Flying Solo
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Driving on the Beach, Long Beach, Astoria and Fort Stevens State Park
It always feels good to pack up the van and pull out to the next destination. Especially when I have no idea where that is. There is something magical about just letting myself be guided; going where the wind blows me, so to speak.I didn’t need to go far before I found myself at my next destination, Long Beach, Washington. Long Beach boasts itself as being the Worlds Longest Beach, however it is really a 28 mile long Peninsula. Yes, I drove the length of it.
What I really liked about Long Beach, was, like Westport, it just wasn’t that crowded. Not like the Oregon Coastal towns. Driving onto the beach was legal and so I took my Van right onto the beach with the back facing the ocean. When the winds got heavy, it was cold or the sun intense, I could seek shelter in the van. One couldn’t ask for a better view.
In Long Beach, I spent the majority of my time, not at the beach, but on the beach. We couldn’t camp overnight there, so I found a vacant City Lot where Van Lifers were parked for the night. Other than having a horrible nightmare that my Van was being broken into and I was being violently attacked, the night went well.In telling a friend about the nightmare, she suggested it might be more symbolic about someone in my life who really wants to hurt me and cause me pain. My friend felt my Van represented my home, or personal space and the attacker a significant person in my life who would probably love it if I was no longer on the planet. Yes, this is a real person.
I’ve learned that although some people may not like me and want me to suffer, I would give no energy to the attacks. I recognized that it is never about me, but rather about the person who is projecting their own inner demons upon me. Not my demons! You leave someone like this alone with their demons long enough, their own demons will turn against them in time. Meanwhile I get on with my life and leave them in my rear view mirror.
After my night in Long Beach, I drove on down the road to find a place where I could make my tea, kick back and write in my journal. I found a sweet little County Park on the Columbia River. The Columbia River comes down from Canada, through Washington, the Washington Gorge, Portland, Oregon and joining the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon. It is a very large river.In past trips, I noticed I was often destination oriented and didn’t take the time to stop and smell the roses, or drink the coffee. This time was different. I really wanted to take my time and really explore what the places I visited had to offer.
On my way to Long Beach I found this really cool coffee house on the River in South Bend, Washington. I hung out there, charged my electronics, and wrote a blog post. I tried their curry lentil soup which was Vegan, and they had a vegan treat to go with my decaf Americano. It is not so often I find places where I can order something that fits my diet. It is a rare find, and a great treat to find such a place.
Althou
gh I have crossed the long bridge to Astoria many times, I actually never turned left to go into the City of Astoria and check out it’s historic Downtown. This time I made the left. I’m glad I did. I browsed through a couple shops, talked to few people and enjoyed the quaint old town.The bridge from Washington to Astoria, Oregon is 4.1 miles long. It crosses the Columbia River and goes up very high so the ships going out to Sea can sail under the bridge. The Columbia River separates Washington from Oregon in many places.
My next stop was across another big draw bridge from Astoria to Warrington. Warrington had a Natural Grocers and a Starbucks in one parking lot….SCORE!Warrington is also home to Fort Stevens State Park where I spent a part of my day. At the point, at Fort Stevens, the Columbia river is on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. There is a jetty separating the two and you can walk out quite a ways on the jetty if you want to.
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A Wedding and a Celebration of Life and a Releasing
Westport at the Washington Coast I was on my way to my son’s Wedding when I learned my beloved Aunt had passed away after a long battle with Cancer. Being that the Celebration of Life would be in the Pacific Northwest, I knew I needed to go. As it turned out the Wedding was on the 20th and the Celebration of Life on the 25th. Both events brought the family together, and it was a time of reunion, tears and celebration.
As I write this both events are in my rear view mirror. I went from the Celebration of Life to the Washington Coast, which was only a half hour away from where the memorial was.
Feet in the Sand The Ocean is a great place to release, to let go of accumulative emotional energy. It is a great place to put my feet in the sand, to ground and connect with the great power of big water.
Water represents the emotions. It is said that the sea is a great place to get in touch with your emotions and the desert a great place to “dry out.” It is beautiful to have the opportunity for both sides of the spectrum.
There is a reason people go to the sea when they are grieving. It is as if they are giving their grief to the sea; letting it go with the waves and allowing the tide to take the grief out to sea.
Ironically when I arrived at Westport, on the Washington Coast, it was still foggy and a bit gloomy. It cleared up in the late afternoon and the evening was beautiful. I made lunch out of the back of my van and as I was kicked back in my van having my Veggie wrap, when my van captured the attention of two young surfers.We got into a long conversation about what it is like to live out of a van, travel to the places my heart calls me to, and eating healthy on the road. The young man and his younger brother had the same travel bug I had and dreamed of getting a van, like mine, and taking to the road. They were still working out the details of work and money. I encouraged them, as I would encourage my own son, or my clients, to follow their heart; because, well, life is what you make it. Live big and love big.
After our conversation, I took a long walk along the beach, and just enjoyed the fresh sea air. I collected a few sand dollars with flowery designs in the center, and sat on a log, gazing out into the abyss.
Beautiful Sand-dollar from Westport Beach. Notice the flower design with the crack right in the middle. That evening I parked at the Marina on the Bayside and enjoyed the view. It was a beautiful and quiet evening.
I was awakened to the sound of monster diesel trucks driving in and parking on either side of my van, idling in the cold, foggy morning. The morning at the Marina came very early for the fisherman, who talked among themselves, as they prepared for their day at sea. Somewhere out in the line of fishing boats there was the sound of grinding.
I extracted myself from my warm bed to drive back to the State Park. The park was already bustling with surfers in their wet-suits braving the foggy coastal morning, for a chance to ride the waves. I made my tea, wrote in my journal for a while and then took another long walk. It was now time to move on down the road to the next destination.
Westport has great surfer waves and known for its kite surfing. You can barely see the kite in the sky in this pic. It is attached to a surfer. He allows the kite to pull him along the waves and can stay afloat for quite a long time, surfing back and forth along the waves. Here is a Video taken from someone Kite Surfing at Westport.
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Lucky to be Alive
Winchester State Park in Idaho One thing I learned from life on the road, is that I need to stop more and explore those “out of the way” places, that I tend to fly past on my way to somewhere. I need to be less busy going somewhere and more relaxed. Stop and smell the roses, or at least taste the coffee.
Although I no longer partake of caffeine, one of my favorite past times is to hang out in quaint little coffee houses, where I sip on a Chai Tea or a decaf Americano. Normally there is an Internet connection and I can’t check my email and catch up on my writing.
I’m a little behind today, as I’ve had over a week of experiences since I last posted. Some of the experiences that were a big deal a week ago, are all but forgotten, such as the day from hell, where I almost hit two deer at two different times and places, while going 65 miles per hour. Both times the deer came jetting out of nowhere and crossed the highway directly in front of me, causing me to slam on my brakes. This resulted in things flying all over in my van and breaking my glass tea press and mason jar, I was traveling with.
Winchester State Park in Idaho That same day I was passing two slow moving vehicles going about 75 MPH and a car came up from a side road and decided to turn right onto the lane I was passing in. So I was in route for a head on collision, before the oncoming car quickly pulled off to the side. Whew!
My destination this day was McCall, Idaho, a little town on a big lake, but by the time I arrived it was so crazy busy, on a Tuesday afternoon, that I decided to keep moving. The State Park was full and the downtown area was so crowded I couldn’t find a place to park. I wasn’t in the mood for crowds and I had clients the next morning. I needed a quieter place.
Winchester State Park in Idaho One thing I realized about myself in my travels is that I am not a crowd person. I like the remote, out of the way places, abundant with peace and quiet. I like to be where I can listen to the sounds of nature, walk in the forest and have a relatively quiet camp spot.
As I was driving through the Canyon in the Snake River recreation area the temperatures were in the high nineties. I left Arizona to get away from these kinds of temperatures, I wasn’t interested in sleeping in them. It was evening and I had been driving all day. I was tired. I wanted to stop for the night, but not with this heat. So I kept driving.
Prayer seemed like the best thing I could do at this point. Could I please have a nice ending to a long day? Could I please celebrate that I am still alive after all the near misses somewhere nice? I specifically requested cooler temperatures, quiet and Cell Phone reception where I could get a Wifi signal for work.
It wasn’t long before I descended into a valley and the temperatures dropped from the high nineties to the seventies. I then saw a sign for a State Park two miles off the highway, with camping. I made a quick turn and found myself in a beautiful quiet State Park overlooking the lake, nestled in a pine forest. I had a phone signal. My Wifi unit worked. My prayers were answered.
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Lake Pettit in the Sawtooth National Forest
As I left Sun Valley in my rear view Mirror, I had my GPS pointing me towards McCall, Idaho. I wanted to go over the mountain pass outside of Sun Valley. Sometimes the GPS would show me this route, and other times my only options were to go back through Sun Valley and through Boise, Idaho. I finally got it to point me to the mountain pass and off I went.It was quite a beautiful drive over the mountains and on the other side were these beautiful rocky peaks, some still had snow. It was an even more beautiful place to me, then Sun Valley, and much less crowded.
This place had a great feeling. I saw a dirt road off to the left with a sign that said Pettit Lake. I made a spontaneous turn and headed the two miles of dirty, dusty road to one of the most beautiful places. I got the last available campsite.Borrowed from the Sawtooth National Forest USDA Website:
Pettit Lake Campground is located approximately two miles west of Hwy 75 on FS Rd 208. It is in a secluded area next to Pettit Lake nestled at the base of rolling hills and majestic peaks. Swimming, fishing, kayaking and canoeing are wonderful activities for Pettit lake. There are 9 single-sites and 3 double-sites which are all first-come, first-serve. Tin Cup trailhead leading into the beautiful Sawtooth Wilderness is located at the north end of the campground. There is a day use picnic area adjacent to the campground. Personal watercraft are not allowed on Pettit lake.
When I stopped at my campsite, I got out of the van and immediately hiked down a nearby trail to check out the views on the side of the lake. They were incredible. I loved this place. When I came back to the van the camp host Rachel, was waiting for me. “I was wondering where you were,” she said. She asked me if I would be staying and I noticed my van was in the direct sun and it was still quite hot out. She said “well, we have some cloud cover, and there are some thunder storms coming in.” I said “okay, I am staying and gave her the $16.00 fee for the night.
Rachel was a young woman, most likely a free spirit like myself, who decided to leave her former life behind and try out camp hosting. She lived in a Class B Motor-home at the park. After we talked for a while she told me she liked me and found me really interesting. I said “thank you, I like you too.”That evening Rachel swung by my camp and we chatted some more. She expressed an interest in music, so I showed her my new instrument, the strum stick, and played my new song for her. Before long we were both singing my theme song.
I took two hikes along the lake trail. One that evening and further down the trail in the morning. It was truly an incredible place. No cell phone service. Just peace and quiet.After a beautiful morning hike along the lake, I packed up the van to move to my next destination. I was truly happy to have stumbled upon Lake Pettit. This was the kind of place that made my spirit soar.
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Sun Valley, Idaho
After driving about six hours, I arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho. It was a place I had never visited before and I was excited to check it out.Sun Valley, Idaho is not a town, in itself. It is a popular Ski Valley along the Wood River comprised of several small towns. The main towns are Bellevue, Hailey, and Ketchum.
Ketchum seemed to be the most popular. It was a bustling tourist community with traffic inching along through the quaint small town.
I was tired and not ready to deal with traffic, so found a National Forest road and drove to a place that looked like it would be nice to camp. Wrong! The mosquitoes had no mercy. They were biting any area of exposed skin several times in one chomp. I knew I had to get out of this place.
I went back into town and headed on down the highway until I came to a nice riverfront picnic area. I stopped for a while and enjoyed the peaceful sounds of nature. There were few others at the park. It was a good place to make lunch and chill.Knowing that I could park my van and camp any place in the National Forest, I wasn’t concerned about finding a place to sleep for the night.
When evening came, I decided to take a road going the opposite direction as last time and ended up in a beautiful green valley with pullouts along side the road. There were some interesting camper rigs pulled off to the side. I found my own little pull-out and nestled in for the evening. There was a very mild rain beginning to come down and the air so fresh and clean.
I grabbed my new instrument, a Strum Stick, which is a three string instrument similar to a guitar, but much smaller. I found myself playing a singing until I had a new tune going through my head. That tune would be the theme song for the next couple days.The next day I went back to the park to make my tea and chill. It was actually still quite cool out so I do mean “chill.” I crawled into my blankets with my hot tea and wrote in my journal, with the sounds of the river serenading me.
After a breakfast of Granola and banana, I drove to Hailey where I saw a Natural Grocers and grabbed a few items. I passed by the Starbucks (without stopping) and headed back to Ketchum to catch the Art Festival. After that I went to a hiking trail I saw earlier. I had my green drink of coconut water, Spirulina and Barley Grass, to both hydrate and give me extra energy for the hike.
It was a beautiful hike along the Wood River. I hiked about three miles in until I came to another parking lot and decided to turn around. There were lots of mountain bikers on this trail, and very few hikers. I could have taken side trails and continued on, but by the time I returned it was a six mile hike and the temperatures were nearing ninety degrees.After this beautiful hike and amazing day in the beautiful Sun Valley, it felt time to move on. I had no agenda. No destination. It was Saturday and I didn’t have to get in position for work until Sunday. I could stop anywhere I wanted. I loved this feeling.