Wandering Spirit

**A note before I start writing… (July 25)

I just read in RVSue’s blog, that Rusty’s dog Timber was recently killed by a mountain lion while camping in southern Utah. Many of us have followed Rusty and Timbers story over the years, on Sues blog. If you would like to send condolences to Rusty…who witnessed this tragic event…you can do so by going to Sue’s most recent blog posted last evening ( http://www.rvsueandcrew.net ) and writing it there.
So heartbreaking.

Writing about my own dogs now, and realizing even more how very precious they are to me.

July 22, 2015

Leaving behind the biggest of the trees, we drive the Oregon coast, north. Mile after mile of amazingly beautiful coastal scenes unfold, along with the fresh ocean breezes. On the left rocks and waves, on the right piney forests.

Small to midsize towns punctuate our path.
Just past North Bend we dry camp on a field beside some alpacas. For the most part this keeps the dogs and the alpacas occupied. There seems to be this staring contest going on.

After awhile the group of alpacas wander off. I make some random noise and a few minutes later I am startled to see all 6 of them standing at the fence staring again.

Still staring….

They are so quiet and so curious. Joy and Shiloh never bark at them. The brown one seems to be the leader of the pack.

July 23, 2015

We say our good byes to the alpacas and head further north on 101. It’s a short drive to Waldport where we camp next. I choose the Chinook RV Park because they have a huge off-leash area next to the river for the dogs, and because when I talk to Becky on the phone she seems like a genuinely nice, dog loving person.

Joy and Shiloh rush into the river and rush out to roll in the grass, over and over and over.

The Alsea River

A convenient dog rinsing area is provided and it comes in VERY handy!

July 24, 2015

Becky tells me about an out of the way ocean beach area where dogs can run free and we head there.
Instant replay…Joy and Shiloh rush into the ocean and rush out to roll in the sand over and over and over!

Rush in…

The tide is out and the beach is huge, with lots of water lingering around rocks. This calls for some soaking time.

Salt water soak

The long-stretching deserted Oregon beaches are just the best!

If you are looking for a nice place to bring your dog on the mid-coast of Oregon, I recommend:

Chinook RV Park

Our camping spot.

Site #23. I would want this same site, if I were to come back again.

the owners, Becky and Ben, couldn’t be nicer. The park is clean, small and fairly priced.

Walker Road is a narrow dirt road in Jedediah Smith State Park. We walk on the road because dogs are not allowed on trails here. No matter. This road is for the most part, unused, except for the first 500 yards or so, where there is a trailhead.

It’s all silence. Feeling ant-like among the trees.

These Coastal Redwoods are some of the worlds tallest trees. They grow from seeds the size of a tomato seed yet can weigh 500 tons and stand taller than the Statue of Liberty. They can live 2000 years and average 500-700 years old. Other Redwoods live to be over 3000 years old.

It gets one thinking. Contemplating life.
Perspective is good to keep in mind.

We are here such a short time. Our dogs and cats…so much shorter. We think that we have accomplished so much, but what is it compared to a Redwood tree, standing quietly in the forest for centuries, sending out good energy? We think we own the earth. We can be so silly.

Note to self:
My time here is tiny.
Enjoy it.
Love.
Be kind.

Holy trees. Not as in “Holy trees Batman!”….but Holy, as in sacred and precious. As in considered worthy of spiritual respect, inspiring awe or reverence.

It’s not like I’ve never seen redwood trees before. I lived on the California coast for years. It’s just that they are one of the most majestic life forms I’ve ever seen.

This morning we leave WS in her campsite and I drive JR south to The Avenue Of The Giants. There is a self guided driving tour that explains some of the sites, but I make most of my stops at less popular pull overs, so we can have some alone time with the trees.

It’s cool and quiet, as we stand in the presence of these majestic tree-beings. We walk among them and then just stop, and I feel the energy they radiate. So pure. So positive. So protective. It feels like….dare I say it….love. I feel like I’m receiving an infusion of love…from trees. It’s heartwarming and uplifting and I have an endorphin rush.

Yes, I’m your tree hugger type. Today they hugged me back!

Joy and Shiloh pick up the awesome energy

If you ever get the chance, you might want to consider adding spending time with redwood trees to your bucket list.

Can you see JR parked between the trees?

Some not yet ripe wild blackberries.

I have more pictures but my free internet isn’t cooperating….I hope the pictures above convey a tiny bit of the beauty we experienced today.

We spend Wednesday night, July 15, at Lawson’s Landing, a hook-up free grassy camping area next to the sand dunes.

The sand dunes and the ocean are behind me as i take this picture.

The short walk across the dunes brings us to the ocean so Joy and Shiloh get some good water play time, and I get some sun, sand, sea breeze and sparkling views.

July 16 we camp a few miles north of Mendocino. I want to be near the Stanford Inn so I can have dinner there, and walk in their gardens.

Imagine gardens of organic flowers and veggies, and fine vegan dining…with your dogs. This place is a dream come true. The good vibes here reach out to all beings with peace and compassion, and bring a calming spirit to all.

The restaurant there is called The Ravens, and it’s vegan 5 star dining. AND…you can bring your dogs with you to the dining room. Ok, it’s not ‘quite’ the dining room, it’s next to the dining room, and it feels like the dining room and looks like the dining room. Technically it isn’t though, so dogs are allowed.

Joy and Shiloh make friends with the wooden horse by the fireplace.

Fine dining with dogs!

I (heart) pink wine!

It’s an enchilada!

Latte with soy milk was the perfect desert for me.

Joy and Shiloh were served a bowl of water and were peaceful throughout my meal. Next to us were to more Goldens and their people, and also a mom with her nursing 6 week old and her 4 year old. There was no barking and no crying and no fussing….a peaceful time was had by all.

Today I drive the harrowing Highway 1 north to where it joins up with Highway 101…if there is a driving test for pulling a travel trailer, I passed it, because we survived. Now we are in Fortuna, CA, among the big trees. We will stay here two nights, then on to Crescent City.

July 14, 2015

On the road again and glad to be!

A million thanks to Mary for letting us stay with her since the end of May. She is one in a million to put up with all of our shenanigans for all this time,and for helping me through some rough places. I am grateful!
I do love living in my ‘little house’ again though…this is home for sure.

Where am I going? I don’t know. we are headed to Washington right now…then…who knows? Who cares? I just want to GO. This is the first time I haven’t had a deadline to meet, and wow, it feels so good! I feel so…FREE! I’ve waited a long time to be free.

Oh, where are we now? Lodi, California at Flags RV Resort. It’s half price with Passport America, so $27.00.

I drove about 140 miles, first north on Hwy 101, then over Pachaco Pass to I-5. On through the flaxen blonde hills and the citrus and nut trees, through Stockton, and on to Lodi. I’ve stayed here before and mentioned the humongous dog area they have at this park. When it cooled off this evening we spent about an hour there. One other dog was playing there in the area about as big as two football fields…another Golden named Chewy.

Tomorrow we head to the coast!

Till I’m on my way.

Gee, I’ve been at this place before…almost a year ago, so it would have been August 3, 2014, because I left the first time on August 10, and spent the first night under that beautiful full moon.

Again, the plan is to travel the coast (after skipping San Francisco because I don’t want to pull WS through it) to avoid the heat as much as possible.  Where I’ll spend my time has changed somewhat.  My previous plan was to meander slowly up the coast, but now I’ll more purposefully head for the Olympic peninsula and the rain forest in Washington and spend at least a few weeks exploring that area.  After that, plans are unformed.

Mary, Joy, Shiloh, and I spent a few days at Thousand Trails Campground near Hollister, CA.  We were able to avoid the sound of fireworks that way.

         Patriotic Shiloh!                                                      

Stars and Stripes and Stones forever!

This week we will be celebrating my moms life with some friends and family, and I’ll be celebrating my birthday. Odd combo. Also I’ll be repacking and reorganizing my few necessities of life in WS and JR.

Then on July 14 off we go, with the bumps and boulders in the road safely behind us for now.

July 1, 2015

…But in two weeks I’ll be on the road!

It’s hard for this Wandering Spirit to sit still for such a length of time. It’s been necessary though, and it’s been good too, with lots of family and friends time.

I’m getting it back together.

Mary, Joy, Shiloh and I will be going camping over the 4th at the Thousand Trails campground about 40-50 miles from here. Mary will be camping in her ‘Prius RV’ and the rest of us will be in our little WS home.
Two reasons we are taking this little trip: Mary needs a camping fix badly, and Joy and Shiloh need to get away from the fireworks! It sounds like bombs going off every night here for the last week or so, and I can only imagine what the real holiday celebration will bring.

Supposedly fireworks are not allowed at Thousand Trails….let’s hope….because Joy especially, hates the booms and bangs. The past 11 years while I worked, I requested the evening of July 4 off. Not so I could picnic and party, but so I could be there with Joy when the noise gets bad.

Yesterday WS, my rolling home, got new tires. “You got to roll me….keep on Rollin’ “. (Rolling Stones, ‘Tumbling Dice’. 😊)

From the date code on the old ones they are 5+ years old now. They look fine, but according to the word of many seasoned RV’ers, travel trailers need new tires about every 3 years and the looks of the old ones can be very deceptive. I don’t want to invite a blowout so I feel like I have gambled long enough. The bearings were also repacked and the breaks were checked and found to be fine.

Looking forward to leaving on this mini trip tomorrow and getting my sea legs back. My Wandering Spirit needs to wander!

Downsizing. Minimizing. Letting Go. Decreasing my worldly goods. Lightening my load.

Whatever you want to call it, I’m doing it. Again. Still.

So what do I do? I buy another storage space. But now wait a minute, give me a chance to explain!

My new space is 5×5. My old space is 10×10. Whatever I can’t part with is going into the 5×5 space…1/4 of the old space. Whatever doesn’t fit into 5×5 is going bu-bye.

I’m giving it all away. We don’t need much to live our chosen lifestyle.

Jason and Mandy took some things off my hands yesterday. If you are in the Monterey, CA area and would like to see if there is anything you want or need, come by my storage space today after 1:30. All I ask is that you take it away.

Contact me for location.

PS if you are interested but can’t make it today, contact me and we can set up a time in the very near future.

Back from Arizona Monday night. Exhausted. Emotionally drained. At moments feeling 5 rather than 65. Needing to find my balance again. Feeling like a computer system rebooting….except that emotions are more complicated than computer systems. They don’t behave in mathematical sequence, just the opposit actually. They go off on tangents and crying jags and build mountains out of mole hills. They get lost in black holes and worm holes and thoughts end up on the other side of the universe. (Wait…does the universe have sides?)

Grief is a unique process for each person and for each situation in a persons life.

There is much busy work right now, no doubt a good thing.
I do want to be on the road again by around the middle of July, but I have my work cut out for me to make that happen.

During the time my mom became ill, was hospitalized, was diagnosed with cancer, and passed away, my doctor was informing me that my mortality was also at stake due to heart problems, and she was having me tested in various ways. Then one morning she called me and said she felt the results of the tests warrented a referral to a cardiologist.
I had no symptoms and felt intuitively that there was nothing wrong with my heart. But….then worry set in. Fear crept in as the days passed while I waited for my appointment. I bought a new blood pressure doodad and took my BP about 100 times. That being fine, I bought a little pulse oximeter and put it on my finger to keep track of my pulse and observe the oxygen content of my blood through various activities…or no activity except staring at it.
I imagined the near future with various senaroies predicated by fear.

Let’s face it, mortality has been on my mind, with my mom slipping away dad by day before my eyes.

So yesterday I had my appointment with the cardiologist. I handed him a list of my blood pressures and pulse over the last week because I have ‘white coat syndrome’ really bad and I knew my BP would be sky high when taken in the office.

He sat with my chart, thick with all the test results and asked ” so what brought you in today?’ I told him it all started with my doctor telling me I needed my ‘welcome to Medicare’ EKG, and I went on and on. He listened. He got my history. He examined me. Last, he studied the chart.

And he said some happy words….’I think this is going to be a very short visit.’

He found everything to be normal. He found my heart and arteries to be in fairly good condition for having worked non stop for almost 66 years. He dismissed me with good wishes in my travels and said no follow-up visit would be necessary.

I fairly flew out of that office…a huge weight lifted. I was too overwhelmed to be able to think further than this week…but relief flooded me.

And I’m intermittently flooded with sadness, thinking about my mom…

I’ll be flying to Tuscon tomorrow to have her burried next to my dad.

Mary will be taking care of Joy and Shiloh for me. I’ll miss them for the 4 days I’m away, but I won’t worry about them. I want to take this time to thank friends and family who have been wonderful during this very rough time. Thank you for the calls the emails, and posting here, and for helping me and supporting me in so many ways…thank you so much…words just don’t express it. By family, I’m referring to Mandy’s family (my sons new wife), who have adopted me, right along with Jason. They are an amazing clan, and I am so honored that they have welcomed me into their love.

So I will tend to my moms burial, and later this month my new family will be hosting a ‘Celebration Of Life’ for her. After that Joy, Shiloh and I will be heading out into the wild, blue yonder again to continue our exploration of this beautiful blue marble.

Life Is Precious.