2013 America visit, part 2

I was glad I had the chance to join Aarene again for a ride on Hana. It sure is a great feeling to get on an Arabian horse and just ride and enjoy the scenery.


Aarene and her friends like to mix it up and sometimes they separate, sometimes without even telling me so I got worried. But they told me "Aarene will come back, at some point, after she wins her argument with Fiddle."

At one point I left the group. Aarene was way up the hill already, and the others wanted to go slow, and I wanted to see what Hana can do, so I collected her and made her jog-trot as slow as she could up the entire hill, for maximum exercise.

Hana seems very stoic to me, or maybe she just knows her job. She did not like being alone, and kept her ears on the horses way behind us, and answered Fiddle's call from way up yonder. But she obeyed everything I asked her to do. It was so fun to sit back and enjoy a good horse!

My steed. Aarene dug up the conservative tack...I am pretty sure before I said anything about not wanting to go dayglow! Whew, that was a close one, everything fit.

Fiddle's right hip.

Fiddle's left hip. Funny, she doesn't look so gigantic when you take a picture from the angle of atop a horse. We had to beware her hind end, and Hana and me bewared together, not taking our eyes off her and making sure we were out of kicking range. At one point Aarene's friends were like, "Get just a little bit further away from Fiddle, yah, a little bit more..OK." (That was when Aarene was deciding to go off on her own and have a talk with Fiddle. Fiddle didn't argue noticeably, but I guess sometimes she might.) Note Aarene's Hawaiian hibiscus design tights. Classy.

I said, "OOH pretty! Can we please stop for photos here?" not knowing that they wouldn't really turn out - you cannot tell that's me. Oh well: )

I took Hana ahead of the group and started trotting down this singletrack and was so glad that these people don't have issues with me acting independently (the lead horse ....just, taking off). Hana didn't *prefer* to get ahead, and it wasn't much, we were never out of hearing range. Suddenly we came out of the woods to the lookout point and I had to get a between the ears photo of that metal artpiece.

I always get off and walk the last bit to the trailer. Funnily, last time I lead Hana down a trail, she was an anchor. This time, her friends were all ahead of us, and she walked out!

Back at my parents' house, my man plans our Geocaching adventures. He had solved a lot of mystery caches and intended to "clean up" the mysteries around Seattle. However, I asked that we do some traditional caches in the neighborhood of Normandy Park, where my parents live. (Traditional caches are found simply by finding the coordinates and searching, and don't involve any complex reasoning skills like math, for example). My husband has several caches hidden in our area in Germany, but none of them are traditionals; he is known for his excrutiating puzzles. Right now we have a wooden question mark trophy on our piano, a mystery inventor award. If I were creative, I'd make mysteries too. But anything I can think of can be solved by googling, and that's no good.

My mom and stepdad in their yard. Looks like I caught them working on the hottub. I only got to join them a couple times this trip, not nearly as much as I wanted. Our hot tub time is precious, just like before I moved to Germany, we all take turns discussing our day, and point to the variety of birds at the feeders. This year, we had hummingbirds drinking right next to us, flashing their colors. They're so small it's kind of freaky. (But they still only have two legs, so they're not insects...)

I am starting to think that my parents enjoy raking leaves, why they plant such trees! (On arriving home in Germany, I raked for 5 hours, and that was just the backyard. And I'm not done yet. Why can't they all be evergreens?)

This one is "Beth's tree." It is really nice, but also terribly messy.

My parents got a new "Reno car" - they like to drive to Reno and need a comfortable ride. This is an Acura RL (?). It is the talkingest car I've been in. It doesn't beep at you to put your seatbelt on, it asks you to nicely. You can also talk to it "Call home" and such, but doesn't listen to my stepdad, to his chagrin.

I'm like, "Where are the seat warmers, I need a warm butt!" I got to drive it, and it was luxury.

Hm, where are we?

Putting the car away in the garage, I was happy to see they still have my wolf poster on the wall.

Here's something new to ponder when you drive: an Amber Alert displays right over I-405. I had never seen that before. I didn't tune in as they requested, but I did say a prayer.

The traffic in Seattle is unlivable. I somehow forgot this?? Every morning and evening, both I-5 and I-405 are stopped. Using the carpool lanes is very nice at those times, which we were able to do most of the time, but if I had to commute in that city, I'd go insane. I just couldn't do it. And how about those left-lane-freeway-entrances? Whose idea was that? The autobans sometimes have construction that makes getting to work hell for several months, but it's not permanent, by-design, as in Seattle.

Why did I take a picture of a toilet protector? Because they don't exist in Germany. My mom told me to take pictures of my sister's birthday dinner party with her friends, and this is the only photo I took. Her friends did take pics of things outside of the bathroom though, so that's good.

The restaurant was wonderful, I'd forgotten how good. The restaurant outing was a culture shock for me because some guy bumped into me in the crowded lobby, and said sorry FIVE TIMES in a row. I was like, it's no big deal, it was an accident, no harm done, but he has American manners and this is how we do it.

It's something I told my German colleague about, before her first trip to America. I said, "Watch, you'll be shopping, and someone will *almost* bump you, and he'll apologize." When she got back from her trip, she said, "OMG you were so right. In fact, someone said sorry to me, when *I* made *HER* move!" I said, "Yes, we are very polite."

In Germany, whenever I get in someone's way on a busy sidewalk, I say sorry. I've had two people laugh at me for this ("Did you just say sorry!").

Another thing the restaurant showed me was the Facebook Takeover. Apparently it's socially acceptable to post Facebook entries of social activies you're engaging in, while you're engaging.

Being in a restaurant highlights the overwhelming friendliness and instant acceptance of Americans. Waitstaff work for tips based on their friendliness, and they work that skill. They are chatty and although it may not be sincere, it sure feels good. Although that night was too busy for chatting, I get this reverse culture shock in most restaurants.

American grocery store clerks are the best, I just love how they want to talk to you about life. This time, once at Westwood Village Target, and once at West Seattle Safeway, when asked if we found everything OK, and we considered for a moment, and answered, "Well, almost.." We were not ready for what would happen. The checkers both called someone to come help and run around the store looking for the item we wanted. I had no idea answering that question honestly would result in that.

Then I was given an enormous paper grocery sack (with Target logo). A paper grocery sack. It's been a long time. (Target says no more plastic, and apparently Safeway and Fred Meyer have not taken that step yet.)

Next: Riding Arabian horses with my sister!