John and Rachel stayed the night last night too, so this morning we all hung out more until it was time to go. John made waffles, Rachel made scrambled eggs, and it we had a delicious breakfast followed by a very fun game of Scrabble. I am impressed with Brandon's Scrabble skills too... he's pretty good!!!
It was sad to say goodbye today. Jim & Lori were sad to see Brandon go, and Brandon was sad to say goodbye to John. At that moment that everyone was hugging and saying our goodbyes, you could actually feel a thick blanket of melancholy sadness fall over everyone. I hate goodbyes, they're never fun. Nevertheless, we were very glad that we had the opportunity to drive down to Portland to spend some time with Jim & Lori, and that John & Rachel could join us too.
Our final stop on this trip is Leissa's house. Leissa is a family friend on my birth mom's side (Susan) who we used to spend a lot of time with when I lived with Susan in Portland. I haven't seen Leissa in about 7 years either, so we thought it would be nice to visit with her before we head home. Before we drove there though, I drove Brandon down to the house we used to live in when I moved in with Susan & Julie, and then by my old high school so he could see where I spent my teenage years. I also showed him the hospital he was born at, and the draw bridges across the Willamette River as we made our way past downtown to Leissa's. He thought it was pretty cool.
Once we arrived at Leissa's, we visited out on her back deck which overlooks a giant pond/lake... quiet, peaceful, beautiful. We talked a lot about my mom, our old memories, fun times. It was a really nice visit. Leissa has a PS2 and let Brandon use it, which of course he was thrilled about, so we barely saw any of him the rest of the night. Leissa made a delicious salmon dinner which we enjoyed on the back deck, and then her friend Julie came over and I put on a mini concert for them on Leissa's piano. I played them several of the new songs I'm working on for the new album and they said they're both very excited for the new album to come out. That makes me happy, and fills me with some inspiration to get it done :) Leissa also has two beautiful Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs (Malcolm and Dewey) and I had a great time admiring them because they're one of my favorite breeds. If I were to get a big dog, I would seriously consider one of these.
To bed around 11pm so that we can get up early tomorrow and try to make the drive from Portland to Salt Lake in one day. It's a 12 hour drive which could be grueling, but we're both anxious to get home and snuggle with our kitties. Stay tuned...
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