I leave in the morning for my vacation to Tacoma, Washington to visit relatives. I am torn about going. I haven't seen them in over a decade and want to see them. I am not sure I am ready to go. I have a few partial lists here and there of things to do and take, but I'm not sure I am prepared as I haven't actually spent time preparing to go on vacation. What happened to the ol' days where I planned and prepared, and prepared, and ... - sometimes too much? Laid back is nice but am I too laid back now? I packed stuff this morning - clothes at least - but wonder if I am forgetting something? Or forgetting to do something before I go?
Another drag on my leaving... the weather here in Montana is perfect right now. 70s, sun, no wind, clear blue skies. The forecast is for this to continue and get better (warmer) through Sunday. The forecast for Tacoma: beautiful weather until the weekend, then clouds and a chance of rain Sunday and next week. I could be getting stuff done here in Montana. Only so many nice days left before the snow flies.
I am sure my hiking group will go hiking in Glacier Park now that the weather has improved. Jan went hiking with my old hiking group yesterday. First time in over a year. They hiked to a lake out in the boonies - not in the Park - and way NW of here. This is the group I had hiked with a few years ago where we looked for one lake and found another near the top of the mountain - miles away. The same thing almost happened to the ladies yesterday. They did find their lake and it was beautiful and the fish were jumping. They did have to walk along a narrow ledge that scared the bejesus out of a few of the ladies. Sound's like an interesting time.
Once I get going to Washington I will feel better. I do want to visit my relatives in Washington. Lots to catch up on, and to see and do. I just have this feeling I am forgetting something here in Montana.
Today I picked garden stuff: all the corn, cantaloupes, watermelons, bell and jalapeno peppers, and the tomatoes that are turning red, or have the hint they will soon turn red. I have tons of green tomatoes left. I told Bob and Jan to pick what they want as they continue ripening in the coming days as no frost is predicted in the week ahead.
This afternoon I attended a education session for chief election judges for the upcoming election. I am not a chief judge, but my chief judge, Carmen, wanted another member of the team to attend as a backup knowledgeable person and I offered to do so.
It was worthwhile to attend. They had snacks to eat.
And the county's elected official, the Clerk and Recorder, in charge of voting looked quite attractive and stylish in her outfit. Her skirt was several inches about her knees and she has nice legs. 
Paula is not some old and dowdy lady near retirement (like most of the chief election judge volunteers at the meeting). Too bad she is married. Seriously, we learned stuff and got clued into the changes made since the primary as the county elections department learned from the primary and made some changes to the procedures. With so many new election judges during the primary we also learned from one another in the questions asked of the officials.
We also got to play with the voting machines. Hands on experience is always better than just sitting and listening. Most people concentrated on the M100 voting machine. Carmen and I decided to setup the Automark voting marker for the disabled people. As we did a group of people gathered around to watch and give hints and advice as Carmen and I "went for it" not really knowing what we were doing. I was trying not to be a typical male and would listen to Carmen as she read the instructions. We found a missing step in the instructions and informed one of the election officials. In the primary, among our location's three precincts, we only had one machine and only a few voters used the machine, none from our precinct. For the election each precinct will have an automark machine. State law. And the state will have a number of auditors roaming the state auditing and checking how the process is going.
The automark machines are pretty neat and ones doesn't have to be disabled to use it. It is like using a computer to enter your choices and then the machine marks your ballot. It has large print options, Braille and headphones for the blind, and a connection for "sip and puff" cords the paralyzed use.
Time to end for the night! Hmmm... how early will I get up and get on the road? Not as early as I planned. An 9 hour (estimated by mapquest) drive. Why is it so easy for me to stay up late?
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