Nothing the See Here...Move Along {via the Past}...

Out in the middle of nowhere {okay, it was Coulterville, California~population 201} somewhere during the first few weeks of our grand RV escape, longing for a TV to watch Giants Baseball or even a little NFL, desperate for free wi-fi {who am I kidding, we would have PAID for it} we headed to the nearest town and parked next to this truck.

 

 

There were names of soldiers, some POW but mostly KIA, covering nearly every inch of this truck. Very somber to say the least. However, what I saw, right outside of our Jeep's passenger window, where I sat when we pulled next to this truck, literally took my breath away.

 

 

PFC. Rachel Bosveld was my sister-in-law (my sister is married to her brother) and I was shocked to not only find her name on this truck, thousands of miles from her home state of Wisconsin, but that her name was one of the first I saw. Tears instantly filled my eyes. Rachel was killed during a mortar attack on the Abu Ghraib Police Station in Iraq. She was just 19 years old. She and I did the music for our siblings' wedding in Alaska just 2 years earlier.

Rachel

It was such a surreal moment, seeing her name on that truck, one that still twists my gut and dampens my eyes. It makes me wonder what it's all about...this life. Sometimes we think we have so much time that we put things off or take them for granted...always promising (if even just to ourselves) that we will get around to doing {fill in the blank} another day. But we are not promised another day.

Emerald Pool above Vernal Falls rests on a solid sheet of polished granite.

Hiking through Yosemite this past week, feeling overwhelmed by the smallness of our existence while walking across a gigantic slab of granite polished by a glacier some 100 million years ago, I had moments of clarity...that in the grand scheme of things probably 90% of what occupies my mind {worry, fear, longing, blame, past hurts, resentment, regrets, etc.) add no benefit to my life. Not only that, but these thoughts are robbing me of my present life.

I lost count of the number of stairs we climbed up to the top of the falls...but they almost broke us, however our spirit (and ego) pushed us forward.

Our second day in Yosemite, Clark and I climbed to the top of Vernal Falls via the Mist Trail. It's about 1.5 miles one way but has a 1000 foot gain as well. I had misread the guide and was under the impression this was marked an "easy" hike. It was far from easy and at one point we contemplated quitting and turning back. However, once we completed the climb and the equally, if not more, gruelling decent the pain and suffering seemed to evaporate as we celebrated our accomplishment.

A little toast to surviving the hike at Camp Curry.

But that's the key, in a sense...to release the pain so we can relish in our ability at having overcome the obstacle. Whether that pain is from something our parents did (or didn't do), something hurtful some guy said to us years ago, some misunderstanding we had with a friend or co-worker that got so blown out of proportion that our Ego won't 'let' us forgive or forget, a test we failed (or class for that matter), a relationship that didn't work (perhaps from our own indiscretions)...whatever the obstacle or challenge that we have had to deal with and lived through demands our celebration.

zensationalliving.com

At some point, after the pity party (which is hopefully short lived) and mourning, we need to let go so we can continue to live in the moment. The past has nothing to offer except the lessons we've already learned...and we need to rehash those about as much as we need to keep tracing our letters in cursive and practising our multiplication tables over and over {ahem, in other words it's time to move on}.

source

Rachel was 19 when she died thousands of miles from home...almost 9 years ago to the day. As I sit here at my comfortable desk, sipping a lovely Petite Syrah, watching the San Francisco Giant clench their spot in the World Series I wonder what her life was like, and what would/could have been. I wonder if she had the chance to love someone with all of her heart, if she stopped and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her face or laughed when she got caught in a sudden downpour. I hope so...I hope she enjoyed every moment she was given, even the hard ones...and I hope you do too.






Getting Lost...

via Facebook

My friend Lauren likes to call getting lost an "accidental adventure". My friend Coleen posted the above image on my Facebook wall after we managed to get lost for the fourth time in a row during our last Weekend Sherpa Adventure to Alamere Falls in Point Reyes National Seashore.

Along Point Reyes National Seashore.

It seems to be something that just happens, even in this day and age of GPS and map quest, or perhaps because of these conveniences (I swear my GPS has taken me to the craziest places, like dirt roads made for ATVs or mountain bikes). I remember using those impossible-to-refold maps {one for every state} to navigate a trip from Warner Robbins, Georgia to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania...my dad at the controls of his brand new 1984 Camaro and me (all of 13 years old) making sure we made it to Grammy's house so my dad would be proud of my awesome navigation skills. Now, I not only print out mapquest or Google map directions, but then also use my phone's navigation app, and still manage to get turned around.

My Grammy Weber {RIP}

But, like Lauren says, and like Coleen and I have done, we make the most of these accidental adventures...or at least use them as an excuse to stop for a coffee. Hmmm, I wonder if Starbucks might be behind all of this? I'm not sure that the hubby will be as amused as Coleen and Lauren when IF I get us lost while he's behind the wheel of our 32 foot RV that's also towing a Jeep...it's not so easy to turn that thing around or drive through narrow streets when GPS has us taking some odd 'shortcut'. We've already had to disconnect the Jeep once to make a u-turn on a random dirt road my navigation app told us would end up at our intended campground. It didn't...and I swear I heard banjo music playing...

So last week, after taking the long-way (I won't say lost because the road eventually did lead us to the right place), Coleen and I were treated to quite possibly the best hike ever. Being a bit worried that we might be disappointed after the gorgeous hike to Stinson Beach the week prior, we almost didn't want to attempt any new hikes. But, once again, Weekend Sherpa came through with this fabulous suggestion. And this is what we were treated to:




Alamere Falls...yes, a waterfall ON the beach!

I'm a sucker for the beach...and waterfalls...so you can understand the problem with this setting...where to we eat lunch? Facing the waterfall or the ocean?

A blend of forest, beach, ocean vistas, lakes waterfalls and coastal breezes.

 

I don't know if Coleen and I will have time for any more adventures. She is currently in Kauai running a half-marathon with Team-in-Training and I have four weeks before we hit the road (with two dental appointments, a camping trip to Ano Nuevo and Butano State Parks planned as well as my husband's retirement party). We've made some great memories and taken a ton of pictures. I've certainly enjoyed every second I've been able to spend with her and consider her to be one of my closest and best friends.

 

We're so dang cute!

Our new friend.



Weekend Sherpa

My time in Northern California is quickly coming to an end. After living in the East Bay for 18 years (longer than I've lived anywhere) my husband and I are packing up our entire lives and heading out in a 32-foot Winnebago RV to travel the country indefinitely. We leave in seven weeks.

"The Mutiny" at Folsom State Park

 Short-term-itis has set in and so seven weeks feels like forever while we plug away at our 'day jobs' counting down the days until we launch. However, we recently started preparations it's now becoming apparent that this time will fly by and we may not be ready if we aren't careful. Lots of lists and appointments and sticky notes of 'things to do' litter our living space so we don't forget the small details, like updated rabies vaccinations for the furbabies.

In a previous post I had mentioned all of the things I still wanted to do before we leave. Norcal is a wonderful place with so many things to do and experience that one could literally spend a lifetime trying to see it all. We live just 2 hours from Lake Tahoe and some of the best skiing in the world...as a matter of fact, we were just married this past Christmas at Squaw Valley Ski Resort which was home to the 1960 Winter Olympics. Go the other direction and in about an hour we can be in the heart of San Francisco enjoying noodles in China Town. Just outside of The City there are Redwood forests, beaches, more mountains, national monuments and a million places that will take your breath away...and did I mention Napa Valley (aka Wine Country) is 30 minutes from us?

In a mad rush to experience every thing I can {because that's what I do} I've enlisted the help of the best running partner in the world, Coleen. Inspired by Weekend Sherpa's Adventure Challenge (to complete three of their adventures and post pictures of us doing them on to their Facebook Page to earn a Weekend Sherpa t-shirt) we've accomplished six so far.

1- North Peak of Mt. Diablo

Dang there's a lot of uphill on this hike!

The North Park of Mt. Diablo...we just came from there and were on our way to the Summit.

2- The Grand Loop to Mt. Diablo summit

We made it!!

Part of the 360 degree view from the top.

Mt. Diablo Grand Loop

3- Sutro Baths

The Sutro Baths...

Sutro Baths with the Cliff House in the background...

4- Land's End Labyrinth

The Labyrinth at Mile Rock Beach

In the Labyrinth...

Coastal Sweet Peas

5- China Beach

Sutro, China Beach, Land's End

Coleen enjoying the surf with the Golden Gate in background...

6- Mt. Tamalpais to Stinson Beach (and back)

Spotted some wildlife...

Hiked a portion of this famous trail...

Found some beautiful coastal flowers...

Was treated to an amazing view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge from Table Rock on Mt. Tam.

Posing for pics on one of many bridges on Steep Ravine...

Cooling off in the Pacific Ocean...Stinson Beach.



Mt. Tampalpais/Stinson Beach

Beautiful scenery, fun-filled adventures and great outdoor hikes aside, the time I have been able to spend with Coleen has been the true highlight of these past few weeks. It's hard to say goodbye to friends and I have no idea how I'm going to deal with this one in particular. It's pretty rare for me to find someone who enjoys so much of the same things and can still carry on a good conversation or for us to be in each other's company without the need to fill every second with words...no uncomfortable silences here.

Hopefully, Coleen and I will be able to squeeze in a few more adventures...after all, I still need to get a picture of us together in our Weekend Sherpa t-shirts!

* Note: I will be blogging our RV Adventures at Tales From the Mutiny if you care to follow along!