Happy Graduation

Maggie graduated from Pepperdine in May of 2020. To say that the event was “anti-climactic” would be an understatement. We helped her pack up her apartment and load her car. On our way out of town we planned to take a few outdoor photos in front of the Pepperdine sign in her cap and gown. Nope. Because in California, standing in the middle of a lawn outside for a quick photo was too COVID-y. So we jumped in the car and drove north.

It was a delightful little road trip from LA to Seattle along the Pacific Coast Highway. Few businesses were open (only grocery stores, gas stations, a few hotels and – thankfully – marijuana shops.) Almost all rest areas were closed which made it challenging to even pull over and enjoy the beautiful California and Oregon coast along the way.

Our family loves to travel. We promised Maggie a trip to celebrate her graduation for some time during the autumn of 2020 but that obviously didn’t happen. Maggie got a full-time job in Seattle in June 2020 as well, so travel was back-burnered.

But a window opened this past month.

Maggie took a leave from her Seattle job a few months ago to serve as a summer intern at Saranac Young Life camp in upstate New York. This was in the plans for 2020 but camping didn’t happen, so neither did the position. But after that rescheduled internship ended this month and before heading back to Seattle, we invited her to visit us in Uganda like Anna had a few months before.

Scott’s work and the pandemic restrictions in Uganda made exploring a challenge. Nonetheless Maggie met some of our new friends, played with the neighborhood kids in our pool and accompanied Scott to a couple of Ugandan prisons with Pepperdine staff.

It is safe to say that a whirlwind tour of African correctional facilities was not the graduation trip Maggie envisioned, although she was a great sport. So we began researching where 3 Americans, who would be coming from Uganda, could go with minimal restrictions. We settled on Spain, a new country for all of us. Plus, Maggie speaks killer Spanish and the weather looked lovely.

10 delightful days together. Beginning in Barcelona for 4 days where we ate, explored then ate some more. Then took a train out to the Pyrenees for some hiking.

Maggie loves to hike. So do I. Scott does not. But he was excellent company, even during the frigid afternoon downpour where we lost the trail for about 20 minutes and wandered aimlessly around thoroughly-fecalized cow pastures at 7500 feet, all just a few kilometers away from the cute little town (where dinner was waiting) visible in the valley below. This was also the time when Scott discovered that “Weather-Tec golf jacket” and “waterproof hiking gear” are very different things.

I’m kidding. Scott was very grumpy during that particular part of the hiking.

Every night, we stayed in a different mountain town where our luggage was waiting for us and we filled our day packs with snacks for the next day. September is “shoulder” season between summer tourists and and the winter skiing so the trails were empty and the towns were quiet. We did find at least one open place for dinner each night however if you have ever traveled in Spain, you know that most businesses close in the afternoon and dinner starts, at the earliest, at about 8:30 PM.

43 miles and about 14,000 feet in elevation gain (and loss) over 4 days. Mountains, lakes, meadows, cliffs, pastures and views in every direction. Most days we didn’t see any other hikers. It was refreshing and a great time to laugh, exercise, think and be grateful for one-another. We missed Anna but her opinion of hiking is very similar to Scott’s.

The restaurants and inns we patronized were grateful for the business. The hiking company we used is owned by Phil, a Brit who moved to the region 13 years ago to start this business and raise his family. Like much of the world, he is struggling to recover from the effects of the pandemic (in 2019, he hosted 450 hikers but in 2021, it was only 68). For hiking/biking in Spain, Phil is your man. https://www.hikepyrenees.co.uk.

Not only was the trip a great time with Maggie, it was important for Scott to have a break from work. He still made a few calls and had a couple of zoom meetings but for the most part, he was able to put both Uganda and Seattle work on pause for those 10 days. He’s been going full tilt for the past year and the stress of living and working in the developing world is real and cumulative. Just driving in Uganda is stressful. Seemingly simple tasks are often overwhelming, complex and, sometimes, impossible. Maggie and I watched the stress melt away from Scott during those few days together. This has made us be more determined to take frequent breaks in the future. Rest is Biblical and we don’t take the idea of Sabbath seriously enough. That was an important lesson.

Most of all, we are grateful for our girls. For celebrating milestones. For relishing every moment of the time we get to spend with them, especially as the frequency of those times decreases. That is one of the hardest things about being here – distance from friends and family that we love so very much.

Be thankful for what you have. And for whom you are privileged to share it with.

(I know, one mustn’t end a sentence with a preposition. But I have been on vacation and who really cares?)