Weekly Update 1

It is actually more than a week ago since I left Seattle but I just now thought that it might be a good idea to give a weekly itinerary of my travels. No deep thoughts just where I have been and things I have seen.

March 21,2007: Seattle to Roseburg, OR – all freeways with daffodils! A night spent at the Shady Grove Inn.
March 22, 2007: Roseburg to Mountain View CA to visit with parents of a close friend. A stop at the Olive Pit in Corning Ca and that stop at the Easy St. exit.
March 23,2007: Mountain View, CA- A visit to Santa Clara University to see the most beautiful Wisteria in bloom and lunch with a friend from High School.
March 24, 2007: Mountain View to San Luis Obispo, CA. Walked the town and enjoyed the central Valley.
March 25, 2007: San Luis Obispo to Victorville, CA. I bid the Pacific Ocean goodbye, saw vineyards and orange groves and entered the desert area between San Bernardino and Barstow.
March 26,2007: Victorville to Las Vegas, NV. Drove through Baker with the world’s largest thermometer. Saw the LV strip at night.
March 27,2007: Las Vegas: Walked miles through casinos, lost $10.00 playing slots. It was the coldest day they had had in months – it even rained! Lots of strange folks and one Elvis impersonator!
March 28,2007: Las Vegas to Williams, AZ. I didn’t to go Zion like I had planned – they had 8 inches of snow! Saw Hoover Dam and drove historic Rt. 66 from Kingman to Williams, AZ
March 29, 2007: Williams to Grand Canyon to Sedona, AZ. It was 22 degrees when I got up! The Grand Canyon was just that, grand. Saw three California great condors soaring over the canyon – amazing. It blizzard snowed all the way to Flagstaff and south almost to Sedona.
March 30,2007: Sedona, AZ. Beautiful red rocks. Got a massage and listened to a timeshare pitch for a cheap hotel room rate. Sun was back though not very warm yet.

That’s the trip so far. I think I have hit a rhythm that works. I’ve met different folks and enjoyed the views so much. Next week will be mostly Bisbee, AZ a place I may want to live in someday.

Peeps on Pilgrimage

I am a part of a women’s group who have been together now for 25 years. We have seen each other through most anything life can throw at a person. I love them dearly. Leaving them for this trip was very hard. Before I left we gathered and they gave me small gifts to take with me in the car. One woman, thinking I liked to eat the Easter candy called Peeps, gave me a package of four yellow bunny Peeps. I really don’t like the candy but I said I would take the Peeps with me.

They have proved to be great friends and fun to travel with. I set them on the seat next to me while I drive and sometimes-even talk with them. They are great listeners as I share my hopes and dreams, my anxieties and worries. I point out sites to them when I wish I had another human in the drivers seat. They don’t have much to contribute to the conversation but their presence comforts me.

I decided that I would start including them in pictures I took, much like I would do if I had another human along with me. Each time I snap their picture, I laugh. It is so fun to see how I can include them in a picture and whom I can get them to pose with.

I also have met friendly folks through the Peeps. When I bring them out of my bag to snap a picture I see folks looking at me and at them. That helps to start a conversation and then I don’t feel so isolated on this adventure. Other people laugh and share a bit of themselves or help me with the picture and I get to connect with others who are on a journey too. The Peeps help me stay connected to others. And they keep me connected to those I love who are not with me as I share the adventures of the Peeps. Thanks Pat!

WANT TO SEE THE PEEPS????? GO TO http://web.mac.com/estellas and enjoy!

Easy Street

I don’t like driving mountain passes! I feel anxious going up, fooled in the small valleys in between and scared when going down those 6 % grades. It’s even worse when there are a lot of trucks.

Going through the mountains that border Oregon and California got me thinking about how the difficult times in life are like going through those mountain passes. Going up you can’t see where you are. It’s hard on the car like it can be hard on the spirit. There are twists and turns that by the time you get used to them they change. Some trucks go so slow but some cars go so fast. I find myself judging my progress against them – just like I tend to do in life. At the top of the pass there is a vista and things can look very clear for a moment but then it’s all downhill! And that can be as hard as the up hill climb.

As I came out of the mountains into California I saw Mt. Shasta brilliant in the sun! It was amazing and for many minutes the difficulty of the mountains was worth this view. As I came down to flat interstate I went through Yreka, CA and then saw an exit sign that I HAD to take: Exit 770- Easy St/ Shamrock Rd!

I had to get off on Easy St. – didn’t everyone want to live there? Would there be big houses? Folks that looked like that were always happy? Did their luck show on Shamrock Rd? How could I live there??

What did I find? A rural road with few houses. Nothing special, no great signs and then I remembered: Easy Street is a state of mind – not a place or destination. I smiled, got back on the freeway and took a picture of the sign so I could remember.

Daffodils

Oregon is a beautiful state. Green hills, tall fir trees, and mountains with snowy tops. Driving through the state though what I noticed were the daffodils. Near the exits or on ramps, right now there are patches of daffodils blooming. Groups of twenty or thirty bright yellow flowers dot Interstate 5 every ten miles or so. How did they get there?

Daffodils are not native to Oregon. Someone had to plant them – but who? I’d like to believe it was flower-loving Oregonians who wanted to brighten my day and for other travelers. Seeing the flowers where like passing someone on the street that is holding a baby who smiles a huge smile at you and brings a smile to your lips. Seeing the flowers also made be feel like a special gift had been given to me just because – because I was alive. Each time I saw a patch I found myself saying thank you to the unseen gardeners who the treat available to me.

In truth, the highway department probably planted the daffodils and realizing that brought a smile to me as well. I like the idea that a government agency thought it would be a good use of dollars to bring a spot of spring to travelers throughout the state. Thanks Oregon!

Getting Ready

Welcome to Libbie’s Odyssey!

Tomorrow (March 21,2007) I leave on my adventure. I wanted to leave on the first day of spring – that day of balance between light and dark. The days will get longer and the light will win for a good while – most of the time I will be traveling.

Getting ready for this trip has been a three-month odyssey as well. Running away when you are 18 is simple – no mortgages, no bills, no obligations for the most part. Now in my 50’s it meant finding renters for the house, selling stuff, storing stuff, planning for paying bills while on the road. I have worked at it full time everyday since January. The lists upon lists seemed to never get shorter only longer. Get the taxes done early; get some medical things taken care of. Who would look after my dog? The garden? Should I give up my home phone number or turn it into a voice mailbox? Get the power of attorney etc lined up in case of an accident somewhere on the trip. Get another signer on my safety deposit box. Pack the boxes, move the boxes to storage. Move out of the house, move in with a friend while sorting the last stuff to pack in the car. Put more in storage since I had way too much for the car.

In the midst of all this it was hard to hold onto why I wanted the adventure in the first place. I kept visualizing myself driving down a highway in Arizona whenever I lost sight of the goal. Other days I felt so sad to leave my family friends that I wondered why I would leave everyone who loves me to be alone? Then I would try to think of great reasons to stay and my heart would say NO – I want to go!

I have wanted to make this adventure for a few years now. When my daughter Rachel went off to college two years ago, I spent a year lying on the couch. I wasn’t depressed, I was tired, tired from 18 years of organizing my life around her needs. Now with her gone and no partner to concern myself with I felt adrift. I had thought I was her anchor but discovered she was mine. Her life structured my life and now I couldn’t answer the question: Libbie, what would you like to do?

It’s not like I didn’t have a career and interests while raising Rachel, it’s just that I discovered that raising her had been central to my heart and now I needed to find a new way to organize my heart. It also didn’t mean that I had abandoned her. We are still very close but there is a line that has been created that makes my parenting her different now and different for the future.

So for a year I napped and read and watched movies whenever I wasn’t working. Friends worried about me but I was ok. I was resting after a job well done and letting my mind and heart try on new ideas. The idea I kept getting was to sell everything and get in my car and drive, drive south and east and wherever and somehow the journey would yield the answers I needed.

So here I am. I invite you to share the journey with me. I promise to be honest and open. I pledge to be kind to myself and learn what I need to learn. And I will trust that I will be in a new place with new directions in this year I plan on having my adventure!