Category: Journeys & Adventures

The pressure I place on getting schoolwork done is beginning to change a bit as we go into week 2 of school. I find that the universe provides a tie-in to things we are reading, making it unnecessary to nag Maya to crack a book.

For instance….Maya is reading about the first civilizations in the Middle East, and is enjoying the crossword puzzles I made online to go with the readings. So she’s reading about the Nile river and at OMSI, we were able to view the Mystery of the Nile in the iMAX theatre. Then when we decided to ford the Johnson Creek in my Brother’s neighborhood, we learned about silt in the creek caused by erosion. These two words showed up in her reading and crossword puzzle. We also picked up two new rocks for her collection. How rocks are formed and how the can be used to build pyramids was fascinating to her.

Today during dinner she wrote a Haiku so she could practice cursive writing. That prompted her to get out the Shel Silverstein book, which she loved reading out loud to me while I did the dishes.

I downloaded 20,000 leagues under the sea audio book today. If you see any stories in audio format for children about the Nile river, please let me know.

Many months of preparation will enable us to have a great time in Washington! I spent today revising our Washington plans to keep it cheaper and less stressful. We will start with lunch at the Space Needle and checking out Seattle Center and Pike Market. Since the EMP isn’t open Monday, we’ll visit it on Tuesday. Wednesday is Salem Art Museum, and Thursday is the HenryArt Gallery.

Thursday we’ll travel to Bellingham to help a friend move into her new home. Maya will get to go to school with one of the kids, and we’ll camp at Larrabee State Park on Saturday. Monday and Tuesday I hope to spend painting!

The week after, we’ll visit Vancouver BC and perhaps Gibsons, where some friends live. Then we’ll head to Port Angeles so we can ferry over to Victoria. then we’ll take out time heading south to Seattle, Portland, and Corvallis, to finalize all loose ends and pick up mail.

Tonight is our last night in Portland before we head to Seattle. We’re vegging on TV and internet while we wait for family to arrive to say hello and goodbye.

The rain did not stop us from fording the Johnson Creek today; it was fun to hang out in the water watching ducks, skipping rocks, and finding treasures. Maya found a polished egg-shaped mallicite (sp?) rock that will go well in her collection. We pulled out the rock finder’s book and learned a lot about basalt, which she also found, and quartz, which she has lots of.

I’ve sold my car via Craig’s List and am taking care of transactions all online! We’ll see how escrow.com goes. Toyota Financial is the only hold up; they give me different answers each time I call.

I will get my online course ready this weekend; I should have a new course number (WS 320) and may even get some students enrolled before the term starts. I have just one, currently.

We’ve just been hanging all week in Portland waiting for the RV repairs to be completed. We’re taking a break from working at Starbucks all day to play. We’ll start with Oaks Amusement Park, then see about ice skating or swimming. Martin is here with us to cart us around before he goes off to look for apartments with his new roommate.

My WS 320 Gender and Technology course was finally approved, so perhaps I’ll get some more students! Too bad there is only one more week to sign up before the term starts. This weekend I’ll move the old course into the new slot and make a few updates and at least be ready to go.

Here we are, working on web sites and doing school work, from the Starbucks on 82nd in Portland. I signed up for the national annual TMobile coverage, which is fast and easy. The only problem seems to be that we can’t both be logged in at the same time. When I have time, I’ll see if they can give Maya a break, since she’s just a kid.

We’re awaiting repairs on the RV while we work. We discovered this morning that I do not have to replace the linoleum in the RV; it goes all the way under the couch! So the carpet comes out easily and cheaply. Sorry Brownie; you’ll have to pee outside now (duh).

My brother has been remodeling a Z car (he has 4 I think). It’s beautifully painted will get new upulstry (sp) today. He and Elena will be showing it at the Z show in Vancouver BC this weekend.

Maya is whipping through her schoolwork. Next week we’ll start working on the interesting stuff, like the quilt, poetry, painting, etc.

Time to work now!

Thank you so much for the gifts Cindy, Virginia, Bekki, and Erin! And thank you to the rest of you for supporting our dream! We really enjoyed the bon voyage party; thank you for coming to give hugs!

We left for Portland after the party and a teary goodbye with Martin. Martin, thank you so much for helping out yesterday.

Right now we’re parked at Johnson RV on 82nd and Division. Repairs were to start today, but they’ll now start tomorrow because we can get the carpet ripped out and replaced now rather than later in the month. Then they’ll fix the leak on Thursday.

Apparently there is a Borders bookstore around here, as we have an internet connection with them. So I’ll see how much work I can get done while we sit here. Maya’s reading her world history book, completed two pages of her English book, starting Chapter 1 of her Math book, and will add to her blog later in the day.

We’ll walk to the park soon, as well, then park at Reuel and Elena’s for the night.

Cancelled reservations for Sept 20 to 23 at Westbay. Decided not to take the rv on the ferry; it’s $$$$.

Booked a spot at Al’s RV park in Port Angeles. Tried getting the one 2 blocks from the ferry but no one answers the phone or email!

Booked reservation for Sept 10 to 15 at Trailer Inns RV Park. This one seems closest to Seattle: Map

I took Hwy 34 to Waldport last weekend instead of Hwy 20. I’ve been stressed all week and was crabby getting ready, so treated myself to the slow road, which was worth all the twists and turns! Since the traffic was low, I could go my own pace and look around. The river was very peaceful in the evening light. We landed at King Silver RV and Marina, a slightly run-down place with a few perminent (alias trailer trash) residents, but the staff and neighbors were quite nice and helpful. My brother Don joined us for the rest of the weekend, just after I finished painting a landscape of the field of yellow daisies and the bright blue river. We enjoyed the beach at Seal Rock and whatever the beaches are called just south of that. We were able to keep climbing over rocks to get to the next beach. We found two dead seals; one very young and still white and the other much larger. The next day we went to the North side of the bay so I could paint the bridge and Maya and Don could walk around the village there. We ate fresh fish and chips at the Rogue Ale place on the Historic Bayfront, perused the galleries, and stopped in at Riplies Believe it or Not. The highlight was Ona Beach, which had lots of “creeks” for Maya to explore, a footbridge like Monet’s, and a misty fog that kept rolling in just under the blue sky. The beach was quite large and easy to get lost in with the mist.

I forgot to report that the City gave me a permit to park in Cindy’s driveway! I can stay as long as I do not obstruct the sidewalk.

We had a wonderful time at Chinook Bend on the Siletz River, between Depoe Bay and Lincoln City. We saw eagles, red winged black birds, a wren, two families of mallards, a great blue heron, and a white bird we could not identify. The llamas came by when we were painting along the river. We met some parents and kids and enjoyed ;-) some [questionable] country music/karoke. Friends joined us on Saturday, so we ate at Mo’s and layed around on the beach.

We spent a lovely, relaxed weekend at my Brother and Sister-inlaws, where we slept, ate, and ate some more. I was able to sit on the bank of Crystal Spring were it meets up with Johnson Creek and paint for an hour or so. A new father came by with his 5-day old son and decided he must have the painting of the creeks I was working on. It will be nice reminder of the joy he was feeling taking his new son for a walk in the neighborhood. The painting will hang in his newly remodelled basement where the mother-in-laws will stay while helping with the new baby.

The joy of selling a painting before it’s even finished solidifies the knowledge that I’ve made many right decisions lately. Dreams do come true, so be sure to ask yourself what you want out of life and grant permission to do it!

Friends from church have offered to let us stay on their property until we leave in August! It looks like a national park without the traffic. We’ll see how things work out.

It’s already got that lived-in feeling, where only some of the decor matches, stuff is sprawled on every surface, and the dishes are always in the drainer. But it’s home.