the Final Stretch

After I last posted, Logan and I headed to Phoenix for what we thought would be just a short visit with his relatives, but ended up taking a different turn. During the hour we were having lunch with Logan's 89 year old great aunt, she fell and broke her hip! She didn't have other family in the area, so we stayed with her (and her kitty) through 2 weeks of many ups and downs including a stroke and finding her a new home. It was great to get to know her, but sad too, given the circumstances. She is out of the hospital, but is no longer able to remain fully independent.  Her friends are continuing to visit her at her new group home.

To keep to our schedule of getting back to Seattle to see Logan's uncle and family before Christmas, we headed out towards California and took a quick trip through Joshua Tree National Park.

Joshua trees are unusual looking, as are the rock formations, which are formed in place as softer rock is worn away.

The desert has a lonely and vast beauty. Closer inspection uncovers life that has adapted to survive in unique ways.

These cacti are called Teddybear Cholla... Hmm... I'm not sure about that name... 

Here is a close up of the Teddybear Cholla. Don't you just want to cuddle that?

From there, we visited many friends along the Pacific Coast as we traveled back to Seattle. It was great to reconnect with some of the folks that we met before we lived in New Haven and to see what they've been up to (which was a lot!). We enjoyed thinking about the possibility of relocating to many of these places and Logan also benefited from learning about forestry work in the various regions. That said, we still haven't made up our minds just yet where we will head next, but at least we have some better ideas... I'll post more on our next move in the new year. 

Taking the goats for a walk/forage in the southern California mountains 

Our friends took me and Logan to visit this gorgeous beach near Charleston, OR

 I hope your 2015 has also been full of joy, exploration, and happiness! Love and Peace to you all.