The Good Life

Welcome to the finale of my sabbatical blog - a few more adventures to report on, and many thanks offer.

First, thanks to all of you, for following my sabbatical journey. I appreciate everyone who asked about my adventures or how I am feeling after my dizzy spells (good news, I officially graduated my vestibular physical therapy last week!) A few other big thank you are in order:

• To Jeremy (aka "Jeremy Husband" in my phone), who supported me through this break and adventured with me. He jokingly reminded me that he was the “sole breadwinner” frequently during my time off.
• To Mike Estey, who covered for me at work and led our amazing team. Mike is the best, he is dedicated, thoughtful and an exemplar of public service.  Thank you for your willingness to fill in, on what is often, a very big job. Thank you Mike!
• Of course, thank you to the many colleagues and friends who supported me in taking this time away. I am grateful for your understanding and encouragement.

Anchorage - Thanks for the name, Captain Cook

In early October, I tagged along on Jeremy’s work trip to Anchorage, Alaska. It was only a three day trip, but I made the best use of my time in Anchorage to go on a tour. Luckily it was a beautiful day. The tour took me along the highway between Anchorage and Girdwood, enjoying views along the Cook Inlet, Turnagain Arm and checking out wildlife at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Fun fact, in Alaska, they just casually call grizzly bears "brown bears" - seems fine. We got to visit the elk, moose, porcupines, black bears, and a Canadian lynx at the conservation center.

We also had amazing eats at the Moose’s Tooth Pizzeria and Whiskey and Ramen in Anchorage. Highly recommend both! The Anchorage Museum is also amazing, with incredible non-native and native Alaskan art.

After our travels to Alaska, we returned post season baseball, with the Mariners in their ALDS series with Toronto. I attended two games of the series, a tough loss to Toronto in game 3, and the very exciting game 5, with a home run and grand slam from Eugenio Suarez. Post season baseball is a rollercoaster! While the Mariners fell short this year, it was an amazing season and I hope Seattle is proud of everything they did this year. Go Ms!

Bring on the Sun Run!

From post-season baseball, we did sun runs to California and Hawaii.  We visited my parents in California, which is a welcome respite as the weather begins to get rainy in the PNW.  I grew up in Ventura, a beach side town, which is known for a few things: the headquarters of Patagonia, outdoor gear powerhouse; surfing (Rincon is a surf spot just north of Ventura and referenced in "Surfin' Safari"); and adjacency to the Channel Islands National Park. We soaked in the weather most days, going out for walks and runs, visiting with my parents and their dogs at the beach, and of course, eating my favorite fish tacos at the Beach House on the Ventura Pier. 

From there, we drove to Palm Springs to meet friends. Us and a friend of ours agreed to babysit (and soak in pool time) while our other friends attended a wedding. Indeed, lots of pool time, a nice hike up to Cahuilla Peak overlooking Palm Springs and catering to the whims of a nearly three year old (note to all parents: y'all are amazing). 

Lastly, we headed to the Big Island on Hawaii for our annual trip. I haven’t been to the Big Island for a few years, so it was nice to be back. The island has a very different energy than other Hawaiian Islands, as the island is growing every day thanks to an active volcano and Madame Pele (ask me about my Pele story another time). The first time we were on the Big Island in 2010, we had the unique experience of watching the island grow in real time.

We did two fun snorkeling trips - the first at Kealakekua and Honaunau Bays. The former is the bay where the Captain Cook monument is. We saw spinner dolphins, doing amazing flips in the water. We saw lots of fish, but sadly no turtles.

During our trip to Hawaii, I was reading Hampton Sides’ “The Wide Wide Sea” which chronicles Captain Cook’s third voyage until he met his death in Kealakekua Bay, where the monument stands. Highly recommended read, that acknowledges the issues of colonialism and tells an interesting story about Cook’s final voyage.

We also did a night snorkel with manta rays. For all concerned, manta rays are not the ones with stingers and are gentle giants. We took a tour via an outrigger, with a short paddle to where the mantas hang out. If you turn on the lights under the outrigger, it attracts plankton, which attracts mantas for dinner. No photos on this one, but saw ~5 different mantas - including one that was 14’ across and another baby manta ray that was already 3’ across. They are such large, majestic and graceful creatures. I spent the full hour in the water watching them. Another highly recommended excursion on the Big Island!

We hit many of our favorite spots on island - Fish and Hog for Ahi Poke nachos, Kona Brewing, Ola Brewing and Jackie Rey’s Ohana Grill. And visited my favorite beach at Kekaha Kai State Park. This beach requires about a 15-20 minute drive over a “road” that winds through a lava field. Most people wouldn’t go without a high clearance or 4WD, but not us. Jeremy expertly navigated our rental Chevy Malibu along the rutty and bumpy lava road. Years of driving a Saturn sedan on Washington Forest Service Roads paid off. Several other beachgoers were impressed to see we made it. This beach is always worth it!

A tradition we have in Hawaii, is to watch the sunset everyday. We had a few good (and elusive) ones on this trip.  Every night at sunset, a group of residents at the condo complex we stayed at, blew conch shells in all directions of the compass. They always ended facing east, to welcome the sun rising again in the morning. It is a welcome ambiance to any sunset. Aloha friends!

What Now?

As I head back to the working world, I am very grateful for this opportunity to step away, the flexibility to adventure and the time to rest. I am bringing my new hobbies, ukulele (chords!) and sketching, back to my working life. A few folks have asked me a version of this question: "What are your takeaways from your time away?" So I thought I'd share a few here, with the hope you might find them useful.

• Rest is important and I need to do more of it.  There is a lot of pressure to always be moving in this world, so rest is essential. Whether that means doing nothing, reading, or whatever makes you feel rejuvenated. 
• Take your breaks, take your vacation time, take your lunch away from your desk. These make such a difference. There is always going to be something. It's always worth taking that lunch, break or vacation time to step away and reset, so you put your best self forward. For me, I was in a constant mode of survival before I took this time. It really brought me back to myself. For any City of Seattle employees, if you can make it work, take advantage of the sabbatical program. It's such a unique and amazing benefit the city offers. 
• Be intentional about where you spend your time and energy. This one is a good reminder for me when it comes to work. There is so much we don’t control. Focusing our time and energy on what matters most to us makes every day a bit more satisfying.