We're off again!

Finally!

We're going to be moving on to a new place after being in one place for a whole month. It's been quite a new experience to stay in one place for so long, but am I ready to getting adventuring again. We all are. Though after being here for so long it feels really different to be moving. It feels like we're ACTUALLY moving, not just the normal moving on after a week in a place. It starts to feel homey, even more so since we've been in California. This state has a way of trapping us in its boundaries and holding on with all its might. I think it was good for us to take so much time to rest and get prepared in our home state, and goodness knows I enjoyed seeing, smelling, touching, and being in the redwoods, as a calm before the storm of fun.

It's going to be strange leaving the West Coast. In a few days we'll all be further inland than we've all ever been, living wise. We've visited places inland, like Yellowstone and the Tetons. But we came HOME after those trips. This time we're taking our home there. There's no coming back after a week!  It's terrifying and super exciting all at once. I was feeling nervous a couple days ago, thinking about traveling into new territory, which is silly since I'd never been to so many places in Washington and Oregon, but now it feels like our first few months of trial is over and now we're REALLY starting this. And I'm feeling pretty exhilarated. I'm feeling like starting things, which is a funny feeling for the beginning of autumn. It makes me think of one of my favorite song lyrics:

"They say spring's a time for rebuilding, but this is not spring.
Now I look out my window and wonder what tomorrow will bring. " (Andy Pearson)


So tomorrow we're going to be heading out for our longest traveling day yet. Somewhere around 6 to 7 hours of driving up into Oregon before we shoot east to end up in Yellowstone for my birthday! Dad looked at how far we've traveled since we started, something like 1100 miles. From here to Yellowstone it's around 1000 miles and we're going to being driving all that in three fast jumps. I spent all yesterday making car-trippy snacks; homemade-everything-free 'cereal', chocolate-berry plantain muffins with lemon topping and savory "French bread" plantain muffins. Plantain crackers, Pumpkin-coconut-shortbread cookies, along with our mandatory coconut shortbread (cinnamon flavored this time!), and a double batch of fudge-y plantain brownies. All gluten-grain-dairy-egg-nut free and super delicious! Impressive, I know. And STILL delightfully edible. It disappears faster than I can keep up, though don't worry. All that cooking and baking brings me endless amounts of joy and is so satisfying, along with tired feet from all the dancing and spinning that occurs while I'm doing my thang. It's good practice for my someday-bakery.

Mom has also downloaded a BUNCH of language podcasts for the trips, so maybe we'll be fluent in a few days in several languages when we come out the car! Along with lots of music, Fruits Basket Radio, and Audiobooks, hopefully we'll be happily entertained while we fly across the country.

So wish us luck with the car rides and our travels!

August in California

We got Rhanna back after Not Back to School Camp! She had a terrific time this year. Time to head to California now!

I teared up when we crossed the border. I'm definitely a born-and-bred Californian, and so happy to be back in the redwoods.

Having such a light "schedule" for this leg of the trip has helped us find a more normal daily rhythm, which has been pretty delightful. Our little "yard" even has blackberry bushes and we picked enough to make a cobbler! I'm especially enjoying the fog/sun/fog routine, which feels like Real Summer to me!

How fun to find a second Moonstone Beach! (We got married on a Moonstone Beach in Cambria, much farther to the south.)

For the previous week, I had been telling Gwynnie all about redwoods, how their bark is so soft and warm that you can feel that they are alive when you touch them. She was so eager to touch her first redwood! The whole experience made her giddy.

The old cemetery in Ferndale, CA is one of the neatest cemeteries I've ever seen! We enjoyed walking through this quaint town, and Rhanna and I got new hats! Thane felt like he was making a pilgrimage to the blacksmith's shops (he wants to be a blacksmith!)

New Junior Ranger badges, gigantic Mother Trees, octopus trees, and a field of dragonflies. Gorgeous days.

We ended up staying in Trinidad much longer than expected due to a dental emergency with Emrys. We're actually still here now; his procedure is on Wednesday. As long as everything goes well and we can leave when we think we will, we'll have been here in one parking spot for 27 days, which seems like a really long time!! 

Made it to Oregon!

We started off our visit to State #2 with a relaxing day in Seaside with our friends the Hessel family. What a nice welcome into Oregon!

We hope to visit many of the Lincolns or Lincoln City-like towns in America, and here's our first. Of course we had to visit the Abe statue. He's reading a book - how perfect is that?? Apparently, Abe was asked to be the governor of the Oregon territory way back when, but he decided to give the Presidency a go - there's one of those string-theory-different-dimension-spin-offs for you!

Couple photos of life around the house: got the veggies fermenting, Wii games happening, Thane did some whittling and crocheting outdoors when it wasn't too windy, everyone got haircuts, and we accompished a lot of itinerary planning. Rhanna shot that photo of me and Abe - apparently that's what all the excitement looks like. LOL!

This beach wasn't far from where we were staying, and Gwynnie in particular was beyond thrilled to find some good sand in which to play. Nothing like a relaxed beach day!

We had seen a lot of surreal photographs of Thor's Well on the internet, so it was on our list of must-see places. It was pretty darn cool! We trekked down to the site (a laborious undertaking for Abe, who ends up carrying Emrys a lot of the way, and for Thane, who helps out by carrying the cumbersome walker) and were duly impressed. The little ones were also able to earn new Junior Ranger badges.

Before we left Lincoln City we spent another afternoon at Gleneden Beach.

We hung out in Bandon for a week, waiting for Rhanna to finish her week at camp.