June 5 to June 12, 2007: COLORADO to WASHINGTON to OREGON Road Trip!!!! (as if I didn't have enough road already ;) On Tuesday, Shannon (my sis), Greg (my bro-in-law), and I and the doggies - Violet and Winni, packed up my car to put the finishing touches on my cross-country trek - and actually get...across the country! Greg borrowed a topper from a friend and rigged it skillfully on top of my car, so we had a LITTLE extra room and a little more wind drag (2 dogs and 3 humans with gear is alot ot put in a Pathfinder)! We had a few more states to drive through, and we had a date with Sting in Seattle (The Police) not to miss on Thursday (June 7), AND we had a family wedding not to miss in Portland on Saturday (June 9) - our youngest cousin Karl and his lovely fiance Janelle were tying the proverbial knot! They asked me to sing Ben Harper's song - Not Fire, Not Ice - in the ceremony, so I had that to learn while we were on the road, too. We cranked the CD in our car on the way and wrote down the words like we used to when we were kids (did he say "No---o---ot" or "Not a heart"?). I practiced the song in hotels along the way and prayed for the music Gods to burn it into my memory quickly!

It took us one long day of driving to get just past Salt Lake City, Utah. Hotel for the night. Then another long day of driving to get just 2.5 hours from Seattle and a hotel for the night. Violet turned 1-year-old that evening so we toasted to her and drank really sweet local wine out of the hotel's paper cups. She got an extra doggie treat. Woke up the next morning and buzzed through the last few road hours to Seattle! Here are some randoms from our trek...

We hit the Seattle Aquarium to pass the time before the concert...and got there just in time for the otter feeding. I took a break from the otters to get to the Seattle airport to pick up my beau, Jason.

STOP for a little back history of J and I: Jason and I met in NYC in December 2004 during sign-ups for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. We both trained together for a triathlon and would see each other periodically at training sessions. Jason told me he had just moved here from California and, among many other interesting things, was a surfer. I explained to him about the small surfer community in NYC and that, in fact, there was a restaurant run by some of them in my Brookyln neighborhood called "Hurricane Hopeful" - sand on the floor...surfer movies playing on a wide screen. Very cool. He seized the opportunity..."Really? I'd love to come to your neighborhood and check it out. You free Friday night?" Indeed I was. During dinner we realized we had a lot in common - a family of teachers and preachers and social servants, music (he's a drummer, me guitar/singer), a love of art, appreciation for health and exercise...and a faith in something greater than ourselves. That winter, between triathlon training sessions, we went on a few fun dates - he took me to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time...invited me to this underground dance performance in a warehouse where the audience sat on a rotating platform which the dancers/actors moved around during the show...we saw Madeliene Peyroux at Town Hall...and one moonlit night he took me to a great little restaurant in the West Village and told me in true California fashion, "I really dig you, Bridge." I still was not sure what I felt, but the next morning invited him to spend that Easter weekend with me and my family in Connecticut. My family was intrigued by the mystery "friend" I said would be joining us. They liked him right away and by dinner he had my Grandma laughing and my dad engaged in philosophical and historical conversation...and I fell in love!

We spent the next two years living it up together in NYC. We completed a Half-Ironman triathlon together, got two puppies - Winni and her brother, Paul - took weekend exploratories to Cape Cod, Vermont, Long Island, Fire Island, and the Hamptons, saw great concerts like Sheryl Crowe and John Mayer, more Opera at the Met, ate out a lot (hey...it's New York!), joined an incredible church community (5th Avenue Presbyterian), went to see amazing art at the MOMA and the Met and amazing animals (stuffed and living) at the Museum of Natural History and the Bronx Zoo. Spent endless hours in Central Park and biking around the city, too.

After two years for him, and five for me, we started getting restless and the stress and strain of living in NYC was affecting our relationship. Jason and I had a great time in NYC together, but both knew the city's novelty was wearing off, our jobs were not fufilling us anymore, and neither of us had any intention of raising a family in this kind of environment. He missed California and his family there. So when he unexpectedly got layed off in March 2007, he decided the time was right to head home. I wasn't ready to leave just then, so we took a break and some time for ourselves, and - though it was hard on both of us - tried to have faith that it would work out as God saw fit. Jason took Paul and went on his own cross-country road trip back to CA in April. He is now happily back in the San Francisco North Bay area with Paul, working from home at a job he loves.

So back to the present: Jason flew up to Seattle to meet us for the Police concert and to go to the wedding with me in Portland. It had been 2 and a half months since we'd said goodbye in New York and I was a little nervous to see him again. But when I was greeted by his wide, friendly smile at the airport - and his arms open wide saying, "Hey, babe!" - the butterflies went away and we were right back at the sign-up table for Team in Training - it feels almost like starting over again. We are being patient and trusting that God will work things out. And even though things haven't gone exactly according to MY plans...they've gone very well. I think that's the faith part. Things always seem to go better according to God's plan, anyway. We're still taking it a day at a time, but it helps that we are both pursuing our own dreams and paths right now. The love is there. We're just waiting for the timing to be there, too.

SEATTLE: So The Police Concert was rockin'! I was a little nervous about the upper row behind-the-stage seats I got, but we were able to get a birds-eye view of drummer Stuart Copeland and his still-incredible chops (at 64!). Sting looked about 29 and sang like the amazing lyrical music guru he is.

PORTLAND: The wedding in Portland was beautiful and I pulled off the Ben Harper song without crying and only a few missed chords ;) We danced the night away with my mom's siblings - Aunt Barb and Uncle Dave - their sig O's - Uncle Steve and Aunt Bobbi - and all my cousins with their sig O's. Barb and Steve were glowing proudly as their son took a giant step forward into his new adult life with Janelle! We all were...as you can see...

Karl and Janelle, the Groom and His Lovely Bride...

Sister of the Groom, Mandie and her beau, Aaron...

Cousin Adam and his girlfriend, Cindy...

Cousin Amy and her boyfriend, Chris...

Brother of Mine, Seamus and his girlfriend, Simone...

Sis of Mine, Shannon and husband, Greg...

My Mom's Brother Dave and his wife, Bobbi...

Jason and Me...

Lots of smiling faces...

And LOTS of dancing (that's my mom's sis, mom of groom, Aunt Barb in blue)...

And Janelle, Polynesian Dance Professional, was beautiful!

All in all...a WONDERFUL long weekend of adventure, dancing, joy and LOVE! There is nothing more important than family! After being on the road alone for a month, it was nothing short of perfect to be among close family for such a joyous occasion. It was all that much sweeter because of my solo time on the road to now have this familiar closeness and safety surround me. I appreciated every moment. Mom was with us in spirit and dancing right alongside of all of us. It's so good to be on this side of the country :)