Family

 I’ve always loved comedian George Burns’s quote about family; “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” Of course it’s even better if it’s an interesting city. My cousin, Larry, and his wife, Janine, live in Olympia, the state capital of Washington. In our travels, Mark and I love visiting capital cities; especially the ones everyone almost always gets wrong on a U.S. State Capital quiz. You know the ones I’m referring to: Springfield, IL - Harrisburg, PA - Salem, OR - Lansing, MI - Raleigh, NC and Olympia, WA. Being invited to visit Larry and Janine allowed us to get a check mark for time spent in a hard to remember capital, but also presented the opportunity to see their beautiful home on the Puget Sound. We loved our afternoon with them; catching up over a delicious lunch, watching the tide come in and learning how to paddle board.

As I’ve noted before, Mark and I realize these road trips are mostly about the journey but it certainly makes the journey more enjoyable reaching destinations where family and friends make you feel part of something bigger than yourself.