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Settling In
When traveling in an RV the main idea is that we go to all these places and do all these things that we feel inspired to do. But after three months of traveling, I am spending the last month just staying in one place, well mostly!
After my San Juan Island biking adventure I went to visit family for nearly two weeks and then back to the RV park near Bellingham that I loved so much. However I stopped off at friends house for a couple days first and they invited me to park on their property rather than the RV park. I decided to go back to the RV park for my work week and do another couple biking ventures in the Whatcom County countryside before settling in with friends who are walking distance to the beach. I’ve spent so much time alone on this journey and have really enjoyed the solitude but felt it would be nice to share the journey for a while.
So rather than being “on the road” I will continue to enjoy Whatcom County and all it has to offer. I consider this area to be my second home in so many ways and there is so much beauty and awe here.
When people ask me “where do you live,” I tell them that my main home is in Arizona and my second home is a camper. That has been so true and I love having my second home. No matter where I am, I am home!
What I am loving now is that it is harvest time for so many beautiful fruits and veggies. The farmers markets are loaded with colorful baskets of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, huge heads of kale and romaine as well as many other veggies. For all who know me, I am a foodie, for sure. My fridge is always stocked and I always cook at home.
One of my RV neighbors was telling me that there wasn’t much in the way of good food out here in the County where we are parked and I couldn’t really relate because Safeway had enough organics to keep me going in between my stops at the Coop and farmers market. When I was at the Farmers Market with my friends we decided to eat at one of the booths that offered Indian food. As I sat with my big plate of Vegetable Curry, I said “you know this is the first time I have eaten out all summer.”
We are nearing the end of August and Fall will soon be arriving here in the Northwest. I notice the temperatures are starting to fall and the nights are colder. But the days are still warm and beautiful. There has been some drizzly days that encourage staying indoors, curled up with a journal or a book, and a nice cup of tea, and then there are those bright, warm days that send me outdoors to the beach or on a bike ride. The blackberries are in bloom and the scent always draws me in. I have yet to pick berries for later. I just pick and eat.
As I settle in, enjoying the end of summer in the Pacific Northwest, I am grateful for the abundance, for the bounty of all that is offered. With all the crazy going on in the world right now, I retreat to the simple life and learn to live in gratitude for what is good and beautiful! I have no control of the insanity “out there” in the world, but I do have control over my own inner life and know that being here, now is the only way to truly live. I will let the past fall away and the future unfold as it will! For now, I am going on a bike ride….
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Biking the San Juan Islands
This past week I set up camp in the land of my birth, Anacortes, Washington at Washington Park, a very awesome place to spend a day, a week or even two. For me it was five days, which is all I could reserve for back in May when I made my reservation.One of the days I had plans to take my E-bike on the Ferry to Lopez Island, one of the most popular biking Islands because, although not flat, it is less “hilly” than the others. Although cold and foggy in the morning when I climbed aboard the Ferry, it cleared up nicely and ended up being a really beautiful day. I biked through meadows, farm lands, and long country roads with amazing views of the Bay. I brought my lunch and ate it on the far southern end of the Island at a little park overlooking the Bay and then headed to Lopez Village, hoping to find a little coffee house to have a cup of tea and linger for while before the evening Ferry arrived. All the shops were closed by 3pm and so I went instead to the State Park near the Ferry Terminal and hung out on the beach until it was time to go catch the Ferry.
By the time I got to the Ferry my battery had only one bar and it was flashing, alerting me to the unhappy reality that I may not have enough battery power to get home from the Ferry. I had biked over thirty miles with some hilly areas where I used more of the pedal assist and thought I was doing okay, except when I was on my last stretch, the reality of my battery life hit me.We deal with batteries on our phone’s and our laptops and it is never convenient when a battery dies, but with a 72 pound E-bike, trying to ride without pedal assist is near impossible, when there are hills involved. Fortunately I had met a group of people who were also biking Lopez on their Rad E-bikes, but they didn’t ride nearly as far as I did. So they had more battery life left. As I was leaving the Ferry Terminal, with my one flashing bar, I realized I wouldn’t make it back. A couple in the group said to me “why don’t we lend you one of our batteries and we will come to your camp after we get our bikes loaded and swap it back out.” I jumped at the opportunity and had plenty of battery to get back to camp. They arrived shortly after, we switched out the battery and said farewell. It was nice to know I was being looked after. And I learned that I can’t always trust my “bar reading” on my bike. I needed to be more careful in the future.
I spent the next day working and boarded another Ferry the following day to Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island. I decided to bike to Lime Kiln State Park, the best Whale watching place in the area, which was only an 18 mile round trip, but had some really long, steep hills. I felt confident I would have plenty of battery power for this trip. It was a beautiful ride, once again through farm lands, berry fields and amazing views of the water. I was a little embarrassed as I quickly rode by bikers, who were obviously very seasoned bikers on bikes that were NOT electric. At one point, going up a long hill, I passed two men on bikes and they looked at each other and started laughing. Yes, I was cheating, but it was so much fun. I always wanted super powers, and now I had them.
I spent an hour at Lime Kiln park, starring out over the water, hoping to see a pod of whales, or at least a whale, but no such luck. A friend told me they were spotted in her area near Bellingham, a week or so earlier, but today wasn’t the day. So I took the nine mile ride back to Friday Harbor, again thinking I would grab a coffee and chill. But the shops were all closed once again. I found a little park at the Marina where a Marimba type band was setting up for a concert. I waited there for the Ferry and enjoyed the music and Island culture, talked to Island locals and enjoyed the beautiful day.This time when the Ferry arrived back in Anacortes, I had plenty of battery power to get back to camp.
It just so happened that the next day was an annual art fair in Anacortes, where the main street was blocked off for many blocks to accommodate the rows and rows of art booths. I met with a client for a coffee that morning and we decided to check out the art show, which was fun. After that I stocked up my groceries and went to Deception Pass where I made breakfast and chilled for a couple hours before heading to the Port Townsend Ferry where I would be going to the Olympic Peninsula on the long road to my Sister’s house.
This week was a lot of Ferry’s, beaches and long country roads. It was a trip I was really looking forward to and very much worth the journey.
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Arrived at the Beach Just In Time For the Party
One thing I love about my camper setup is that I can choose beautiful places to park and I have these really wonderful views. It doesn’t matter where I camp at night. During the day, I can take advantage of the State Parks, pull outs, and other parks.
As I write this, I am backed up to the beach at Birch Bay State Park in Washington. I came here this morning with a hankering for pancakes and so made pancakes at the beach. The best restaurants I have visited on my journey has been my own home cooked meals in my camper. In fact, I haven’t been out to eat once since I left home. I have felt no need. I have a great kitchen and good size fridge.When I first came into town a week ago, my friends Bern and John had a beach party for his retirement from over thirty years as a UPS driver. I parked my camper at their place, under the tall cedar trees. The beach where we had the party was very artistic with lots of interesting carvings of wood faced creatures.
The weather is much cooler on this side of the mountains, only a couple hours North of Seattle, near the Canadian border. It is in the seventies every day and doesn’t drop too low in the evening. I turn my heater on for about five minutes first thing in the morning which takes the chill out of the air, and then I am comfortable the rest of the day without heat or air. It is a nice change from East of the mountains where I was during the Northwest Heatwave. I had the air running most of the day.
Biking has been my favorite past time. My E-bike is the best investment I have made, next to my camper. I have put well over four- hundred miles on it since I began my journey. Yesterday, while biking through the Countryside I came as close as I ever have to running out of battery power. My Rad City E-bike gives me around 40 miles of battery power if I keep the pedal assist at about a 2 out of 5. But lately I have enjoyed having my pedal assist on 3 which allows me to sail down the road effortlessly, while still pedaling strong the entire time. I headed out without fully charging my battery, as I had taken a trip into town earlier in the day. I probably put over twenty-two miles on the bike and noticed the battery getting low. So, I brought the pedal assist down to 2 and worked harder to get back to camp.Birch Bay is a great beach town for biking, with miles of beach front to ride. I’ve ridden so much that I made an appointment next week to have my bike tuned up by a pro bike shop in town. I’m also getting my truck tuned up and getting a haircut next week. It is time for maintenance.
On a deeper note, I continue to immerse myself in healing work as those long hours of alone time bring up the shadows. I continue to discover things about myself, my fears and my traumas and remember that what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. There are times I feel that what is emerging from the shadows very well might kill me. But then the insights arrive that are so life changing and powerful. I awaken to another day, take another breath and celebrate another day of life on this planet.Here is a video of the Beach Party and Birch Bay
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Flying on my E-Bike
When putting together my setup for travel I decided that my tow vehicle would be an electric bike. This was quite the setup as I needed to figure out how to haul it and secure it. There were very few options, being that my trailer hitch is in the back of my truck where the door to my camper is. So a normal heavy duty bike rack would block my door. So I settled on a Rocky Mount swing away bike rack. This rack swings out to the side of my camper, but since I got a hitch extension as well, I can still crawl up into my camper to have a rest or make lunch while traveling.The bike I decided to buy after much research is the Rad City E bike. And I have to say, after having it for a couple months, I LOVE IT! This is one of the best investments I have made in myself, to get me outdoors, living life.
Many RV’rs have tow vehicles so they can leave their RV set up in a park or where ever, and can zip around in a smaller, gas saving vehicle. This is what I use my E-bike for. Although I could take my truck and camper almost anywhere, pretty easily, when I am stopped, it is nice to just take the bike out to explore the area, pick up groceries and other necessities, and so on. I get a lot more exercise and enjoyment this way.Some people have the wrong idea about E-bikes. They believe that if you want exercise you should not invest in an Ebike. But I find this is not at all true. I am out on the bike so much longer and put so many more miles on it, than I would with a regular bike. I can easily go out for a ten mile bike ride down long country roads and be pedaling the whole time. I adjust the “pedal assist” and gears so that I am always pedaling. I’m just not working as hard as I would with a regular bike and I’m not burning myself out early.
The other day, I was out riding on a desolate country road above the Columbia River near Canada and I got off the bike to take a photo. I lost my balance, fell backward, sprained my foot and bruised my tailbone. I was in pretty bad shape and there was only me and the bike to get back to the camper several miles away. I allowed the bike to do the majority of the work, pedaling mostly with my non-injured foot.
The most difficult part of the E-bike set up is getting it up on the rack and back down. It weighs about 71 pounds, so difficult to lift as a whole. I have learned to lift the front end up onto the rack, secure it and then lift the back end. This is doable, but was a bit more difficult when I was injured as I have to stabilize myself before I lift. But I managed. Fortunately, the pain of my injury didn’t really kick in until I got back to my campsite, dumped my tanks, filled my water and hooked my camper back up to shore power. I came inside and made dinner, then decided I should put my foot on ice. Fortunately I had ice in the freezer and so I put it in a plastic bag, wrapped a towel around it and laid down with my foot elevated. It started to throb in pain and I realized I had injured it much worse than I originally thought.
At the same time there was excessive heat warnings in the area I was camped in and I knew I probably wouldn’t be spending much time outside over the next week or so, unless I traveled across the mountains to Western Washington. I wasn’t ready to make that journey yet, so I took this as a sign that it was time to stop and rest. It was time to reflect, to heal, and to write.
A friend of mine, who works with NLP asked me to visualize something that was very freeing to me and I pictured myself on my bike riding down a long Country road, hair blowing in the wind, a big smile on my face. In my vision my arms were out like wings, which I wouldn’t attempt with my 70 pound bike, but I love the vision. So many times since I was given this image of freedom had I actually found myself riding down a long, isolated country road, hair blowing in the wind, a big smile on my face and a feeling of freedom. Sometimes I have my headphones on and listening to music, a perfect background to a perfect experience.I’m getting in shape for my long bike ride on San Juan Island in Western Washington where I will bike as much as a battery charge will allow me to bike, which may be about thirty miles round trip. I’m really looking forward to this journey and hope to see some Orca Whales.
I remember being out in the Bay in a speed boat with an ex boyfriend and his kids and my son and we came across a pod of thirty or so Orca Whales. It was an amazing experience. And San Juan Island is known for its whale watching spots. It may not be the right time of year, but I will enjoy the journey. And…I will let you know how it goes and take photos, of course.Meanwhile, I will never pass up an opportunity to enjoy the country roads and bike paths along the way.
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Don’t Quit When You Are Near the Top
Every day, every experience is an opportunity to learn something of value. And today was a day I decided to park my camper at a familiar place near Roosevelt Lake / Columbia River and go for a hike. I say familiar because I lived in this area for a year and this was always a favorite place to come. There is a nice hike through the forest, where this time, the Ravens were very active, flying through the forest, and making their haunting calls. The forest felt alive with deer every where. I also saw two bald headed eagles.I reached a point where there was a very steep hill leading up to an old graveyard. There was something very mystical about this place and I always climbed the hill. But this time the weather was pretty hot, mid afternoon and the hill seemed particularly steep. I climbed and climbed and when I reached the first landing, my memory failed to alert me that an even steeper hill was ahead. So as I looked up, I started the climb. A few steps into the climb I asked myself if I really wanted to do this, this time, and I heard a voice saying “don’t quit when you are so near the top.”
Oh, of course, I thought. Another lesson. So I continued to climb and as I emerged at the top, there was the graveyard sign. I found it ironic that I finally made it to the top, after a hard climb and at the top was death. I told the story to a friend, who was struggling with some things and she said “oh death and rebirth.” So perhaps after a long, hard journey, we often must die to the old in order to make room for the new to come in.
The steep climb, represents the journey and its trials and challenges. We need to be sure not to quit right before we reach the top. Just when it feels we can’t go any further, we need to take a deep breath and keep going. In the end, when we reach the top, we are victorious. And perhaps it is the victory that brings about the rebirth.
In my flying solo journey, I have had to face a lot of challenges and trials. It causes me to be very self reliant and know that I can face just about anything and get through it. It may not be easy. There may be times I don’t think I can go the next mile, but in many cases, I don’t have the option to turn around and go back. I have to keep going forward. There are times I don’t know how I am going to solve a problem, but then the solution presents itself. I learn to trust that a solution will always present itself and not give up. Giving up is simply not an option. And so, I take that deep breath, and I keep climbing. Pretty soon, I have reached the top and looking down at the view; looking back at where I have been and celebrate that I have overcome, yet another challenge. There is strength and resiliency there. There is a knowing that whatever presents itself on my journey, I have the courage, the strength and the resiliency to get through it.
