By the time you read this, I’ll be back from a visit to granddaughter Annika in Idaho. 

This visit will be different, as Annika’s mother will be in Seattle while I’m in Rathdrum.

I’ll be helping my granddaughter feed the horse, gather the eggs and do numerous other chores—I’m so glad she is old enough to guide her grandmother. 

The best news is that I will have some “alone time” with Annika, and my son the railroad engineer will be home part of the time, too.  So it’s going to be a great visit.

As I write, I am looking forward to leaving tomorrow. 

I have two books on CDs that I checked out from the library; I’ll choose which one to listen to depending on my mood—and depending on how eager I am to finish the books. 

“The Last Lecture” by Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, is an inspirational lecture by a man dying of cancer, wanting to share his convictions with his family and his students. 

I see that it will take four and a half hours to hear the complete lecture.  (I’ve seen and heard most of it on TV, but I think simply listening will be even better.) 

Since it takes between five and six hours to drive to Annika’s home in Idaho, that’s plenty of time to listen to the entire book.

On the other hand, I see that it will take 18 and a half hours (!) to listen to “Reading Lolita in Tehran” a NY Times bestseller I’ve meant to read for quite some time. 

The review accompanying the CD hails the book as appearing on reading lists alongside such monumental works as “The Great Gatsby” and “Pride and Prejudice”--I think it would be a pleasure to listen to 18 and a half hours of this book. 

However, if I choose to hear it on my trip, it will be one of those volumes I listen to all the way to Idaho and all the way home from Idaho, completing my trip with 1/3 of the book still to finish!  (I’ll admit, a time or two, I’ve spent quite a while sitting in my car in my own parking space enthralled by a novel that still has three CDs left to go.) 

Anyway, listening to a book is a pleasant way to travel alone, and the library has plenty from which to choose. 

Of course, I’ll take several books with me, as well, with a plan to read after Annika goes to bed each evening.
 
Mostly, though, it certainly isn’t my CDs and library books that I’m thinking about. 

I’m thinking of Annika reading aloud to me from something she chooses from her own collection of books. 

And, of course, I’m thinking of baking cookies, taking walks, playing tag and doing puzzles—as well as feeding the horse and gathering eggs. 

I can’t think of anything more fun than this little trip to Idaho!