Wow. What a trip. We packed up and left Hanford about two weeks ago. I took the kids on a scenic drive north, through rolling farmland and mountains and forests that made me feel like I was leaving one whole world behind for another. Since I left the East Coast behind for the West, I haved lived in the paradise of San Diego, the farmlands of the San Joaquin valley, and now I'm in the great Pacific Northwest.

I have to say that I thought I was crossing into a storybook when we were on the ferry. After the woods, the tall evergreen trees everywhere, the mountains and the SNOW on the ridges and in the air, and then the water... to an island where there are deciduous trees and more farms with red barns and silos that might have come from the farms of my childhood... the water of the harbor, just over the hill from my front door. The chill in the air and the seagulls everywhere I go.

The drive was nice. The children as well behaved as I could have wished. They both got sick as we left the bad air for the good, and I lost the wheeze in my lungs as we crossed the mountains. I can breathe again. I can only imagine what it's doing for the kids. Then we moved in, and they both got briefly sick, and now I've still got a ton of boxes to get through and I'm sick (though starting to feel better, slowly), and we've finally got internet in the house.

I've also been having some tiny time to read and sew and work on warm things for the house. It's coming along. Will post pictures when I have a bit more time. On the list for next week: battle with the school district.