Day 3 Canada first steps

The road takes you over many summits overlooking snow-covered mountains 

This is what it looks like across the border!

Our first canadian market.

Seattle

My dog Kuma continually impresses me.  He has the ability to play with his whole boy like a whild, but is always aware of the humans.  If someone leaves the group for a moment, Kuma will go find them, then return back to the group.  When I woke this morning, Cole had already initiated the morning ritual which begins with walking the dogs.  I used the quiet time to explore the magic woods alone, breathing the moss crisp air.  I wandered down a small path away from camp, finding a lush green dark forest bottom.  Followed my ears to a babbling brook with spoft, flowing moss snuggling its side.  In being there rewarded my sense of discovery and I realized I wanted to come back to that place later to fully appreciate all of  all of its qualities.  I walked back towards camp, and after a long time realized that the surroundings no longer felt right, or familiear and I was confiused about where I went wrong… As soon as I began to feel worried, the light bell sound of Kuma’s collar tags grew closer and closer.  My beautiful dog came to get me.  Then he lead me back to camp.  Kuma had been with cole with Cole and suddenly did not listen to his commands anymore.  He ran off outside camp to come retrieve me.  This experience really effected me.  I really was in no danger other than feeling a little concerned, but he had the wherewithal to think of me despite how fun it is to play with the other two dogs. 

            The mornings have developed a regimental schedue – Cole wakes up first and lets Bebe and Otis out of his and Rache’s tent.  Then I wake up to two noses poking into the rainfly of my tent and kuma’s increasing excitement.  When I open the tent, kuma escapes to meet his friends while the friends wag into my tent to come get goodmorning love.  The chain reaction then continues – cole takes the dogs outside of camp, I get some alone times in the clean air… Tom rustles in his tent for a while before crawling out of his pink tent and finally Jrret comes out.  We’ve repeated this ritual for 5 days now.  Morning is my favorite time.  The sells are clean, all is illuminate, the mood is calm and cozy.  No words are spoken at first, just the hiss of coleman cooking the espresso water.  To the background texture of the  of the waterall, Tom made an oatmeal for the group with honey, cinnamon, chopped almonds, dried cranberries and coconut oil.  Dogs wearing backpacks lead us up a mountain road that occasionally gave us the view of undeniable Mr. Rainier.  It took up a third of my vision with bright white triangles.  We took a group rest in the woods.  Dogs rolled around and nipped eachothers necks in patches of snow, this was another group discussion about what to do next with our day.  Do we stay around this campsite or go to Mr. Raineier, or head up to Seattle?  Seattle it is.  We packed up camp after a falafel veggie bacon wrap party in the woods and arrived to beautiful seattle in the late afternoon.  Our first destination; coffee shop with internet.  We seem to have a group consensus that we want to move to seattle.  Of course, the weather wato move to seattle.  Of course, the weather to move to seattwas clear.  Yet again, Rachel came through with a lovely friend who let us stay in her home for the night.  She’s a master flutist and knows how to plany many inspriments.  She is sweet and loving, feminine enjoying the night with us while we try to cook our fresh vegetables before the the Canadian border tomorrow.  Something I did not foresee – that the border will not allow fresh fruits or vegetables.  We all had a feeling about this, but no one verified before the trip shopping.  Maybe #30 lost.  WE gae the excess to our lovely house hose.  Refreshing to sleep in dooors and take a hot shower.  We haven’t been camping ver long that it feels necessary, but it sure feels good. 

Portland

We’ve got potato packets sizzling on our camp fire now and I’m recounting the day’s events.  I slept incredibly well last night after the hot springs.  In fact I continued to be somewhat sleepy all day today form the heat of the sun.  After packing up camp and breakfast this mornig, we drove up to Portland.  It’s a beautifl city surrounded by verdant carpets of trees and hills. Our destination was a used outdoor gear shop where we all filled in our inventory with useful stuff.  The two men behind the counter were to helpful and showed us some great camping areas that we could go to outside of Portland.  I could feel the group become cranky and irritated – which oculd only mean on ething, we were hungry!  In the Safeway parkinglot, we wused a single burner and heated a pot of espresso for iced coffee, made sandwiches and eveggie bacon wraps and felt much better.  Food is so important for a group morale.  It’s probably the equivalent of new memoreis as far as importance.  So we’rve made it to a campground, nothing special but feel good and are ready to plan our day for tomorrow and used our coal-cooked red potatos in the morning.
Made an amazing scramble this morning with coal-raostse potatos, onions, cheese, Egg.  We’re so good at breakfast.  After refueling and stocking up on water the destination became Mr. Rainier through a beautiful country road lined with grass pine trees ohorses small houses blue skies.  The state signs here have a silhouette of george Washington on them.  The park ranger informed us that camping season in the park actually insn’t open for another 15 days, so we took a back road.  Cole drove us up a bump dirt road littered with pot holes.  He’s developed such a relationship with his bus that he makes thi s a pretty smooth ride.  Our campsite is a pull of f rigt next to a waterfall.  It’s moving tso fast that it creates a breeze and cleans the already fresh air.  This place is stunning – deep moss everywhere covering logs covering white moving rivers, mountain aquafers leaking out the side of the earth, meandering trails leading to nothing, dim forest light, no mosquitos, crisp cold air.  The night had a feeling of magi to it so Rachel and I beame forest witches, creating a fire, naming certain plants mystical names like wizards beard and land-growing eaa lettuce.  The men were the worlocks and collected wood for us, helong us with our witch tastks.  We made pasta, fire raosted hot dogs, s’mores.  Carbs are good.  Tom played banjo which matches the woods surprisingly well, adding a home quality, making a memory feel somehow, deeper. 

Day 2 Eugene

Park in Eugene

Our first campsite

The view outside of Eugene

Our first At home breakfast with Lauren!

Party House, you don't see the beer bong hanging on the spiral stair

This took so much prepration to leave.  You never really know what you need to prepare for until you’re already on your way.  All five of us have travel experience, just not in a group of five.  To my surprise I am finding that the advantages far outway the disadvantages.  When you are lucky, there are five helpful people who pick up the slack where the others leave off, so work is always getting done.  There’s room to be lazy and room to put in your energy and when you do, it benefits the whole so it feels more inspiring. 

My Mom- probably the most thoughtful and helpful human being I know was there to see us off.  She helped us stock up on food, supplies.  There’s something she has that I don’t – which is years of family road trip prepration experience.  She has this knowledge of proper quantities – 2 bags of carrots, 1 loaves of bread, 4 pasta sauces.  To all of us, this looks like an unnecessary amount of food, but I now her thinking is right because of all the times she’s bought food for the family.  I subletted my house during this trip so I don’t have to worry about rent.  Mom helped me pack all my things into a closet and lean the house.  She’s amazing.  We all gathered at Cole’s house, brought all of the supplies there.  I’ll be honest, with everything layed out on the ground – packs, food, supplies, blankets I it honestly seemed like it would not be able to fit into the bus.  Somehow we made it work.  The boys built a large platform bed taking up the width of the bus.  There is an oriental carpet on the platform with pillows lining the perimeter so it looks and feels like a hookah lounge.  We all climbed into the bus and there was a feeling of “rightness” like all of our efforts finally made sense.  It all came together.  This is our new home.  We waved goodbye to our people and started the journey, leaving Sacramento.

            We were quickly shown a gap in our collective forethought – we didn’t secure any of the stacks of food or tools down, so they of course fell into the galley way.  Thomas and I secured everything with a couple bungy cords – problem solved.  The ceiling has a large stretch cargo net attached to it where we’ve stuffed all our stoft things like sleeping bags, blankets and pads.  Their weight pushes down with the cargo net and there is a constant wave motion of the ceiling when the bus is moving.  We took turns driving through the night all the way up to Eugene Oregon. 

            We decided that whoever is driving needs an awake and mentally stimulating co-pilot… otherwise it’s just too difficult to drive long distance at night.  Dinner was at a rest stop – hardboiled eggs that my lovely cousin Courtney made for us the night before, with Sriracha.  Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches, Apple with peanut butter.  Now we understand the inmportance of how much food we brought.  The amount of stars I can see always lets me know that I’m on a vacation – to somewhere worthwhile.  Stars make me feel connected to my spirit somewhow, like I know I’m on the right track, or like everything is chaotically in its beautiful order. 

Day 1 set sail

Rachel drove the final stretch in the early morning to get us to Eugene.  We parked in the target parking lot and slep all together.  It’s very very peaceful to all be sleeping in the same den.  When the people and the dogs are sleeping, it becomes a collective ritual sleep… very sweet.  I got to wash my face in Target – a first for me.  The boys used a single burner on the blacktop to heat up water for the coffee.  The dogs chased eachother on the lawn, Rachel slept to recover from the drive. 

            Our first destination this morning was to Rachel’s high school friend’s boyfriend’s house.  The boyfriend was sleeping, but we got to use the kitchen to make breakfast – looked like a fra house when we arrived.. Beer bong hanging from the winding staircase, beer stains all over the carpet, lost panties stuck to the wall and a kitchen filled with dirty dishes.  We did all the dishes so we could get some counter space and all worked together to make a potato onion cheddar scramble, bacon, toast and coffee.  We sat on the foor and at our breakfast.  It’s so satisfying to build something with a team – including breakfast.  Lauren was really kind and open to us, our time with her was relaxing and fun – we spent a few hours in a park by her house where Eugene folks were in Swim suits to soak up the 1% of sunshine they get in a year.  We happened to arrive on a lucky sunny day, playe crossword puzzles in the sun.  The boys played on the teeter totter.  We spun ourselves on the merry-go-round, the dogs dug in the san, cole slacklined. 

            After this great visit, we hopped aboard the bus and rove east to Willamet National Park where Rachel had remembered a special hot spring.  Though it was Sunday and the park was supposedly closed, we took the risk and drove the bus up a windy road along a huge Emerald green lake.  We found some campgrounds and instinctually found our site, set up our tents and started a fire.  We’re such a good team.   I told everyone that I feel very nourished by this experience.  It’s amazing how everyone just works together, when things need to get sdone, someone sees the need and does it – we’re a collective and no one really needs to be asked.  For dinner we made a tortilla stew.  It was Mexican-ish in taste, because we don’t have a large stockpot, we split p the stew into two separate pans.  One had all the fresh veggies with spices sizzling, the other was a tomato sauce – corn, pinto beans and spice.  Rachel made guacamole, she always finds a way to make the most luxurious food with minimal ingredients.  Opened a can of chicken breast and put everything we made into bowls.  We sat around the fire, eating, laughing and preparing for the hot springs to come… When the stars were fully visible, we walked as a pack along a forest path by the light ofour headlamps.  The path rose and fell,veered left and right, eventually ending at a tiny hut lit by a candle.  The faint light of the stars illuminated the 4 teired rock pools surrounded by tall pine trees.  We all stripped down and awkwardly climbed over the rocks in the dark into the first pool at the top (the hottest).  There were a cfew people there enjoying with us.  This was the oment where I felt like there was magic.  Like we started on that special path of openness, allowing those unforgettable moments in.  At one point, in the hottest pool, there were 3 women including Rachel and I, and two men including Cole.  The woman started singing this beautiful song, like a loud angelic hum.  Rahchel and I chimbed in and our pool started beaming beautiful music from it.  We were so focused on the sounds that it drowened everything else out and made our pool sacred.  There’s something bonding about being naked with someone, the five of us chose to be naked with naked with eachother and it felt very respectful, like I recognize you as a human, just like me.  I felt even closer to the group after this experience ahd have a permanent visual in my mind of the dim night illuminating the hot springs.

Alaska preparation

There's a new journey about to begin. Alaska. Going as a team of 5 + 3 dogs. Starting in Sacramento, driving up California through Canada and all the way to Homer, Alaska. It will be a long ride approximately 3,000 miles. In our last few meetings, we've thought about supplies we will need and most importantly how to outfit our mode of transportation which happens to be an old Blue bird short bus for the special ed kids.  We are special.

Testing out my 2 person tent in the backyard.  Went mostly well, need to find a cushier sleeping pad than what i've got. Temperature was great, but i need more padding even when sleeping on a cot.

Dogs having their own conference

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Bro and Otis

Lumber for our Sultan bunk bed idea

Moving an original seat over to the other side of the bus.. Had to drill new holes into the metal.

Fastening the seat to the ground.

Our Sultan bunk bed storage unit. Peeps on top, Stuff on bottom.

This took so much prepration to leave.  You never really know what you need to prepare for until you’re already on your way if it’s a first time experience.  All five of us have travel experience, just not in a group of five.  To my surprise I am finding that the advantages far outway the disadvantages.  When you are lucky, there are five helpful people who pick up the slack where the others leave off, so work is always getting done.  There’s room to be lazy and room to put in your energy and when you do, it benefits the whole so it feels more inspiring. 

My Mom- probably the most thoughtful and helpful human being I know was there to see us off.  She helped us stock up on food, supplies.  There’s something she has that I don’t – which is years of family road trip prepration experience.  She has this knowledge of proper quantities – 2 bags of carrots, 1 loaves of bread, 4 pasta sauces.  To all of us, this looks like an unnecessary amount of food, but I now her thinking is right because of all the times she’s bought food for the family.  I subletted my house during this trip so I don’t have to worry about rent.  Mom helped me pack all my things into a closet and lean the house.  She’s amazing.  We all gathered at Cole’s house, brought all of the supplies there.  I’ll be honest, with everything layed out on the ground – packs, food, supplies, blankets I it honestly seemed like it would not be able to fit into the bus.  Somehow we made it work.  The boys built a large platform bed taking up the width of the bus.  There is an oriental carpet on the platform with pillows lining the perimeter so it looks and feels like a hookah lounge.  We all climbed into the bus and there was a feeling of “rightness” like all of our efforts finally made sense.  It all came together.  This is our new home.  We waved goodbye to our people and started the journey, leaving Sacramento.

            We were quickly shown a gap in our collective forethought – we didn’t secure any of the stacks of food or tools down, so they of course fell into the galley way.  Thomas and I secured everything with a couple bungy cords – problem solved.  The ceiling has a large stretch cargo net attached to it where we’ve stuffed all our stoft things like sleeping bags, blankets and pads.  Their weight pushes down with the cargo net and there is a constant wave motion of the ceiling when the bus is moving.  We took turns driving through the night all the way up to Eugene Oregon. 

            We decided that whoever is driving needs an awake and mentally stimulating co-pilot… otherwise it’s just too difficult to drive long distance at night.  Dinner was at a rest stop – hardboiled eggs that my lovely cousin Courtney made for us the night before, with Sriracha.  Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches, Apple with peanut butter.  Now we understand the inmportance of how much food we brought.  The amount of stars I can see always lets me know that I’m on a vacation – to somewhere worthwhile.  Stars make me feel connected to my spirit somewhow, like I know I’m on the right track, or like everything is chaotically in its beautiful order.