Memorial Day Trip

I haven't written in a while because we were out of town over Memorial Day weekend and all of last week.    D and I decided to drive to Seattle on a Wednesday night and left that Friday morning.  I'd like to say the trip was last minute by no fault of our own but instead I have to say "that's just how we roll".  


The trip was full of family drama.  Not our nuclear family drama, extended family drama.  Another "par for the course".  But amongst all that, we were able to make the best of it and do a sight of our own.  On both the way up and back down we stopped in Redding to see Santiago Calatrava's Sundial Bridge.  It was brilliant.  We saw it at sundown and in the morning light.  It was really beautiful during both visits.  I honestly can't say one was better than the other.  The bridge has a magical aura regardless of what light it's in.  I love the repetition of the glass tiles all the way across.  In the daylight they are a milky glass with a hint of blue.  At night they are illuminated from below and the blue is more obvious.  The entire bridge is so white.  It opened in 2004 but you'd think it opened yesterday it's so clean.  

The bridge has so much meaning to me, which I didn't realize until I was there.  The same year it opened D and I started dating.  He wanted to see it very badly but somehow throughout the years we never got to it until now.  We've done many great trips together, just the two of us.  When we set foot on the bridge our daughter ran ahead of us with our dog and it dawned on me how far we've come together and what we've been through.  


I really liked Redding.  It's a quiet, secluded town nestled in among it's natural habitat. We didn't get to see much of it but there seems to be a respect for nature and a love of cultural, designer things. I mean why else would Calatrava build this bridge there? Right?  Or, more importantly, why else would the city commission Calatrava to build there?