wanderlust

Rainy day...back in Walla Walla

Today is the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year and the end of my grand adventure.

I've been gone 107 days and 106 nights. While it feels like I haven't been gone nearly that long, plenty of things have changed—both in me and at home. I can't possibly begin to detail all those changes at this moment, but I'm sure I'll be writing about them in the days, weeks and months to come.

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My last stop of the trip was Yakima, where I spent a few days with three (almost four—but that's another story) great friends from Walla Walla, from a college Bible study gropup five years ago. It was a great time of gabbing, singing, laughing and catching up. Yesterday we went skiing/snowboarding, which was fabulous. The weather was moderately crappy, but it was still a really fun day. And we're all sore now, but I think we all think it was worth it.

Key phrases from the past few days:
• Joel is lame.
• Back-rubs lead to....
• Tri-Ominoes rocks.

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More photos to come. I'll be posting on my main blog now, with a possibility of some brief revisits to this page. Thanks for coming with me.

In the land of trolls, Ubi and wasabi mayonnaise

Where do I begin?

Possibly with Friday morning, when I met Leah for the first time. And her dad, older brother and mom, their cat, dog and bird, and Leah's hamster and snake. The whole kit and caboodle.

Since then, the weekend has been filled with eating, Seattle wandering, games, eating, laughter, baking, photo fun with the Fremont Troll, eating...and more laughter. Leah's family is crazy funny (heavy on the crazy), and I feel right at home here. I've been lucky enough to meet both of her brothers. Apparently, few of her friends have this pleasure.

Leah and I are way too much alike for only knowing each other through our blogs. We knew we'd get along great...and we do.

Right now Leah's family is having a holiday open house for their church (Leah's dad is the pastor...he's pretty cool), and there's a group of people sitting in the hall outside Leah's room, playing with her snake, Ferdinand. I keep hearing, "Is that a real snake?" One kid has it around his neck now. Like I said, fun times in Kirkland.

Yesterday afternoon we had some fun with the troll. We like the troll.

I'm leaving shortly to drive to Yakima and visit some more friends for a couple of days before heading home. I've had a great last week, visiting friends all around western Washington. Seeing Chelsea was especially fun. We really enjoyed being roommates during college, and now, even if we don't see each other often, it's always fun to hang out and catch up on things.

And now that I've eaten far too much this weekend, it's about time to drive for a couple of hours. The holiday bingeing has begun.

Seattle is cold; I'm hibernating

I've had some good days of exploration and amusement, and this morning I've been staying inside. It's cold out and the skies are gray. I've found winter, finally.

The Seattle light is amazing. And the sunsets—I don't remember the last time I saw such golden skies.

I like this city. I've been here many times, but rarely with my own time to wander. I spent a while downtown the other day, wandering Pike Place Market and thereabouts. The people here are so varied and strange. And the smells! I can finally smell again. My cold is nearly gone. My sense of smell must have returned right when I was at the market, because suddenly I was noticing the combination of aromas: fish, flowers, mildew, leather, pastries, coffee, exhaust. Scents are so very interesting.

Good friends in this city too. The other night I stayed with a college friend Becky, who I last saw at the end of our British Isles trip three years ago. Now I'm staying with Chelsea, my first-year college roommate. And tomorrow I'll be meeting Leah for the first time.

And now, since I've been lethargic all morning, I think I'll get out and go for a walk. It's currently 36. I think I can handle it.

My own state

This morning I crossed over the Columbia River from Oregon to Washington. Also this morning, my trip counter flipped back to 000.0: meaning, I’ve driven 15,000 miles…and counting.

I’m not sure how I feel about being back in my state. Just three days ago I was in San Francisco. Now it’s suddenly winter—the skies are gray, I’ve experienced rain and wind, and I’m wearing lots more layers.

But these are the exterior things. It’s a lot less easy to list the interior facts.

I’ve been in Olympia for a couple of hours. My family lived here for almost three years, but we left more than five years ago. Yet it feels so recent to my life experience. I have a lot of memories associated with this city, a lot of good memories. I had my first school experiences here when I went to SPSCC for two years. I spent countless hours at my church on the Westside, and I made a lot of close friends there. I bought an old German camera and began experimenting with photography more seriously. (That is, I took dozens of photos of the Capitol building and Mount Rainier.) I started driving in this city. Therefore, I learned to deal with traffic and rain, sometimes in alarming quantities.

Still, these are exterior details.

This is where I started to grow up, when I started to figure out who I would be. I used to take walks after dark in the neighborhoods near our house. I did a lot of thinking. I learned how to pray. I learned to love the rain.

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I can’t say any more than that. I’m not sure how to say it. I just know that this place makes me thoughtful. If you see someone wandering the streets, wearing plaid wool pants and a brooding expression, give her a knowing nod and a wide berth.

What I found today

• Three Buddhist monks getting their photo taken on the pier, with Alcatraz in the background.
• An art gallery with a collection of Dr. Seuss paintings and mounted heads (his secret hobby was mock-taxidermy).
• A man wearing reindeer antlers and hiding behind evergreen boughs, scaring passers-by by waving the boughs and saying, "Whoo!"
• The Musée Mécanique, a museum with dozens of old-fashioned machines and other memorabilia. For $0.50, one machine read my palm and printed a ticket with my fortune:

• A family of skunks scuttling through the bushes.
• Late-afternoon sunlight on lettuce leaves.
• Sunset across the bay. (There’s a that Journey song that goes like this: "When the lights go down in the city and the sun shines on the bay, do I want to be there in my city?" Is it about this city and this bay?)

City views: III

While I was taking this photo, I had no clue that the man was taking a photo of me (so I assume). I was just focused on getting the cable car in the frame as it passed. When I looked at it later, I couldn't help but laugh. It reminds me of some photos in my family's albums. One in particular: from my mom's perspective, you see Grandma across the room, camera at her eye, playful smile on her face.

It was nearing sunset when I arrived at Grace Cathedral on Tuesday. The sky looks white because it was changing from its blue daytime attire to its pink evening wear. The man and his dog look like transplants from Hyde Park, London. There's another man there (behind the tree), but I like how it appears that the gray-clad man is standing at attention (or, rather, at ease, to use the correct military term) for my photo.

When I turned on my camera to take this photo in Chinatown, I had it pointed down toward the sidewalk (I was trying to be less obvious about my identity as a tourist). This was the first thing I saw on the screen: a photo was begging to be taken.

Around 2 yesterday it started to rain, lightly at first. I was walking in the Mission district, looking for Balmy Alley, where there are lots of murals. I took my time walking along and looking at the murals, not minding the rain. This one caught my attention only after I noticed the bag of recyclables in the balcony above.

Do you see all the blue and red in these photos? It's only when I put my favorites together that I realize why they're my favorites. Color. I see in color.

City views: II

City views: I

San Francisco: Loving it

I arrived in San Francisco yesterday, after driving up from Stanford, and I've been loving it nonstop since then. Yesterday I explored some ruins and then hiked along the coast to get some nice views of the Golden Gate Bridge. I took my time and didn't look at my watch for hours. The weather here is amazing: sunny, cool (quite cold at night) and fairly clear.

I'm staying at a great hostel. I think it's one of my favorites so far. It has a big kitchen, free wireless, free breakfast and a cafe, and it's right by the waterfront and Fisherman's Wharf. It's also not very crowded. And, unlike most hostels in the city, it has free parking.

Today I walked about 10 miles, through most of the central neighborhoods and districts in the city. I left here at 1:30 and got back just before 9. I had a marvelous day. Perfectly marvelous. I loved walking up and down the hills, getting views of the city, ocean, bridges and harbors. I saw lots of boats and even more streetcars. The Cable Car Museum was my favorite stop of the day. You can watch how the gears and pulleys work to keep the cables going 9.5 miles per hour. I walked through Chinatown just before dark and arrived at Union Square to see all the Christmas trees and lights and decorated department stores. It's garish but not horrendous. There's something more temperate or unpretentious about this city, compared to places like Los Angeles, New York or Chicago.

I really love this city. I'll enjoy it for a few days more. Photos coming soon.

Adventures at Stanford; or, The many lives of the beloved Eagle

Tonight and last night I'm staying with a friend at Stanford, near San Francisco. This friend is the sister of Tara the Sexy Librarian (that needed to be capitalized). Needless to say, the sister is pretty great. I mean, she's letting me sleep in her apartment and eat her food and visit her chemistry department's dramatic presentations and play disc golf on campus with the aid of a special map and course directory, where I threw my disc on a 10-foot window ledge...on the first hole.

But back to the beginning.

[Yosemite was great, by the way, though I spent only a few hours in the park. What's more, I thoroughly enjoyed my private, $15 room, with time to read and relax while my cold began its initial onslaught. (I'm doing better now, thanks.) Yesterday morning when I left Yosemite, it was lovely and sunny, and I should have gone back into the park to get a better look at things, but it was about 30 miles out of the way in each direction—not like that's anything to me, after driving 13,000 miles—and I didn't have that much gas, and the gas station nearest the park was charging $3.14 for regular! A full dollar more than gas stations just 20 miles in the other direction. Craziness, I tell you. Sheer craziness.]

Last night after I got here, we went to the graduate chemistry department's annual show where they make fun of professors and share a lot of chemistry-related jokes. I don't know much about chemistry, but I was still amused. It was cleverly done and well filmed and acted (they mixed video with live bits of performance). All in all it was pretty decent entertainment. Plus I got free food before the show, and that always makes me happy.

This morning I accompanied four chemistry majors to church (a traditional Lutheran church, which is not what I'm used to, but I enjoyed the liturgy and singing and all the cute old people). After lunch, I set off with my detailed map and instructions to play disc golf on the Stanford campus (which is beautiful, by the way—a lovely mix of European architecture, mission-style buildings, fountains, palm trees and fall-colored trees, pillars and archways, and oodles of students on bicycles). I started with enthusiasm, but while I was on the first hole I realized how long it would take to play the entire 18-hole course, due to the number of people walking and biking through my throwing path. On my fourth throw (the hole was par 5, in case you're wondering), my Eagle (long-distance driver) flew gracefully across the sidewalk, against the law building and on to a window ledge about 10 feet off the ground. Marvelous. I stood there and stared at it for a few minutes, and then, realizing there was no way I'd be able to retrieve it unaided, I wandered off to admire the campus, eavesdrop on students' cell phone conversations, take photos, tour the Catholic church and sit in the sun to write in my journal.

All was not lost. Rather, the Eagle was not lost. (Have I told the other lost Eagle story? I don't think so. Well, it was lost in a field in Santa Fe, but after 20 minutes of searching and giving up, we searched again and Wes found it, 20 feet farther than we thought I had thrown it. Aha! This disc has many lives.) So while dinner (lasagna soup—sounds great, eh? it was) was simmering on the stove, we (the Sexy Librarian's sister and I) returned to the spot where my Eagle was trapped and rescued it, with the use of a stepladder (thanks, Sexy Librarian's dad) and a clothes hanger. I sort of scaled the wall, with the sister holding my foot to brace me, in spite of a nearby lighted window with two people studying inside. I don't think they had any idea what was going on outside their window. I swear, some people don't pay any attention to their surroundings.

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And that's the story. Dinner was great. I've used too many parentheses today. I'll stop now.