There is a particular point, a certain overpass over I-90 that for me marks the border line between Eastern and Western Washington. Every year as we drive under it I plan to figure out the name of the road. Yet another year goes by, and I still do not know which road it is.

There is nothing remarkable about the overpass. We have driven under many like it, and many more lie ahead. It is just another road, not even a highway. It is what lies on each side of it that seems drastically different.

Driving east along I-90 the car is still descending after going over the Cascades at the Snoqualmie Pass. Magically, the descend ends right as we drive under the overpass. The highway straightens and becomes perfectly flat. The terrain ahead is empty and desert-like. In the summer, you can see tumbleweed rolling on the side of the highway.

The opposite happens when driving west along I-90. At this overpass, the desert ends, and tall evergreen trees spring up on both sides of the highway. The engine revs as the car begins the climb into the mountains. We have left Eastern Washington behind on our way to Seattle.

Vacation So Far

I have been on vacation since last Saturday, but today marks the first day when I did not have something I absolutely had to do while at home.

Review of the week:

• Saturday--2 hour workout at the gym, pack, run over to the airport, fly to Seattle.
• Sunday--lunch with friends, stuff, stamp and close up the holiday cards.
• Monday--short run, make two toy frogs which involved ironing, cutting out and sewing the fabric, stuffing and closing up the first frog.


• Tuesday--run, lunch with friends, prepare more holiday cards for mailing while Nick drove the car, shop for clothes for our upcoming trip to Yosemite National Park, iron 12 towels (5 minutes each!), wash the towels (thankfully not by hand), stuff and close up the second frog.
• Wednesday--drive to Walla Walla, get a haircut.
• Thursday--run (in the fields!), finally mail our holiday cards, make Parker House Rolls, eat a ton of food.

And that brings me to today. I think I finally do not have any immediate tasks with a deadline hanging over me. (If I do, I have completely forgotten what they were. Hopefully they were not too important.)

We started the day by opening presents, followed by a traditional enormous brunch. Later while Nick napped, I joined a couple avid birders in the family for a short trip to look for owls near Frog Hollow Road just outside of Walla Walla.

The drive took us through the rolling fields, where we saw many pheasants. Red-tailed hawks sat on many telephone poles along the road. We were lucky--we saw two great horned owls. Nick's uncle, Nat, took some great photos of it through his telescope.