If only Jesse could learn to relax.
Now we’re in Montana.
Halfway there.
Oh Darn
There’s poop in the yard.
Oh wait.
That’s deer poop.
Cool!
Now we’re in Idaho.
August Washington to Colorado trip map
We’re on our way back to Colorado. The couch we bought in June has finally arrived at Vanlife Customs, the installer we’re working with in Arvada. We have a date with them next week.
How many people
How many people get to hold an American Kestrel
…..and a Great Horned Owl
…on the same day.
One of Andy’s responsibilities is to supervise animal mitigation efforts. Lucky for me, the wildlife biologist in their employ caught an owl and a kestrel this morning. I got to go talk with him while he banded them. He records all the specifics then carries them an appropriate distance away for release. If they get them the right distance away, most of them don’t come back. If they do come back and they get trapped again, the birds will be in the database.
Andy, you rock!
We did some creative routing
We drove back to Edmonds by way of Aberdeen, Shelton, and Kingston and took the short ferry ride the rest of the way to Edmonds.
Jesse, still rocking the camping vibe.
Judy still rocking the ferry boat ride vibe.
Another visit
Drove down to Portland today to visit Elisa and Solomon.
Waited for traffic to clear through Seattle, then made it there by lunch. Had a nice time. Had some good food. Talked and talked and talked.
Jesse came with us. We walked the dogs together. She was in this picture too but wasn’t tall enough to make the frame. She and Solomon bonded immediately, and he is now her new best friend.
It’s quite a journey Solomon is on. It took over two years to get his travel visa to come from Ghana to Portland so they could get married. (They thought about getting married first, before he got his visa, but that would have slowed down the process even more.) Elisa can travel freely, so she was able to fly over and spend some time with him while they waited for the visa. Now that he has his travel visa though, he can be here, but he’s not allowed to work. He can live here and enjoy it, but he can’t settle in and get a job, he can just visit. Ironically, with a travel visa he’s not allowed to travel either. If he leaves the country, he loses his status and can’t come back without starting the process all over. Well, now that he’s been here over a year, he just got his work permit, and has been able to get on as a host at Red Robin. Now life in America is opening up more for him and while he works at Red Robin he can consider what other work opportunities might open up for him. He has some experience in sales and he knows a lot of tech stuff. The next step, after some time at this level, he can get his permanent residency card. A few more years after that he can apply for citizenship. What a process, but he’s determined enough to do it. Both of them are determined enough. It’s a joint effort and it’s so nice to watch them work their way through all this together.
Elisa still works for Wells Fargo where she has for at least eight years. After Solomon got here, they moved to a larger apartment, but only a block away from the last apartment so it wasn’t hard to find them. Visiting, walking, eating, talking, it didn’t take long to run out of time. Judy and I left Portland before dark and drove partway back north to stop for the night to camp at Paradise Point State Park in Washington.