M and I have talked for years about the idea of taking short,
spontaneous weekend trips, often using the motorcycle. With dear Roxy departed,
we felt we were getting pretty close to walking the walk after all that talk.
So close, in fact, that a couple of weekends ago we just did it! It was very
liberating, suddenly deciding to leave the next day, packing a few things and
taking off. Rex complicated things a little--we had to take the car and to
find a hotel that was dog-friendly, but since we were heading to "the
interior" as I call it, which is traversed by many campers and travelers
with pets, so it wasn't really much of an issue.
One aspect about the lack of planning that we just have to
roll with is keeping those expectations low. While we chose a place with
"spa" in the name and immediately went out to the pool, I was pretty
PO'd to find it closed for renovation even though there had been not warning on
the website or confirmation emails. It did get us out exploring more quickly--we
headed out to the Sundial Bridge and arboretum, which were very dog-able activities. I had thought that we'd be able to take a quick driving tour of
Lassen on the way home but, duh, the roads were still closed for the snow
season. Also, we were close enough to Jay so that we could have dinner and
breakfast with him (and Sophia!), I did feel a little guilty about calling him
at the last minute, but it worked out great.
I don't know when we'll do it again, but since we have one
successful trip under our belt and so many places to explore in the 3-4 hour
driving radius, I don't think it will be too long before we have another
spontaneous adventure.
One annoying thing about the Redding trip: for the first
time since 2006, I forgot to take a photo of the view from my hotel room! Gah!
I posted a photo in the
Flickr
set from the Gaia's website as a placeholder, but I'm sad I broke my
streak.
Last weekend was truly an adventure: a trip to Spokane to
visit Grandma with Ryan. It was our first extended trip together and a really wonderful opportunity to not only see
Grandma again, but to get to know him better at this time in his life and to connect the two of them a little more closely to.
After a quick visit with Grandma the afternoon we arrived, we headed
downtown to get settled. Imagine my surprise when we tried to
check in to the Hotel Ruby and, heart sinking as a quizzical look crept over the clerk's face--he
couldn't find our reservation. Luckily I had my confirmation letter printed out
and as I triumphantly was about to hand it over, I noticed the date ended
in…2014. I felt like I might have to turn in my professional event planner card
at that point. I was worried that Easter and the boxing event in town at the same
time would make finding a room difficult, but there was plenty of room at the
Hilton near the airport. After a pleasant dinner at the Steam Plant, we betook
ourselves there. Nice room, good wifi and TV, but awful coffee. Awful! I have
my priorities. Luckily, the Ruby Hotel had space for us on Sunday night, closer to better java.
We had a lovely day with Grandma on Sunday. We had Easter brunch together
at Harbor Crest and then spent the afternoon talking and recording us
interviewing her. There's just so much to know about both how things were back
in the last century or so and how she lived her life in that time. Pretty
amazing. I haven't looked at the recording yet, but I'm so glad we did it.
After a thankfully uneventful hotel check-in, Ryan and I had
a lovely time exploring
Riverfront
Park. We rode the tram over the Spokane Falls, grabbed rings while
riding the Looff Carousel, indulged in treats, took in a movie about the Reno
air races at the IMAX, and had dinner at Rock City Grill. Ryan was a good sport
and contributed to my
new photo project. All that and we still turned in early.
Which meant I got up early on Monday and had a really great
bowl of latte at Rocket Bakery. We had another hour with Grandma, then started
the trip home. Family time bonus: on the way south, we had a long layover in
Portland so spent the time visiting with Lloyd and Jacque. I regret not
snapping a photo! As a final dramatic conclusion to our adventure which I am
attributing to The Universe playing an April Fools joke on me, Ryan and I
"got separated" (a better phrase than "I lost my teenager"
which I employed at first) at the Sacramento airport. Thank goodness for paging
systems. All's well that ends well. After that, I was plenty amped for the
drive home.
I'm looking forward to more
adventures with my dear nephew. If his parents ever let him alone with me
again.
Here's the photo set.
More family adventures are in store next weekend when Aunt
Janice and cousin Kamala arrive. Stay tuned!
