I've been away for awhile, in the American woods, with BEARS!



My Taiwanese sister Joyce, my husband Stuart and I went on a road trip from my sister's house in Seattle across the mountains on North Cascades Scenic Highway to a bookshop in Winthrop, stopping in National Forest (and a National Forest center) on the way. ...Oh, bears and a BANANA SLUG.



Here's Trail's End Bookstore, in the lovely, very Wild-West town of Winthrop.



Abilene Hagee and her team had created a lovely window display, featuring Jampires and Pugs of the Frozen North, and a local bakery had supplied the biggest jammy donuts I ever saw!



We even had a pug present! Thanks to everyone who came along and drew Pugs with me, and helped me create the giant Pugs boardgame.



Here's the lovely team. The original person who invited me was Joyce's architecture colleague, Christine Janikowski (left), who's also the bookshop's owner.



In the evening, Christine brought us all home with her and gave us dinner as we sat watching sweeping sunset views over the Methow Valley. There's my sister Mary, and Joyce's architecture boss Pat Janikowski. (Joyce and Pat design zoos together.)



Christine, Pat, my sister's partner Mike and Stuart just after the sun set and Christine put out lamps. A magical evening.



Mary and Mike came up separately so they could finish work, and Joyce stopped a few places on the way there and back so we could explore the woods and mountains a bit.



A view over glacier-fed Lake Diablo:





Here's what a lot of the road looks like before we get to the mountains: beautiful meadows and farming fields full of wildflowers.



And the obligatory drive-thru espresso stop:



Thanks so much to Christine, Abilene and the Trail's End team for hosting our event, and Joyce, Mary and Mike for taking Stuart and me on this adventure! Hopefully I'll be posting some more photos from the USA soon.