Happy Birthday Don!

Happy 60th Birthday Don!

It has been a long, full month of celebrating this remarkable guy. From the surprise party earlier in the month to our long road trip to a quiet family dinner later tonight;  the girls and I have been thoroughly enjoying honoring the man who has brought much laughter, calm, protectiveness and love into our lives.

Don is a super-awesome dad. Whether it's the symbolic or real shoulders to lean on, Don is always there for his girls. He reads to them, plays donkey on the trampoline with them, bakes with them, shows them how to change the oil in the car, works in the yard with them. I could go on and on.

 

Amara and Havana are very, very fortunate to have such a great parent like Don and I am lucky to have a partner who supports me in so many ways as well. So on this milestone birthday, we are so filled with joy to honor Don.

Happy Birthday! 

Feather Floating on Water

Ancient, Sacred, Redwoods (at Redwood N.P. and Jedediah S.P.)

We could have driven straight back to our home in Pinole from Idaho but I had my heart set on seeing the gigantic, sacred redwoods that grace the most northern part of California. And I wanted to share that with my family. There is nothing greater for a family than to be together in nature.

I first laid my eyes and hands on redwoods when I lived in Garberville in 1988, a small town about 150 south of Crescent City. It was love at first sight and I always wanted to go further north to see the older ones. So we drove and drove for hundreds of miles, so that we could all set foot in the redwood forests that soothe the heart, soul and mind. As always, the redwoods were welcoming and healing.

Amara standing next to the root of fallen redwood. Massive.

There is something whimsical, mystical and magical about these very gentle giants. One's heart feels lighter when in their mists; the soul child emerges, ready to dance and play and climb. I suggested to the girls that if Fairies were going go to live any where it had to be in the redwood forests. Shorty afterwards, we saw hundreds of enormous dragonflies by the river, which Fairies use as transportation!  I mean, if I were a Fairy, this is definitely where I would live!

Another family shot next to one of the 'elders'. This beauty was over 1,000 years old.

 

What a glorious way to spend a morning and we were most fortunate that along the entire ride home, we were able to see many more of the mystical trees as we drove the 101.  I suspect it won't be long before we spend a long weekend up in far Northern California to hang out with the redwoods again.

Full Moon on Road Trip

One the Road Again

On the Road Again

We left Yellowstone knowing it would be a long drive. Days of driving, until we reached the Oregon Coast. At some point, Don and I agreed that the Central Oregon coast was too much driving and opted for Crescent City, on the border. That would allow us, or rather me, the chance to at least cross back over into Oregon, if we felt like it, and see the coastline I have longed to check out for many years, (it turned out, we opted for the beach and Redwoods of Crescent City.)

During our drive from Yellowstone, our road trip turned out to be pretty everything I had hoped a road trip could be; a chance to drive and stop wherever we felt so inclined, and to experience whatever showed up along the way.  We loved the small Western town just outside the West gate of the park, where we had lunch at a small restaurant that had been in the same family since the 1950’s. Our young server was part of that family and we got to learn about the area from the historic photos and artifacts that hung throughout the establishment. No pun intended, but I just eat up stuff like that.  I mean, does it get any better than when the girls need to use the bathroom and instead of just standing in there waiting for them to finish life usual, I got to check out a photo  of a frontier woman, with rife and leather garment dating back to the about a hundred years? Things like that make my day.

The drive to Idaho Falls was long; Amara and I took a nap while Havana watched a movie (Don preferred to drive most day.) After a pit stop at Walmart (yes, Walmart), we continued another 2 plus hours to Twin Falls. I had it in my mind for months to stop at Shosone Falls. We arrived at our RV campground with just enough time for the girls to take a quick, refreshing dip in the geothermal pool and for us to do a load of laundry before crashing for the night.

The next day we headed to Oregon after a stop at Shosone Falls. We contemplated skipping it because we had hundreds of miles ahead of use but the Falls were only 9 miles from the RV park. There was no way we could pass it by and when we got there, we were all happy we did.

The drive through the High Desert of Oregon reminded me of where I used to live in Iriezona (that’s Arizona in English!). We drove for miles along a river before coming to the small town of Burns. Four and a half hours of driving was suffice. We stopped just before town to check out a Native museum and gift shop before setting up camp for the night. I was thankful we were back on PST, as we gained an hour. Don took the girls for a walk while I threw together a most welcomed home cook meal including Idaho sweet corn. The girls topped it off with Dairy Queen (which ironically was just across the street from the local head shop!)

 

Resistant about another long drive day, I opted to get up just past 5 a.m., and while the girls slept, (Don got up with me), I set off. We had a seven hour drive time and I wanted to make good time. If the girls would sleep several hours that would help alleviate boredom while they were awake. I drove a good 3 hours along some pretty desolate landscape but we were blessed to have two young male deer gracefully bounce in front of our RV and saw many a wild rabbit along the way. The views were just breathtaking too. From stark landscapes, to salt lakes, to forests, we troded on until we hit the coast, with enough hours in the day to enjoy the majestic Redwoods and Coast. From 10,000 ft. to sea level, we covered a lot of ground. Here are some photos of our days on the road from Yellowstone to the Pacific ocean. 

Midway or Mystical Geyser

The Midway Geyser, or what I nicknamed the Mystical Geyser, was one of our last stops in Yellowstone. We were excited to not only see the rainbow geyser but we would meet up with our friends, Noy, Jeff, Apsara and Fabio, who met met and hung out with a for a bit in Lava Hot Springs.

 

The geysers at Midway were just plain gorgeous.  From turquoise blue to deep rustic orange and everything in between, I was glad I brought a long one of my sacred rocks. Don teased me that it would start to glow from the energy of the place but I wanted to charge that sucker up. I also used our time there to do a very short refresher on the chakras and how the deep colors we saw were good for the energy in their bodies! Such a hippie dippie mom I am!

Seeing the scalding, rainbow colors of the falls amongst strong winds, it was a great way to start to stay goodbye to Yellowstone. What better way to head out than to have such a strong impression of such a magical and beautiful space.

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Fires

When we left California, there were several devastating fires burning in both SoCal and near our home in NorCal. And while I knew fires occurred in other places, I was not prepared for the reality of about six fires burning between Grand Teton and Yellowstone.

The ranger at our first campground in Colter Bay informed us that she was not that concerned "yet" about the fire, whose smoke was visible in the air and felt in our lungs. It turned out that just days after our departure from the parks, the South Road, which we traveled was closed to the fire spreading and reaching the highway. (for those that know me, I have the uncanny ability to travel just before or after to a place where disaster has struck.)

In Yellowstone, where there were several fires in different locations, we were mindful to pay attention and ask questions about the fires for our safety. After dusk, the fires provided spectacular but scary sunsets. Scary because we knew what fire could mean to all around us. Thankfully, they did not spread while we were there but when we left through the West Gate we were advised to drive with our headlights on in case the smoke was too thick. We were fortunate not to encounter any smoke but when we had lunch in the small town of West Yellowstone, we could see the fire burning in the not so distant mountains near the park, from where we sat. It was intimidating to me but the locals were "watching them" and didn't seem that concerned yet either. I got the feeling that fires are part of the way of life in areas more remote than the rest of the country. Grizzly, bison, long, rough winters, fire. All part of the seasons and cycles of life in those parts of the world.  Still, it hurt my heart a bit whenever we drove through areas where fire took out huge areas.  Yet, at the same time, I knew, that all of this was part of the Divine Plan and Divine Order of the natural world.

Sacred Waters

Rivers; Cleansing; Mother Nature’s baptism.

Yellowstone provided an abudance of opportunity for us to stick our feet in cool, healing waters.

Sometimes during the heat of the day, the water was refreshing for our physical body. Other days, a stop alongside the river for some water time was soothing to our hearts, minds and soul.

Both were a blessing. Water is scared and we were fortunate, coming from the severe droughts of California, to have water all around us.

Yellowstone Wildlife

While we were not fortunate to see any bear or wolf in Yellowstone, we were graced with seeing other wildlife in the park.

Sometimes we were prepared for what we might see; specifically the bison who caused daily traffic jams, or rather bison jams, in all directions. Those mammoth, ancient creatures delighted us each and every time we had to stop the RV for them, pulled over to get out and observe them in a field or had to hush as we tip toed by them on a trail. They might have appeared to be too huge to run fast but we knew that was far from the truth. Bison could do some serious damage, in a quick amount of time. We kept that in mind each time we were in close proximity.

Water is abundant in Yellowstone which allowed us to see many varieties of winged ones. We saw several species of duck, some crane, giant ravens and even some eagle. Amara, whose medicine is the eagle, got to get as close to an eagles nest as possible. She was just plain tickled about that. She was so excited that she made sure Luvey and Ellie got to peak at them in their next too.

Some of us sighted things that others missed; Don saw a coyote and, not surprisingly, a fox. Amara spotted an otter or beaver in the river and I saw some elk in the trees one evening. The next night, driving back to camp after dusk, we pulled over (when there are cars pulled over on the side of the road in Yellowstone, it is a sure sign of some animal nearby) and were lucky to gaze on a huge herd of Elk enjoying their evening meal of grass next to a river. That particular type of elk did not have horns. I had hoped for the girls to see a buck but they were elusive. That is until our last day, when we were just a few miles from exiting the park, when right there in the river, was a huge male, drinking water, acting as if the dozen or so human bystanders were not staring and clicking away with their cameras. Once again, wildlife is not to be taken as dumb; that grand elk looked up, directly at me, and started to make his way out of the water. A nearby ranger told us that he was making signs of aggression. We all scrambled back to our respective vehicles at a lightening pace.

During our drives we also got to see deer (larger than any species of deer I had ever seen before) and antelope. It was all magical and I gave silent and verbal thanks that we were able to see our non-human kin in their home. I want my girls to grown up respecting, honoring, and protecting (when possible). It is my hope that trips like this, being out in nature, will plant life long seeds of appreciation and love for the nature world and especially wildlife.