Autumn Heat

I was up at 3 in the morning today. The moon and stars were beautiful outside. Got out of bed at half-past, finished packing, and hit the road by 4:30. It wasn't enough. 30 minutes later than I'd hoped, plus a 30-minute cat nap at a rest area around 7:30 and I had lost all my advantage. I drove through the first several construction zones with no or little delay, but I hit several big waits further down. By the time I got to Redding I was a full hour behind schedule. And the day was already getting hot.

Hot air, plus a hot truck with no air conditioning, with a poorly sealed clutch area that spews hot air on your legs as you drive. I tried to stop that last bit by wrapping a blanket around the gasket... it sorta worked. For awhile, at least. But the real deal-breaker was when I realized that my flouncy thin cotton skirt didn't make it into the bag. And I was in jeans. Talk about overheating.

Fifteen minutes north of Sacramento I messaged my cousin Amanda and asked if she would mind having me over. She is amazing and has always said yes and been the best host ever. This time was no exception. I really hope we can return the favor someday. Stockton was just another 1.25 hours of hot driving down the road. I stretched it to 2 hours with a quick run to Trader Joe's for some food (I never had a decent meal all day), and asked my cashier where the nearest thrift store was. In spite of scanty directions, I found it just a little ways down the street in the milieu of the city and walked in, found the skirts, found a cute, lightweight cotton skirt in my size, tried it on (just in case), wore it to the register, and purchased. It was half off. I was outta there in 5 minutes.

Now I'm enjoying the cool of Amanda and Jared's home. They're not here yet, but will be soon. The sociable cat is eying me from its perch; the scaredy cat I think I caught a glimpse of a little bit ago. I am sipping watered down limeade from Trader Joe's and have a pack of TJ's sushi in my belly. There's a salad in the fridge for later, and dark chocolate honey mints (my new favorite thing). Amanda said she's going to pick up some ice cream for us tonight. :) I think it's practically tradition that we have ice cream whenever I'm over here. Amy and I are gonna watch the presidential smackdown... I mean, debates... this evening and chill and catch up. Pretty sure it was roughly a year since I've been here. I'm curious to see how big Kyle is now!

Alright, I think I will go rinse off in the shower before Amanda gets home.

On my way up to see Jack for a week or so! I can hardly wait to see him! I'll be up in the mountains tomorrow and out of this heat, but I won't get to roll in my sweet baby's arms 'til Wednesday. I'm so looking forward to it, though, and I know he is too. Hopefully we both stay safe on those crazy mountain roads.

Until next time!

It's been a summer

Well, I clearly haven't been keeping up on my blog, and I can very much blame that on Facebook. And life in general. I've certainly been busy. Between school and work and play, watching the first two seasons of Vikings online, plus binging on wasted hours of Facebook, I simply haven't found the time to post on this blog.

So now the end is near - the end of the summer season, that is. Weather has turned fall here - much more sunshine (although none at the moment that I'm typing this), the river has gotten much chillier, and the nights are cold enough that I'm only keeping one of the two bedroom windows open when I sleep. The elk are rutting and I hear them whistling while I lay in bed in the mornings and at night.

I have some travel plans coming up. First, I'll be going to visit Jack in Sequoia National Park - something we are both looking forward to very much. We'll also be going up to a wedding for our friends Ryan and Jenna, where we'll rub shoulders with a bunch of Bodie family for the weekend. I'm looking forward to that very much, and I'm sure Jack will play along. ;P

After I get back from Sequoia, I'll be readying for a trip to Arches National Park, where a friend of mine is working. I'm taking the train there, always a pleasure, and we'll spend the better part of two weeks hiking, biking, adventuring, and who-knows-what. I have been trying to workout more - hiking, endurance/strength training, etc., so that I'll be in-shape enough to keep up like old times. ;) I'm so looking forward to time with my adventure buddy, though! It's been too long!

Speaking of buddies: it took me a year and a half, but I finally have found a friend here in Crescent City. Her name is Lihi, she's from Israel, she lives off-the-grid in a beautiful A-frame on top of a mountain outside of town. She's down for adventure (although she's not the type to hike mad miles) and we do all sorts of fun stuff around the area. She's a real go-getter, carving a life out for herself and making ends meet with an amazing and inspiring tenacity. Just the sort of awesome friend I need.

Which throws a bit of a stick into the wheel of my train of thought from the last post. I have such mixed feelings about this place. I definitely feel that I am ready to finish my time at this park, but I am finally starting to find people and places that I like in this area, which makes it harder to just pack up and go. I think next year is going to be an experiment in carving my own way, and I have a few ideas of what that could mean, but I'm not positive yet. I have a feeling we'll at least be here for one more year, though, while I experiment some other ways to make up my part of our household income. Wish me luck!

Until next time!

Restless

I believe that I have come to the conclusion that I am not happy here. My life does not feel fulfilling in this place. My work does not quicken me, and in fact I am appalled by my distaste for my surroundings. I've been having an increasingly difficult time answering repetitive questions here, and I came to an important realization: the reason that I don't like answering repetitive questions is because I don't love the things that they are asking about. My heart doesn't sing when I drive through a tree, so I try to hold back the stupidity I feel while I explain which exit to get off and how much they charge. I don't find Stout Grove to be anything overly spectacular, so I am holding myself back from rolling my eyes when people freak out that they can't get there with their motorhomes. On the other hand, I actually like Mill Creek Trail - lots of private swimming holes! - so when folks are interested in that, I am glad to tell them the tricks to find the trailhead. Boy Scout Tree Trail is halfway decent, with some pretty remarkable trees, so I'm alright answering those questions too.

So I have come to the conclusion that where there is no love for the resource, there is less regard for the visitor's love for the resource. That is to say that we don't have the same love in common. Conversely, when people show distaste for that which you love, it's hard not to take it personally. And that is why I was able to last three years at Bodie and one season at Sequoia. It's why I probably shouldn't have done a second season here at Redwood.

What now? I'm working on that, but I really don't think that we can stay here much longer.

Until next time!