There and Back Again: A Hobo's tale by Hagbo Baggins.

Dear Blog followers, aka blogollowers,

Thank you for taking any interest in my life. This is helpful for me to journal my thoughts and experiences; it allows me to relive and reflect on my trip. I can't imagine that it's super interesting, and probably seems self centered. So, thank you for putting up with me. I do believe that we are entering a time a incredible change, and I think my experiences on the road are helping me to solidify this notion. And, I hope that my experiences help anyone reading to see what I see: Everything will work itself out if you don't try to resist the change. The universe will surprise you with things that you never thought you would do, people you never expected to meet, and smells that you never thought you would smell.

The past few days have been fairly low key, as I've returned to Lakewood and Lacey, but I have visited  many old friends and relatives, and had some cool experiences. Here are some highlights:

1. Met a cool lady from Reno on the shuttle from Bellingham to Seattle. She rents heavy machinery, we talked about mushroom hunting, and Joani and I share a love for the beautiful diversity of Washington.

2. Wandered around downtown Seattle for long enough to fall asleep on the bus from exhaustion. Bought a homeless lady some pizza. Spontaneously encountered an old PLU friend at the fish market (Seattle Encounter of Spontaneity #5, for those keeping score at home).

3. Bus Driver: "You going to Olympia?"
Me: "No. Why?"
Driver: "For some reason or another, everybody with a beard and a backpack is going to Olympia."

4. Ate a birthday dinner with a wise 81 year old woman.

5. I got to see my old friend from preschool: David Hopper, brother of Nicole (see Beyond the Border: Bellingham). It had been way too long.

6. Explored Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Taco Bus.

My Mom is having surgery tomorrow in Seattle as she was recently diagnosed with endometrial cancer, lining of the uterus. And I think it would be good for me to head back that way. It worked out best, I believe, as my sister's fiance, whom I was going to visit in Salem today, is sick. Seattle ho! Round three.