Well, we’re back from our New Hampshire via Seattle vacation or “Northeast by Northwest”. It was a nostalgic trip to visit places where we once were before and we succeeded in seeing a lot of familiar haunts.

The first stop was Seattle, for our friends Todd and Chris’s wedding. It was great to be in Seattle again, nearly the first time since we moved away in 1999. Much has changed, but the character of the city is still there.

I really like Seattle. It’s even more likable in the summer when it’s not cold and raining through. Once the clouds come out you start to remember why not everyone wants to live there and how downright depressing it can get in the winter.

We had some time to reacquaint ourselves with the city before the wedding. We visited our old apartment on Capitol Hill, the Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle Center, Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, Kerry Park, Fremont, the University District, the Microsoft campus, Kirkland and bunch of other random places we used to hang out.

The wedding itself was unique and and full of Todd and Chris’s personalilties. It was pretty informal and held on the Skansonia, a retired ferry boat on Lake Union. It started with a group sing-a-long, had a very short ceremony, and then on to drinks, dinner and dancing. Instead of a guestbook, there were crayons and paper on each table for guests to create something original for the bride and groom. It was fun to hang out with friends from LAUNCH and other places, many of whom I haven’t seen in a long time. Some of the events may sound a little
weird, but they were actually very cool and a lot of fun.

Our trip to Seattle was a short one as we jetted off to New Hampshire the next day. We had actuallly purchased a round trip ticket a while back from San Jose to Seattle, but when we were deciding when to take a trip east, it made the most sense to do it right after the wedding, so we booked a separate trip from Seattle to Manchester and then back to SFO. It was cheaper than rebooking the whole flight, even when eating the cost of the return trip from Seattle to San Jose.

Leaving home out of one local airport and returning via another presents its own logistical challenges; luckily some friends were more than happy to shuttle us to and from airports.

Staying in New Hampshire is always a lot of fun. After seeing my sister’s new house (it’s scary that my seven-years-younger sister has purchased her first house before us), we headed up to my parents’ cottage on Lake Winnepocket aka “the camp.” I have many fond memories there and enjoyed the visit. I wasn’t say it was “hot” there, but it was warm enough to take a few dips in the lake and generally enjoy being outside.

We did all the familiar things – had a barbeque with my extended family, hiked up to Mt. Kearsage, visited the Blackwater Dam, ate a lot and did some Geocaching too.

We happened to be there in time for the Hopkinton State Fair as well, so we went over to see what that’s like these days. It was mostly the same – rides, livestock compeitions, 4H stuff, cotton candy, fried dough (elephant ears to you weird left-coasters) and yet more food.

I noticed there were a lot of people walking around with these new walking sticks. Soon enough we passed a tent where some Christian Farmers were giving out these sticks if you listened to their spiel. I really didn’t want to go put myself in that situation but Anne wouldn’t do it for me. As I walked around I remembered my future inevitable encounter with a rattlesnake back West and that having a free walking stick sure would be nice. I went back for the stick.

It actually wasn’t that painful. A young guy explained what they do, their missions, their farming and whatever and then he went throught the symbolism of the beads on the leather string of the stick. After that he asked me if I was 100% sure I was going to heaven. I told hiim I was pretty sure. He asked if I wanted to be completely sure. I said nah, just give me the stick and I’ll read the literature. With that he gave me a comic book about going to hell and I left with my stick. The stick is actually pretty nice. I’ll need to stain it and polish it up a bit.

The only problem with a free walking stick is that you have to walk around with a walking stick the rest of the day. I carried it to the demolition derby – all three hours of it. I’ve been to a demolition derby before, but not one with 8 different heats. Ahh, rural America.

Three things are always striking when I come home – the presence of humidity, the abundance of green all around, and the volatility of the weather. The remnants of hurricane Frances came through while we were out searching for a cache and we got dumped on.

We went on a short road trip to Rhode Island to visit some friends. On the way we went through Boston to see what has changed there since we left in 1998. We went by our old apartment, drove through Somerville, Harvard Square, Central Square and Kendall Square in Cambridge. I was surprised how many buildings had popped up around Cambridge. There were lots of big biotech firms and new MIT buildings. And the traffic – it was crazy! Did I really used to drive like that?

Once we said that we would move back to Boston once the Big Dig was done. The good news is that a lot of it is done. The bad news is that it hasn’t seemed to make things any better. We got a really nice view of the new Zakim bridge as we sat on it for a half hour and awed at the wonder of the central artery tunnel as we sat in that for another half an hour. This cost how many billions of dollars again?

Rhode Island was a good excuse to hang out and do nothing with friends for 24 hours, then it was back up to the camp, after battling stop and go traffic on Route 3 all the way from 95 to almost the NH border. Most frustrating was that they’ve got a third lane there which looked completely finished, but was inexpicably blocked off.

Back at the camp it was more relaxing and being with family. I even had a surprise early birthday party – the first one I’ve been home for in 13 years. Some lottery tickets I got as gifts paid off for $90. Not bad. I got a bunch of DVDs off my Amazon wishlist, some cash AND a raincheck for the Treo 650. Kick ass! All I need now is it to be released or even be officially announced!

On Monday, we went with Anne’s uncle to play what would be our first 18 holes of golf. We took lessons a few months ago and we had been on the driving range and putting greens a bunch of times, but never actually on the course. For me in my first round of golf, it was a lot like Geocaching – I spent a lot of time searching around in the woods. Every once in a while I got a good shot off, but most often I went right over the ball and it rolled 20 feet or I used the wrong club and launched the ball into traffic. By about the 15th hole I was pretty tired, so just enjoyed the rest of the holes as a nice walk. The next day I was sore in places where I didn’t even know I had muscles.

That evening we grabbed some chinese food at The Aloha. I don’t know what it is about Chinese food in New England, but it’s completely different in every other place we’ve lived. I just can’t get enough of those chicken fingers, brown pork fried rice, teriyaki strips, and chicken chow mein. It’s just not the same anywhere else.

We had some second thoughts about our flight back that night; it would suck to get in at 11:30 pm tomorrow night and then have to go to work the next morning. We called the airline to see what our options were and to see if we could do standby. Delta apparently doesn’t offer standby anymore. They’ll change your flight and confirm you for $25 per ticket. We found a flight leaving at 1 pm instead of 5 pm that got us into SFO at a much more reasonable hour.

The next day I cashed in my lottery tickets and headed to the airport. That walking stick didn’t fit in my bag of course, so I had to carry it. As soon as I put it down after going through security, I forgot it. Just before the plane was to board, I remembered it, ran back and found it with the security people. For the rest of the flights we were always asking if we had the stick.

The flights were largely uneventful. Having a GPS on the plane really helps. I like to know exactly where I am and what I’m looking at it. I just wish it worked more than a few inches away from the window.

Annoucement: I have a new addiction: Wetzel’s Pretzels. We walked a long way in the Cincinatti airport both going east and west so I could get a cinnamon one with a frozen lemondade. Mmmm.

Now we’re back home and catching up on laundry, mail, and other menial chores. It’s nice to be back in our own bed again with our own ornery cats and reliable internet access and plentful geocaches in a 50-mile radius. Life is good. Especially when there are half a dozen Wetzel’s Pretzel’s with an hour’s drive from here. Mmmmm.