On the Road and Enjoying the Ride

Life on the road is beautiful, surprising, tiring, fun, delicious, stressful and fulfilling. We're putting in long driving days because this journey started and ends with a scheduled event. We need to be in Silverton, Colorado by September 24th, so we will be there.

Cedar is traveling well this time. He just sleeps in his carrier in the truck as we drive. I'm glad he adjusted to the journey; last time he would yowl for hours until he wore himself out.

Snake River sunset.

This is from the RV Park in Heyburn, Idaho.

It's good to stretch out after a long day in the carrier.

A Visit to Ponderosa Place

Our fall adventure begins with a friend. Our first stop as we travel to New Mexico is in central Oregon with a college friend. He has a hunting and camping property near the Deschutes National Forest. The last couple of miles are on the roughest road the R-Pod has ever navigated, but it did well and we had no damage, but we went super slow, picking our way around the larger rocks.

This isn't the road, but the road wasn't much better.

This first section of the road was great compared to what came later.

A Short Trip to a Long Beach

It's been a long time since I last posted. I haven't felt up to writing since my father-in-law died. I've been grieving at home, and Russ was away in New Mexico with his family. We were expecting it to happen, but it still felt like the end came too soon. I wasn't ready. I don't think I will ever be ready, even though I use the stoic practice of memento mori and think about my own death almost every day, so that I better appreciate my time. I am still left with this empty space in my heart.

Our long-time friends bought a property on the Long Beach Peninsula and have been inviting us to visit with our our R-Pod and camp with them. So, as a shake-down cruise prior to another longer trip to New Mexico, we finally told them that we were coming. It was so magical. Long Beach is only a few hours away from our house, so the drive was short. We stayed there on September 8th and 9th, and returned home on the 10th. It was short but relaxing. Their property is in the middle of the peninsula, about a 10 minute drive from the Pacific beaches. It's set up with a permanent 5th wheel trailer, and they also store/use their travel trailer on the lot. It left plenty of room for us to park our R-Pod.

Long Beach, WA is a public road.

Storms on the Coast in Tillamook, A Cold April for Flowers, Appliance Revolution

We took the R-Pod out to the Oregon coast to meet some friends who live in their fifth-wheel for six months at a time. They've been in Florida, mostly, visiting family and enjoying warmer weather, and they suggested we meet up as they make their way back home to Seattle. The campground was Barview Jetty County Park at Rockaway Beach, Oregon. It is a short drive from Tacoma, so we thought it would be a nice warm up for the summer travel season and a good test of cat camping with Cedar. He did ok. There was definitely an adjustment period when driving in the truck again, but after our first stop for lunch, he quieted down. He settled right back into the trailer and was much less destructive than when we brought him north.

Our weather was wild. Historic storms. Portland, Oregon got something like 6 inches of snow. Luckily, we came through the coast range in Washington and missed most of the white stuff. It did hail on us once we got settled in at the campground. Seeing the waves lash the coast was spectacular. The sea really churned the sand up from the bottom and turned frothy and sandy colored. The wind and sleet kept us inside most of the four days we spent there, but we did visit a lot with our friends. Plus we made it to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and the Pelican Brewery.

Cold but beautiful. Snow on the hills. Wind was severe.

Planning Well to Do Less, Cones, Chairs and Birthdays

I have always felt that organization is my one superpower. Even as a small child, I organized and put in order anything I could. As I have matured into the middle-aged adult that I am, I now feel like planning and organizing are not for improving my productivity, but for increasing my leisure. Unfortunately, I still judge my worth based on how much I can get done. Self esteem sometimes comes from external rewards, but mostly I find my value in crossing an item off my list.

Now I want to plan well so I can do less.

My Hobonichi Techo. True Love.

The other true loves showing me how to do less.

An unusually calm day for a walk. Looking North.

Starting the New Year with a Clean Slate and a Clean Floor.

I love the New Year. It's always been my favorite holiday. I switch over to a new planner and write all my lists and plans for the year. My theme for this year is a Depth Year, where I will appreciate all the things I already have and do. We usually eat black-eyed peas with my Mom and Dad, but this year I made some at home, and we had our own celebration, because Mom had been exposed to a COVID case and was self-isolating. We drank some sparkling wine to toast the upcoming year.

The beginning of the big snow. We ended up with about 8 inches.

New Year's Eve.

Festive cheese board.

We don't have a tree, but this works.

New Year's Day with black-eyed peas.

Adjusting to our New Cat and Adjusting to Being Home

The drive home with Cedar went better than I expected, but it was still hard on us and on the cat. The first day on the road was a short one, but he yowled the entire way, every moment that the car was moving. He did fine once we stopped and got him into the trailer. After spending two weeks in it every night, it must have felt like a safe space for him. Russ saved some of the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers to bribe him with; that worked well. He seems to really like any human food.

He damaged his nose trying to get out of the carrier.

Looking out at a new place.

At last I don't have to sit in that awful truck!

Toys helped keep him happy and keep us sane.

Moab is lovely. Too bad this was my only view of it.