I just returned from spending four days with my sister Carrie's family, parents, brother David, niece and neph-in-law in the PNW.

We watched the Christmas Ships parade on the Columbia River, went out for ice cream in 27-degree weather (they also served marionberry pie), and caught my nephew's dramatic production of "My Son, Pinocchio." I drove in snow, too.

On the way home, I had the luxury of being the only person on the entire plane who had a free seat next to me--and that meant I could scoot over by the window and catch breathtaking views of the Cascades, and later a moonrise over Jackson Hole, Wyoming. What a show!