The week in brief

I hung out and visited with people. Plus I slept in a different bed each night. (Nothing naughty; I was just nomadic.)

I saw a few friends and a few family members. It was all good. My youngest brother turned 17, which is just weird. I changed his diapers! And my baby sister is going into eighth grade already, too. I'm getting so old. It's pathetic.

It felt strange being back in familiar territory. It was like muscle memory; I knew where most things were, but I didn't remember names or directions of things. And farther places that I rarely used to go, like Seattle or Tacoma, forget it. I was clueless.

But driving was fun; I knew where I was going and the scenery was stunning, as usual. Traffic not so much, but hey, it's Seattle.

The weather was perfect while I was there, sunny and very warm, and not at all humid. I think I already mentioned that, didn't I. Well, I'll say again, ah, it was wonderful, I just loved it.

Oh--during the weekend, I went camping, with my mom and her friend's family, down in Oregon. Another post on that in a bit. With pictures!

The last night, I was at my dad's, up on the mountain. I made sure to go outside to see the stars. Mm, it was lovely. You could just make out the Milky Way, and the North Star shone brightly. My brother joined me, and we found some new constellations. I showed him the Salamander constellation (which I had only previously ever seen at Trailblazers, laying on the girls' dock), and he pointed out a giant arrow. I also saw a huge smiley face that took up about half the sky. Sweet!

Early the next morning, Dad and I were off. The cross-country road trip was actually going to happen!