A year of adventures

 [My internet isn’t great so I’ll publish this as text but will try to add pictures after.] The short summary is: it was a lot of travel, but it all went smoothly, I slept some, and I’m happily ensconced in my first home.  Ethiopia looked very lush! It was good to get the worst out of the way at the start - the red-eye and almost 5-hour layover in Chicago wasn’t awesome. Flying business class on the longest leg was amazing - my one-way flight cost 88,000 miles from my stash but was very worth it. The countryside in Ethiopia was breathtakingly lovely with so many shades of spring green, and the fancy airport lounge was pretty posh. I appreciated that the buffet there served both African and Western foods, but I wasn’t hungry enough to have any. (I did sample fenugreek juice. It was quite odd.)  The meal served between Addis Ababa and Nairobi seemed more Ethiopian in style and was delish! Landing in Kenya wasn’t nearly as pretty - quite brown so not as photogenic. It took t...

 In Portland we have a fun/odd tradition of posting pics of our feet showing our iconic airport carpet. No explanation required, it means “Adventure awaits!” And it’s my turn to post the pic. After months of planning and not quite believing it’s going to happen, I’m at the airport facing down 20 hours in 3 different planes, and 10 hours in airports. Here’s the plan:  Tonight (Monday) - 4-hour red-eye to Chicago 4.5-hour layover 14 hours to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (in business class, baby!) 2.5-hour layover 2-hour flight to Nairobi, arriving 1p local time.  The red-eye is the worst part (I hope!) but I went on a lovely hike with a friend and had a great sushi dinner with my sister and midnight is totally past my bedtime, so I hope I at least nap. Having a lie-flat bed in business class will make the14 hours go quickly, but hopefully I’m awake to enjoy some of it.  I’m heading to 2 days in Nairobi, 12 days of safari, 3 days on the beach, and then I’ll go see friends in D...

 So I’m going on a safari (!!) and I leave next week. I’ve been wrestling with the question of technology: is my iPhone camera good enough, or do I borrow a camera? Friends prevailed on me to borrow a not-enormous camera with a pretty good zoom (both physical & digital). I’ve been playing with it some to figure out the uses. But I also have to figure out how to USE the files! From the camera  From my phone Four concert pics from the camera, using maximum zoom to see the musicians (Pavement) Swifts - pic from the camera Crowd & swifts - pics from my phone.  In conclusion: I think I’ll use both. Phone for close-up and low-light distance pictures; camera for well-lit zooming in to see animals.  We’ll see how they look when I hit publish!

 When last I posted, I was coming to the end of visiting friends in Toronto - which was more like being part of everyday life - and was about to resume more touristy travel in Quebec City & Montreal.  It was lots of fun! I had few expectations or impressions going in - I knew QC was famously historic, that Montreal also had some historic elements, and that both cities were largely French-speaking. That’s about all the prep I did.  My friend and I stayed inside Quebec City’s historic walls, up on a very steep (and defensible) cliff, and it was truly spectacular in its beauty.  We didn’t have any specific plans, and did a LOT of walking - 10 miles per day for a couple of days, easily. Ouch my legs ached on all those cobblestones! We took a walking tour, traveled by ferry across the river, went up the cliff in the funicular, ate some really great food, and just enjoyed meandering.  Then Sue went home and I traveled by train for some solo time in Montreal. I’d d...

 I’ve been off work for twelve weeks - twelve! I had to count twice to believe it. Okay .. this is week 12 and it’s only Tuesday, but still.  Travel thoughts:  I did my road trip and RI/TX trips. I’m in the final third of my Canada trip - it’s been pretty evenly split between city (Toronto) and cottage time. Toronto time has been quite similar to my Portland time - some social, some lazy hangout solo time (mostly with books, though I did watch all the show Severance).  This week and next I’ll spend Friday through Wednesday in Quebec City and Montreal, and I’m excited for both! Then I have one more day in Toronto, and head home (with a side swing to see a friend in Milwaukee, WI).  It’s been a nice split of active and lazy time; people and solo time; and the weather has been decent, if too hot in Portland and too sticky/sweaty in Ontario. But…I guess that’s summer!  I’ll be glad to be home for 2 weeks and wish I had a bit more time there, but I didn’t want t...

 My first couple of weeks off work felt like a regular vacation - road trip, plays, camping, solo time and time with friends.  This week, though.. I’m home and apparently still not working. Will you be surprised if I say I did NOT suddenly pick up a yoga & meditation routine?? I’m not terribly surprised. I’ve long thought they would be nice routines to have, but nothing was stopping me from doing them before, either.  So! I have gone to the 9am outdoor pool water aerobics class twice this week. That was super fun and checked off my to-try list of finally swimming in that pool after living near it for 10 years. It’s mostly older women, and the kid even charged me the senior citizen rate!!!  I’ve read a couple books, went out for some DELISH West African food, and recombobulated after my road trip. I also had a little surgery today - in lucky room 13, no less - and it went fine. This weekend my big plans are to hit the Blues Fest and … dunno. I think I’ll see about...

What a study in contrasts! I camped in Lassen Volcanic National Park, which was greatly impacted by the Dixie Fires last year. Then I shifted to the coast and the dense, lush redwood forest.  A friend asked what I DO when I camp solo? Good question, since camp trips are typically about hanging out with others. My pattern for two-night stays has been: arrive late afternoon, get settled, poke around, eat dinner, read, sleep. Spend the next day on an activity - hike or paddle - plus meals and a book or two. Final day is just pack & go! Books-wise, my book group is reading The Ministry for the Future , near-term climate change sci-fi. After driving through burned-out landscapes it felt rather too close to home, so I’ll come back to that one. Instead I spent a delightful day reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - so fun!  I’m happy to report I did paddle around Butte Lake - it’s not so huge but it was neat to paddle right along an ancient volcano flow (I’m a bit vague o...

I moved from Portland to the Bay Area in 2006. It was a good move for my career, but my heart belonged to the Northwest and I knew it. Since I fully intended to move back someday, I was extra diligent to keep my connections there alive. One thing I started was an annual group trip to Ashland, Oregon, with friends from both places.  Ashland is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a name that really doesn’t do justice to the 8+-month season or the 10+ plays they stage (many plays run for months so you can see 6 in a busy weekend). There’s always at least one Shakespeare show, but the company has evolved greatly to offer so much more!  I’ve gone with a varying group of friends - usually about 12 of us make it - every year since 2007. Naturally our group trips to watch theater wasn’t A Thing during these last two beknighted pandemic years, but in 2022 we made our return! I got to watch one of the warm-up shows (one person played cello while two others made massive soap bubbles...

Here's what everyone asks about ... so what will I be DOING in the next chunk of time? First - road trip in Oregon and Northern California. I'll camp & bring my inflatable kayak. I'm going to  Clear Lake Resort - where "resort" is used very very lightly. I have a cabin for two nights, it's basically four walls, a bed with a curtain around it, and a futon for guests. But the waters are famously cold and clear, so it should be great for paddling on.  Oregon Shakespeare Festival - I've gone every year since 2007 (not counting pandemic years, of course), and meet with friends from Portland and the Bay Area there. We'll go to dinner, see plays, and have a picnic in the park. It's fun being in town the same time as 10-12 friendly faces, as you wind up bumping into each other all over.  Lassen Volcanic National Park - specifically Butte Lake Campground . This will be my most primitive camping - no running water, vault toilet, and it was impacted by...

I’ve saved money, I’ve given notice at work, my sister will be in my house to hold down the home front, I’ve been building up my miles accounts for years, and I’ve started committing to a lot of travel plans in the next few months. What else do I need to think about? Yep - technology. Staying in touch:  looks like I can buy data plans that will work for my iPhone in all the countries I’m planning to hit so far. Switching to some other plan like Google fi might make more fiscal sense but it’s only in beta for the iPhone and I just don’t want to mess with connectivity. I’d rather throw some money at it and keep it otherwise simple. Also open to having a burner phone or swapping out my SIM card. I have an iPhone SE 2020 and intend to stick with it - sure, the newer cameras are even better, but what it has is really very good.  I have an iPad I can bring with me - I don’t tend to watch a lot of videos or shows, but … I might want to?  I gave away my kindle and haven’t decided...

Hey look! My car hit 100,000 miles and I was even able to safely capture the moment. I was on my way home from a (partly rainy, semi chilly, yet fun) camping trip. It’s gorgeous in Eastern Oregon and I got my second paddle of the year in. Not a bad way to wrap up May!