Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Well, we're back in La Grande, and it's good to be home. We did not enjoy the trip, though. The plan was to take the 5:25am ferry to Orcas Island, where Shaun was going to do a triathlon, then afterward go straight to the mainland and tootle off to Oregon. We would have arrived in La Grande at about 10:00pm. Fine and dandy.

However, the last bit of cleaning (I wanted to really thoroughly clean the house so that nobody would suspect we had a cat at the lab- no telltale cat hair....) and packing took longer than I anticipated, and despite getting up at 4:00am there was no way we would have made the ferry to Orcas. So Shaun went off by himself to the triathlon, and Emma and I remained in Friday Harbor to empty the house and clean it. Shaun finished his race, caught the 12:30 ferry back to Friday Harbor (barely), and we had to wait around all afternoon to catch the 5:00 ferry to Anacortes. Arrived on the mainland at 6:30, got some dinner, and then off we went.

Driving and driving and driving. Shaun and I had been up since 4:00am, remember. So tired. I had a ~1 hour nap right before lunch and I slept in the car some, and Shaun slept in the car after I started driving, but still. He did a triathlon (swim, bike, run) and I did a triathon of cleaning (scrub, dust, vacuum). Anyway, we made it home at 3:30am. Shaun went straight to bed, Emma (who slept almost the whole way in the car) was up and ready to play, and I set up the fish tanks before staggering to bed. It felt so wonderful to sleep in our nice firm bed. The one at the Lab was way too soft, and made my back hurt.

Yesterday, we slept late, even Emma (yay!). We took the trailer to Shaun's office and unloaded all the boxes and the file cabinet, then scooted off to return the trailer before 11:00, so we wouldn't get charged for another day. Turns out that since it was Labor Day, nobody was there, so we needn't have worried, but oh well. Then back home to unpack and clean the house. The housesitters left it somewhat less than spotless. I only did the kitchen yesterday- I'll get to the bathrooms and the carpet today. There has been entirely too much cleaning in my life for the past three days.

One thing we definitely miss about Friday Harbor is the weather. When we left there, it was about 65F. When we finally got up at 9:30 yesterday morning, it was 85F. Hot, breezy, and sunny. By late afternoon, it was up to 97F, and inside the house was 95F. That's with the curtains closed and the windows open. I had on a tank top for the first time all summer. I miss Friday Harbor.

The only redeeming thing about weather like that is that it's great for doing laundry. I did two loads, and the first was dry on the line by the time the second came out of the washer half an hour later. I couldn't vacuum yesterday, because it was just too hot. I just couldn't face it after unpacking, laundry, and cleaning the kitchen. So what did I do instead?



Why yes, standing over a steaming dye vat sounds much better. Perfectly logical. By that point, the house was already at 95F, so it didn't really make a bit of difference.

That's the gray Chevron Shawl in there, becoming a nice blue-purple. I'll be blocking it and the Mystery Stole today, after I vacuum. The weather shifted overnight, and it's only 75F now. Much more bearable. It actually looks as if it may rain later.

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