Tucson to Portland

I went for a walk this evening and witnessed another gorgeous southwest sunset over the Tucson mountains; dusky pink, blue, and purple over jagged mountain tops. It's been great to be back in the warm weather and sunshine versus the cold and dreary environs of DC! I've spent the better part of the last two days cleaning my truck and refinishing my camper top (I bought a second-hand camper top for the back so I can stick all my stuff in there without it getting soaked by the unreliable northwest weather and I can stick a mattress in there for hiking/camping in the backwoods in the future). I've also been going through all my boxes from storage and it's amazing the amount of crap I've accumulated over the last decade of my life! I leave on Sunday for Portland and my dad and I are taking I-10 to LA and then 101 north (with pit stops in Santa Barbara and Napa!) and the last leg on I-5 to Portland. Should be good fun! I've heard from my new boss a few times and she is planning on getting some funding together to go to the Cochrane meeting in Freiburg, Germany in early October and wants me to go! Sounds good to me and since it will be October I might make a pit stop in Munich for some beer!!!!