"I See Land, Matey!"

Right under our boat!
Hahaha...

Our recent travels brought us to Mendocino not so long ago, closer to the water (rebutting popular belief that we hate getting wet and only like dry areas). We've been driving the RV for a long time, and we're both tired. With only a reservation to 'guide' our destination and serve as motivation to get there, we scuttle along, Fox eager to go out and Spencer taking a nap (as usual). All 12 feet, anxious to get there.

Finally, we arrive. We see something like this. KOA (Chris calls it "Kids On Acid") campsites are notorious for loud, wild children, running around like plugged vacuums or floor polishers with the switch left on. So we moved along and drove not too far and saw a sign that said "campground --->". To our surprise, it was a wonderful, spacious and private site, and later found out that the place is just a good hike away from the ocean, where we discovered ourselves the following day strolling and more relaxed (...or bananas?).

Journeys are both aggravating and fun, and not knowing where you'll end up is part of the adventure. If you're lucky, like I am, you'll have someone to take the pilgrimage with you. One gives direction, and the other steers the ship.

Keep paddling, Chris. We'll be there someday.

Have You Seen the Mojave Lately?

*Find Fox in this photo!


June 11, 2007
Online.

"Yes, the Mojave - as in the Mojave Desert."
"No," she said. "But I hear it's um,
(pause)
...big."

"We're at the Red Rock Canyon State Park. It's beautiful! We're staying right under the biggest rock, the one with the horizontal red stripes across it, on the South West side of the Ricardo Campgrou-"

"Rikki, I'm not going there, I'm in North Carolina. Besides, aren't all the rocks there striped?"

"They made several movies here, you know, like The Mummy and Jurassic Park."
"Brendan Fraser of The Mummy? He's hot."
"Uhm, no. More like Boris Karloff, you know, 1932."
"Boris Who? How do you come up with these things?"
"We have a satellite, remember? It's right there on top of the RV."

"Hey, that was a funny movie!"
"'The Mummy'? I thought it was a B-grade horror film?"
"No, you silly. 'RV'."

"Hmm. Was it filmed here?"
"Never mind."

"Hey do you wanna see me taking a shower in the desert?"
(pause)
"What? NO!"
"I'm gonna show you anyway."
`:-[

============================
Red Rock Canyon and the Mojave Desert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V7JT9A-OrY

Put Your Petal to the Medal

The rose medal, that is, if you actually got one for growing the best rose in all of Portland!

I'm not surprised why I fell in love right away with Portland - The City of Roses. We already love Oregon. The day we got here it was gray and cloudy, and really, really quiet. But the town was just waiting for us to get ready, and it never held back its charm or its embracing character.

There's so much to do, so many things to see, and yes, I want to see 'em all. Today was still very cloudy and normally I'd be depressed before we even get to midday, but as we hang out at Pioneer Courthouse Square - the heart of Downtown - I can't help but marvel at how beautiful this city is: the glazed terra-cotta facades of buildings, the soothing water fountain, the colorful blooms of summer flowers hanging by baskets here and there, that girl with heavy eye liner and red and purple streaks on her jet-black hair who offered me a warm smile, even the guy eating a bagel for late lunch sitting next to me - everything, everyone was nice. There's a life-size bronze statue of a man offering his open umbrella (or was he hailing a cab?) to anyone who might need a cover. See, even the inanimate are hospitable in Portland :-)

I could be just missing urban life and social interaction after several weeks of traversing places where bugs outnumber people, nevertheless, something in this city inspires me. I'm not a big fan of roses, but to see it as an analogy with this city, the beauty you see outside is just a reflection of the what inspires it from inside. Maybe a trip to the city's many magnificent and impressive gardens tomorrow will be an intimate segue from today's cultural and metropolitan exploration, to Thursday's in-depth exploration of the city (and by "in-depth" I mean "underground" - yes, we're going to see below Portland!!! where once nefarious shanghaiing took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries) . I can't wait.

We're going to get to know this city, one petal at a time.