There are certain people in the world who are more than just people- they’re home.  For me, it’s Mary and Scott:

I know it’s odd to describe people as “home,” but it really is the only word that really makes sense.  It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since we last talked, it doesn’t matter where we meet up, nor does it matter what we’re doing when we’re together- as soon as I see Scott and Mary, I’m instantly happy.

And when you’re that comfortable with people, you can find sheer bliss in spending a Friday evening drinking cheap pinot, eating whatever hors devours you can find in the nearest refrigerator (in this case it was a salami of questionable age and raw almonds) and finding Scott the GREATEST GOOGLE VOICE NUMBER in the history of the world.  Obviously he wouldn’t appreciate me giving out the number here, but trust me, it’s awesome.  Just look at his excitement when he found it was available:

Love.

On Friday night we had dinner at Poppy, a really great restaurant in Capitol Hill that does platters of vaguely Indian-inspired platters of small plates called thalis.

The steak was cooked perfectly (everyone said).  Everything comes with naan.  They have little pots of pickled burdock root, which immediately made Scott squeal with joy because it reminded him of his grandma.  Evidently, it also makes you very gassy.  Yum.

The next day, I decided to give them another taste of the Pacific Northwest and took them hiking.  But not before I made an overly ambitious pre-hike breakfast.

After getting some nourishment, we drove to Wallace Falls State Park for the hike.

Scott was a big fan of the mushrooms, but chickened out when it came to actually sampling any.  He did, however, take 3,000 pictures of mushrooms with Mary’s camera.  This was my favorite.

We saw crazy trees.

And then we hid behind them.

And in them.

Oh, and there were waterfalls too.

And some amazing views.

But most importantly, this hike really demonstrates what it’s like when Californians go hiking.

First of all, the outfits: giant sunglasses, neon green pashminas, and white jackets (which are GREAT for hiding dirt and grass stains).

Mike didn’t want to commit to wearing jeans even though it was freezing outside, so he rocked the bodysuit he normally wears under his race leathers with cargo shorts.  The result was effectively leggings.  My heart was literally swollen with pride.

Have you noticed how unusually happy Mike has looked in all of these pictures?  I mean, he’s outside, it’s cold, he’s being forced to walk uphill and there are people around him talking constantly.  What could possibly put him in such a good mood?

There was cell phone reception throughout the entire hike.  While we communed with nature, Scott changed his flight reservation and Mike checked his email every 15 minutes.  And every time I bitched about it, all three of them told me to shut up.

This is how I stay my version of grounded, people.