Kore and I have known each other for fifteen years, but we live in different parts of the country and our entire friendship has been online. She happened to be visiting my state this month, and also happened to be in two of the places I've previously lived. Needless to say, I took a road trip. Well, we did. Tim and Devon couldn't make it, but Naomi and Tyler came with me.
We headed to Medford yesterday afternoon, as soon as Tyler got his math done for the year, stopping at Rogue Wear before we did anything else. We've obviously not local, but we love that shop and stop by almost every time we're in town. The owner, Tesha, recognizes us each time and always asks questions that show she pays attention to her customers.
We made our purchases, then stopped by unannounced at our Davis dudes' home so I could give something to Cindy before she went back to her own place. We didn't take any pictures, but I was able to talk with Cindy for quite a while, my kids made the most of their limited time with Devry and Michael, and Shon got home from work in time to visit for a little bit before our family needed to leave.
Next stop was my sister's home. She and Josh were kind enough to let us stay with them for a night so that our travel time for today would be cut by about three hours. Josh made a Filipino dinner that we'd never had before. It was delicious! Neo and my kids laughed their way through eating dinner outside and then hunkered down to watch a movie together. Meanwhile, Beep and I headed out after dinner for a long, brisk walk that involved pointing out all the things we loved about various old houses.
The weather was perfect for a rainbow, but we didn't see one. Until we did. And it was a double, but only one side.
Finally, the whole thing. Or at least two sides.
Pictures never do a rainbow justice, but it became more vibrant as time went by.
We took a quick picture of ourselves with the double rainbow in the background as we neared the end of our walk.
It was a fantastic way to spend an evening!
This morning I was able to hang out with my sister as she worked in her studio, then took a quick picture of the cousins before we left town. They're all looking so grown up!
Our first stop was Dad and Debra's to drop something off and have a quick morning visit before we had to hit the road. I (obviously) didn't check the picture before I left, so we'll just pretend it's not blurry and that Tyler's chin wasn't cut off. Even though this trip was about Kore, I'm so glad we got to see family along the way!
Although I've been to Medford multiple times since the Almeda Fire, I hadn't driven from there to Brookings yet. So much fire damage! Acres and acres and acres of burned trunks and short stumps where tall trees have been cut down because they'd been burned to a crisp. Such a sad sight!
Finally, Brookings. I love my hometown! It was strange to only be there for a few hours, and stranger still to not have told anyone I was going to be in town. But that's the only way I could squeeze a visit with Kore into a pretty busy week. And seeing her was really important to me.
It was so awesome to spend several hours together! We met up for lunch at The Hungry Clam. I'd never eaten there before, but my shrimp melt was so tasty! Then we headed to Kore's home away from home after lunch for a mix of small talk, serious discussion, time with family, and time alone. We had to get a picture together, of course, and I asked for two. One with indirect natural light, because it's the best lighting for pictures.
And one outside in the sun with squinting eyes and sharp shadows to prove we met up in my hometown.
The kids spent the afternoon chatting, enjoying the beach, and playing ping pong together. And they cooperated with a picture, even though none of them wanted to take one. Champs!
I'm thankful for technology that allows friendships to develop across the miles. I'm also thankful that Kore and I were finally able to spend time together face to face. Today was such a treat!
Our trip home was uneventful, with the exception of a gorgeous sky in the evening. The first thing we noticed was a tiny section of rainbow off in the dip of the skyline. See it?
Better?
Tyler said the sky reminded him of when the state was on fire last September, minus the stench of smoke. He was right. The pictures don't fully capture it, but that whole side of the sky had rain clouds with a pink glow. And the other side of the sky was the explanation for the color. Just like rainbows, sunsets never look as great in pictures as they do in person. The sunset was absolutely stunning!
Gorgeous sunset on one side, glowing sky with a mini rainbow on the other. A perfect ending to a perfect day.
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