Next Things

We're moving on today, after a month here at the Catholic Worker we're making tracks. Heading to San Fran today, see a Giants game tomorrow, maybe visit a new friend who happens to be a priest. Go to the ocean, and then on to a winery north of San Fran to pick grapes for about 10 days before we head back this way and on to Reno to check out a cattle and horse ranch! After all the uncertainty of where we were going to head next, a way has been made. New farms, new places, new things! And by the way, it's still really warm.

At the Catholic Worker

Life these last 2 weeks has been seemingly normal. All the while containing none of my usual activities, none of the usual people. Unusual food. Unusual work and chores. Unusual trips to Big Trees park and Yosemite.
I've been working at a Catholic Worker farm in Sheep Ranch California. We're 45min from any sort of town, but only 3 hours from a long list of great places to see in California.
My mornings start with a 9am meeting over "coppuccinnos" where we discuss the days work, the differences between mennonites, catholics, quakers and whatever category I fit into. We dig or back fill for various projects around the farm. Harvest veggies. Turn compost. Built a raised garden bed. Chuck rocks. Work on my tan. Sit and watch the chickens run free for 2hours a day. And then stop for lunch and dinner, using the garden's proceeds to try and come up with yet another creative connoction.
Our home doesn't lock, doesn't have much electricity at night, and won't promise you hot water. We have baby chicks, complete with the smell of baby chicks, in a corner of the house. And big black ants attack the toilet each night, swarming it. Only to be gone again come morning. We spend each night trying to find things to do to fill the night, trying to not go to bed at 9:30pm. I've finished the The Kite Runner and Spiritual Direction. My skin is often black, my nails too. I'm building calluses on my hands. I'm dealing with the critters and the snake in the garden.
But nothing feels out of the ordinary. This is just where I am. What I'm doing. Who I'm with. At least for the next 2 weeks.

Next

Since Portland we've been seeing a lot of the road, a lot of the sea and lot of fog. We never managed to find the somewhat secret Hobbit Trail, but settled on a beach with a lighthouse instead. We wimped out, and spent the wet and cold night in a cheap motel, did laundry, charged electronic devices. Functional and wise choices. The next day we drove for 45min before we realized we'd already passed our plans for the day, we turned around and drove 1hr back, and realized we didn't have exact change for the park pass. So we drove again back to town to get change, and drove back to Oregon Dunes park. We ended up back in the same town we'd spent the night for a late lunch in a fabulous cafe that seriously raised the stocks of that little town, and drove south through Denmark, and into California. And then we did the unthinkable, spent 2 nights in one place! The Hostel in the Redwood National Park is delightful, and so are the trees. So we spent 2 nights, in the fog, across from a ferocious beach. This morning we hit the road on time and spent the day driving south again, our destination: San Francisco. We stopped along the way at a roadside attraction known as the "Hill of Confusion" which "bends" gravity, and I'm still dizzy. Gotta run...

So Far

It was a dramatic, disappointing and weary wait for this whole adventure to start. But here we are in Portland, one week since we left GP. Having perused Seattle's Pike Market, hiked 2 of our planned trails, seen Cape Disappointment (and toasted life's disappointments), and found a Kite Flying Festival on the world's longest beach. We've got lost along the mountain roads to Mt. St. Helen's, which were wildly unmarked and inconsistent with the map. Slept within 15ft of the most prolific train route known to man. White water rafted a class 3 and 4 river and gone over a waterfall, on purpose. Seen the world's 3rd tallest waterfall, Multnomah Falls. And eaten fiery hot Thai food in Portland, Oregon.
Today we move on down the coast, we reconnect with the 101 and all it's twists and turns. We get to frolic in the ocean, see the sand dunes and track the Hobbit Trail to a hidden beach.

Smoky River

D and I spent an afternoon at the river. He and I are hanging out for these 2 weeks, I'm reclaiming my "domestic goddess" title, tying up all the loose ends for the trip and trying to get in decent shape.

Unemployed!

It's official - I'm unemployed! Everyone else is heading to work, being responsible, continuing on in "normal" and I get to plan my own days. What do I want to do today? It's kind of exciting.
I'm sure my days will mostly fill up, appointments and errands I have been putting off, can be put off no longer. I have to do a better job of packing things into storage, need to soak up this hot weather and there's a grand trip to plan!
It's less than 3 weeks until Chantal and I hit the road the West Coast. I can't wait for the beauty of the ocean, the 101, the mountains, the redwoods. I have to spend these weeks getting into shape, cause I have been lazy since boot camp ended. So I've started into a regular regime of running stairs to get ready to hike.
And then there's the farming to plan, my friend Kurtis has decided to join me, and we're searching out the best farms in California! This next chapter of life will be grand!