Hello friends. I am behind in writing a blog because of a bad case of Spring Fever! So this will be a short recap with a longer, hopefully, amusing tale of downsizing-our-downsize from a 10’ x 15’ overpriced storage unit to a more affordable 10’ x 10. Carving off five feet and moving a mile up the road will be worth the effort. Meanwhile, we had an uneventful trip from San Miguel de Allende to Seattle on April 1st.
Mount Rainer on a sunny day is a sight to behold.
We arrived in time for an almost three-week streak of unseasonably warm, sunny weather. Seattle is always stunning in Springtime - but this year was exceptional. Hundreds of decades-old cherry trees blossomed earlier than usual and flowered longer since they weren’t battered by rain. Many of the trees were so festooned with globes of lipstick-pink flowers and their branches drooped with the weight.. Now, as they lose their petals there is a light pink “snowfall” all over the city. Fragrant purple lilacs are taking their place, and just to add to the fireworks. rhododendrons are bursting out all over the place. So with our days filled with sunshine and a floral fantasia, it was hard to spend time inside!
We got our first COVID vaccines on April 3rd without a hitch, in fact, there wasn’t even a line when we arrived for our appointments. Along with everyone else - we felt our shoulders drop a few inches with the knowledge we were on the way to returning to a semblance of normal - and for us, fingers-crossed, a return to full-time travel.
Many family memories were made in the San Juan islands aboard our sailboat Butterscotch.
We spent a few days in the San Juan Islands with our good friend George Harris and on our way back we detoured through the Skagit Valley to see thousands of tulips and daffodils in bloom.
Then began rounds of visits to other friends and family. With Covid, still a bit on the high side in King County we chose walks around Green Lake and along the waterfront, dining outdoors at restaurants, and BBQ’s in backyards as our preferred gathering places.
Expedia recently moved its headquarters from Bellevue, Washington to Seattle. Their gleaming new offices face Elliott Bay. and the Olympic Mountains. They have invested a fortune to extend Myrtle Edwards Park so that it became part of their campus. The landscaping is stunning and the pathways, bike lanes, pocket beaches, and picnic spots are open to all.
Our own little home-away-from-home Airbnb is very nice. Over 30 5-star reviews nice. The only challenge is it is in the daylight basement of an older Seattle home, so while there are windows, they are small and you have to crane your neck a bit to see if the skies are still blue! The style and amenities make up for it - and the neighborhood is great.
Then came doctor and dentist appointments, haircuts, shopping, etc. But eventually, we had to face the storage unit decision. Fortunately, Seattle returned to its typical cool temperatures with plenty of Spring showers, so it was easier to spend time inside our Public Storage tomb. Stay or go? It’s the inertia that keeps most of us from dealing with our stuff, whether it’s jammed in the garage, the attic, or underfoot - but we gathered our resolve and decided to make the move - and while it isn’t the same as gutting a three-bedroom home, it still requires the agony of sorting, no matter how "joyful" Mari Kondo makes it seem.
Sorting through boxes (and boxes) of photos and memorabilia did “Spark Joy”. We’ve enjoyed having a rotating gallery of family photos on our Airbnb refrigerator.
Yesterday we got our second shots, and in anticipation of not feeling well (many friends reported side effects), we declared Sunday a day of bed rest. Turns out we were fine - but we enjoyed the excuse to just read and rest.
They say a Warm Chocolate Brownie Sundae from Seattle’s famous Molly Moon’s Ice cream helps avoid adverse reactions to the vaccine. It worked for us because we felt fine the next day.
We are back to full-speed ahead this week with more appointments, dinner dates, and packing to return to Mexico via Los Angeles and Palm Springs on May 2nd. But first, The-Great-Storage-Unit-Swap on Thursday! Wish us luck.
Thanks, as always for following along,
Debbie and Michael Campbell
The Senior Nomads