The final dispatch?

 

The Pacific Northwest

39 days since we departed Falls Church by car in late June, Home Leave finally came to an end. During those nearly six weeks, we traveled through eleven states and four time zones on a three-week cross-country road trip, before spending the remainder of the time near our legal domiciled residence north of Seattle. We're now back temporarily in Falls Church, having flown from Seatac to Dulles last Tuesday, getting ready for the long flight to China this upcoming Wednesday, negative COVID-19 tests willing. During these past 5½ weeks or so I've shared our trek on no less than fifteen blog posts uploaded while on the road; in addition, I reported on our weekend across the border in Vancouver, as well as a visit to a Shintō shrine in the Pacific northwest. For this post I've sorted through the Cloud drawers to share some scattered photos from the last eighteen days of Home Leave, like this one taken at the Tahoma National Cemetery, where I went to visit the graves of my parents:

Our daughter had been feeling "homesick" for Taiwan while we were on the road, so the glee she felt when discovering a branch of Formosa's own 85°C Bakery Café in Lynwood, Washington didn't come as a surprise:

I'd never cared much for the chain while living in Taiwan, but distance and time (and daughters) have a way of changing minds:

Although she still has a couple of years of high school to finish, and hasn't decided where she would like to matriculate (I've been pushing for Cambridge in the U.K., or somewhere in Australia, for the travel visitation opportunities, so far without much success), my wife suggested taking a tour of the University of Washington while we were in the area. The fountain by the mountain - sort of. If you look very closely, you might be able to make out Mt. Rainier (14,417 feet/4394 meters) in the background:

The Reading Room in the Suzzallo Library, giving off some serious Harry Potter vibes, and reminding me of the Great Hall at Christ Church college in Oxford:

Another attempt at capturing the fountain and the mountain:

The Four Columns, or LIFE, one of those cherished college traditions I'm glad my uni didn't have:

Amber was impressed with the campus (while her parents were impressed with recent revisions to the law making it easier for Foreign Service kids to qualify for in-state tuition):

George Washington looking more like a Crusader than a Patriot:

Popcorn chicken 雞米花 and bubble tea 珍珠奶茶 at Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea 一芳台灣水果茶 in Edmonds:

Enjoying a Taiwanese sausage biàndāng 便當 at the above-mentioned Taiwanese tea shop:

A modern family. In our defense, we were feeling bored following Shu-E around while she was shopping in Macy's:

On one afternoon we met up for lunch with my sister at the Elephant & Castle pub in Seattle. Getting in touch with my roots with a steak & mushroom pie:

Strolling through Seattle's central business district after lunch and admiring the skateboard ramp-inspired architecture:

The International District in Seattle:

One afternoon we went for a drive north at my wife's urging to visit the Big Four Ice Caves. After 80 minutes on the road we reached the parking lot and started walking toward the caves:

Insect eggs:

The surrounding mountains (with pockets of snow remaining in mid-summer) were inspiring:

Unfortunately, the last section of the bridge spanning the Stillaguamish River had been removed for safety reasons, meaning we couldn't reach the caves. Some people opted to wade through the water to continue the hike, but we decided to soak in the scenery instead:

No visit to Washington is complete with a stop at an Ivar's for some clam chowder:

Visiting Mukilteo Lighthouse Park. The lighthouse was closed, but the scenery featuring Mt. Baker in the distance was impressive:

Shu-E rescues a sea star as the ferry leaves Mukilteo for Clinton:

On the Saturday before we returned to the other Washington, we met up for lunch with my friends Lisa and Rob in Edmonds. I had a great time seeing them again, so great that I forgot to take any photos, so here's the view outside a Starbucks (near the Edmonds Summer Market) while we waited for my friends:

I also neglected to take any pictures with my sister when we had dinner at Kona Kitchen in Lynnwood, but you can see photos of Karen on my post about Vancouver:

We had a much clearer view of Mt. Rainier on another visit to the graves of my mother and father:

On the way back from the cemetery we stopped in Issaquah. Amber pointed out that every "historic town" in America seems to have an old caboose on display:

Having dim sum for lunch in Issaquah:

Get thee to a hatchery:

Nostalgia in the downtown area:

A final "cocktail" in Washington state at the end of Home Leave:

Now back in Falls Church, we've been self-isolating as much as possible in preparation for departure. I did make one exception this Saturday afternoon by visiting the National Museum of Asian Art, though making sure to wear a mask and keep my distance from everyone around me. The current exhibits hadn't changed since my last visit back in spring, but I did get a preview of two soon-to-open exhibitions, like Feathered Ink...:

…and Once Upon a Roof, detailing the reconstruction of a Buddhist temple in South Korea:

Next stop: Beijing 北京. That is, if we test negative during pre-departure checks on Monday and Tuesday; after arriving in Guangzhou 广州 on Friday; and during the ten days of quarantining there before we can travel to our final destination in China's capital. Assuming all three of us are certified coronavirus-free, we're potentially facing up to three years of a zero-COVID enforced stay as the Chinese government has shown no indication of joining the rest of the world in opening up. If that remains the case, then instead of traveling to Japan, Taiwan et al, we'll be taking charter flights back to: