Linda's Travels

 Well, just one out-of-state trek for me. I drove up to Kevin and Jessica's home in the Seattle area for grandson Ian's college graduation. It was a quick trip between goat kiddings and haying. I left Saturday after morning chores, arrived that evening at Kevin and Jessica's. The graduation ceremony was mid-day Sunday with a party for Ian afterward. Then Ian and his partner Kellin took me to see their new apartment in Redmond, which is close to where Ian works. Yes, he has been working as well as going to school and is now a salaried employee of the Goldbloom Wealth Management company. Ian's degree is a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration Accounting from the Bothell campus of the University of Washington. I met his boss at the post graduation party and he raved about Ian. 

I took photos but none are spectacular.

The graduation ceremony took place in an enormous amphitheater/stadium

Thousands of graduates; thousands of spectators

A big screen showed each graduate receiving their diploma. Alas, the name of the graduate was out of sync with the photo so I cut the name out of the picture.

At the end, the graduates tossed their caps into the air with a rain of confetti falling on them

Here is Ian at the post-graduation party which took place at Kellin's parents very lovely home. Kellin's mom and Ian's mom had made lots of wonderful food.

Ian and his proud parents, Jessica and Kevin

Some of the wedding party: top are Ian and his dad, Kevin; bottom row Jessica's close friend Malia, Jessica, Kellin and Jessica's sister Sarah. Present but not pictured were the two grandmothers (Nina and me... I think we were both too tired to stand there)... Kellin's parents and Ian's boss and his wife are also not in the photo. And maybe others I've forgotten. I was tired.

The next morning I tried to leave early to get home before the traffic was awful, but had forgotten that Johnny wanted a bunch of stuff brought back down. I'd taken a car load of stuff up there that Johnny had created for Kevin's projects. So both Kevin and Jessica got up early to get me off. I ended up forgetting to load my camera so they mailed it to me along with the cookies Jessica wanted to make and send with me. 

As it turned out, the traffic was fine until I hit a very strange, long, back-up just before passing from Washington into Oregon. I learned later that the hold-up was because the Rose Parade ships that had been moored along the river were leaving that day... which meant raising the I-5 bridge and stopping all its traffic.  I was on I-205 which does not have to be raised but all the I-5 traffic had joined the I-205 traffic and we all sat for a very long time before we inched and sat some more.

I did get home in time for evening chores... very tired but glad I went. And glad the traffic delay was not for the same reasons as Johnny's Amtrak delays.