August Break!

It's funny to write this post about August knowing that it'll go live right after Christmas.  Hopefully I'll never fall this far behind on the updating ever again!

Immediately after our first August event in Pensacola, we had a bit of a break.  L, D and I were allowed to head back to Seattle for three glorious days off before our New Orleans event.  It was the first time I took home my "big" suitcase since I first flew out in June to Tampa!  Normally, for the brief trips back to Seattle I just left it downrange in the trailer, but this would be my big chance to take it home and sort it out for the final August runs that were to come!

The funny thing is, as the only girl on the trip, I actually had the least amount of "luggage"!  I was the only one who had a suitcase that was qualified as a carry-on; everyone else had the big full-size bags.  Plus we all had our backpacks, of course, for the day-to-day hauling and road trips and quick flights back to the West Coast, but still, I was pretty amused that I was the one with the least amount of baggage!

(I do believe I was also the only one without cowboy boots, but that's another story...)

So I traveled all summer with a backpack (well, one died halfway through summer so I replaced it with a Jansport in Charlotte) and a roller-bag of carryon size.  Hurrah for packing cubes and rolling clothing and only two pairs of shoes all summer.  I have glorious tan lines from them, by the way - sandal lines from my Chacos and a nice ankle tan from my work shoes (black sneakers).  Oh well.

My glorious tan lines...

Back in Seattle I had enough time for laundry, playing with the kitties, going on a date or two with Matt, and even sneaking some Christmas shopping in there because it was a perfect gift that I couldn't pass up.  Plus, I got to use my kitchen for the first time in ages and cook myself a meal!  You don't miss home-cooked meals until you can't get them...

Oswald is not amused by tan lines.

One thing I did manage to do while I was home was to check something off of my "Summer Ideas" list.  You see, back when this job first started I wasn't sure how much time I'd be at home compared to on the road - I thought I'd have lots of days in Seattle between events.  (Ha.  Ahahahahaha.)  So I compiled a list of things to do over the summer that would keep me occupied without spending much money - a poor girl's guide to not being bored all summer long, basically.  The list ran the range of activities, from video games I wanted to replay to books I wanted to read to places in Seattle that I wanted to visit.

One of the items on the list was to have a picnic at the Anti-Aircraft Park on Cougar Mountain, which is actually just a few miles up the mountain from where my school is.  We'd done a day of service there with the students last May, and I thought it'd be fun to have a picnic there.  So when I went up to visit school and say hi to everyone while I was in town, I took some food along with me and managed to have a little picnic in the middle of the day.  Not too bad, even if I was pressed for time and couldn't really hike any of the trails!

Go past my school about three miles, and the road turns into this.  Keep going another mile, and you're there!

But three days goes quickly, and pretty soon it was time to pack my backpack for a quick jaunt to our next event, New Orleans.  Luckily it was a short event, as you'll see, so I'd be coming back into Seattle again afterwards - no need for the carryon roller!
-Beth