Postcard from Washington (state)

May 22, 2024, Wednesday

Checked out of our very comfortable apartment, so we are exchanging comfort for adventure once again. It’s always a relief to gather up our possessions around the apartment and see them fit once more into our carry-on and backpack each.

Quick trip to the Tacoma recycling center (very clean and meticulously organized)—our apartment didn’t offer recycling, so we did it ourselves. Then on to my parents’ place in the Olympic peninsula. Lovely day with them, then they dropped us at our hotel right next to Sea-Tac airport. Our flight leaves in the bleary wee hours of the morning.

The last time we stayed in a hotel next to Sea-Tac airport, in place for an early flight, was nine months ago. The next morning? Bulgaria. This time? Madison, Wisconsin. I was over-the-moon excited that night before Bulgaria, and lest I inadvertently underplay Madison, I’m very excited for this trip, too. After all, every location on the planet is unimaginably exotic to someone, somewhere. That’s a very helpful perspective to keep in mind, no matter where I am.

I’ve never been to Madison before. I’ve already fallen in love with Minneapolis when I visited my cousins there last summer. I’m eager to see how Madison, with similar midwest beauty, nestled by a lake, compares.