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A Week-ish in Photos: 2023, Part 43

November 2, 2023

Monday, October 23: Drove down to the studio as the sun was setting and walked around the end of the building to get this view (technically I was on the lumber company’s property but they weren’t working at this end at the time).

Cut but not peeled logs viewed end on in the lower right, with train tracks to the left of them and a sunset sky in the background.

Tuesday, October 24: Snow starting to pile up on my car sitting in the driveway in front of our condo. Only one month to ski season opening day (weather permitting).

Fluffy white snowflakes almost covering an orange-yellow background.

Wednesday, October 25: I made my way carefully down the snowy mountain road, then carefully all the way to the airport in Spokane, as there was snow all across the region overnight and into the morning. I lucked into a spot in the parking lot that was fairly close to the terminal (not as close as the garage, but that’s more expensive and it was full anyway). The plane to Los Angeles boarded pretty much on time but took off over an hour late as we had to wait for a software reboot and then for deicing (it might have been the first day out for those trucks for the season). I was flying in a day ahead of my craft conference so I was less stressed by the delay that I otherwise would have been. It also helped that I lucked into not one but two empty seats next to me. Thanks to the delay, I got to see sunset from my plane seat.

View from a plane window of streets and buildings of Los Angeles near the airport, with the skyscrapers in the distance under clouds at sunset.

Thursday, October 26: Slept in as much as I could knowing I’d be depleting my energy all weekend at the con. Explored the mall across the street from my hotel and picked up some supplies I hadn’t wanted to fly with (like several bottles of diet Coke), picked up a fellow attendee from the airport and checked out the venue location, then got ready for my first volunteer shift helping with check-in for the con. One of my duties was keeping the badge decoration station stocked with supplies. I returned to the hotel late at night to find the elevators out of service, so I ended my day with a walk up to the 8th floor. I complained much less than the two 20-something guys making the climb to 6.

White table covered with sheets of stickers in various designs.

Friday, October 27: Having scoped out the (lack of) parking the night before, I walked the fifteen minutes to the venue for my early shift so I didn’t have to stress about finding somewhere to put the rental car on a workday when the surrounding businesses were likely to be taking up more spaces (and enforcing their towing signs) and possibly ended up with as long a walk as it was from the hotel. I did stop a few times on the walk to snap photos because I don’t see palm trees and such every day. First full day at the con was long, but I felt much more comfortable than the spring iteration of this event I went to in Philadelphia this past May. Part of that was knowing more what to expect, part was knowing a few more people, and part was volunteering which gave me something to focus on besides feeling anxious.

Looking down a sidewalk. There's a small palm tree in the foreground with succelents planted at its base. There are tall palm trees in the distance.

Saturday, October 28: Saturday dinner was the one meal not included with the con ticket. Went with some other folks to a diner down the street which had a very “space age” feel to it. Returned to the hotel after dinner to get ready for the evening party at the conference but ended up deciding to skip it and stay in my room and rest and enjoy not having to people for a while.

Interior of a diner. There are large oval shapes mounted to the ceiling, painted red or blue or white. There are curved booths below, upholstered in red with blue trim.

Sunday, October 29: Last day of the conference. Did more learning and more peopling. After the closing session, gave another attendee a ride to the airport then made a spur of the moment decision to go to the beach, as it seemed silly to be so close and not see the ocean. It was very relaxing to stroll the sand and listen to the waves.

Sandy beach with a line of waves breaking and small mountains in the hazy distance.

Monday, October 30: I had for some reason scheduled myself a 10 a.m. flight home (I think maybe it was the only direct one of the day) so that meant getting up early, but I managed it. I enjoyed the ocean and mountain views from the window of the plane as we climbed away from LAX. I collected my luggage and my car in Spokane with no incident. Treated myself to a comfort food lunch on the drive home and was back on my mountain in plenty of time to catch the alpenglow as sun set over those mountains.

Looking out a plane window at brown mountains with a small lake in the lower left nestled in one of the valleys.

*****
On this date in 2010 to 2022: No journal entries
2009: Milestone
2007 & 2008: No entries
2006: Copying the Cool Kids
2002 to 2005: No entries

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