Morning-Glow-on-I-5
Morning glow on I-5

If we were having coffee this morning, you would have to ride in the passenger seat of my car as we travel north to Oregon, from California. Shall we stop at Starbucks or maybe 7-11 to get you a cup?

Travel
I love road trips and I love to drive. The drive from Sacramento to Portland, Oregon is about 8 to 9 hours. I am alone this trip (except for you, my phantom coffee-share riders).

My daughter is moving to Salem for a few months to participate in her recreation therapy internship at a psychiatric hospital. She will move back home with me in late December. Once she completes the internship, she officially ends her college career. Soon after, she sits for the CTRS (Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist) exam.

Mt-Shasta-from-I-5
A late Fall view of Mt Shasta see from I-5 heading north toward Oregon.

So I am driving along with her (she has her own car), to help her move, and to visit some family for a few days before I drive back home.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that the last two weeks have been busy. Don’t we all write this? I guess we’re all busy! My busy-ness has been in traveling to Spokane for a family wedding two weeks ago, then last week, to San Diego for the premier of Above-Time, my “brother-in-law’s” fashion accessory line. He hired me to be his official blogger, so it was a business trip. Here is the link to “Bowties Against Bullies.”

Other than the weather being HOT in both locations, visiting family and experiencing a change of scenery was delightful!

Blogging
Most of the month of August, I have limited my blogging to photo challenges, some leisure quotes and a few coffee shares. I still have managed to follow several new blogs and get over 50 followers! So much for me taking a blogging break  that I wrote about a few weeks ago. I do faithfully follow over 80 blogs via e-mail and I enjoy reading each one. In WordPress I check out the reader and catch up with other bloggers.

Do you tweet? Many bloggers, including myself use TwitterFeed. I recently started using this app that autotweets selected bloggers using your RSS feed. Check it out if you are interested in growing your blog or website.

Retirement
What is that exactly? I have heard of it and…oh yes, I did retire. If we were having coffee I would tell you that my eight short months of being retired will be over soon. Most of you know that I retired from public service (recreation and parks) after 32 years. You can read more about “Why I Had to Retire.”

I was able to retire from my full-time day job because I am a part-time lecturer at a university in Northern California, teaching in the recreation and parks major. When you retire from public service from CalPERS (public employees retirement system) there are rules governing part-time work in the public sector. Teaching at a state university is still within the public sector, therefore I had to take a six-month break. I go back into the university classroom beginning August 31.

I guess my Baby Boomer generation workaholic tendencies have surfaced. I mentioned that I wrote some sponsored posts, for which I got paid. As part of my consulting business Windigen Consulting, I was hired to facilitate a workshop for a management group on “How to Communicate with the Other three Generations.” This all happened this past week. Here is an example of some of the information I presented: “Workplace Comparisons: How To Say It.”

Life at Home
I almost forgot what home was about this month! My suitcase and I are having a very intimate relationship. It’s been living at the foot of the bed half full for three weeks, as I pack and unpack.

The room addition is coming along just fine. More on that soon!

I just celebrated my two year wedding anniversary. Poor hubby has to stay home and work today and all this week. This trip now and the one to San Diego last week had to be taken without him. And I haven’t been to the delta since August 1st.

I sure enjoyed my weekly coffee share with you. I hope your days are filled with fun and excitement and perhaps a few moments of quiet. I will be surrounded by my large family of cousins from Washington and Oregon this week, so I’m thinking my next round of quiet time will be on the drive home later in the week. I look forward to listening to my new audiobooks!

Have a fabulous week!

Please join Part-time Monster’s weekly feature, Weekend Coffee Share. weekendcoffeeshare

Published by Terri Webster Schrandt

Mostly retired, I am a part-time reporter/photographer for a local monthly newspaper. I'm former university adjunct faculty, self-published author, and retired recreation and parks practitioner living in Eastern Washington State near the Idaho border. Second Wind Leisure Perspectives is my blog about living a leisure lifestyle that includes fitness, photography, and fun.

33 thoughts on “Weekend Coffee Share: Road Trip North”

  5. Happy road trip with your daughter! What gorgeous views from the road!!! And how exciting to be starting back in the classroom next Monday !

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Sounds like you HAVE been busy! These photos from your road trip are GORGEOUS. Makes me miss the the short time I spent in the Pacific Northwest in March. 🙂

    (Congrats on your anniversary, by the way. I saw the post in my reader but busy old me didn’t have a chance to read it! So happy for you, though, and I hope you get some time to properly celebrate with the hubby one of these days.)

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  9. Oh I love road trips and driving as well! I used to have a 10 hour drive from Brisbane north to my home town of Sarina and it was fun to just cruise along, singing with the tape deck 😉 I wish your daughter well and hope that you can slow down a little soon to enjoy your coffee in a mug, rather than a go-cup LOL.

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  13. A trip to Oregon. I’m envious. While we went to Corvallis a few months ago for a college visit (my son ended up opting for Chico State because out of state tuition at OSU is just tooooo much), I didn’t get over to the coast. It has been far too long since I’ve been to the Oregon coast.

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  15. Since we are driving through the NW, I’ll hold out for a coffee from one of the independent roasters that are scattered about. I’ll need it soon though, as all the activity in your posts makes me want to nap! I have a slower definition of leisure.:)

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