Unplanned Adventures

We all know that sometimes we get to do just what we want to do.  Then, sometimes there are things we need to do that we didn’t plan on doing.  Life steps in. It seems we’ve had a lot of unplanned adventures this year. 

The cold weather was finally leaving Arizona.  Warmer temperatures were back where they should be.  I was pretty happy about that.  Cold weather clothes were put away.  Then, I had to dig them right back out again.  I discovered Friday night I needed to make an unplanned flight back to Portland the following morning.  The coats, long pants and everything else I had to keep me warm was quickly packed in a little suitcase.

  The TSA PRECHK has made security at the airport easier  -- no coats or jackets off, shoes remain on and no unloading of liquids or laptops.

The trip north was uneventful. I took off when I hoped and landed right on schedule.   As usual, Sabrina was there at the airport in her little limo to pick me up.  It’s always good visiting with family but there were a few other good visits on this trip too.  One of my  high school buddies just happened to be on the same flight.  That was fun.  I also knew Joe Spiker would be around. He was heading back to Washington from Arizona to get ready for his fishing trip to Mexico.  We had already planned on getting together for lunch.  However, I didn’t expect to see him this early or this soon.  Here he was just ahead of me on a turn around in Washington.

Another good visit  was with four of my brother’s granddaughters.  Three had driven down from Seattle to see their grandpa.  They were just there for the day but it was nice seeing them again.

There is a huge tree farm by Woodland.  This is what one of the fields looked like as I drove by.  I had to pull off and take that picture.  It definitely looked like a winter wonderland … and not someplace I had planned on being.  I had been a little concerned about discovering ice on the road as I climbed in elevation so this didn’t help that concern at all.  The only difference is these fields were iced over because the sprinklers had probably been left running.

I was on the way to our cabin.  I  wanted to pick up a couple things plus check on the three dehumidifiers we had left running at our place and also those at Tammi’s.  When I stopped to check on Tammi’s place, I had three greeters run over asking for a handout.  I felt bad that I didn’t have a thing with me.  

I had a few things to do while in the Portland/Vancouver area.  These weren’t planned adventures but as long as I was there it was easy to take care of them.  The good thing was that my granddaughter, Sandi, offered to wrap most of my Christmas presents for me.  That was a huge help.  I don’t mind wrapping a gift or two but I certainly don’t like wrapping a bunch. 

When I left Arizona I had no idea how long I would be staying.  I hadn’t planned on staying long.   I knew I needed to get back to Arizona so I could get back to Washington for Christmas.  We also had a motorhome to move before that could happen. 

Before the motorhome was moved we had a little business around the BIG CITY to take care of.  Then, we needed to get the kayaks off the ground and get them back on top of the Jeep.  The next plan was washing the whole contraption.  Our move wasn’t to be a big one.  It was only about 35 miles but we wanted to go in clean even though we knew the dust would soon take care of that.

‘Tis life on the road.

The longest journey begins with a single step not with a turn of the ignition key.