Into the Unknown

That's right folks, today's the day!

I got my car all packed and parked next to my kiosk, ready to go after work. I would say that this is one of the worst packing jobs I've ever done as far as visibility goes, but I did manage to get everything in and packed around my car, too. A couple things I wish I hadn't decided to keep once I got going, like my lamp or Jack's little charcoal grill... but I managed, and I've still got at least some room to spare... sort of. But it's raining, so it's good for the bike to be inside. Maybe if the weather looks good when I get to Sequoia I'll take the bike out and reorganize, but for now it's good enough how it is.

I'm currently at the beginning of my day, 1 hour down out of 10, nine more hours to go until I hit the road! Then it'll be a short 3 hour drive to Aunt Barbara and Uncle Paul's. Unfortunately, they're not going to be there this evening, but they'll show up sometime tomorrow. Jaz has offered to help me with trimming my hair while I'm there... hopefully that goes well!

From there it's off to visit my friend Matt, the couchsurfer who stayed with me a few days when I lived in Texas. He was on his way to culinary school in Napa, where he still is today, and I've been meaning to visit him ever since. Well, this week's the week! I'm not sure what we'll be up to, yet, but I look forward to hanging out with him again.

Next it'll be my cousin Amanda and her family (and their new house) for a brief overnight. We'll catch up and I'll get the house tour and then I'll be off the next day for...

SEQUOIA!!!

With only a brief stop in Fresno to pick up some grocery supplies, I'll be headed to Sequoia to be with Jack before my season starts. Alyssa will be arriving the following week, so it'll be good to kick it with her, too. I move into my house on the 17th and start work on the 18th! From here on out, internet is going to pretty touch-and-go... I'm guessing I won't do another blog post until I've started working, but we'll see. Please refer to the post a couple posts back where I gave you my mailing address - that'll be the best way to reach me for the next four or five months!

Well, I think that's all for now. Take care, everybody, and keep in touch!

Until next time!

Shameless Self-Advertising

Alright folks! I officially setup my Etsy Store! Now all I need is for people to advertise my store so that I actually sell some stuff! And this is where you come in, all you folks with blogs and facebooks and twitters and all that jazz out there. Will you lend me a helping hand and advertise my store on your pages? It's called "Bunny and Luna", and I'm selling a bunch of seashell jewelry that I made. You can see it by going to my shop. Here's the link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/bunnyandluna?ref=search_shop_redirect. If you could all post something about this, it'll only take a minute of your time, and it would greatly help my little shop to get on its feet!

Thanks for your help!

~Jaclynn

Sevens.

That's right: I'm down to my last full week here! Ok, so it's a little more, if you include today and my last day of work. But since today is almost through and my last day is the day I'll be leaving, I'm not going to count them. :)

Why sevens and not seven? Because I am also officially under the $7,000 mark in paying back my student loans! Hooray! If all goes well, I'll be under $5,000 by the end of the summer season! Long-term, I'd like to be under $4,000 by the end of 2014 - that's my goal! Then I'll be roughly 3/4 of the way through paying them off, and that would be right on target for finishing them off next year! Yay!

I'm starting to work on figuring out my goals for the summer season. My biggest goal this summer is to save money, obviously. I've got Iceland to save for, along with my usual pre-winter savings build-up. So I'm going to try to limit spending and travel during the season to help with that. I think another goal, on the side, is going to be reading through my whole box of books. I tote a box of books around with me and some of them I've had in there for over a year but haven't gotten around to reading them for some reason. I at least want to get through the old timers and send them on to the next interested reader so that when I go to Michigan in the winter I'll be able to get a new selection to drag around with me.

Preparations for my next Big Move are underway. I've been making a few last-minute purchases, gathering, finishing, sorting, and soon I'll be purging, burning, packing, and throwing out. This week will be busy! I have managed to get my new address set up so I can forward my mail starting this week. So if you're going to send me anything, from here on out, please send it to:

Jaclynn Workman
P.O. Box 20
Sequoia National Park, CA 93262

If all goes well, that should get to me. I'll be in there on the first weekend of May getting the box all finalized, but I should be able to receive things at it starting yesterday.

And now for the big finish: I know you want to see a few pictures from Jack's last visit. We went up to Oregon for a day, and I brought my camera along to practice taking pictures, so here's a few of the shots I got.

The Campsite (that big open space in the background on the right is the ocean)

Lighthouse

+ Coastline

+ Really Big Beach

= One Gorgeous View (Can you find the twinkle of the lighthouse?)

Arch rock at sea.

Double Jack. (Jack gave me that hat and made/cross-stitched/sewed the headband himself!)

 Until next time!

10...9...8...!

It's the final countdown! Tomorrow will be day one of ten remaining work days! Yippee! The weather here is just starting to be pleasant - sunny and mid-70s daily, gorgeous foggy mornings where misty hillsides are punctured by pine minarets. There are cyclists riding up and down the Avenue all day long, and I've ventured out among them - even after work on some days, thanks to the longer daylight hours.

I've got seventeen days before I leave, and I'm starting to get stoked for the summer. My tasks now are often related to end-of-season things: the big food inventory, taking care of to-do list items that are long overdue, a little minor purging of my things, etc. I've also been hard at work in the crafting department. I knit and embroidered a pair of slippers the other day; I took an old pair of much-loved work pants and after much snipping and hand-sewing I turned them into a beautiful pleated skirt (see both in the above photos); I even sat down at work and made a crosshatch ink sketch - something I haven't done since high school.

I've got way too much time on my hands! :)

Jack will be making his last appearance this weekend before he goes to work on the 21st. He'll be taking the piano down with him, but I have to admit that I haven't played it much since he gave me my banjo ukulele, so that's not such a big deal. It'll be there for me when I want it next winter. :) Well, I'd better get back to work...

Until next time!

24 days and counting!

That's right, I have a mere 24 days remaining here in Humboldt. I don't think I'll miss it. I was remarking to Jack how I've been here for two months now and haven't managed to make a single friend. Very lonely time. I'll be glad to be in Lodgepole in May, living amongst several other seasonals who will want to do things outside of work. I get excited just thinking about it.

Charlotte

This weekend I made it out for a little road trip to my aunt and uncle's in the Bodega Bay area. My cousin Lyric's little girls were visiting, and it was my cousin Nolan's birthday, so there was plenty going on while I was there! As much as I love playing with her girls, I was reminded that I'm glad I'm not a mother yet. They require a lot of energy and a LOT of patience, especially when they're not being very agreeable. Although even then you can still have some fun - I taught the younger one, Charlotte, to say, "I am very demanding" when she was being just that, and I had to laugh when I got her to say it. The girls remind me a lot of me as a kid, though - they're wild, imaginative, very particular about what they will wear, and would always prefer to run around the house (and the beach) with their clothes off.

Zoie

Now I'm back up north, getting my laundry done before I start another week of "work". I've only got 14.5 more work days remaining, with one half day off for a doctor's appointment and one day off for Jack's last visit up north before his season starts on the 21st. I think the time is going to go by very fast now: next weekend I'll hang out, the following weekend Jack will visit, then the next weekend I'll hang out again, and the weekend after that I'll be loading up my car and moving out! Where will I be heading after that? Eh, we'll see. I'm in no rush to plan by little venture, except to say that by the 3rd of May I'd like to be in Sequoia for Jack's weekend. This next season, the visiting tables will be turned. We'll see if I can even the score for all the hours of travel Jack had to put in these past few months!

Until next time!