Car trip up north

We just returned from a short-ish trip to Oregon and Washington. I would not recommend driving, but that is what we did as we needed to pack a few things--heavy things--to take back with us to San Francisco. My husband's mother, elderly and living in Denver, has been having to fly out to Oregon in order to take care of her deceased sister's affairs. My husband's mother wanted us to take a table that was made by a grandfather a few times removed. We don't really have the room for it, but we took it anyway. It's a well-rendered piece that sort of looks like a very big nightstand. I think it's 24"x24"x36". There are two shallow drawers at the front. I don't think I took any pictures of it, to be honest. And, funnily enough, it was just *this much* too big for the car (OOOPS!), so we wound up having it shipped down from Corvallis, OR. I suppose we should expect it to arrive sometime in the middle of the month. 

My husband's Aunt was a piano technician of some renown in Oregon. She was the one you'd call in when a visiting pianist came to play at the local university. She was exceptional at what she did and she dedicated, really, her whole life to her vocation. She owned two grand pianos and they were bequeathed to dear pianist friends of hers. All that remains in the house from her life as a piano tech are tools--so many fantastic tools of the trade!--and an upright piano fashioned in NYC at the beginning of the last century. It's a beautiful piano, but, apparently, upright pianos are not desirable right now, so one hasn't even been able to even give it away. The tools, however, will go to the aunt's piano tech. community pals. 

In addition to helping my husband's mother in the Corvallis area, we drove up to Seattle in order to spend time with my nephew and his family. The visit was just a few hours for dinner, but it was better than a kick in the head, as my Dad used to say. The wife, J., the glue of the family, if I'm honest, is dealing with a terminal cancer diagnosis, so it felt imperative for me to go up and visit. She is not forthcoming about her prognosis, nor should she have to be, so I don't really know much about how she's faring. We talked about mundane things like job and child-rearing. And that's OK.  My hope is that I can see them again before her health worsens. 

Exciting flora and fauna at St. Edward State Park, Kenmore, WA.

 

Me in St. Edward Park with lavender.

The yellowest, fuzziest bumble bees live in St. Edward Park. 

I hail from a semi-arid climate. I like where I'm from and find the landscape here appealing, but BOY, OH BOY, is the Pacific Northwest lush and verdant. It's just so, so beautiful up there. I didn't actually take any snaps of the snow-capped mountains or huge swaths of green, rolling hills, but, man, they don't call Seattle 'the Emerald City' for nothing, let me tell you. 

Most exciting for me as a fan of raptors were the few Bald Eagles we spotted flying high overhead while we were in Seattle. We've the Golden Eagle down here in CA. but I don't think I've ever seen one IRL.