It feels good to be sitting out on the deck at Jim and Mardelle’s, overlooking Discovery Bay and the Olympic Mountains. It’s warm (I missed the heat wave, thank goodness) and beautiful.

A fun coincidence on the way. I decided to take the slightly less hectic Hwy 99 north from Los Angeles. The I5 is always so crowded with heavy traffic and trucks; I find it nerve wracking! On the way up, I got a text from Betsy asking me which route I had taken. She had driven north the day before to visit Coco and had an hotel in Lodi, which I was passing through. So we met up at a Charbucks for coffee! Always great to see her and a friendly face on the the long drive.

First night stop was in Williams, a small dot on the road. That day was my longest; I left Ryan’s around 9 and ended up at the motel around 6. The only excitement on the trip, if you can call it that, was the following day through fire country. One of the many fires in Shasta County was slowing traffic down to one lane and all you could see was smoke with very poor visibility. Fortunately, made it through safely as the fire had already blasted through the area. Very sad to see the scorched earth and still-smoking trees driving through what is normally a very beautiful area.

That night was just outside Roseburg in Oregon. A very shabby motel which didn’t even supply a coffee pot! I thought that was very odd as they had a microwave and a fridge! But it was clean and I got a good night’s sleep before setting out early, with an immediate coffee and gas stop. And I remembered why I like to fill up in Oregon. For one thing, the gas is cheaper than California with not as much taxation; and - the pump attendant pumps the gas for you! What a pleasure!

Crossing into Washington brought a feeling of familiarity with all the evergreens - and the overcast skies! By this time, I was tired of freeways so took one of the back roads and - nothing has changed! The overcast burned off as I drove the winding, shore-hugging road, glimpses of the water through the trees and thought, “Sucker Weather.”

When I sold real estate up here, summer would arrive with the spectacular weather, and along with the weather came the tourists. We would laugh as our clients were so excited to buy and move here, sold by the three months of perfect “sucker” weather. And we could almost prepare documents, dated two years ahead for when the buyers decided that they couldn’t do another winter!

Settled In

For now, I’m ensconced in the downstairs apartment. The day I arrived, we went down to the beach for late afternoon cocktails. What a treat to relax with a G&T and friends. Yesterday, I felt pretty worn out but Mardelle and I went for walk on the beach along Discovery Bay and Jim fixed his famous chicken for the 4th of July celebration. Later, we stood out on the deck and watched the fireworks across the bay. The opposite shore is a long way off so the sparks and rockets were more like mini-sparklers!

Every day I’m here, I check on the disintegrating situation in South Africa. Not just the dismal vaccine roll out, but the upheaval round the ex-president Zuma (he and trump are brothers with a different mother, in my opinion) and cry for our beloved country.

With so much upheaval and the surging Covid third wave that is engulfing the country, I am not making any decisions about when I will go back. Despite being vaccinated (hallelujah!) the idea of going back into heavy lockdowns is daunting. So for now, I am going day by day, with plans to meet up with old friends here before heading to Montana at the end of the month, with a stop on the way for a couple of nights with Janet and Pat at Lake Chelan.

It’s all a lesson of living in the moment!