//Stephanie//
It’s so easy to “get behind” on these blog posts… Lately I’ve found myself criticizing this tardiness then reminding myself that I’m actually HERE on the trip.
Before we left our lives in the valley, I lived in technology. Every day diving into the interweb of connectivity… Making files, sending files, receiving files… This continual other-world ness made it hard for me to connect to nature, to feel its pulse, to sleep to its rhythms.
Perhaps that’s why we’ve been battered by the wind and drug tired by the dropping sun… And perhaps that’s also why I feel so happy after hanging from the great redwoods being rocked to sleep in my hammock…
We needed this.
The top of the California coast continues to amaze us… Each turn sortof looking the same and also so new. Rocks sometimes more jagged, sometimes more sand. For some reason, all unusually windy. It wasn’t until we reached the end of Highway 1, where it turns inland to the redwood forrest that we enjoyed the peaceful early summer weather.
A long time touristy dream was fulfilled when we drove through the big redwood tree, and another secretly nerdy dream came true today when we saw Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox.
Last night was our first KOA campground experience, and it was a welcome one. Safe, protected from the wind, with rediculously cute lattice fences between campsites. And HOT showers.
Since we’ve been on the road for almost a week now, we’re getting so good at setting up and tearing down. Packing and unpacking. But in the monotony (and comfort) in these routines are little opportunities to make every place we are, our home.
Our tent has a bead and crystal charm that Bear’s friends made for his birthday, and the multicolored LED Christmas lights. When your walking through a campground or along a bluff, and see our tent, it looks like a little glow bug. It’s so cute and comforting, and helps us feel at home.
I have pictures of our cats on my phone that I look at often, and today when I needed a pick-me-up, the shop cat in a gas station brought me so much happiness.
I miss our girls, and I’m so glad we’re here. I actually like sharing all of this with you, because it helps me remember it in a different way than I experienced it.
There’s something powerful in reflecting…
Today we said “goodbye” to California and “hello” to Oregon.
