Since we were back in LA for Sarah’s grad, it was a good time to meet up with family and friends…and also to bring back Matt’s baby–his 1989 Honda Civic that had been sitting in front of his parents’ house for the past year. After talks of shipping it to Seattle, Matt opted for us to fly back for the graduation and then drive back to Seattle. “Are you serious?!” was my first reply. “That thing has NO A/C and NO RADIO! That’s going to be a loooong drive!” On top of that, there was a lot of concern (mostly on the part of our parents and me) about safety. But Matt was persistent and even had Kevin install a radio, because hearing me sing a capella for two days is probably more painful than forking over $150 for a new radio.

Within four hours of landing in Burbank, we had already gotten burgers at In n Out (our first of two visits during our time back) with Matt’s family and chili cheese fries at Tommy’s with Kevin. As much as I always talked about wanting to leave LA, there is a level of comfort that comes from driving around your old neighborhood and seeing familiar haunts. “There’s my old grocery shopping place!” I said, as we passed Von’s. (To which Matt responded, “YOUR grocery shopping place? Don’t you mean OUR?” which sparked a semi-long discussion about how I said “MY” place because I would always go grocery shopping after work because I got off work right at 5, and Matt didn’t get home till 7:30. So I usually went shopping alone, although I would go for OUR groceries, but still, it was MY grocery shopping locale. Whoo, tangent…)

I grew up in a city with terribly hot summers (I still remember summer tennis practice sessions in 100+ degree weather), and then lived in the San Fernando Valley where summers were equally unpleasant, but I never adjusted nor liked the heat. Having been in Seattle for a year, I’ve become even more intolerant to any temperatures above 85 degrees. So you can imagine my discomfort every time I walked outside or sat in Matt’s AC-less car.

We spent some time with immediate family, extended family, and fortunately got to see Grandpa Kujawa in the hospital. I never like seeing people in the hospital because they seem so frail and helpless, and it just makes me sad, but I was relieved to hear that he was doing better. Had Sarah’s celebratory dinner and cake (which read “Happy Congratulations”), where Matt nearly got his jingle balls kicked by Jen’s foot in a sibling photo. Got to see some friends…had a late-night chat with Melanie while Matt and the guys hung out in the hot tub, as usual. Honestly, when we’re back for such a short time, one-on-one or small group chats are so much better than getting together with large groups.

On Friday morning, we set off in the Civic, pointed north on I-5 toward Sac. As we drove through dry, hot Central California, the windows were rolled down to the max. I wore a tank top and a skirt made of sweatshirt material, that I had hiked up to my thighs. Every time a trucker drove by, I’d pull it back down, but otherwise, my goal was to have as little touching my skin as possible.

We made it to Sac safe and sound, and in time for dinner with my fam and all four grandparents. Every time I’m back, I make a mental note to improve my Cantonese, but I forget that note as soon as I leave. I feel like my relationships with the grandparents could be so much richer if my Cantonese improved. It was good to see them all again, even for a short time around the dinner table at Far East. The rest of the evening after dinner was spent in my old room, going through stuff in my old closet. I actually got rid of a few things, but couldn’t bear to toss other things, even a box of photo negatives. You just never know, right?

One day, I’d like to have all that stuff with me, but I don’t know how feasible it is to bring it up without making another road trip. But I’m proud of myself…I only brought back an old bed frame, an autographed Lisa Loeb poster, my yearbooks, and a street sign that I snagged years ago off the street. If it were up to me (and if we had more room), I would have brought back my binders full of old letters, box of sentimental items, and maybe even old mix tapes (because hearing old recordings of DJ Jazzy Raph and MC Mikey Mike–Raphael being Trish and Michaelangelo being me–and our fake radio shows would brighten up any day).

Our time in Sac ended Saturday morning with Na and me visiting the nursery where dad works. He got me a coral bark Japanese Maple as a housewarming gift from him and mom. Yippee! Thank goodness for employee discounts! After that, we loaded up the car once again and continued north. We took the Oregon coast back, which lengthened the trip, but provided us with beautiful scenery of rocky beaches and lush state parks. I would love to go back and camp there one day. I really miss seeing those rocky, overcast beaches where you see more caves and tidepools than sunbathers. We stayed overnight in Coos Bay and then continued through more tiny coastal towns before stopping in Astoria, where “Goonies,” “Kindergarten Cop,” among other movies were filmed. We tried to find the Goonies house, but couldn’t recognize it even when we found the right block.

We pulled up to our driveway around 9 p.m. Sunday night, safe and sound. The drive was not as long as it sounds, and really, the drive through Oregon was enjoyable (not to mention all the chapters of Harry Potter that I read through!). Matt and my car rides are pretty quiet…I am usually snoozing (or trying not to) or reading, although I try to find music that we can both sing along to. But here we are–back in the good ol’ Evergreen State. July is going to be a crazy month for us with a slew of visitors and activities…yippee!