Today I find myself sitting in a Comfort Inn in a little town in Oregon. Here is the lovely view from my hotel window this morning. (A parking lot is a much more common view!)

We’ll soon get on the road to the home of my longest-loved best friend.

It’s been a month since I’ve been here. Here are some of the June highlights.

On June 5, my sister and I sat on the lawn at the Colorado State Capitol. I became more convinced that the second amendment is obsolete and should be repealed.

A week later we were on the road through the redwoods in northern California.

Happy Flag Day #Takebacktheflag

On our official anniversary, we had seafood in Eureka, California.

Los Bagels  in Eureka had delicious sandwiches.

We drove up the Oregon coast.

Oregon was full of Scotch Broom plants, which grew along the roadways and at the base of trees. It was beautiful and strangely out-of-place amongst the evergreens. I looked it up to learn it is a fast-spreading invasive species and outlawed (as much as possible) in the state of Washington. I thought it was interesting and a sign of good enforcement that we didn’t see it in Washington.

The Rogue River, where Keith’s grandfather used to own a fishing resort.

Then the greatest reward of our road trip. I got to see my grandson.

He and his mom went to a fourth grade classroom in their neighborhood school once a month this year for the Roots of Empathy program. I was so happy to join them for their last meeting of the year, which included a birthday cake for Milo.

Here’s my baby making birthday cupcakes for Milo’s birthday. (She’s using my mother’s Kitchen Aid mixer, which is about 50ish years old now.)

There was so much birthday fun! The baby made it through what was probably “too much birthday” on many levels. He was a trooper, and the next day he came down with his first ever runny nose.