Countdown

            The countdown begins.  Suitcase, backpack, and purse are packed.  Kitchen should be cleaned up (oops, have not done that yet).  Overnight I will charge my Chromebook, Kindle, and cell phone.  Between those three gadgets, I should be sufficiently armed for a long day of travel.

            And in the morning my daughter will drive me to Tulsa.  She will be back home before noon when her husband redeems my Father’s Day present to him:  my regularly scheduled massage at Wellness for Life.  By then my son may even be awake, missing my Kindle and maybe me.

            By early afternoon I will be changing planes in Denver.  Three hours later, I will be at SeaTac International Airport claiming my checked bag and catching the 4:45 p.m. shuttle to Whidbey Island with my friend Cathie, who is returning home from a month with her family in Texas.  At 6:45 p.m. my brother John will pick up Cathie and me from the shuttle at the Greenbank Store.  We will go eat a late dinner in Coupeville and then drive on to Cathie’s home in Oak Harbor. 

            The two weeks on the island will fly by in a delicious flurry of visiting with friends and family.  I will savor the 70 degree temperatures, enjoy the local coffee, indulge in some Chocolate Shop red wine, and take as many walks on the beach as possible.  Perhaps I will remember to take pictures.

            And then on the 21^st, I will board the shuttle in Coupeville to start the long trek back to Bartlesville.  About eleven hours later, my son-in-law will greet me at Tulsa International Airport to drive me home.  I expect that when I see my grandchildren the next day, Benjamin will be more than ready to play our monkey game together, and Joelle will probably have progressed from walking to running. 

            And I will be tired but refreshed.