Day 59, Oklahoma is OK if OK is Defined as Windy and Boring, May 9, 2010

“Okay” or “OK”: adj. adequate but unexceptional or unremarkable; tolerable.



Well, I guess today was OK. Weather was still cooler than we expected. It was in the 90s when we left Palm Springs. Since Williams, the temperature (according to the car) hadn’t reached higher than the low 60s. At least we don’t have to worry about the cats getting too hot. I got up first, showered and ran to the gas station to fill up the car. We were on the road before 9am again for the second day in a row! The cats had taken their quarter of a Dramamine again and the results were similar to yesterday. Tom meowed for a bit, but was quickly snuggled up in the back of the kennel. Lucy was loud, but at least she wasn’t as jittery today. We never had to lock her up in the kennel.



After a little over an hour, we crossed out of New Mexico and into North Texas. Lost another hour. The nice scenery of the West was definitely now in our rearview mirror. We had hit the plains and were now driving through what we usually only see while flying at 10,000 feet from Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego or LA to Atlanta to make a connecting flight.



Stopped in Amarillo to get lunch. Though, I had never been to Amarillo while I lived in Texas during my AmeriCorps year, it had the same feel as any small Texas city. Very spread out through the highway corridor. This state just has so much room, but the size doesn’t match the actual population. We found a Chick-fil-A for lunch, just because they are available to us again and it is the best fast food ever. Went way out of our way to get to one. Sadly, it looked strangely deserted. Oh, right, today is Sunday. There always has to be a catch when fast food is that good. At In n’ Out Burger, there is always a line. Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays. Thus, I always crave Chick-fil-A on Sunday. After our 10 minute detour through the streets of Amarillo, we ate lunch at Subway. This was still better than yesterday’s Burger King lunch, which left me feeling bleh. There was a Burger King right next door to the Chick-fil-A but I don’t think I can do another greasy burger for the rest of the trip.



Just east of Amarillo, we blew through Groom, TX, which claimed to have the World’s largest cross. There was one giant white cross surrounded more life-sized ones and nearby a small hill with the three crosses and “bodies” on them. It was set up similiarly to the Washington Monument and there was even a tour bus. Note to small Texas town: having what you claim is the world’s largest cross (and an internet search says there is some competition from Effingham, IL) only proves is that you waste money on creepy landmarks . I am sure that money was well spent on an oversized exhibit of the method of torture and death for Jesus, rather than something like a rec center.



Another hour or so, and we were in Oklahoma. The wind had really picked up at this point. Had to keep both hands on the wheel. This is the first time on this trip that we crossed over into a state that I had never been to. Sam even pointed out that it was reminding her of Anchorage. The sky was overcast with a low ceiling and it was 50 degrees in May. Well, at least Anchorage still had the cool mountains looking over the city. Oklahoma has… a lot of Czechs, apparently. Even though I am half Czech, I had no idea so many of us settled in Oklahoma. There is even a Prague, OK. A Kolache Festival was advertised to be going on this month celebrating the Czech culture. My opinion of Oklahoma went up a bit. On a side note, thank you grandma for settling in Alaska rather than Oklahoma when you moved to the United States.



Missouri. Massachusetts. Georgia. Wisconsin. Arizona. The license plates going by on the 40 were very random and scattered. Maybe Oklahoma is more than a fly over state. It is a “blow through” state as well. We weren’t the only out-of-staters blowing through it at 80-90 mph. Even the wind seemed in a rush to get through. Another strange sight was all of the severe storm and weather SUVs we saw driving down the 40. You know, those giant vehicles with a large antenna (almost looking like a spy van), like the ones in the movie Twister? Yeah, we saw a lot of those in Oklahoma. Most were from the National Weather Service and some from Texas Tech. Creepy, given all the wind and the gray sky.



Oklahoma City came and went. It was still workday afternoon when we got through, so we kept going. Interesting thing about Oklahoma City is that it really isn’t that big, but it seems bigger because there is really absolutely nothing on either side of it. It is an urban sprawl (and not much of one compared to the other urban sprawls across the U.S., such as its sisters to the south in Texas) in the middle of nothing. Not even much in the way of exits leading up to the city. Lucy was still a little loud, but was at least calm enough to stay free of being locked in the kennel. Tom even got a little adventurous and came out to say hello. He laid on top of the kennel, which may have irritated Lucy since it is one of her favorite spots to sit when not in one of our laps.



We made it all the way through Oklahoma and crossed into Arkansas. Finished Duma Key. The book took a while to build up, but the last third was really intense. Fortunately, we had the best parts through the most boring part of the drive. If anyone wants to borrow the 18 CD book for a road trip, just let us know. Stopped for the night in Van Buren/Fort Smith, Arkansas. Arkansas is another state that I had never been to. Knocked out two of them in one day! Oklahoma was #39 and Arkansas #40 by my count. (Only have Maine, New Hampshire, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming and Montana to go)!



Dinner was yet another example of reaching the Bible belt. We went to the Mexican place next to the Motel 6. I perused the menu and didn’t notice any beer or margaritas on there. I asked our waiter for a margarita, hopeful that he had just neglected to give us the drink menu. The restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol. We just drove 600 miles and I can’t have a drink with dinner. Ugh. The food was good, though. And we had a bottle of wine in the car, which we opened in the motel room after dinner. So, it turned out OK.

M.E.

Up Next: Driving through the South Like Sherman.

Epilogue: We are in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. Tom is sleeping and Lucy is nervous. It's completely backwards. You can actually smell the rain! Matt went outside to the car... in the downpour... to get my camera and the atlas (I think just because he thought it would be fun). Thankfully we are out of Tornado Alley, but there have still been reports of tornados along the I-40 east of here. So we are attempting to determine alternate routes out of here to the south, but we accept that we might be hanging out here if the weather/ road conditions do not improve. Below is the weather situation. We are currently at the southeast corner of the "severe storm" area. Fun!

Day 58, The Grand Canyon in Really Grand, May 8, 2010

We took a side trip today. How could we skip out on the Grand Canyon? I know it is the Disneyland of National Parks (Yellowstone is Disney World), but it is something that needs to be seen on any road trip going through Arizona, and not just on National Lampoons Vacation. We got up early this morning and I went to find some coffee. Gave the cats their Dramamine before hitting the road. Tom was a pain getting out of the motel room. Ah, this routine again. He found his way between the box springs. At least if Tom followed his usual procedure, he would keep quiet in the kennel for the entire drive. We left the cats out of the kennel to start the drive, so of course, both of them meowed relentlessly and couldn’t sit still. How long does it take the drugs to kick in? Tom was back in the kennel in short order, but the Dramamine seemed to make Lucy grumpy. She was fighting the effects and it didn’t help her mood. Ugh, maybe she’ll just crash out soon.



The weather was a lot cooler than we were expecting, which made the day much easier on the cats. We made it to the Grand Canyon around 10am. $25 to get in the park. A little steep, but we came this far…

Drove out to one of the look out points, and WOW! Sam claimed that she thought it was going to be a big ditch in the ground, but this is amazing. The best way to describe it would be the inverse of Denali. There were just layers and layers of carved out rock. I really wish we had more time to stay here and hike down past the rim. Alas, we had little time and could only leave the cats in the car for so long. Thankfully, the weather permitted us to leave them in the car comfortably for longer than if we were still in Palm Springs. We did a quick jaunt along one of the trails on the south rim. Then, back to the car and stopped off at the village to send off some post cards. We were back on the road before noon.



Meow. Meow. Meow. Lucy still refused to succumb to the Dramamine. I am not sure if I am more impressed or annoyed with her. She is a 9 lb cat and even though we only gave her a quarter of a pill; that should be plenty to put her out cold. And this same amount had her drooling yesterday! She was thrown back in the kennel, which was unfortunately a punishment for both cats. Tom had been snoozing happily, enjoying his buzz in the back corner of the kennel. Now he had to deal with a pissed off Lucy in there with him. She made up for the fact that she could no longer crawl all over us by making more noise. We compensated by turning our book on tape up even louder. We were still listening to Duma Key. Another example of how Stephen King can be longwinded. But, the story had been set up during the drive from Oregon to SoCal. Now, we were getting to the good stuff.



Arizona turned into New Mexico and we lost an hour. Traveling West is always easier than traveling East. Losing hours in the day is always a downer. Though, we were up early, it doesn’t feel like it because there was only 23 hours today. Right across the New Mexico border, in Gallup, we saw a sign for the Ellis Tanner Trading Post. Of all the ironic names for a store along the drive…

We stopped to get pictures and look around. The store was full of Navajo art and jewelry. Wish they had bags or some sort of keepsake with the store’s name on it.



Lucy was allowed out, but was thrown back in the kennel (she had even taken a second quarter of Dramamine with little effect). Our original plan was to stop for the night in Albuquerque. I hear good things about the town and would be a good place to go grab dinner, especially since today is the one year anniversary of our first date (not that we are counting). But, by the time we got there, both cats were behaving. Both of us felt fine. There was still daylight. And our book on tape was really getting good. Lucy was allowed out where she curled up in Sam’s lap and went to sleep. We pressed on. We can get a nice dinner later. New Mexico really is a beautiful state. I-40 drives along the ecological line between desert and mountains. I enjoyed the scenery. We drove across most of the state before crashing at a Motel 6 in Santa Rosa. Not much to the town, but a good stopping point. Made it further than we anticipated.



Up Next: Driving through the flyover states.



M.E.

Wagons East! May 7, 2010. Day 57

Do the day and let the day do you.

So today is the day we finally leave and I should be more excited to hit the road, but I am really going to miss my parents and Ash. Despite the ups and downs I had a really great time. That is the first time we’ve all been together at once since Christmas 2005. Yesterday, Ash, Matt, and I spent almost 2 hours in the pool doing cannonballs, jumps, and seeing how many flips or handstands we could do. It was just like the kind of summer day you remember from childhood.

This morning dad took us all out for breakfast and Bit of Country. We had a goal of getting on the road by 10. Of course we were running a bit late and we all walked the mile or so to the restaurant. As we were leaving the driveway I asked Matt, “you know we aren’t leaving here till at least noon, right?”. “yeah, I know.” A yummy breakfast was had by all and we walked back. Back to packing and piling and configuring belongings into the car. Packing that much stuff into the car reminded me of those 3-D jigsaw puzzles. We ended up dumping a box for them to ship to us to clear room in the truck. We had plenty of room in the back seat but the goal was to have room to keep the kennel open and give the cats more room. Complicating the packing was the intense heat. When we were packing up in Anchorage we were freezing. Now we’re packing in Palm Springs and we’re going to have a heat stroke. It’s been in the mid 90’s this week.  I will really miss the pool. I don’t know how people there survive without one. After lots of goodbyes and pictures being snapped we were getting the last of the luggage and the cats into the car. Meow….  And it starts.

Not even out of the driveway we have the distinct realization that we needed to figure out how to knock the cats out. A trip to Trader Joe’s for water and snacks and off to Petco. I bought other some calming stuff (couldn’t find what I did with the original bottle) and a syringe. Walked across the parking lot to Walgreens to get Dramamine. I looked it up and cats can have 5- 12 mg. With the help of a pharmacist I bought the 25mg tablets and a pill cutter. Then out to quarter them and get them down the cats. We were really on the road now… at 2pm. We had reservations in Williams, AZ, a several hour drive, and the meds were not kicking in yet.

And hour on the road and there are no sights. It’s desolate. The road is straight, but hilly. Not the kind of hills that that are long and sloping. The kind that are short and quick and if you aren’t looking straight ahead send your stomach soaring up into your throat. The cats were hanging in there and pretty quiet. We let them out of the kennel. Lucy came up to sit in my lap. Thomas came out for a look then went back inside to sleep. The Dramamine had one noticeable side affect on Lucy other than drowsiness. Drooling. She was practically foaming at the mouth! It just came down in a slow, steady stream of thick saliva. But she was calm so drool all over my clothes was an acceptable price. We crossed the Colorado River into AZ and stopped in Topock for a gas top-off, bathroom, and some Wendy’s. We passed North of Lake Havasu and more miles to Kingsman, the sun slowly closing toward the horizon behind us, and we finally make it to Williams. We get out and the hotel and brrrrr! It’s chilly here! The low tonight is in the thirties. We’re not in the desert anymore!

SKT

The Month in the Desert; A Vacation, April 8 – May 6, 2010 (Days 28-56)

So, there was a lot of relaxing.  A lot of tanning and not a lot worth writing about that wouldn’t bore everyone to tears.  Sam and I spent the last month at her parent’s place in Palm Springs.  Sam’s sister Ashley was there, so the three of us spent a lot of time hanging out.  I’ll knock out some of the highlights.

-          We took a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park.  Drove the entire park and climbed around on the rocks a bit.

-          Sam and I did a few hikes up in the hills of Palm Springs.  We never took the Sky Tram.  It is just didn’t seem worth it to pay $23 each to go see more snow.  We did a 3 mile Henderson loop out in Palm Desert, too.  I was brave enough to hike about 6000 feet up the Skyline trail one morning (and even met a UCLA law professor in the process).

-          We ate lots of frozen yogurt.  Palm Springs is packed full of the self-serve soft serve fro-yo shops where you make your concoction yourself then pay by the ounce. 

-          Sam took her Fundamentals of Surveying Exam in Pomona.  We stopped at REI to exchange Sam’s Keen shoes to get a better fitting pair.  We also managed to get some Chick-fil-A on that trip.

-          I love having a Trader Joe’s to do grocery shopping again.

-          We did an afternoon marathon of putt-putt.

-          I introduced myself to the grill at Mike and Sue’s (Sam’s parents).

-          We were able to check out the new house that Mike and Sue are moving into in Bermuda Dunes.  No more renting by the end of the month for them!

-          I gave blood.

-          We went to The Living Desert.  A very cool zoo out in Palm Desert.  It has two sections: The North American Desert and the African Desert.

-          In N’ Out Burger!

-          The Thursday night street fair in downtown Palm Springs.

-          I applied for a few jobs out in DC.  Still haven’t heard anything from the Coast Guard about JAG.

-          Lots and lots of lying by the pool.  We actually had planned on leaving on May 3, but Sam’s parents talked us into staying a few extra days.  Sam isn’t supposed to start work until Mid-June and I haven’t heard anything on the jobs that I applied for, so we extended the vacation out a few days.

After all that, we are packed up and got ready for the road again on May 7.  Mike took us out for a going away dinner; all you can eat sushi and we are sad to be leaving.

Up Next: Wagons East!

M.E.

Matt’s Side Trip to Virginia, April 4-7, 2010 (Days 24-27)

So, we haven’t been updating recently, because not much has been going on. Sam has been studying and I have been relaxing. Boring stuff for our friends and family to read. I did have to fly out to DC this week, though. I had called the moving people last week and found out the two pallets worth of our stuff had arrived in Manassas. They needed to be picked up at the terminal or the storage fees were going to start accumulating. It would cost $500 for the moving company to take the two pallets in a storage facility for us. I could still use dad’s Delta benefits, so a quick trip to DC it is!

Flew out of Palm Springs on Sunday afternoon. On a side note, an early afternoon flight felt really strange. Every flight out-of-state out of the Anchorage airport leaves sometime between the hours of 11pm and 2am. Those red-eye flights get tedious, so this 12:30pm flight was rather awesome. Got the last stand-by seat available, so the trip is off to a good start. Got into Salt Lake where I had a 2 hour layover. I spent the entire layover doing a fantasy baseball draft with some of my college buddies. We had to move the draft time at the last minute thanks to my late scheduled trip. Free wifi at the SLC airport now! Of course, it is really slow and takes the equivalent of a long layover to connect. For the second time today, I got the last stand-by seat on the plane. The airport gods were being kind to me. I even got a seat in an exit row! Of course, right before I boarded the plane, I learn that there had been an earthquake in SoCal. I was already the last one on the plane, so I couldn’t stand out by the gate to get more information out of CNN. Got a text from Sam about the earthquake, with no more information. She would not pick up her phone. I finally got some more info while on the plane when I called Sam’s mom and was able to talk to Sam. Everyone is alright. Good enough for me. I’ll now follow orders and turn my phone off.

Got into Dulles around 11pm. I had checked two bags full of winter clothes and dress clothes that would be unnecessary for the rest of the trip. Both bags made it without issue and were off the carousel rather quickly. Hadn’t seen dad since Thanksgiving, so it was nice to see him again.

The time change screwed with me the entire trip. On Monday morning, I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep because of the light. Got up anyway on the lack of sleep and went with dad to pick up the truck. Dad had already secured a storage facility for our stuff (along with some of dad’s stuff, which he had been meaning to get out of the house). The facility had a u-haul type truck that could be reserved for free. We had it for Monday. We took the truck home first to grab some of dad’s stuff to take to the storage unit. Then, over to the receiving dock to get the pallets. Both pallets worth of stuff fit into one load with the truck. We had all our stuff in the storage unit before noon. But, since we had a free truck for a day, dad wanted to take advantage. Dad’s bedroom set was older than me. He and mom had had since before I was born. So, it was time for it to be replaced. We took it all apart and moved it into the truck, so it could be taken to the Salvation Army. These dressers were heavy and not easy to get down from the upper level of a 3 level condo. The walls took some damage from the ordeal. Thankfully, dad’s neighbor came over and helped with the final dresser after dad had drawn blood. The moving was successful, so we celebrated by getting lunch at Chick-fil-A and watching Opening Day for the rest of the afternoon. Caught the national title game, as well. The Yankees have won the last World Series and Dook is now the reigning national champion in basketball. The terrorists have won.

I had another rough night. My room was too hot and I managed to get a nasty headache, which didn’t seem to want to go away. My headache was so bad by morning that I actually went to Safeway at 6am to get some Excedrin and PowerAde. Dad only had asprin in the house, which wasn’t working. Excedrin may be the greatest headache reliever ever. I cannot believe it took me so long to realize the greatness of Excedrin. Sam introduced me to it about 6 months ago, and I will never go back to Tylenol or Advil. Trust me, get some Excedrin for your medicine cabinet, and thank me the next time you have a headache. After popping the Excedrin and downing some sports drink, I crashed out until almost 11 and woke up feeling great. We had shipped about 10 boxes via USPS for the media rates (cheaper than adding it to the pallet), and some from Sequim to get stuff out of the car. Sam needed me to search these boxes for 3 books to help her study for her exam. She was kind enough to send me pictures of the covers after copying them from some website like Amazon. I had to search all the boxes with books at least twice over to find all of them. One of them was hiding in a box full of my law books. But, at least I found all three. I took all the boxes to the storage unit with the family Honda. I was pretty amazed that I managed to get the 10 boxes into the Prelude with only one trip. I then took off for Trader Joe’s, so I could make a healthy, yet delicious dinner. Got some chicken apple sausage, onion, apples and juice to combine and throw over rice. On the way back, I took a wrong turn off the freeway going into Manassas and discovered an amphitheater. Actually, I discovered Nissan Pavilion (or is it Jiffy Lube Live?). Whatever the corporate sponsorship for the venue, this is where Pearl Jam is playing in May. I had no idea it was so close. So close (3.5 miles to my dad’s front door according to Google maps) that is within walking distance for us. Glad I made that wrong turn and learned something useful. I caved and watched Lost tonight without Sam. Dad fell asleep in the recliner as usual. I was too awake to go to bed early after sleeping in this morning. This is a problem with an early flight out of Dulles Wednesday morning. I watched the Daily Show, Colbert Report and some Sports Center, but still not tired. Forced myself to be by 1. Hopefully I can sleep on the plane.

Up at 4am Wednesday morning! Got to the airport plenty early because Dad had to drop me off, then be at the office early for a conference. Got a call from dad while I was sitting at the gate. My connecting flight from SLC to Palm Springs was now oversold and almost impossible for a stand-by passenger to get on. Great. Fortunately, there was a clear flight that left at about the same time to Ontario, California, which is about an hour and a half drive from Palm Springs. So, just switch the reservation (which cost less than $2), and we were good to go. Sam would have to drive out to pick me up, but at least she could exchange her Keens for a pair that fit correctly and we both could get some Chick-fil-A (Ontario is near that REI I went to last week). Well, my flight luck continued. Much to my surprise, I was cleared for my first flight in first class. Sweet! I get breakfast and a comfy seat. Downloaded some podcasts from ESPN and NPR for the trip and I was ready to board. Sadly Dulles did not have free wifi. Cost me $6 to get on the net and download my podcasts. Upon boarding, I learned that the same plane that I was on was also my connecting flight to Ontario. I would still have to get off and be stand-by cleared again, but at least the gate wouldn’t be far. Got into Salt Lake just to learn that for some reason, my connecting flight was cancelled. Wait, wasn’t that the same plane that I was just on? Did we narrowly avoid death and not know about it? I ran down to gate for my original flight to Palm Springs to see if I could get relisted. Just as I was getting to the gate, my name was called as a cleared stand-by passenger. Guess I was never unlisted for that flight. And I was cleared without even having to talk to the gate agent. I have been lucky on this trip…
Or so I thought. After getting on the plane, the older guy sitting next to me strikes up a conversation. It was the usual getting to know you stuff that you have on a plane. Right after takeoff, though, I got the dreaded question; “Do you pray? Do you believe in Jesus?” Ugh! How long is this flight? There is nothing worse than being stuck on a plane, sitting next to someone who wants to beat you over the head with their religious or political views. I humored him for 10-15 minutes, before finally sticking my headphones in my ears, because “I really wanted to finish the NPR Fresh Air podcast that I had been listening to.” It was only a half lie. I did listen to an NPR podcast to tune him out, but started a brand new one. I had no idea what I was going to listen to when I turned my iPod on, but that Fresh Air podcast about Right Wing extremism was really interesting. I had to endure some more of that conversation when the flight attendant made me turn off the iPod for landing. I was never confrontational the entire time. 20 year-old Matt would have been in a heated argument, but I sucked it up and humored the guy the entire time. Maybe I have matured a little in the last 10 years.

Sam picked me up from the airport, and it was great to see her again. Even just a few days apart can be too long sometimes. Her sister, Ashley, was now at the house with us. So, her parents now have to endure both their adult children and me. I tried sitting out in the sun and swimming in the pool for a bit this afternoon, but was just beat from the early morning and the travel. I downloaded the last episode of Lost for Sam, since she hadn’t seen it yet. I made it about 10 minutes in before I was out. Guess it was a good thing I had already watched it.

Up Next: More Sporadic Updates

M.E.

April 4, 2010, Easter Earthquake

It’s Easter Sunday! God bless everyone!

Today Matt went to DC to get the pallets from the moving place and put them in storage. I dropped him off at the airport at 11 and about 15 minutes after getting back to the house I hear mom calling me. Matt needs me to come back because they found his grandfather’s pocketknife in his backpack. So back to the airport I went. Sucks that he had to go through security twice, but I think it was worth not giving up the knife. The terrorists really did win.

I just studied the rest of the afternoon in the sun. Suddenly, the ground started shaking. After living in Alaska for 11 years I’m not shocked when this happens. What did surprise me is that the intensity kept increasing. I sat there for probably 10-15 seconds then decided to make a run for the house. Mom and dad were running for the door out of the house. It went on for about 5 more seconds while we stood by the pool which was nearly sloshing water over the sides. We later found out that it was a 7.2 earthquake that originated in Mexico. It was the strongest one I’ve been in since the one in Kodiak in 2000. As bad as it was nothing even fell off the walls or shelves. A friend in San Diego posted this verse and I thought it was pretty appropriate: Mathew 28:2: There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.” vs6 and 7, the most important part: “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead…”

I found a few recipes. Maybe I’m inspired by the weather here, but at least three of them (there was 4, but I was afraid that was massive overkill) that are mediterranean. Good thing my parents like that type of food! 

(There's no picture because I can't get one to load with this weak signal. Boo hiss.)

Days 19-20, Tuesday, March 30-31, 2010: This Desert Life (Hanginaround)

So, we are now in Palm Springs for a month. Well, maybe. I may need to fly to DC to unload our pallets into a storage facility. I woke up this morning and thought about unpacking the car and calling about the pallet. Then, I decided to get some coffee and make a bagel. An hour later, caffeinated and with something in my stomach, I thought about the unpacking again. Sam is still in bed and Tom is still under it. I went ahead and unpacked everything out of the car and moved it into the garage. Sam’s dad took off this morning so there was no car in the garage. I could not leave our bedroom door open, because the cats were not allowed out into the rest of the house, with the birds wandering around. After all our stuff out of the car, I called the pallet place in Anchorage. Our pallet was not in DC yet, and I would get a phone call when it gets there. All I could get was that it had been through Ohio. OK, I’ll just wait to hear something. When I walked back inside, Sam was up and drinking coffee. Tom was still under the bed. We pulled everything inside and cluttered our room. It hasn’t even been a day yet, and already we had a mess. This can be cleaned up later.

We jetted off in the car to run some errands. First, to downtown. When we had come down in October, Alaska Airlines lost our bag. It was never recovered. The one item being lost that upset me over all others, was my pair of Keen Hybrid Shoes. Anyone who has ever owned a pair of Keens probably understands why this upset me so much. I never bothered to replace them over the winter, because, well, who really needs a shoe that is half sandal for the Alaskan winter? Well, I wanted to replace them now that we have a real spring and are moving closer to a hot summer. I had remembered some shoe stores in the downtown strip when we were here that may have the Keens. We found a store sans Keens, one that had gone out of business and finally the Birkenstock store. The latter had Keens. All were full price and the selection limited. No sale. REI is having a sale, so I will try again later. The one thing I did manage to accomplish was to sell Sam on the Keens. She wanted a pair now, too.

We drove across town to Target and Trader Joe’s. We needed kitty supplies, such as a new litter box and scratching post, as well as some toiletries at Target. After the the cats and bathroom were equipped again, we ran over to Bahama Mama frozen yogurt for some fro-yo. This place was awesome. Self-serve yogurt and toppings. They then weighed your concoction and charged by the ounce. Sam and I were just as interested in the fresh mango and kiwi to put on the yogurt as we were the frozen yogurt. We are coming back here. Next, over to Trader Joe’s to do a bit of grocery shopping with Sue. (All these stores are in the same shopping area). Oh, how I have missed Trader Joe’s since moving to Alaska. I shopped there all the time while I lived in Eugene and became an addict. The selection and price of sausage, juice, chips/dip, trail mix, coffee, among other things is unrivaled.

Upon the return to our new temporary home, we cleaned up the room and basically moved in. All the vacuum bags were unpacked into the dresser and closet. The cats were set up with their new necessities. I even hooked up the Wii in the front room. Tom is still under the bed. Lucy had strategically laid herself out on the bed right under the fan. She was not used to the heat. I brushed her with the new brush in an effort to help her lose some hair so she could cool down a bit. She grooms herself so well, it didn’t seem that too much hair was coming off. Tom was goaded out from under the bed eventually, and I tried the same thing on him. Managed to get some hair off of him before he took refuge under the bed again.

I looked up the nearest REI. There is not one in Palm Springs or the surrounding area. If I want to go to REI, I have to drive all the way back towards LA to Rancho Cucamonga. That is over an hour away. Well, I really want my Keen shoes. If I need two pair, it is worth it to go to REI, because I will get 20% off one pair and the second pair will be applied to my REI dividend. Sam has to study tomorrow, so I will make the drive.

I found an old iTunes gift card in our stack of gift cards that the two of us and accumulated and compiled before we left. Score! Stuck it on my iTunes so I could download episodes of Flash Forward and Lost since Sam’s parents don’t have cable. We watched an episode of Flash Forward after dinner before crashing in.

We had a lazy morning on Wednesday. Got up, had coffee. I made some of the mango chicken sausage for breakfast that we bought at Trader Joe’s. Sam started back into her studies. The birds were outside this morning, so the cats were once again free to roam the house. Lucy jumped on the opportunity. Tom finally decided he wanted out from under the bed after being there for about a full day. I made the decision that I was going to drive the hour plus to the Rancho Cucamonga REI for my Keens. If I was going to pick up a pair for Sam, too, I needed her size, style and color preference. We drove back to the Birkenstock store to let Sam try on a pair. Got her size and she liked the girly-style Whisper over the other Keen styles. She is great. This style is cheaper than the normal Keen Newports. I took off for the REI. Since this is really the highlight of the day, now would be a good time for another rant about must-have items. I already blogged about the Contigo in the Day 6 posting. The Keen shoes will be my second rant. If you don’t own a pair, go out and get a pair this spring. They are hybrid shoe/sandals; like sandals with all the support and comfort of a cross-training or tennis shoe. They keep your foot cool in warm weather and surprisingly warm when the weather is cooler. Obviously, I wouldn’t suggest wearing them in January in Alaska, but even up there, you could wear them more than just in the summer. They last forever (or, at least until an airline loses them with your bag), and are versatile enough to be worn on the beach or in the woods on a hike or out camping. These shoes are the bomb!

To recap must have items:
1. Contigo Travel Mugs – Costco, $20 for a two-pack.
2. Keen Hybrid Shoes – REI, $95 for the Newport (mens and womens), $85 for the women-style Whisper. REI is having a sale until April 18, where members get 20% off one full price item. Of course, you could always get lucky and find a 2009 style on the sale rack.

The trip was a success. I found my size in the cool-sounding India Ink (dark blue) color on a pair of Newports. After a few calls back to Sam, some texting, and her using the REI website to visualize the color combinations, we settled on the bright green and gray for her. Two pairs of Keens, $175 with my discount, and some money for my REI 10% dividend coupon next year. On a side note, there was a Chick-fil-A right across the parking lot from the REI. I didn’t even know these things existed on the west coast! I thought about grabbing a chicken sandwich, but then thought it would be best to save the first Chick-fil-A stop on the move for a time where Sam and I could eat together.

Drove the hour plus back, which was a bit shorter, because the traffic wasn’t as bad going east. Definitely some clouds and some rain heading east to the desert. I noticed an email on my iPhone about a Dept. of Homeland Security Immigration Law job that I had applied for back in the winter. It said I had been rejected. Though, the title of the email only mentioned the job announcement number, so I had no idea what job I was being rejected for. Turned out it was the immigration attorney spot that would have placed me in Portland or Tacoma. Ah well. I never expected to find any good results applying through USA Jobs. Too many applicants and it always helps to have a foot in the door when applying for these jobs. I hope to have more success when we get to DC and I can start meeting people. And I am feeling cautiously optimistic about the Coast Guard JAG (or direct commission lawyer) position, too (though, the board doesn’t meet to make decisions on that until the end of April). It only took them three months to send me an email about it. At least I know that my application was received and was complete enough for someone to review. Based on the lack of response from DHS, I had no idea if anyone bothered to open the email I had sent.

Sam tried on her new shoes when I returned. She liked them, except for one of the left straps rubbed against her foot as she walked in a way that would cause a blister. UGH! We may have to go back to exchange her pair for another. She will try them on again later to play with the straps, when she is not in the middle of studying. Both cats had made themselves at home. They were free to wander around the house and Lucy is now strutting like she owns the place. Tom is finally not darting under the bed every few minutes and seems more comfortable. Dinner. Caught up on Flash Forward. Bed.

Up Next: More Hanginaround

M.E.

Day 18, March 29, 2010, Going to California with an Aching in My Heart or Lucy, the Devil-Cat

We got up Monday morning with every intention of hitting the road as soon as possible. Mom and Dad said 12 hours was a good estimate to make it from Sacramento to Palm Springs (yowsa!). I will tell you right now it didn’t happen. We got dressed and the car packed fairly quickly. While we were doing this Steve had been in the kitchen graciously preparing a wonderful breakfast (noticing this we realized we were not leaving in the next hour). He had everything ready to cook by the time we got finished with the car (minus the cats), but declared it smoke break time out back. Feel free to bring your coffee. We did. 20 minutes later we were back in the kitchen as he finished cooking. Finally ready to go…. Where is Thomas? My, that is getting to be a familiar question. He found himself a cozy spot on top of a cabinet above the washer and dryer. For the millionth time in a row I dragged him out of his hiding spot and threw him in the kennel. I was half way in the car when I thought to myself, “where is my wallet?” Thus began the 20 minute search through the car and the house in a frantic attempt to locate it. I was so mad at myself. This wasn’t the first time I’d misplaced it (not too long ago I spent a whole day getting new bank cards and an ID only to find my wallet the next day). Naturally, Matt was frustrated with me. I don’t blame him. Here we are already running behind with a long drive ahead of us and I’m not only delaying, I’m causing much unwanted stress at the start of the day. We finally found it. I can’t even remember where in the car. With all the stress and frustration I was nearly in tears (I was watering) when I got in the car, but I managed to hold it in. Long breaths and calming thoughts.

I’m sure our frantic search contributed, but Lucy (who is very sensitive to our emotional state) was HOWLING and wanted nothing more than to get out of the kennel. Meow. Meow. MEEEOOOOWWWW! She was pressing her face so hard against the bars I thought she was going to hurt herself. MEOWWW! I was pretty sure something like that would leave bruises. Draping a think cloth over the kennel didn’t help. MEOOOW!!!!!! I thought the darkness would calm her down. Nope. Thomas was passed out comfortably within a few seconds of being on the road. We thought maybe she was hot, so we turned up the air. MEOW MEOW MEEEEOW! No change. I tried rubbing her chin through the bars. She liked it but it didn’t change her freaking out. MEOW! IM NOT HAPPY! LET ME OUT! MEOW! It’s hard to describe, but this cat was have an all out nuclear meltdown in the first hour of a long (and sure to be much longer if this kept up) day. A few minutes south of Sacramento we pulled off. We just couldn’t take it anymore and feared she would hurt herself. From the time we decided to let her out and stopping I had decided I was going to put the harness on her and drug her. Well, sort of. We have this “kitty calmer” that’s supposedly a blend of herbal whatnot, but according to the vet also contains some alcohol. The only problem is that they have to drink it for it to work. When we’re traveling they barely eat OR drink OR poop. I did have a bottle that was originally intended to attach to the kennel (but decided to use a dish instead). So I filled up the bottle with water and added some of “the good stuff” and squirted it into her mouth like it was medicine. I was driving now and she was allowed to roam. The stuff must have worked because she spent the next few hours either in my lap or on top of the center console between the front seats- quiet. Thank the Lord for His mercy. We could enjoy our windy, boring view while listening to the book. A few hours later, we were getting hungry and Lucy was up and roaming around. She really wanted to get out of the car. We also needed to top off the tank. So at the next stop we filled up and I attempted to take Lucy out but a semi truck revved up and scared her almost of out my hands. A few new scratch marks. Fun. Back in the car with the quiet and the air conditioner was much better she realized. We got lunch from Jack in the Box before hitting the road again. While Matt had been getting the food, I tried to get Lucy to go outside again. I set her on the ground and she immediately turned back around and hopped into the car. *Sigh*

Around 6pm we started to hit the outskirts of LA.
S.K.T.

Matt taking over the writing…
“Made up my mind to make a new start, Going to California with an aching in my heart. Someone said there is a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.”
-Led Zeppelin

The road was no longer boring, as we started up and down the winding hills heading into L.A. and its northern urban sprawl. And of course, there was a noticeable change in the number of other vehicles on the road with us now. When we punched in our route earlier in the day, Google maps told us to take the 5 until it connected with I-10, and take the 10 East. This sounded like a terrible idea. Why would we want to go further into L.A. than needed? We considered getting off the 5 and heading East on Highway 58 towards Barstow, then South from there. But, in the end we just stayed on the interstates. Caught the 215, rather than staying on the 5 into LA. The traffic got thicker. This is the point where Lucy decided that she was not going to sit still anymore. I couldn’t hold her with me in the passenger seat. She wanted to keep jumping up on the dashboard again and climbing all over Sam. We pulled off the freeway and into a gas station. I took over the driving duties and Lucy was forced back in the kennel. Meow. MEOW. MEEEEEEOOOOOOWWWW! Sorry, Lucy. It is safer to have you loud and caged than quiet and crawling over the driver and the dash. We took 215 to Highway 58, through San Dimas (Excellent!). We caught 10 East from there. It was pretty smooth after an hour or so. The traffic lightened so we pulled over again to let Lucy out of the kennel. She was still stress, so we pulled over again a few miles down the road to throw her back in the kennel. By this time, Thomas was awake and making some noise of his own. Any other day, we would have called it a night and found a motel, but we were about 50 miles from Palm Springs now, so may as well finish the trip. Well into the desert, the cars cleared and the road was mainly full of 18 wheelers doing long haul through the desert. We caught the 111 and finally rolled into Palm Springs around 9pm. Well short of the 12 hour prediction and closer to Google maps 8 hour prediction. We would have been closer to that 8 hour prediction if we hadn’t pulled over so many times due to Her Royal Catness. Sam’s parents, Mike and Sue, were glad to see us. Of Course. The cats were thrilled to be out of the car. Sue had glasses of wine poured for us before we could even settle down. The large guest room, with the king size bed, was all made up and ready for us to move in for a while. We brought in just the necessities and left the unpacking until tomorrow. Some socializing and some wine later, and we were down for the count. The cats were allowed to explore the house a bit, since the birds were already put to bed. Yet again, when it was time for bed and the cats to be in with us in the guest room, Tom was nowhere to be found. We searched the house, and he was eventually found in the master bedroom. Sam tried to pick him up to take him into our room, but he wanted none of it. He flailed and scratcher her pretty bad on her hand. I was dumb enough to try the same thing but I got scratched (though not that bad) and a small hole was put in my Oregon t-shirt. He is obviously having trust issues now, as he probably thinks that every time he is picked up, he is going to be tossed in the kennel. It took both of us to pick him up, by holding his paws together in our hands. He immediately bolted under the bed when we got him in our room. Good night, Tom.

Up Next: This Desert Life (Counting Crows reference)

M.E.

Day 17, March 28, 2010, California, Here We Come

The morning started out rough. Pretty much our personal rendition of the second season of Lost except we aren’t Michael and the kid we’re looking for is Thomas, not Walt. So, maybe it’s still like Lost but we’re Walt looking for his dog, Vincent. Thomas, being the irrationally fearful cat that he is, found a hole in the gauze material that covers the bottom of a box spring and climbed in. There he felt comfortable and safe. Unfortunately, we needed to hit the road. With obviously no intention of heeding our calls and pleas I took a pen and stabbed the material and created a new hole next to the edge intending to pull him out. I got him part way out but his collar was somehow encompassing not only his neck, but a leg too and I let him go. Horribly frustrated we decided to turn the bed upside down and force him out. It worked and he tossed him in the kennel. “We don’t care if you don’t like it! You made us turn the bed upside down, you stinker. Cry all you want.” So with that taken care of we piled the rest of everything back into the car and took off. It was gray and rainy and not very inviting. A pit stop down the road to get coffee, another for gas, and we were out of Eugene. We made it to Ashland for lunch. I spent some time talking to Erica on the road and thought of her more when we hit town since this is where she spent several years attending SOU. After some difficulty parallel parking, we walked a block to Pangea that I found via Urban Spoon for some wraps and hummus. The guy behind the counter had recently been to Anchorage and we spent some time doing the usual chitchat. “How long have you lived there?” “What did you do while you visited?” “Oh, I went to this popular pizza place…” “Moose’s Tooth” yadda yadda except this guy claims that NY pizza is way better. Personally, I’ve never had NY pizza, but it seems that the only big to-do over it that the slices are HUGE. Okay, great. Who cares? Our pizza is amazing. You keep your big slices and we’ll keep our blackened halibut, pesto, bbq chicken, thai, backpacker spectacularness! Maybe I’m biased, maybe I’m right. Innocent until proven guilty. Right until proven wrong. 

Back on the road and heading through the second pass- the one between Oregon and California. The only thing worth mentioning here are that the cats were displeased with the number of turns and that some idiot blew out a tire and pulled off on the left side of the road right after a turn and nearly caused us to wreck because he was taking up part of the lane. We both agreed it wouldn’t be long before someone did wreck. Forty-five seconds later police and ambulances we by. I hope they were okay. I forgot to mention that on the way back to the car in Ashland we passed a used book store. We had finished our two other books on CD and needed another. We really lucked out- Steven King’s Duma Key unabridged for only 10 bucks. No flipping way. This is normally $45. Good eye, Matt for seeing that one. Everything else was either lame or too expensive. We’ve been listening to this book and I recommend it. I recommend the book on CD more, because I REALLY enjoy the guy reading it. He’s 10 million times better than the guy who read the Michael Crichton’s State of Fear, and half a million better than the guy who read Clive Cussler. The later was at a disadvantage because, well, Clive Cussler’s writing leaves something to be desired. I wasn’t impressed and neither was Matt. Oh well. But Duma Key is a great story and although it’s not horror (thankfully actually), the writing and the story itself are very, very well done.
Hours later we arrive in Roseville just outside of Sacramento at Steve’s house. Steve and I worked at Terrasond together in the field. We were both in Nome and Teller in 2006 although on different vessels and we were in the Gulf of Mexico (same boat, same 12 hour night shift) for three months in 2007. So, we had gotten to be pretty good friends. It feels like much longer since I’ve seen him, but I guess it’s only been a year. Time flies. His house is big and spacious with a pool. Too much room for just one guy, but very comfortable. We put the cats in one of the empty bedrooms and spent the rest of the evening chatting, eating Chinese food, drinking port wine from 1985, and playing 3-way cribbage. Steve was the first person to teach me to play. I had a hard time learning the counting, so I never played after that summer. Matt and his brother, Dave, retaught me over Thanksgiving and now I’m addicted. We even have the iPhone apps. I just learned to play 3-way at his grandma’s, but it’s easy to pick up and I won the first round. Stomped them in fact. Just saying. Steve got the second and as I predicted Matt won the third. By that time, it was nearing 2AM and Matt and I were practically passing out in our chairs. Good night everyone!

Next Up: Lucy, the devil-cat

SKT

(The picture is of a fantastic painting on the wall behind the bar at the Working Girl Winery between Sequim and Port Angeles. I love how the girls are in the middle of a laughing fit. Isn't it an amazing capture of a human emotion?)

Day 16, March 27, 2010, Our Hearts in Oregon

I made Sam get up early. Let me rephrase that. I tried to make Sam get up early. I roused her from bed early enough to go to the post office around the time it opened so we could hit the road early. Shipped off our two boxes, which definitely cleared some room in the car. The car was still full, but at least the rearviewmirror was no longer completely useless. Cats back in the kennel in the back seat. They had been happy at the office, but it was whining time again back in the car. We hadn’t even made it into town to get gas and road supplies before Lucy spewed in the back seat. At least she got most of it in the litter box. OK, car full of gas, and cat puke cleaned up, and we were on the road. Heading south on 101, and this is a gorgeous drive. 101 winds around the Olympic Peninsula between the mountains and the water. In our case here, we had Puget Sound to the left of us and the mountains to the right. The sun was out and it made for some scenery. That all ended when we hit Olympia, where we got off the 101 and onto I-5.

We blew south on the 5 heading towards Oregon. I had sent a quick text message to some friends in Portland, saying that we would he coming through. At this point, we wanted to make it to Palm Springs as quickly as possible, so the cats could settle down and Sam could focus on studying. Thus, we could only have a quick bite to eat in Portland and then we would be on our merry way. I only received one response in the affirmative having some lunch/dinner. So, we met up with Mackenzie at the Kennedy School McMennamins. Mack and I spent three years of law school together. With the exception of first year, we probably spent more time drinking beer together than in class together. His and Emily’s wedding in Sun Valley, Idaho was the first wedding Sam and I attended together last summer. McMennamins is an Oregon chain restaurant/brewery. The Kennedy School location in Portland is an old school converted into a huge restaurant and bar. The old detention room is now a smokers’ lounge and cigar store. The other cool McMennamins location is in Bend. That one has a brew theater, similar to the Bear Tooth (for those of you in Anchorage). I do prefer the beer and food at the Bear Tooth if the two need to be compared.

Portland is a city that both of us love. It would be nice to be moving here. For starters, that would mean the move would pretty much be done at this point. Of course, the jobs just aren’t there for same in this area, and it would involve me taking another bar exam and probably going back to criminal law again. Maybe later, Portland. Not yet. The lunch was good as we were there at happy hour. The 3 of us only managed to rack up a $23 tab for food and beer (though, Sam and I only had one a piece since we were about to be back on the road).

We made it further down the 5, and stopped in Eugene for the night. This was the first time I had been back here since I moved out and up to Alaska. It looks the same. Well, except for that huge new arena they are building at the edge of campus near the law school. We made a mad search for a motel room. I figured that it would be cheap since it is spring break and not exactly football season. I was wrong. For some reason, all the motels were $70+. And it was hard finding any place that was pet friendly. After stopping at numerous places, we settled on the Broadway Motel (named for being on Broadway). I talked the girl at the desk into only charging us for one pet instead of two. After checking, I gave Sam a walking tour of campus. Some nostalgia for me, since I did spend three years of my life at UO. I took her to Rennies (UO’s famous campus bar), through campus, pointing out some of the buildings used in Animal House, over to the law school ( where we walked around the building), and finally over to Villard Street Pub (which was our favorite hang out during 3rd year of law school). Villard was dead, and the bar tenders appeared to be male, which was odd, since every bartender was female when I was in law school. We had a beer at Villard, and since the kitchen was down, the bartender gave us free chips and salsa. This was a new one, too. I was used to paying for my food and getting free drinks here. The times they are a changing.

Up Next: California, Here We Come.

M.E.

(The picture is one I took from his grandma's yard. SKT)

Day 16, March 27, 2010, Our Hearts in Oregon

I made Sam get up early. Let me rephrase that. I tried to make Sam get up early. I roused her from bed early enough to go to the post office around the time it opened so we could hit the road early. Shipped off our two boxes, which definitely cleared some room in the car. The car was still full, but at least the rearviewmirror was no longer completely useless. Cats back in the kennel in the back seat. They had been happy at the office, but it was whining time again back in the car. We hadn’t even made it into town to get gas and road supplies before Lucy spewed in the back seat. At least she got most of it in the litter box. OK, car full of gas, and cat puke cleaned up, and we were on the road. Heading south on 101, and this is a gorgeous drive. 101 winds around the Olympic Peninsula between the mountains and the water. In our case here, we had Puget Sound to the left of us and the mountains to the right. The sun was out and it made for some scenery. That all ended when we hit Olympia, where we got off the 101 and onto I-5.

We blew south on the 5 heading towards Oregon. I had sent a quick text message to some friends in Portland, saying that we would he coming through. At this point, we wanted to make it to Palm Springs as quickly as possible, so the cats could settle down and Sam could focus on studying. Thus, we could only have a quick bite to eat in Portland and then we would be on our merry way. I only received one response in the affirmative having some lunch/dinner. So, we met up with Mackenzie at the Kennedy School McMennamins. Mack and I spent three years of law school together. With the exception of first year, we probably spent more time drinking beer together than in class together. His and Emily’s wedding in Sun Valley, Idaho was the first wedding Sam and I attended together last summer. McMennamins is an Oregon chain restaurant/brewery. The Kennedy School location in Portland is an old school converted into a huge restaurant and bar. The old detention room is now a smokers’ lounge and cigar store. The other cool McMennamins location is in Bend. That one has a brew theater, similar to the Bear Tooth (for those of you in Anchorage). I do prefer the beer and food at the Bear Tooth if the two need to be compared.

Portland is a city that both of us love. It would be nice to be moving here. For starters, that would mean the move would pretty much be done at this point. Of course, the jobs just aren’t there for same in this area, and it would involve me taking another bar exam and probably going back to criminal law again. Maybe later, Portland. Not yet. The lunch was good as we were there at happy hour. The 3 of us only managed to rack up a $23 tab for food and beer (though, Sam and I only had one a piece since we were about to be back on the road).

We made it further down the 5, and stopped in Eugene for the night. This was the first time I had been back here since I moved out and up to Alaska. It looks the same. Well, except for that huge new arena they are building at the edge of campus near the law school. We made a mad search for a motel room. I figured that it would be cheap since it is spring break and not exactly football season. I was wrong. For some reason, all the motels were $70+. And it was hard finding any place that was pet friendly. After stopping at numerous places, we settled on the Broadway Motel (named for being on Broadway). I talked the girl at the desk into only charging us for one pet instead of two. After checking, I gave Sam a walking tour of campus. Some nostalgia for me, since I did spend three years of my life at UO. I took her to Rennies (UO’s famous campus bar), through campus, pointing out some of the buildings used in Animal House, over to the law school ( where we walked around the building), and finally over to Villard Street Pub (which was our favorite hang out during 3rd year of law school). Villard was dead, and the bar tenders appeared to be male, which was odd, since every bartender was female when I was in law school. We had a beer at Villard, and since the kitchen was down, the bartender gave us free chips and salsa. This was a new one, too. I was used to paying for my food and getting free drinks here. The times they are a changing.

Up Next: California, Here We Come.

M.E.

Days 14-15, Thursday-Friday, March 25-26, 2010, Last Days in Washington (State)…

Well, at least for a while.

On Thursday, Sam went with me to run some errands in town. I needed to pick up my medical report from my check up and fax it off to the Coast Guard. Stopped there first. It wasn’t ready, so come back later. We went over to the PetCo find a cool animal brush for the cats. It is one that took hair off, helping with shedding. My mom had one for the dogs, which we tried out on the cats. Sam loved it, so we had to have one. And cat food. The cats were running low. There was a brush on sale that we wanted, but only in pink. Not a fan of the pink brush. Thomas is enough of a wuss without using a pink brush on him. They had the exact same brush in another section, but it was blue, and twice as much. We took both brushes to the counter and managed to talk the store manager into giving us the blue one at the sale price. Got what we wanted and moving on. Back to the doctor’s office. Report still not ready. To the post office, but the line was long and full of elderly women. I refused to stand in that line, so we moved on. Back to the doctor’s office. Still not ready. To the grocery store and Papa Murphys to get a pizza. I grabbed wine and milk at the grocery store and Sam went over to get the pizza (had to do it this way, because I was the only one who brought an ID. I got into the pizza place and caught strange glances from Sam and both girls behind the counter when I walked in. One of the girls giggled. Confused, I asked if I had missed something. Apparently, some strange guy had walked in, approached Sam, and said that he saw her from across the parking lot and came in just to get her name. The girl from behind the counter simply told me that my girlfriend had just been hit on. I guess I can’t really be upset. When you date someone as cute as Sam, these things are bound to happen every now and again.

Back at grandma’s house, we spent the evening eating pizza and playing cribbage. Sam did some studying, but later came back in and played 3-person cribbage with us. I lost a lot tonight. Good thing we weren’t playing for money.

On Friday morning, Sam and I went to the Olympic Game Farm. It is one of those places where many of the animals are wandering around free, and you drive the car through. We got there early enough that we were the only ones in the park. You are free to feed bread to the animals while in the park. There were two main areas of the park that had the animals free to walk up to the car. The first part had llamas and yak. The llamas were the first aggressive animal we came across. They were unafraid to walk right up and stick heads in the car. They knew you had food and were ready to grab it. There was a little, black baby llama which we tried to feed but it was being blocked out by the adults, including mom. After the llamas and yaks, you come across the Kodiak bears. The bears are not free to wander up to the car. I can’t imagine why. The bear areas are fenced off with electric fences. You can toss the bread over the fence easily to feed the bears. They are pretty careful not to touch the fence with their paws. After the bears, there were smaller cages you drive around. These cages have tigers, lions, lynx, timberwolves, and other large cats. Finally, there is the area where you are told to keep the car moving. And for good reason. This area had the bison and the elk. The bison are big and will stand in front of the car. They slobber on the window and will stick their big green tongues out to get your bread. The elk chased after the car to get to the window. Sam managed to get a video of a bison eating from my hand. I tried to do the same, but screwed up with the camera. Thus, we did the tour again. We started with the bison and elk. This time, there was one younger bison that was feeling a little friskier in the late morning. He actually started charging toward the car, and we were afraid for a brief moment that he wasn’t going to stop. He hit the brakes in an attempt for food, then ran back to do it all over again. We sped up a bit to get out of the area. The elk were a bit more well behaved and were fed accordingly. They managed to get their heads right in the car while avoiding the antlers. Back at the llama/yak area, the llamas had moved and the yaks were ready to aggressively go after the tourists. Ever had a yak head in your lap? It was a first for me.

After the Game Farm, we went back to the house to do some more work. Sam went back to studying. I finished off my work project. Finally made it through all those CDs. I then spent the rest of the afternoon repacking the clothes. It was time to get the summer clothes out and get rid of the winter/Alaska clothes! We had dinner with some family friends; Buddy and Ginny. Ginny made some incredible homemade lasagna, along with these incredible toffee butter bars. I need the recipe. I am sure there is a stick of butter per bar, but, wow!

After dinner, we went back and started to pack up the car. It was time to hit the road again tomorrow. We packed up a couple of boxes to ship out to DC; full of jackets, sweaters, scarves, thick socks, etc. Good riddance. See you in December.

Up Next: On The Road Again. A Pit Stop in this Familiar Place Called Oregon.

M.E.

Days 11-13, March 22-24, 2010: More Time in Sequim, WA

Monday
Mom left Monday morning. Well, she meant to leave Monday morning, but it was more like early afternoon. Sam and I stayed in Sequim, so she could study without distractions. The only distraction around here would be grandma watching her Soaps. I had to go into town today for a doctor’s appointment. I had received an email from someone at the Coast Guard telling me that I needed to make a follow up appointment after my initial physical for my JAG application (at my own expense). This process is getting a little tedious. I have never been through so much for a single job application. But, given the experience, benefits, decent pay and of course, the adventure that the job brings, it is worth the hassle.

Monday night, we went back to the Thompsons for dinner. Barb gave us the quick tour of Gardiner, where there are some amazing houses. And not just big houses. There is a castle house, painted purple and full of gargoyle-like trolls. Unreal. Barb ran one interesting errand on our tour. She stopped at a little farm to pick up two dozen eggs. The shopping was on the honor system. No one was there selling eggs. There was just a cooler, full of eggs in recycled cartons, and a ziplock full of cash. Leave your cash and old cartons, and pick up some new eggs. We are obviously not in Anchorage anymore. If this were Anchorage, that cooler would have no eggs and no cash in it.

Dinner was awesome. I thought we had left Alaska, but here we were, eating halibut. The halibut will be the food I miss most about Alaska. Yum. After dinner, Chuck left for his firefighter training, while Bard sat and socialized with us until she was just too tired to go on. She had been working so hard on the Garden Show over the weekend, that she lacked some of her usual energy. Back to Sequim to call it a night.

Before bed, Sam and I caught a repeat of the Daily Show. I was hoping it would be a new episode concerning the health care bill. Alas, the show is on hiatus. However, this episode devoted the first segment to John Stewart acting as if he was doing the Glen Beck Show. Brilliant comedy! The absurd graphs, the non sequitur logic, and the insane (borderline asylum-like) rant, even full of fake tears. I was in actual tears, I was laughing so hard. When I find a better internet connection, I am you-tubing it, so I can watch it again.

M.E.

Tuesday
I went back into town today. The tires on the Subaru still had studs on them. The tires were great getting through the Haines Pass. But, now, those tires are going to be illegal for the rest of the trip. I took the car down to the tire place in town to have them de-studded. Somehow, this process took longer than it should have. So, I took advantage of not having the car to walk through downtown Sequim. I managed to cash some checks at the bank and find a coffee shop to get a smoothie before getting the car back. The tires now have a lot of little holes in them, but there is no sound of them tearing up the road. Stopped and the grocery store and picked up some Taco Time before heading back to the house. Sam wanted a quesadilla and expected me to stop at Taco Bell before getting back. I refuse to go to Taco Bell here in the Pacific NW. Anyone who has lived in this area knows the cast superiority of Taco Time to Taco Bell. It is taco-style fast food, sans all the grease and D-grade meat. It actually tastes good (and not just after you have been drinking, like Taco Bell).

We tried to take the cats outside for a bit, but there is an eagle nest in a high tree, not too far from my grandmother’s house. We know, from living in Alaska, that eagles have been known to pick up small pets (such as cats) and have them for dinner. There was an eagle in the nest and we saw it flap its wings a few times. So, the cats had to go back in the office for their own safety. Sam and I took a walk before dinner, and two things were noticeable walking around the residential area of North Sequim. First, there are a lot of deer around here. And they are not that afraid of humans. I remember living in Georgia for all those years, and deer would bolt when they saw anyone make even the slightest move. Here, you could walk right by them, and though they would be wary of your presence, they would not run off. I assume the obvious here: That the deer probably don’t get shot at around here like they do by all those guns in the South, so they aren’t that afraid of humans. Just a theory. The second thing that stood out were all the “No Trespassing” signs around here. It, sadly, gave this beautiful area a very unwelcoming feeling. There are a lot of very unique homes and gardens around here, along with the beach looking out towards Vancouver Island. All of this beach land seems to be privately owned. Boo on the state of Washington for letting this small piece of coastal land to be bought up and made so unwelcome.

After dinner, Sam and I were given the rare treat of two back-to-back new Lost episodes. We missed the previous weeks lost due to being on the boat. Sawyer was finally back and we got that Richard episode which we had been waiting for all season. No spoiler, but how Richard got to the island was fairly obvious at this point.

M.E.

I feel like I don’t have much to contribute since mostly I’ve been studying. I have been reading through the Surveyor’s Reference Manual and discovered a few topics that I need more info on and don’t have the right sources with me. Rats! So, at some point I’ll be browsing the net for answers and explanations. I am happy that most of the material is just review. Terms and concepts I already know so instead of having to really learn it I am just jogging my memory. Once I make it through the book I will start over with the sample test book, hopefully with better results.

S.K.T

Wednesday
I started in with the test booklet again. Matt was back on the Jailhouse recording project. I made it halfway in the 6 hours I spent studying. VERY slow, but I spent time trying the problem and then studying the answer at the back. I want to make sure I understand how to approach them so next time it won’t take so long. Tomorrow I am going through the second half. I need to get more information on map scales, easements, and field surveying. I wouldn’t have such a hard time with field calculations if I would set the problem up correctly. Trying to remember the difference between zenith angles and vertical angles, various types of easements, and scaling maps is frustrating. Also not helping is my HP33 is DOA. I need to replace the batteries. It’s hard to do a bunch of calculations when you have to manually convert degrees- minutes- seconds to decimal-degrees on a basic 4 function calculator. GRR!

With the cats now having the office in addition to the small bedroom and bathroom to run around in they are able to get more exercise. We took them out on the leashes in the backyard for a bit. Lucy was super excited, but Thomas loudly protested and just wanted back inside. He spent the rest of the day weary of me for fear I might make him go back out. Lucy and Brandy (the schnauzer) got along just fine while Luce invested every nook and cranny of the yard. Brandy never even barked. We were all surprised.

After dinner we watched Survivor and American Idol. I haven’t watched those in years. Then, Matt and I watched the next three episodes of Flash Forward to catch us up on the season before tonight’s episode.

Oh, we also learned about Blackstrap Molasses. Here, I thought it was only good for cookies. It has a whole list of uses both edible and non-edible. According to Earth Clinic, a tablespoon can help with digestion, iron, brewing beer… It can also be used as an ingredient in mortar for bricklaying, fertilizer, fishing bait, removing rust…
We are going to pick some up at the store.

S.K.T.

I have nothing to add here, except a comment on American Idol. I have never watched that show. And after being subjected to it tonight, I never plan on watching it again. That hour of TV gave me a much better grasp on why some of our world’s citizens hate America.

M.E.

Days 9-10, The Weekend, March 20-21, 2010: Olympic Peninsula

On Saturday, we got up late. It was nice to sleep in without having to get up, worried about hitting the road or in a bunk, concerned about the cats and getting some work done. Had breakfast, coffee and socialized all morning.

Sam, Mom and I (and Mom’s dog, Sage) took off about midday for Port Angeles and then south into the Olympic National Park. Mom and I had hiked up to Hurricane Ridge a few years ago. We remembered it having an incredible view of the Straight of Juan de Fuca and over to Vancouver Island. We drove the ways to the top and realized that Spring had not quite reached the mountain peaks. People were up there snowboarding, cross-country skiing and snow shoeing. And it was windy. Sam and I got out, snapped a few pictures and decided that we had had enough of the snow and wind before we got on the boat out of Haines. We hung out at the Base Station, took some pictures, and that was about it. On the flip side, Mom and Sage loved it. They went for a walk down the trail a bit in the snow. It was Sage’s first time in the snow.

We came back down the mountain and stopped at the Olympic Cellars Winery on the way back into Sequim. For anyone who may visit in the Olympic Peninsula, this is a place where you need to stop. The winery is owned by a group of three women. When we walked in, they were celebrating one of the owners birthday with this intensely rich chocolate cake. Anyone who walked through the door was entitled to a piece. We bought a wine taste and I got some dessert wine to go with the cake. Showing some restraint, mom bought a bottle of the Dungeness Red to open tonight and that was it for us. We also bought a package of Walnut Cranberry Pancake mix. It sounded really good. Sam and I will come back later.

My grandmother is the biggest hockey fan that I know. Watching hockey in her house is like a religion. Saturday night is Hockey Night in Canada. We are so close to Canada that CBC is a channel on the cable package. Thus, the evening centered around watching hockey. Game 1: Montreal v. Toronto. Game 2: Detroit v. Vancouver (right across the waterway). Lots of relaxing, wine and hockey tonight.

On Sunday, I got up and made those Walnut Cranberry pancakes for breakfast. Mom and Sam went into town for the Garden Show which we learned about from Barb on Friday. I passed. My time was better spent watching my alma mater be eliminated from the NCAA Tourney. Georgia Tech sucked me back in with their run in the ACC tournament. I really believed we had a shot at beating Ohio State. The team was obviously as talented as the much higher ranked team. Of course, another sloppy game against a better coached team, and that was our season. I should have known better. They played an ugly game, and break my heart again. How can a team this talented turn the ball over that many times at this point of the season?!

Mom and I tried to walk Sage down the beach when they returned. It rained. We had to vacate the walk a little early.

The four of us went to the 7 Cedars Casino for an early dinner. Of course, we had to do a little gambling while there. I have gone to this casino many times with my grandmother. Without fail, she wins at the slot machines every time I go with her. And it happened again. I watched her turn $20 into $100 at one of the slot machines. Then, she did it again. Good for her!

Back at the house, it was wine, beer and cards. We played Phase 10 again- I won muahaha- and Sam and I taught them how to play Oh, Hell. I am happy to say that Sam has gotten along great with both my mother and grandmother. This part of the trip is going great. Now, we need to refocus Sam for the rest of the week. She needs to study starting Monday.

M.E.

I’m supposed to write about the garden show. Before breakfast Matt and I did our morning check on the cats. When we walked back to the house (the cats are staying in a detached office/garage) we were standing in the kitchen and his grandma walked in from her bedroom and gave me a pair of earrings. The night before she had asked me what my birthstone was. It’s garnet- a dark, almost blackish red. I’m not particularly fond of it. She handed me two studded earrings. They have a very small red jewel in the center surrounded by what looks like very tiny pearls so that each one looks like a flower. They are from Prague. I was really shocked. I’ve heard Ward gave her lots of jewelry over the years, but I never would have expected she would be giving me some it within 48 hours of meeting me. Thanks! I have the sneaking suspicion they are not garnet. The red is too light with just a hint of pink to be garnet. I didn’t say anything just in case she thought they were; although I’m sure someone with nice jewelry knows more than I do. Maybe I should ask. Anyways, they are beautiful and I immediately put them on!

Kris and I left Matt and Grandma to fight over watching the hockey and the basketball game. The two of us and Sage took off to the garden show at the Boys and Girls Club. We were allowed to bring Sage inside if she was on a short leash. She was very well behaved and patient as we slowly made our way around the 60 booths. Naturally, there were a lot of lavender products. We learned a lot about Mason bees because she is raising them for the first time this year. It seemed like every booth had something new to learn. Types of housing, larvae info, plants they like, where to put the house, how to keep them around. Sage was a good way to meet people. She’s a people magnet. I think we stopped and chatted at every booth except those with just potting flowers. Eventually we headed out but we made a stop at Ace Hardware just to do more looking at things we want but don’t need. Of course!

S.K.T.