Getting Down to Business

Enough of the rhapsodizing about my current travel. This blog is about preparing for future travel. And the Universe is sending me messages...

In the mail today, I got an advertisement from "Bicycle Adventures" and a DVD from Netflix called "Gypsy Caravan" http://www.gypsycaravanmovie.com/ . In my email box, I got an email from a travel nurse company saying that they are paying double and triple pay for overtime worked. On the McDougall site, I read about a fellow McDougallers on the road adventure.

I think its a plot.

A plan. Every day, I will do something to make this dream happen. Even if its a tiny thing because I am so busy/tired/unmotivated. Today, I will find 3 things to get rid of and I will at least open up and look at the nursing agency application to see if there is anything I can fill out quickly.

Baby steps will get you around the world.

When I showed El Nino this blog, he told me about a website called 43 things. Apparently, you can post goals on this website and what you are doing to get to those goals and people give you "cheers". I haven't explored it fully but I offer it up for your perusal. On the right.

The Rest of the Story

I suspect that this mix of feelings (wanna hug him, wanna strangle him, wanna ditch him, wanna keep him) is something every mother feels but I have to point out that most mothers get to work up to a 17 year old - not just have one all of a sudden. And really, what is my role here? Mother, auntie, friend, concerned adult, playmate? All these things have gone through my mind this trip along with the sensory input from the road. I will be processing this one for a while.

Finally, we headed back into Oregon. First stop, Brookings. The skatepark there was examined and rejected, I was patient. An art gallery and bookstore was examined, he was patient. We drove north on 101 and immediately stopped at Harris State Park where I took a nap on the beach while he climbed on rocks. I woke up in a much better mood (nothing like a nap on the beach to fix what ails ya) and he came down from the rocks. "See anything interesting?" I asked.

"Starfish" he replied.

"STARFISH???!!!" I jumped up. Seven years I've been looking in tidepools for starfish and he finds one his 2nd tidepool. This boy has good wildlife karma. "Show me!" I demanded. He thoughtfully found a gentler trail to the starfish for this old woman and pointed. Wow. Not just one but FIVE starfish of various colors and sizes. Then, I spied another one. Then, there was a cute little crab on a rock. It's a tidepool bonanza! I was in heaven and feeling very kindly toward El Nino. He patiently sat and text messaged while I hopped from rock to rock to see what I could see. Eventually we both tired of our activities and drove on.

We made our way up the coast, stopping in multiple small towns to check out the skate parks. I silently resolved that I would find an art gallery for every skate park we stopped at and this worked for a while. We developed a routine - I would sit in the car while he skated, he would sit in the car while I browsed. Our goal for the evening was Florence but there was no room at the inn so we continued on. Then, the crisis.

In Yachats, where there was again, no place to stay, I called a friend there and received a timely invite to her house for the night. Problem? She lived out of cell phone range. For 12 hours, there would be no text messaging. Minor panic ensued. He did everything but take the phone apart in an effort to get reception and never quite gave up. In his favor, there was no temper tantrum - simply a quiet "this is upsetting" comment as we traveled deeper into the woods. He survived and the next day, we finished the trip home, arriving to 106 degrees in the city. He immediately found a DVD player to watch Dave Chappelle and I began sweating. We survived our first road trip. Together.

Super Duper Snuper

My favorite chainsaw sculpture.

Paul Bunyon and the Mystery Trees

South of Crescent City, near Klamath, California, lie the Mystery Trees http://www.treesofmystery.net/ . I love these kind of kooky things and I insisted that we stop and see them. Paul Bunyon and his big blue ox, Babe, greeted us in the parking lot with an invitation to take a picture on his boot. We declined the boot photo but snapped one of them without us and paid our admission to this most massive of attractions.

Entering through a locked gate, we saw an assortment of "natures wonders", including family tree, candelabra tree, and the cathedral trees. The cathedral trees included piped in hymnal music and an invitation to marry. El Nino continued to be impressed by the big hugeness of the trees. After riding the sky trail and viewing the illustrated Paul Bunyon stories (by giant sculptures made with a chain saw), we left the trees of mystery and continued on the road.

El Nino resumed the San Francisco argument to no avail. I stood firm. We made it to Arcata and he delighted in this California town and its Californianess. He loved the California houses, the California stores, the California pedestrians, and the California beaches. I couldn't resist - at one point we passed some chickens in the road and I pulled over. "Look!" I said. "California chickens!" He grinned and promptly took another picture and texted some more friends about the wonders of California.

We ended in Eureka but by that time, he was so tired he could barely walk. I noted people enjoying a yoga class on the board walk (I thought that only happened in exercise videos but then, this WAS California) and we got back in the car and headed north. Except for my frantic backward driving down the highway to take a photo of a snowy egret on the side of the road, our trip back to Crescent City was uneventful. He did request that I refrain from reversing down the highway in the future. I agreed to this most reasaonable request. We were bonding.