Tomorrow morning Sasha and I are headed to the wild wild West to visit Jay's brother, his wife, their children, Jack and Xandra, and my mother-in-law, Connie in Alamosa, Colorado. Jack is a new addition to the Hilwig posse as of September 2006 and the two cousins have never met. I'm excited to watch the littlest Hilwigs get to know one another.

I'm very unexcited about the hot desert weather we're flying into and the fact that Alamosa is 8800 feet above sea level. I get seriously woozy in high altitudes and the heat will not make things any less wooz-able. At least it will be a "dry" heat, right? Yep, nothing beats feeling like you're a piece of meat, stretched out on a rack, turning to jerky under the sun. Everyone's right. That's much better than feeling like a large furry panther, stretched out on a limb over the Amazon river, panting through the steam trapped among the leaves of the tree you've come to die in.

Can it be? Has Seattle warped my once sun-loving soul and turned me into a lover of cold, damp, dreary days and nights? And days? And nights? And ever may it rain into eternity, Amen? Usually I don't start craving a rainy day until the end of August, but it just doesn't feel natural to be this hot in Seattle. All I'm asking for is a light sprinkle. Just something to revive the hydrangea. Of course, you'll find me complaining about the eternal gray skies in about six months. That's what happens when there are only two seasons.

Which reminds me, I need to go turn off the water sprinkler in the garden and get to packin'. I have to find Sasha's bull whip and gun holster and polish up her spurs somethin' sparkly.

Giddy-yap! Updates on the wild blue yonder coming soon.