I am sure people feel it everywhere, but maybe everyone thinks their little corner of the world feels it more keenly than other places. In Alaska, spring feels like a rocket taking off. After months of relative inactivity, all of the pent up energy and desire to get outside is like a fuse that gets lit by dramatically increasing daylight hours and rapidly melting snow drifts. This spring was no different. My last two weeks of April were full of a week of presbytery meetings and then a week of Network Conference. Over that weekend, we had some favorite friends as guests, Mike and Deenie Rose, Mike spoke at the church that weekend.Two days after they left, JoLynn and I were on a jet to Seattle to be in attendance while Scott walked across the Northwest University graduation platform, got hooded and received his MBA. We applauded him wildly of course. He was the third person of a graduating class of nearly 350 so it was over for us pretty quick.
We then spent the rest of the weekend with Scott, Brittany and Brad doing something fun around the NU campus, like "disc golf" or sightseeing around Seattle. This is something JoLynn and I never tire of. It is great memories for us and there is lots to do there.
We eventually found our way to Chehalis to visit my parents and brother and his wife. It felt like the briefest time there as we were only there about 24 hours, but we did manage to pack a lot into it. One of the nicest things that happened was the sun came out and it got really warm. So, we ran out to Mossyrock where they grow fields of tulips. They were just coming on to bloom and the sights were awesome. We then went to a Chinese restaurant out there and ate way too much food. No kidding, I know everyone has stories about how big the portions are where they go to eat, but here it is really ridiculous. A heaping platter of food all for about $8. Amazing.
We spent our last day with my sister and her husband and two sons in University Place on the south side of Tacoma. Chris and I manage to check out most of the pawn shops or what few there are left of them. We hardly ever buy anything, but it is always fun to look. Chris took me to a friend of his who has some crazy cool cars in his garage - probably the subject of another post. We also stopped at Griot's Garage (http://www.griotsgarage.com check them out)which is a car detailer's mecca. We were allowed to go back to the car showroom and see many of the cars that have graced the cover of the Griot's catalog. The actual garage is immaculate, white tile floors, white walls and spotless every inch. It was cool.
After the same 24 hours we sped to SEATAC airport. I got on a plane back to Alaska and JoLynn went to Billings, MT to see her family for another week. Needless to say, getting home has been a rush of getting caught up and getting the house ready for the brief Alaskan summer, Brad and his friend who will be staying the summer, and Scott who will be coming up on a short visit just to see the old stomping grounds while Brittani finishes up the school year.
