The closer we got to the little Northern Mediterranean micro-climate known as Birch Bay yesterday, the rainier it got. Saturday's traffic on I-5 was nothing to celebrate either but here we are.
It's time to get serious about packing for our upcoming trip to Thailand - that couple with the rain make for the itchy feet.
We fly from SEA Friday and will meet Kathy's brother Tom and sister-in-law Ellyn along the way. We're looking forward to returning to Bangkok and showing them around, but we'll all be on new territory in Chiang Mai and Phuket.
We have two new computers in our arsenal, an Asus-made ZT Affinity 7509Ma Desktop, and a Toshiba NB305 Netbook, to which we've added a 2GB memory module. This will be our new travel computer, now that our six-year-old Dell mini finally bit the dust, and we're looking forward to trying it out on its first road trip.
Kathy and Brian
Two retired educators alternating joyfully between seeing the world and enjoying our eight grandchildren (in order of birth), Jake, Avery, Taegan, Lily, Peyton, Riley, Blane, and Jace.
Kathy and Brian met in the clarinet section of the University of California (Santa Barbara) Symphony Orchestra several decades ago.
Brian's Western Canadian roots and Kathy's Colorado ties resulted in their making beautiful music together along with producing a cross-border crop of descendants.
Kathy spent a year studying in Vienna at the Institute for European Studies and the University of Vienna.
Brian started the school band program in Hope, British Columbia, and later became the high school's vice-principal for 6 years and subsequently principal for 15 years before retiring in 2001.
Kathy, in between raising our three children, taught kindergarten and first grade, middle school, and high school - mathematics, computer studies, ESL, and her first love, band, before retiring in 2001.
We enjoy sharing our travel experiences and providing the odd travel tip to friends, relatives, and visitors.