leave my city once a month, leave my country once a year

i just “bought” my ticket to china with some [okay, okay… a lot] of my miles after chatting with a helpful alaska airlines guy for nearly an hour. i did have to pay $47 in taxes, but when you’re getting a $1600 ticket for free – even frugal me can’t be upset about 50 bucks. now i just have to book a couple flights within china – but the most important thing is done. i am going to china in the fall.
i am so pleased. my grandma would be pleased. and my tummy will be so pleased with all the delicious food that awaits!

rio vista and hayward – both california

rio vista and antioch – both in california

well.
today is the last day of the year and i did not step foot out of the country. at one point i was literally 4 miles from the mexico border – so very close. but, as my father would say, close only counts in hand grenades.
i won’t dwell on the negative. instead, i’ll ignore it and think about where i went outside of seattle this month.
um.
rio vista, ca.
sacramento, ca.
sammamish once or twice.
i went to bellevue – which was quite a fun mall adventure.
not a bad month for prying myself out of the city.

lovely, glorious, exotic sammamish, washington.

bainbridge island
vashon island
skyway [unincorporated king county… i know, i know – i’m stretching the definition of “my city” very thin]

only three months left in the year…

let’s see….
i went out to bainbridge once and even went out on the sound in a canoe. there was a 6 year old’s birthday party in sammamish. the party had cake, croquet and a slip n slide. blueberry picking in bellevue too.
september’s nearly half over and i haven’t left town yet… i’ll have to get working on that. and the end of the year is approaching and i haven’t left the country yet. boo.

well i certainly did lots and lots of fun things this month – but they were mostly all in seattle. the only time i actually managed to leave the city was when i went to the county fair in enumclaw. it was more fun than i could have imagined. i reverted to my inner child and didn’t want to leave the fair when leaving time was upon us.

i wonder what this month holds?

edited because i forgot that i also took the ferry out to bainbridge one day too.

take my entry for april, reverse the order, and you pretty much have june’s travels.
this month i left san diego and drove back to seattle. along the way i stopped for eight days in rio vista, california to visit family. because of the extended stop there i was able to explore the area some. i went to lodi a few times [it’s not just a song anymore] and found one of the oddest used bookstores i’ve been to. i also discovered something of a city planning diapora. go figure.
one day my parents took me on a drive to a “town” called birds landing – lots of birds [surprise!] and gum trees. not so many people. i desperately wanted to stop at the bar in the only intersection in town for a cold beer. i had been told it also serves as the PO and general store. but my parents – ever timid – acted as though i had asked them to run around nekkid. so we just drove by.
i also spent a few days in medford, oregon. that was where my car decided to break down. [note to saab owners – do not breakdown outside of major metropolitan areas. ever.] the quaint downtown medford area seemed like the backlot of a movie studio. very picturesque, well maintained buildings and streets – but no people. anywhere. very strange place.
i also made a trip into renton for fred meyer and some tasty vietnamese food, but that seems hardly worth mentioning.

let’s see… where have i gone this month?

i went out to a place kind of near palm springs called yucaipa. pretty country-ish area with lots of agriculture and horses. had a lovely dinner with friends and got to see her horses and roadsters.

i also went up to w. hollywood/la and stayed with some friends for a few days. went out a bit and tagged along with my friend to run errands for her job (fashion industry). i also finally got to go to the getty – which was fabulous. a nice degas exhibit up and their gardens are really lovely.