OK, so I'm home for three days now, and finally catching up with myself. Well, sort of.

Re-entry from two weeks on the road has been slow. Exhaustion and semi-dysfunction has reigned, and I've basically been roboting it since pulling in on the red-eye early Sunday afternoon.

Gear is still strewn far and wide around the house, laundry is half done, mail half opened. Lethargy appears the solid winner vs. getting any one task checked off the list.

So it goes.

It's not easy getting home from the middle of Vancouver Island I discovered. Especially now, post-peak season. Travel scheduling is a challenge, and like a good puzzle, not all the pieces want to fit where you'd like them to.

Me and my hiking buds tromped off the West Coast Trail after eight days last Thursday noonish. Then it was six hours of wild-riding through the rugged interior of the island on the West Coast Trail Bus to reach Victoria. The ferry to Seattle wasn't until the next evening. In Seattle the following day our flight out wasn't until 11:30 PM.

But finally the plane arched gently over the coast of southern Maine, the familiar beaches coming into view, then the beautiful skyline of Portland from the final approach up the Fore River. Home!

Three days, it was, getting back to Portland. Ouch! Such is the toll of time away. But really, I'm not complaining. It's worth it. This time, every time.

Travel, big trips, remote hikes, far away cities--it's all so invigorating, exciting, eye-opening, even mind-blowing.

You come back, but never all the way back. Your eyes have captured images, your hands have touched places and things, your voice has spoken with people you will never see again, your mind has expanded beyond old boundaries, absorbing a wealth of new data to process, much of it in the sub-conscious.

Travel changes you, enriches you, makes you beg for more. And by the grace of God there will be more. Until they close the lid and shovel the dirt over me.

So, of this latest venture to the Pacific Northwest, I have stories and photos to share. But for today just a few images and snippets. More rest is needed, a little time for reflection required before the whole story can be told.

I hope you all have been well, my dear Trail Head friends, taking advantage of this fine September weather. Here at home, in Maine, this most beautiful place on Earth.

Have you travel plans coming up? Somewhere you too are returning from?

The inspiring words of Jack Kerouac (On the Road) posted in the kitchen of the Green Tortoise Hostel, Downtown Seattle.
Carey Kish photo

The skyline of beautiful Seattle from the stern of the Victoria Clipper on Puget Sound.
Carey Kish photo

The parliament building in the magnificent city of Victoria, British Columbia.
Carey Kish photo

Phil D. of South Portland awaits take-off on the West Coast Trail Bus, our connection to and from the West Coast Trail.
Carey Kish photo

Bill C. of South Portland on the West Coast Trail near Tsusiat Point.
Carey Kish photo

A grand Pacific sunset from our campsite at Tsusiat Point, West Coast Trail, BC.
Carey Kish photo