-
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….
-
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.
