Travel

From East Coast to West Coast And Back Again

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As I write this we are back on the West Coast. We’re about 40 minutes east of Vancouver in an Airbnb that is the most perfect stay we’ve had in our ten years of travel. The license plates say, “Beautiful British Columbia” and I couldn’t agree more! Our apartment is attached to the owner’s main house. Not only is this home in a beautiful location, but it has two bedrooms, a bath and a half and a kitchen far nicer than I’ve ever had in my life. There is a two way fireplace between the kitchen and living room and it even has a movie room with two recliners! There is also a beautiful outside patio complete with a Zen Garden. It seems like a perfect place to catch up with my writing.

Shortly after writing my last blog, we headed back to DC. I prefer staying right in the District accessible to all it has to offer. But this time we opted to stay in North Bethesda so we would be closer to Stephen’s family. The apartment was great. It even came with inside parking and as an extra bonus, there was access to Whole Foods without having to venture outside! Talk about convenient!

This location allowed us to engage a lot with the grandkids. We had lunch dates, went for manicures, were able to attend a middle school play where Meta was working back stage. And it was fun watching Hazel playing indoor field hockey. This was a new sport for us and while we don’t understand all the rules, it was definitely fun! On Sundays we watched both Meta and Hazel play volleyball. And of course, we loved Des’ hockey games.

I also signed up for a bell class through the Rockville Community Rec Department. What a great decision. It met twice a week for just six weeks, but what fun! The music was colored coded for those who don’t read music. We had lots of laughs over our silly mistakes but generally sounded pretty good! In addition to getting a introduction to bell playing, I got to meet a lot of nice folks.

Patrick and Namrata got married in February in a very small Hindu wedding with only Bob and me and Namrata’s mom, Jyotsna, attending. On the spur of the moment we did have the opportunity to get together for dinner with Stephen’s family after Jyotsna flew in the weekend before the wedding.

We were surprised there is no Hindu temple in DC so the ceremony took place in Maryland. It was really lovely. The woman assisting in the ceremony did a wonderful job leading us through all the steps of the service and explaining their significance. After the service we headed down to the National Mall with photographers in tow. It was a perfect spring-like day with temps in the 50s. After the photo shoot, we had reservations at Rasika, a wonderful Indian restaurant in downtown DC. The newlyweds’ happiness radiated from the faces but the pictures tell the story far better than I can.

It’s great when you meet people who you immediately connect with. And Jyotsna is just like that, even though we had only met for lunch a year ago, we feel like we have always known each other. And although we only had a short time together, when we parted it was with the understanding that when we next meet up in DC we will explore local museums together. A short time after the wedding Stephen and Sadie hosted a buffet dinner celebration for the newly weds. Yummy food and great company!

Bob and I made our usual trips during the two months we were in the area. We always have to drive to a favorite locale, Sandy Point State Park on Chesapeake Bay with a great view of the bridge.

We were also able to enjoy a long weekend with our granddaughter, Allison, who flew out on her spring break. Patrick and I had never been to Eastern Market so that’s where we headed on a sunny afternoon. Lots of local artists selling their work, and of course lots of food venders to tempt us.

The traffic is always a major drawback in DC. On one occasion Bob and I called an Uber instead of fighting the traffic. We felt validated when we passed a car where we watched the driver playing a video game as she waited in the congestion.

Early in March we headed back to New Mexico. We returned to the same condo complex where we were four years ago. Both Bob and I have have had medical obstacles this year but we’ve still managed to enjoy our nomadic life style. We are not quite as active as we have been in past years but hopefully, are on the road to improvement. One of our major entertainments, if you can call it that, was physical therapy for each of us. As a favorite cousin says, “Getting old isn’t for sissies!”

We were able to visit some local museums and restaurants that weren’t open when we were here last due to Covid. Among our favorites was Caliches, a wonderful ice cream place that even has “doggy dishes.” The local art museum was small but nice and we loved the Mexican food! Compared to other places where we’ve been, we found the cuisine really spicy down on the border. Restaurants are often gathering spots for folks as evidenced by two guys we found playing chess.

And while we didn’t see very much in the way of political signs; we did come upon one truck that definitely got our attention!

Everywhere we’ve traveled we’ve found folks to be friendly and helpful, but the people of Las Cruces take it to an even higher level. In addition to the people and the spectacular Organ mountains, the temps were pleasant but were beginning to climb by the time we left in middle May. The Rio Grand was still flowing with lots of lush greenery around it when we left but we knew soon it would be a dry river bed.

The Mexican culture permeates everything. Most everyone is bilingual. We kept our eyes peeled for roadrunners and finally were able to see one run across the road right in front of us. We find traveling to the Southwest like traveling to a foreign country but with all the accoutrements of home; however, we did find the frequent border security stops a bit disarming!

To make a great stay even better, at the end of April our good friends of more than half a century, Jim and Karen Terwall, stopped to see us on their way back to Wisconsin from Arizona. Whenever we get together we always seem to be able to pick up where we last left off with lots of reminiscing and plenty of laughter!

In May, with winter hopefully behind us, we headed to Seattle to check in on my sister, Ruth. We had a cozy apartment right on Alki Beach on Puget Sound. We enjoyed our regular cribbage games, sitting on the patio and going to favorite seafood restaurants. From our front patio we watched the local ferries going back and forth into downtown. Then on the weekends the cruise ships would come into view for their weekend stop in Seattle. Each evening we would watch as the sky turned from blue to shades of reds and oranges as the sun went down over the Sound.

Seattle traffic is always what we like least about the city, but we found that the drive from West Seattle downtown to where Ruth resides was pretty straight forward and only about 20 minutes away!  It’s never easy to visit Ruth given her hellish existence unable to communicate or move without assistance, but we were surprised how often she reacted to her environment, particularly when music was involved.  She consistently stayed awake and tried to talk.  It remains an enigma trying to figure out exactly what she is able to process.  

Most of the rest of the country was suffering through an unbearable heat wave so we really appreciated the 70 degree temps with only occasional showers.  On many occasions as we would drive across the West Seattle Bridge, Mt Rainier would majestically appear in front of us! It’s a view I can’t imagine ever tiring of! 

Time flies by wherever we happen to be. We feel fortunate to be able to cross back into Canada. In the past few years that’s been impossible: first because of Covid restrictions and then last year the wild fires made it impossible for tourists to enter because officials wanted to ensure firefighters had access to the limited motel rooms.

We’re loving our current stay but in just a couple of days, we will head back east, through the Canadian Rockies, take a turn up the Ice Fields Parkway in Alberta and then back across the plains and beyond. What lucky people we are!

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