While starting to write this post, I saw I have two drafts of other posts I have not made. I’ll get those up later, rather than post three at once.

In June/July this year, I made a trip to Washington State. My first since 1997. And it was amazing!

My father lived in Vancouver, Washington (across the river from Portland, Oregon) around 1994-97. I had very little memory of my visits there, except we often went to parks, mountains, and saw a lot of nature.

In 2024, I had two different sets of friends visit Japan. Matt and Hannah (living close to Vancouver) and Jesse and Taylor (living outside Seattle). They all told me if I had a chance to visit the Pacific Northwest that I had a place to state with them.

So I took them up on the offer.

Matt, who I met back in ’96 or ’97, is a pilot for a commercial airline, flying various models of the Boeing 737. He’s been flying since he was in high school. I’ve been told he even got his first pilot license before he got his driver license.

We went to a classic car show, went out with his boat on a nearby lake, and also took a day trip in his Cessna to fly around Mt. St. Helen’s, with a two hour stop in Astoria, Oregon to see the house from “The Goonies” and grab lunch.

After a few days I made it north to Seattle to see Jesse and Taylor. We ate lots of delicious food (Philly cheese steak at Tat’s was an amazing brick of meat and cheese), a day trip to go whale watching (saw a pod or two of orcas and a humpback whale), a visit to Pike Place Market. And I got to meet their dog Benji!

Then I spent the remaining few days with my mom’s cousin, Claudia, whom I had one brief phone call with a few months prior, but never actually met.

Her, her husband Doug, their kids, and everyone were so warm and friendly. And it was nice to hear about part of the family I knew very little about.

I do try to visit the U.S. every 12-18 months, but it’s always to see parents and the same group of friends. All of whom I love and look forward to seeing. This trip, though, felt like a vacation vacation. It was more leisurely, and it was nice to see different places.

That said, I’m already planning a trip back to Texas this Christmas and New Year’s. Suppose I should get back to that.