It Begins!

Curious, "peeing plane" cup on Alaska Air.

Every year on the last day of elementary school the principal would gather all the kids at the front of the school and ring a giant-independence-hall type bell to signal the start of summer vacation. The ringing of that bell would release us from the Monday to Friday schedule. Screaming at the top of our lungs we’d run off down the hill to summer. 

Playground - Spring 2014

Last Tuesday I closed the office door behind me and felt the same awesome release. While I didn’t start screaming and run through the library wildly waving my arms in the air...I sure felt like it. I was going on vacation.  It was going to be warm and sunny and scheduleless.

The next morning S.D. and I took a taxi to the train, to the subway, to the bus, to the plane.  6 hours later I still felt that summer-vacation style release. It had been over a year since we'd gone on a serious vacation and now I was in Oregon. The Cascade range from Mt Hood to Mt Shasta was ours to explore for the next week, and we were going to do it in style!