West Coast Tour

I just returned from a month away visiting my kids who live up and down the west coast of the USA. (Literally-they are spread out from the Pacific Northwest to Southern California 1,350 miles/2170km apart!) 

This trip's timing was in honor of Isabel's 21st Birthday!

Zack surprised Isabel by joining me for her big day

 (along with Griffin, of course!).

It was so fun to spend a week with her....

witnessing her life in San Diego.

I even spent a day on campus (SDSU) 

and was able to sit in on one of her classes.

From San Diego, I flew to Seattle. 

It's always a bit complex to fly home to Seattle. 

I miss mom so much when I'm there--and there is never enough time.

 I'm thinking next time, I will spend a whole month

 so I'll have time to see everybody.

This visit, I stayed most of my time 

between Aunt Dodo's house in Renton

 and up in Bellingham with Eli.

How can she be 92?!

Bear looking out Erin and Mark's front window, So many different kinds of beauty.

Eli in Bellingham

I saw as many loved ones (humans and pets!) 

as I could but it was still just a teaser, really.

Sheila's cat: Beau

Lunch at the Beck's with Charlotte & Alan

From Seattle, I returned to San Francisco to spend some time with Zack and Aidan before returning home.

In front of their apartment in the Lower Haight.

I love the perks of city living when I visit them. One night we took the bus to see the Broadway show "Chicago".  Everything is so nearby and they are both pros getting around.

A highlight this trip was joining Zack to adopt another cat at the local animal shelter. He's had Chika for 3 years now and she's really needed a friend. 

We told them what we were looking for and they said they had one cat available that sounded like a good match. We couldn't believe it when they said his name was "CHICO"! It felt meant to be.

Chika checking out "Topo Chico". They quickly made fast friends!

(Zack cleverly added Topo as a first name ;)

The SF SPCA is so incredibly well run!

With a full heart, it was time to head home.

Recharged until next time.

@zackgraves

Click here to see more photos from my

West Coast Tour!

Stay tuned for future tour dates, to be announced...

;)

Chemo #4, Good News, and Mother Nature in all her Glory

The "Tree of Life" adapting and thriving under adverse circumstances.

Chemo #4 is complete. Four down two to go! Although I'm already feeling the effects, which is a surprise as it has usually taken a couple days, I couldn't be happier. I had wonderful news from my oncologist.

The MRI result, from the scan yesterday, showed that my body is responding "remarkably" to the chemotherapy. The mass in my arm has shrunk a significant degree for only three treatments. He was very positive.

Of course, this is what I was dreaming of hearing!

The MRI itself was really rough. I was in that tube for such a long time. They kept doing test after test. For anyone who has ever had one you know that is is very loud and claustrophobic in there. I was in there for almost an hour. While I'm usually able to keep a pretty positive mindset about this whole situation, the waves of fear hit pretty hard last night. I wondered if they had to take so long because they were seeing something unusual. I had to really work with the "what if's". There was a feeling of needing to brace myself. 

Now, the good news feels so freeing: like I can breath deeper than I've been able to in a long time.

This is the end to a beautiful week. When I heard Lake Quinault Lodge was opening up once again for visitors, I jumped at the chance to have a little getaway and purposely planned it for this week. I knew an infusion of nature and beauty would be so powerful at this midway point...and it was. My brother, Eric, came over and had special time with Mom, while Zack, Eli, and I made the three hour drive west to one of our country’s most beautiful national parks.

The weather report predicted 100% chance of rain. I thought about cancelling our plans. I'm so glad I didn't. We seemed to be following the sun...with only a few drizzles thrown in while we were on this "Maple Grove Rain Forest" hike. But, the trees protected us from the rain anyway. When it did rain hard, we were tucked in our room and it was a beautiful thing to watch.

These ferns are so giant: you can barely see Zack walking in the trail that winds through them!

I contemplated this thought a lot on the walk. How easy it is to worry about the "weather" in advance. What a useless exercise it usually is. How when you're actually out there, it's not half as bad as expected and when it is bad, you find ways to deal with it. And mostly, how much we would've missed out on if I'd cancelled the trip as a precaution.

This looks like a reflection in the pond...but mostly it's looking into the pond itself: it is so clear, you can see all these plants growing there. It is amazing.

This trail also led to an old farmstead.

Then back again through the forest, where Zack and Eli were deep in conversation against this otherworldly backdrop.

Zack's angle-with me in it! Doesn't it look like dinosaurs would be right at home? I bet they were!

We spent two nights at Lake Quinault Lodge, built in 1927. Such a restful place to recharge and a great base for exploring this area.

We stayed in the old "boat house" on the left in the photo above.

The Pacific Ocean is a 40 minute (beautiful) drive from here. I had a mission to return all the seashells I've collected over the years back to the sea. I couldn't bear to think of them sitting in a storage unit.

Zack climbed this volcanic rock (barefoot) to the far side, took our giant bag of shells and gave them back to the sea.

From inside the "Tree of Life" shown in the first photo.

We also discovered some really special giant trees while we were here.

We happened upon this super big and old Cedar.

And the "World's Largest Spruce"!

I have a favorite prayer/poem I think of all the time. And now with the good news from the doctor, I am feeling it with every fiber of my being:

Till next time, All.

 Thanks so much for your continued love and support!

❤️