one. It was nice to see him.

As we got back on the road, I realized that I'd accidentally pulled the hood release when I got out of the car at Starbucks. I knew my shoelace had caught on something, but didn't really think about it. Oops. Luckily, the hood just bounced a little as I got on the freeway, and we were able to pull off and fix it before it could fly open. Sometimes I astound myself with my brilliance. Let's just say this wasn't the only driving/car related snafu on the trip that can be credited to me.

We got across the border into Canada pretty quickly, for a weekend morning, and made it to Vancouver and parked off Robson with no real hassle. Then, we basically spent the day walking all over town.

Robson wasn't that interesting to Rick, with all it's shopping and stuff. Both of us were hungry, so we pretty much immediately went into Tsunami for sushi! I dug in immediately, grabbing my first plate from the boats before my ass was completely in my seat. Rick noticed that as people were seated at the bar, they all did the same thing as I had. I'd never really thought about it because who wouldn't grab sushi as fast as the could? And we did put away our most expensive meal of the trip in about 15 minutes, so I guess I'm right.

Then we decided to go into a couple of stores, like Roots, the custom t-shirt store, and the salmon place. Retail fatigue set in pretty quickly, though. Rick was interested in going to Gastown, and I'd never made it there before (Robson and Granville streets always suck me in for my entire visits). So we hoofed it up to the waterfront, looked at some big ships, and then found Gastown. It's smaller than I had expected, and not as nice (in my opinion) as Pioneer Square in Seattle. But we did have the pleasure of seeing a flotilla of junkies on a very stinky street.

After Gastown, we thought about walking to English Bay, but then decided to get the car and drive to Stanley Park, another place I'd always meant to see. After some navigational issues stemming from incorrectly guessing which streets terminate in a turn-only lane, we made it into the park. We basically just drove almost all the way around it, pausing for Rick to take a few pictures here and there, and finally parked at Beach Number Two. That's a pretty creative name, there.

I think I was getting tired at this point, and we ended up just walking up to English Bay and getting gelato and sitting near the beach for a little while. It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of people hanging out, but I was pretty much mentally done. I think I cut Rick's Vancouver experience a little short, which kind of sucks.

After collecting the car, we drove through nasty weekend traffic to the border, where we sat for over an hour waiting to get through the US side. Why is it so much easier to get into Canada than the US? I sort of forced Rick to take the wheel while we waited to cross, and he ended up driving all the way to Marysville.

After I took the wheel again, I drove him across the flats and stopped at Langus Park, so he could see the boathouse and the river where I rowed in high school. It was just dark, and it reminded me of being there after hours for high school shenanigans.

By then, we were pretty hungry and we wanted Burgermaster. I thought I'd be wise and hit the one in Silver Lake/Mill Creek because I thought it would be closer to my parents' place. I had forgotten how far east that place really is! It took forever to wind through the suburbs to get there. I should have just gone to the one in North Seattle and then turned around. But we made it with a half hour to spare before closing, and I had the tastiest cheeseburger I'd had in a long time and a root beer shake. So good.

When we finally got home, my mom had a replay of Olympics opening ceremony on, which we'd missed. So we watched that for a while before hitting the sack. I crashed so hard that night.

road trip, day 6

Aquasox pitcher., originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

i wonder if I'm going to make it through the whole vacation before I've been home a whole month.

Rick finally got a break from me for a while on Thursday, when Mom and I went to the spa. I finally got my haircut, and now that it's eight inches shorter and has more layers, I actually wish I'd cut more off. I really like my new hair guy, and think I'll see him again at Christmas. Gail did my pedicure, and it was amazing, as always.

After that, we visited my grandma, who seemed to be having a good day. The respite caregiver is nice, and I'm glad my parents have found good people to help take care of Grandma.

That evening, we had dinner out with my folks and my brother and his family before going to the Aquasox game. Unlike the Mariners, the 'sox seem to be having a decent season. The game was fun, and our team won. Weirdly, the online schedule said Everett was playing Vancouver, but when we got to the game, the opponent was the Tri Cities Dust Devils. Still cool and all, but we were hoping for some international rivalry.

You know what I like about baseball? It's a sport that's exciting to watch, but games happen at a pace that allows for lots of conversation. My nephew didn't seem too interested in the game, but he did want to explore the floor of the stadium. That kid is really patient for 18 months. He doesn't even really need toys to entertain himself--an empty water bottle will do. And plenty of attention. He definitely likes an audience for his jabbering. I liked playing with him, and seeing for myself how much he's learned and changed since I saw him in May. It's disconcerting that I'm missing so much of him growing up, but luckily for me, his parents are great about taking pictures and letting me know about his latest tricks.

Next: Canada!

road trip, day 5

Rick on Red Hook brewery tour, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

Wednesday was packed with stuff. We started off the day earlier and went to northeast King County. The original plan was to take bikes and ride the Burke-Gilman trail to Woodinville to see the brewery and wineries, but I neglected to get the keys from my dad before he left for work. So I drove us over to Bothell, where we checked out the UWB campus. This was where we visited the first of four libraries I dragged Rick to.

From there, we went to the Red Hook brewery and took the tour. I'd never done it before, and found it to be less a tour than a lecture with plenty of beer drinking. I approve. Having five different beers I probably never would have selected for myself made me realize what I like. I've had samplers at McMenamins and Widmer before, but this time I paid more attention. For those keeping track, I liked the Blackhook porter and the Summer Blonde the best. After the tour, we proceeded to eat way too much food and drink more beer at the Forecaster Pub.

After that, we went down to the UW Seattle campus. We knocked around a little, going into both the Odegaard Undergraduate Library and Suzzallo, bringing the library count to three. Then we met up with Chelle for eats at the Thaiger Room and then walked over to the College Inn for librarian pub night, which was fun. I got to see grad school friends, Washington librarian friends, current colleagues from Wyoming, and a new friend from UNLV all at the same time.

From there, SJ joined us for some additional fun. Because we hadn't eaten enough all day, we went to Pies & Pints, where we had some good food covered in beer cheese sauce and terrible service from a cute, but distracted waitress/bartender. As always, it was great to hang out with SJ, and I think Rick had fun, too.

bonus photo

Kaijsa in a tree, originally uploaded by Single Drop of Rain.

I like this one that Rick took of me up on Pilchuck. Unsurprisingly, lots of my pictures from the trip are of him, so I'll steal some of the shots he took of me.

road trip, day 4

Rick in the woods, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

On Tuesday, our first full day in the Seattle area, we got off to a slow start. Once we got some errands out of the way, we drove up to Granite Falls and hiked Mt. Pilchuck. Despite growing up a stone's throw away and even going to a high school with Pilchuck in its name, I'd never hiked there before.

It was a warm, slightly muggy day, but the tree canopy kept us shaded at least half the time. Hiking at much lower altitude was nice, as we breathing was so much easier. I wasn't a total superhero, though; I was pretty tired from three days in the car and was a little draggy and very sweaty from the humidity. We didn't summit, but it was a really nice hike.

Afterwords, we stopped at the fish ladder at the falls. Here, I did feel pretty awesome after walking up 88 steps without getting at all winded. The fish ladder here is kind of disappointing, as you can't see the fish. The falls were pretty, though.

On the way back to my parents' place, I jumped of Highway 9 in Marysville. I wanted to drive by my childhood house, but all the new construction in the area confused me and I drove right past the neighborhood at first. Weird. It's strange to feel completely disconnected from the place I lived for 18 years of my life.

On the way home, we picked up some pork chops and other stuff for a barbecue with my parents. My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came over, too. I think Rick had a nice time, but after two nights with my family, I think he was ready to get out and do something more interesting for his vacation. We'd been in town 24 hours and hadn't really gotten near Seattle.

Up next: beer, libraries, more beer, and pies and beer.

lovely weekend

In the scenery, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

This weekend was great, kind of an extension of vacation. After getting home at midnight on Wednesday, I spend a little time in the office getting myself organized, but mostly I just hung out with friends. On Thursday, I had wonderful dinner with Addie and then met up with some more people for drinks. Then on Friday, I braved the rain to buy some veggies at the farmer's market before they closed up due to weather. Then there was a second night of drinks out, this time with a larger group.

On Saturday morning, Elsa, Rick, and I went up to the Snowies for some hiking on the Lakes Trail. The weather was cool, which was nice. It was still pretty wet from the rain the night before, so we got pretty soaked from the brush, but it wasn't too muddy. I'd never been on that trail before and I really liked it. There were tons of gorgeous views, even with all the fog and grey clouds everywhere. All the lakes made the mountains look even more amazing.

That evening, Addie had a dinner party, which was really fun. I can't remember the last time I met that many interesting, fun people in one night. She made Malian food, and it was delicious. Everything was awesome, actually.

Today, I met up with Addie and then Rick downtown for a bluegrass festival. Eventually, almost everybody I know was there. I had heard of some of the bands, but had never heard any of them until today. All of them were great, and I even danced to Jalan Crossland. Fun times.

I can't believe I have to go to work for real tomorrow. Maybe two weeks of vacation was a bad idea, because I don't want to go back.

road trip, day 3

road trip 2008 175, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

So, we entered Washington. I made the stupid mistake of driving through Spokane instead of avoiding it like the plague. We were on Highway 2, also known as my favorite road in the land, but I didn't realize I should have taken I-90 to get past the Spoke. Anyway, that burned up about an hour we didn't need to waste. This was a theme for the whole day.

I know I'm totally biased, but Washington state is gorgeous. I think Rick liked it too, especially how the landscape kept changing as we traveled west. A friend camping in Chelan invited us to stay there and play in the lake, but we didn't feel like we had the time to spend. I would have liked to just stay the night there and continue on in the morning, and in retrospect, it would have been a great idea. Instead, after some unnecessary driving around in Wenatchee, we stopped at Lake Wenatchee for a very brief swim, which was a nice break from the car. I also drove through Leavenworth, so Rick could see the weirdness of a fake Bavarian village packed with tourists.

The drive through the North Cascades was stunning, as always. Stevens Pass is such a pretty one, and it was fun to show it off to somebody who had never been to the area. We jumped off 2 in Monroe and hit 405 to get to my parents' place. Again, a good plan in theory, but I should have gone all the way to the end of the highway in Everett and taken surface streets down to Lynwood. Rush hour in the PNW is much more annoying than the fifteen minutes of tiny congestion we get here in Laramie. We got in to my folks' place just before 8pm.

My parents had dinner ready for us, and we ate outside in their newly arranged outdoor dining room, which I love. I really miss eating all my meals outside all summer and fall. Rick and my parents got along well, and the dogs even mostly behaved themselves. It's always difficult to predict how they'll react to my friends. Abbie's really jealous, and she's been known to whine and moan if anybody sits next to me. She did stick pretty close to me. Nala immediately adopted Rick as her new best friend, sitting at his feet at dinner and then sleeping outside his bedroom every night. I wasn't a blip on her radar.

We were pretty tired after all that driving, so pretty much the only things we did after dinner were bring in our stuff from the car and figure out our plan for the next day.