Bonfire in the rain

Monday began early. We left our overpriced Holiday Inn in Elko, Nevada at around 6 am and began our drive. Destination: Gold Beach, Oregon. By 9am we turned on to highway 140, which turned out to be the most uninhabited country I have ever driven through. We were on that highway for over 3 hours and passed a total of 3 other vehicles, and 0 houses. The road stretched on forever in front and behind us. Arid, bare land reached out toward the horizon in every direction. The wind continued to blow us north, north, north, as if trying to hurry us along to our destination. It was a fight to keep the Uhaul on the road, and we came close to running out of gas before coming to a tiny town over the Oregon border with a single gas pump and a single store. The walls of the store were covered in taxidermy animal heads- at least 50. The gruff woman in the store rang our gas total up on a huge antique cash register, and we high-tailed it out of there.













It's funny how similar southeastern Oregon and New Mexico are, with plateaus, badlands and Pinon trees. We continued on, winds still blowing, until we finally reached the lush Oregon I love so much. We also met pounding rain! I really wanted to see the Redwood National Forest in daylight, and we saw our first Redwood around 7pm, right when it began to get dark. We pulled off the road and wandered around the soaked forest, surrounded by incredible, massive, ancient trees. What a wonder, the Redwood tree! The rain followed us all the way to Gold Beach. We stayed at my favorite motel there, the Gold Beach Inn, and splurged for a top floor ocean view room. Believe it or not, we paid less for this room than we did for our room in Podunk, Nevada. This makes no sense to me.

Rain pounded on the windows all night, and at one point we both woke up from the noise. In my sleepy coma I thought the waves were crashing onto our balcony, not the rain. Regardless of the noise, I had an amazing sleep and woke up feeling completely refreshed. Our Kayak was weighted down and droopy from all of the rain that had collected inside of it, and the sea was more wild and swelled than I have ever seen it.


Gold Beach Inn









We drove down highway 101 to Neskowin yesterday. We made a couple of stops, one for lunch at a "Mexican" restaurant and a quick browse through an antique shop in Florence, where we found an old Japanese glass buoy, still encased in it's netting. Amazing! My mom has a couple that I have always admired, and I've tried to convince her to give me one on several occasions, but now I have my own. We also slopped at the Sea Lion Cave, paid our $12, and took a trip down an elevator to the "worlds largest sea cave" and saw hundreds of Sea Lions hanging out and playing in the surf. The cave was filled with the grunts, moans and groans of the animals, reminiscent of a sound you would expect to hear in the depths of Hell. Weird! It also had a pungent odor, but I'd expect Hell to smell a little worse.







When we finally made it to Neskowin, it was almost dark. We got an ocean view room at Proposal Rock Inn, a motel I stayed in years ago. We got a bundle of kindling, newspaper, a frozen pizza that we cooked it in our motel room's little oven, and then headed down to the beach. The rain had stopped on our walk to the beach, but by the time we started building the fire pit, the rain had returned. We wanted a fire so badly that we spent about 20 minutes in the pouring rain trying to get it to light. Dejected, we walked down the beach and back to the room, where we watched Mrs. Doubtfire and tried to warm up again.


Proposal Rock Inn and Eagle River. A Piece of my heart.

Last August, Kelli and I took a trip down the coast of Oregon and back up. We ended the trip at Neskowin, our favorite beach. It's one we've been coming to for years and years with our Dad, and it's always been a very special, never changing place. Last year, we had dinner at the only restaurant, The Eagle River Cafe, and then walked down to the beach for the sunset, where I saw people gathered around several fires along the beach. We'd never had a bonfire on the beach with my dad, and I got so sad with the realization that we never would. I made a promise to myself that next time I was at this beach, I would have a bonfire. Although the fire was a soggy disaster, I'm glad that I at least attempted it. And I know I'll be back to Neskowin, so there's always next time.


Kelli and I at Neskowin beach, circa 2002

2008

2008


2010
We're staying at my Grandma's tonight and tomorrow night in Salem, and then we are headed up to Bellingham, Washington early Friday morning to catch the ferry. It's always good to see my Grandma, and I'm really glad we were able to fit a visit in on the trip up.

The Winds of Wyoming!

We got up early, around 5 or so, and ate a breakfast of pancakes and eggs that Troy made us. Good way to start off a long day of driving! After packing up the Subaru with our suitcases, we snapped a few pictures and said goodbye to our generous host before heading off into the unknown, north of Denver, and into Wyoming.


Troy and Steph








Steph drove first, and I dozed off pretty quickly, waking up in Wyoming. The winds were ferocious as they blew snow north, across the plain and the road we were on. The truck jerked and rattled along. Soon it was my turn for a 2 hour driving shift, and we swapped at a truck stop in Laramie. The highway west of the town was just as bad, with blowing snow blanketing the road ahead but never settling in one place. We're lucky we weren't blown off the road like a handful of other cars and trucks strewn along the highway. The winds settled further west as we continued on. Our goal was to reach Elko, Nevada by the end of the day.










Fitting in with the big boys!

The wind was the most exciting part of the day, with the rest of it being pretty mellow, aside from Steph and I randomly belting out parts of songs and forgetting to put the gas cap back on after one gas stop. Oops! Soon Salt Lake City came and went, as did the salt flats, and countless small towns and mountain ranges. We found ourselves rolling into Elko around 9pm, 8 pacific time. We managed to find an outrageously expensive Holiday Inn with no pool, and are now watching Titanic. What a loooong day.




Killing time!

Tomorrow should be a good day. Our destination is Gold Beach, Oregon. We'll be going through the Redwoods as well, which I'm excited about!

Umbilical chord: cut. Day 1

There's a feeling that comes with leaving something, someone, or some place that you love. It's like a knot tied up with every memory of joy, comfort, sadness, anxiety, fear, peacefulness, and love you've ever had for whatever or whoever you are leaving. It's the feeling I had when I'd go on a vacation as a child, the feeling I had when I left my job last month, and the feeling I had when my dad died. It's the feeling I had yesterday, driving away from my home of 22 years.

I knew this moment would come when I first dreamt of moving away, but there's no way to prepare for it. I wondered if Albuquerque's forcefield would blow one of our tires before even leaving the county, but we kept on going. Passing through Santa Fe, the knot grew bigger as I briefly thought about stopping at my Mom's to say one last goodbye, but we kept on going. The first goodbye was hard enough, what would make a second easier?



The first day of driving was somber but nice and easy, only about 8 hours up to Denver. There were strong winds around Springer, NM and then some precipitation between Colorado Springs and right before Denver. But we, and our little rig, made it with no real issues to speak of. We're staying with Stephanie's uncle, Troy, for two nights.



The Uhaul is a lot nicer than the ones you rent when moving in town. I guess they save the good ones for people moving one way so they don't have to rescue someone out in the styx. It has 42,000 or so miles and is a lot easier to drive than we had anticipated. The only problem is that with the car trailer it is a pain in the ass to reverse, so we have to work a little harder making sure that whatever parking lot it is driven into, reversing is not required to return to the road. We spent $170.00 on gas the first day. Yikes. We went about 441 miles. Only 1,996 more miles to go!




Plants in the front seat!

Today we had breakfast at a cool little restaurant called Toast, and then we headed to the Downtown Aquarium here in Denver. It's the best aquarium I've ever been to, with tons of cool fish, sharks, yadda yadda, an exhibit with very active Otters, Tigers, and a stingray petting/feeding area. After swimming with massive Rays in Belize, needless to say the Stingray exhibit wasn't too impressive. And, one bit me! I had a little dead fish poking out of my knuckles like the sign says to do, stuck my hand in the water, and before long a stingray skimmed down the wall and encompassed my hand, grabbing the fish and me with it. It splashed away pretty quickly and didn't hurt too badly, but upon further inspection I was bleeding! I guess I can add Stingray bite to my list of weird things that have happened to me..


Stingray battlescars

To jump back in time a bit, loading day was Thursday. We picked the Uhaul up at about 8 after taking our time getting breakfast. I think that subconsciously we were procrastinating all of the work we still had to do, but eventually we started loading. Steph's dad came over around 11 or so and helped us for a few hours. We had envisioned loading the whole thing ourselves with no help whatsoever, but in reality we really did need a professional to help us with the logistics of getting the big stuff onto the truck, and with the heavy lifting. Needless to say, we were VERY grateful for his help at the end of the day. Stephanie was planning on bringing her bike, and even performed an Evel Knievel-esque trick by driving it up the ramp and onto the truck, but in the end, it took up way too much room and she made the decision to leave it in the garage that she shares with her brother. As a result, we were able to bring pretty much everything that we wanted to take. We returned to Uhaul at 7:30 and had them install the car trailer, and then came back and finished loading the boxes in the dark. We were dog tired after loading all day, with the exception of a lunch break with Jeannette and a run to CarMax and my sister's so that I could say goodbye to my birdy). The next morning, instead of leaving at the crack of dawn like we had planned, we slept in, and then loaded the car with clothing and delicate items, loaded the kayak, and we were off around noon!

Tomorrow we leave at 5 in the morning because it will be our longest day of driving, about 13 hours!

Here are a few pictures from Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday:


Tuesday night at Elephant Bar. Amanda and I had a falling out in high school, but reconnected a while back. It's amazing how, even though we didn't speak for years, we eased back into our friendship so effortlessly. I know we'd have so many good times together, but I know that we'll stay in touch. And I'll see her when she stops by Juneau on her cruise in a year!


Here Kelli and I are at Ojo Caliente, a mineral hot springs spa north of Santa Fe. Our mom used to take us a lot when we were kids. It's become a lot more classy and spa-like in recent years, but I've been wanting to go back and I'm so glad we were able to fit it in on Wednesday.


Mom and I after the soak.


We had an AMAZING dinner at the spa's restaurant.


Steph, Jeannette and I on Thursday. We worked together for 3 years at CarMax, have the same sense of humor and can laugh for hours about the weirdest things. She really helped motivate me to be healthier, and even taught me how to ski. I'll miss Jeannette a lot.

I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to say goodbye to because of how crazy the last week was, and I'm a little sad about that. BUT we have an extra room in our house in Juneau, so it's a free room is a good excuse for people to come up and visit!

P.s.
I'd love to read your thoughts and comments! All you need to do is click the "comment" link :)

Goodbyes are temporary!

Sunday was spent up in Santa Fe for a few hours, visiting with family and family friends. We had a late St. Patty's day celebration with corned beef and cabbage, and followed it up with a Miracle Fruit. My Mom, stepdad and sister gave me an beautiful antique oil lamp for my home in Alaska, just incase an avalanche takes out power. But I'm out of the avalanche zone, remember? Ha. Either way, it's pretty cool. I hate that I'm starting to gravitate towards pretty, delicate glass items in terms of aesthetic decor. It's going to make moving from here on out just a little harder. But.. I'm hoping that for the next move I make, I will feel less attached to my "stuff" and have to pack far less.





I had to leave the party in Santa Fe early and head to Albuquerque for dinner with my old co-workers and friends at Buca Di Beppo. I missed those who couldn't show up because of typical work shit, but I have to make one last trip to the store on Thursday, so hopefully I can see them then, as well as say goodbye to the others I neglected on my last day! We all had a great time laughing like old times and catching up. Last night was a continuation of the goodbye party with drinks at a hole by UNM for an hour or so. It was great to see everyone one last time before I hit the road, but also a little sad. It's more evidence of the place that I am leaving behind. I found myself tearing up during the goodbyes, but kept it together. Goodbyes are only temporary after all.


I found the DVD that my uncle Stan created of old recorded movies we took during a couple of our summer visits to Oregon back in 2001-2002. I watched them the other day, laughing pretty hard at what an awkward, nerdy kid I was. Why didn't someone tell me!? My dad was in a few of the clips, and I realized that it was the first time I've heard his voice in years. For a while now I've been half thinking-half avoiding the thought- of what he would think about my move to Alaska. I want to remember him as being adventurous, free spirited and imaginative, and I think that he was when he was younger. He backpacked around Europe and painted before becoming a teacher. Later, he started his own short-lived art school. He took us on some of the most memorable vacations, going to San Francisco, British Columbia, and Yellowstone when we were kids. He had a saying whenever something went wrong, or not quite as planned, on one of our trips. "It's an adventure! Look at it as a big adventure". I can still picture him telling my sister and I as we cruised down the highway in Arizona's summer heat, dripping sweat because the 1988 plymouth had no air conditioning. Of course I hated the saying back then, because it still left us in whatever rotten situation we were in, but today, it's something I find myself saying all the time. Life really is one big adventure. And that's why I think that he would be supportive of my decision to move so far away, to such an unknown land.

But another part of me remembers my dad as an authoritarian. This view came during my teenage years, when I was surly and angsty and full of hate for High School and who I was. He would sit us down and give us lectures. Lectures on everything imaginable. I pushed back SO hard during those years. I ditched school more times than I can count my senior year (sorry mom!), drank and smoked occasionally with my friends, and was ready to be an adult, or so I thought. My dad always took school seriously, knowing that it's hard to get places without a college degree. He hammered it into us, and I think that is what has kept me in school after High School. Looking back, I think that he was weary of the world we would be entering after High School. He followed politics, but I was never sure what he really felt about the war. He would watch the nightly news every night, without fail.
He didn't travel much, with a yearly trip to Oregon to visit family the exception. Growing up, he always talked about wanting to travel to Greece and Italy. He probably still wanted to go to those places, but I think that his debts, two soon to be college-aged kids, and the shit teacher salary kept him on Chico rd, watching reality tv shows, painting, journaling, and gardening instead of seeing the world. I think that he would want Kelli and I to see as much of the world as possible. He had a degree in Geography, which is ironically part of the degree I am going for at UAS, and he would sit with his huge brown hardcover atlas and study different countries. I still have the atlas, and I've found myself doing the same thing. I had a dream about him the other night. In it, he was yelling at me about leaving everyone in Albuquerque. It scared me, and made me second guess whether he would support me, and be proud of what I am doing. But after thinking about who he was as a person, as my dad, and before the cancer, I think that he would. It's an adventure, after all.

It's a wild, wild world

I feel that I wouldn't do our trip justice without mentioning our encounters with wild animals... at the pool.

The first night Kelli was here, we all trotted down to the pool around 8. It was empty, as usual for that time of night, and we had a ball coming up with synchronized swimming routines choreographed to music on Kelli's iPhone and recorded with my camera. Yes, that's right. (If I figure out how to work youtube it'll be posted in time, haha) I felt like I was 7 again. It was marvelous. Shortly after we finished our final performance, we heard them.
Long, drown out howls at first, then yipping, yipping, yelps and more long howls. There must have been at least 4 of them, only a few hundred feet outside of the fenced pool area off to the right. A dog fight? No growling. Wolves? Not in such a public area. COYOTES! It went on for about 3 or 4 minutes, and we all stood shivering in the pool, eyes beginning to water from such a terrifying, yet magical, experience.
The walk back to the condo two hours later was interesting. I held my towel around me so that I wouldn't see a coyote in the corner of my eye, and we belted 99 bottles of beer on the wall, our nerves leaving us unable to countdown properly.

Two nights ago, Steph and I were in the pool, again at about 8 or 9, and we saw a big, fat raccoon hopping around a garbage can. After our Coyote encounter, I was afraid it was some kind of mutant Coyote, but alas it was only a fat Raccoon. It meandered away, and Steph and I hurried to the Restrooms to change. When we emerged, terrified of course, we peeked around the wall and there were two fat, cute-faced raccoons swimming in the pool. Thank god they didn't decide to join us for a swim when we were in it. We managed to scare them away by making a huge ruckus and banging the key fob on the metal railing. They ran into a tree and hissed and chattered at us until we made it out of the pool enclosure.

The last swim we had, on Thursday afternoon around 1, was also eventful. A Canadian Goose we had seen a couple of times out on the dock and on the roof of a house, swooped down like a Condor headed to lunch and glided into the pool. With us. We froze, and then loosened up once we realized she, whom we named Lucy Goosie, was not out for blood. We bobbed around the pool with the huge bird for at least 20 minutes, curiously eyeing one another, until the groundskeeper, a short, hispanic man with a heavy accent, came into the pool area and flapped his arms to scare her away. "Last Weenter we had twenty-fiiive of them in here at once!" he told us. He started to clean the pool with a huge vacuum and we left. As we were walking out, he said "Ees okay, he deednt poop in thee pool". That' good.


Our first encounter with Lucy Goosie. I saw the headline in my mind: GIRL ATTACKED BY ROGUE GOOSE AT LAKE TAHOE
I just want to say..

WATCH OUT Alaska, full of Bears and Eagles and Whales and Wolves and dark forests, HERE I COME!


This is Donner lake, the site where the Donner Party camped out one winter and ate each other, in a nutshell. Steph and I snowshoed around the northern part of the lake, exactly where they stayed back in the eighteen hundreds. Only slightly creepy. It's ironic how today, a very nice road winds all the way up the mountain pass they had so much trouble with.




We celebrated St Patty's day with a Guinness on the dock at sunset.


And the sunset was nice, but it was no Alaskan sunset.

I'm back in the 505, back to reality, and it's the beginning of what looks to be a very overwhelming week. Lots to do, lots of goodbyes.