Two days of driving brought us home last night. Of course the most difficult part of the trip, the worst traffic, and the worst drivers all happened in the hour plus it took us to get from the Bellevue city limits to our home in north Seattle. Denver at rush hour was nothing compared to Seattle on a Saturday afternoon! Go figure.

Anyway, we arrived safe and sound. Today we are unpacking, doing laundry, rescuing our gardens from three weeks of neglect, and I’m practicing ukulele for tonight’s rehearsal with Ukestra Seatte.

This was a trip with many new sights, happy memories, and lots of new people. We met our nephew’s family at the wedding in Colorado and got to spend time with Jean’s family. In addition we got to be with Jean’s sister, Pat, for her birthday! In Flagstaff we spent time with our friend Kathy and visit sights in the area. Finally, in Santa Fe, Flagstaff, and St. George Utah we saw many places new to us. The Marble Canyon in northern Arizona was beautiful. We enjoyed a great day in the “back door” of Bandelier National Monument. A day at Ghost Ranch revitalized our interest in returning there to paint. Bryce and Zion National Parks were totally new to me and as impressive as their hype. We definitely want to spend some extended time in the SW doing some serious painting, so stay tuned for future adventures down there.

Although our visits with family and friends and our going on excursions every day limited our time to do art. However, we did manage to sometimes grab a quick sketch along the way. Here are a couple I did in a few minutes in Santa Fe.

I did a few very quick water color sketches of landscapes.

And I experimented with pastels as a quick sketch medium. I used several different surfaces to see how easy they were to use for quick pieces.

Finally, perhaps the most fun was with a little box I bought at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. This is Zen art requiring only water and a brush. It lasts for a minute or two and then disappears! I love it!

Now it’s time to get to ukulele practice. Tomorrow I will get into my studio to paint.

Paul