Thursday, February 27, 2014
The Familiar
"Our perennial spiritual & psychological task is to look at things familiar until they become unfamiliar again." -G.K. Chesterton
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Addendum
huge addendum:
After the horrible day on Friday, and our day was ruined by paperwork & a lab visit, I get an email from the hospital saying I cannot start work as planned on Monday. Instead I will start on March 3rd. Part of me was annoyed that I spent the day working on all of that stuff, and it didn't matter. But the other part was glad to get some time to settle in to Arizona & that means we don't have to be in AZ Sunday night!! Two more days of vacation !!! :)
Saturday, Day 7 in Orange County
We camped Friday night. It got pretty cold at night... Down to 40. Thankfully I have everything I own in my car so we put on multiple layers of everything. We looked like we were ready to go sledding, but at least it kept us warm.
Saturday morning we woke up, decided to stay another night at Caspers Park (we realized all of the other camping would be full on a sat night), and then spent a while talking to our camp neighbor Joshua before we left... He taught us the word gnarly, for situations that are difficult & tough. He told us all about how San Juan has developed over the last 20 year. He showed us the mistletoe that is choking out trees, the woodpeckers attacking the trunks, and shared with us a little about his life... He grew up in San Juan, lived in Germany for the last four months & now just moved back to Cali & is figuring out what job to pursue... He is camping wherever & living in friends houses from time to time. He was the nicest guy ever. We could have stayed & talked to him much longer, but it was already 11 am and we were starving for breakfast.
We went to RJs Cafe, right off of pacific coast highway & met the nicest waitress ever. Monica grew up in Dearborn, MI & has lived in Cali ever since. She told us more things about Southern California & wrote our directions to San onofre state park , and insisted we had to camp in the San Mateo loop. After we ate, we went for a walk, and tried to have a beach day. It was slightly cloudy, and probably only 60 degrees. We have up on catching rays & grabbed our running shoes instead.
We ran south along the beach, towards San Clemente. It was absolutely breathtaking. It should be a "rave run" for runners world. It probably is. As the run progressed, we found ourselves almost getting wet from the waves, and running through huge rocks, feeling like we were going to sprain an ankle. After 45 minutes we wanted to take the path back to Dana Point. But at this area, we were in the backyards of mansions! There was no getting out. We could have turned around & went back the way we came but it felt really bad to think you were going to twist your ankle every step. So we kept going & eventually climbed over some train tracks and a small fence to get to a bike path.
On our way back to Dana point harbor, we met a dad with 7 kids & one on the way who also had a 3 legged labrodoodle (spelling?). Who in southern california has 8 kids and has money to raise all of them???! We also talked to surfers for a while at their car... Two young guys from mi, and one middle aged guy. We previously had talked to another surfer for awhile, who have us tips on surfing, told us about the best restaurants in the are & said we had to go check out an open market 15 miles north. Super nice people. No one seems to have an agenda at the beach... People just mill around, are so easy to talk to, and friendly.
The VWs are everywhere. So awesome
The sunset that night was incredible. The best one yet.
After the sunset, we ran a couple of errands, looking for a warm blanket, skewers, a lighter & some camping food. We stayed up really late, just talking... Eventually we went to bed. It wasn't too cold, as long as you don't have anything exposed. If part of your hand or foot or nose get out from the covers you kind of want to die. But otherwise it was fine.
Day 6
Day 6: Friday in LA. A real gnarly day.
I woke up at 6:30, after 2 hours of sleep. The girls in the hostel were showering & packing up for the day & it woke me up... Once I was awake I started thinking about my phone call the night before with Dana, from my recruiting agency. She told me I had to re-fax some paperwork that they didn't receive, do a couple of online assessments, and get my drs office to send a form saying it was ok for me to work. I woke up & found the computers in the hostel & started doing the online stuff. I looked up the nearest FedEx to fax stuff. I made a million phone calls, begging my doctors receptionist to fax the form. My heart rate was probably 140 the whole time. Two hours sleep. No coffee on board. In a new city. Threats of canceling my assignment. I didn't handle this day very well. I spent four hours on the computer, completing every single online learning module... isolation precautions, math quiz calculating drip rates (who the heck even uses these??! Seriously?!), critical care nursing, HIPPA protocol, & JCAHO everything. One hour of this is enough. One hour, in Chicago when it is 5 degrees out and you have nothing else to do. Four hours, in beautiful, sunny LA, when you're supposed to be on vacation? Torture. Gnarly. One thousand gifts? Definitely not on my mind at this point.
The problem was that my agency didn't give me this list of things to complete until earlier in the week... When I was in the mountains & not checking my email. So, all of a sudden, it's Friday & it's an emergency to finish these things by the end of the day.
We finished the online modules, and then sat in traffic for two hours trying to get to a fedex for faxing & then to a labcorp to get my blood drawn. The whole time I'm still calling my doctor trying to get this dumb form faxed. I finally cracked in the lab waiting room... I had already sat in a labcorp in glenview, il for an hour, doing my drug test & somehow I was supposed to get my blood drawn too but neither I nor the tech knew that. So here I was again, stuck in a stuffy office with terrible jazz music, smelly chairs & 90's art. My frustration, lack of sleep, disappointment, and hate for LA traffic, boiled over & made me starting crying in the lab office. A lot. Not just like two little eyes full of tears that spill over. Big, angry tears. I was so thankful to have Jacey there to listen to me, and tell me it would all work out. But I felt so bad for her, like I was ruining her day too... There's no way you want to take vacation & sit around at a computer & fax machine! Especially when I could have done this three weeks ago in glenview! (Yes I'm still slightly upset about it)
Finally I get my blood drawn with a tear streaked face & red eyes. And then we go to leave LA. Basically we spent the rest of the day in traffic. We did get to see Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Sunset Blvd. That was pretty amazing. But not really worth it for the traffic... I think you have to go see it once, and that's it.
That night, we wanted to camp on the beach. It was Friday night in Southern California, and 70 degrees out. Everyone was camping. We drove to a few campgrounds & finally found one about 7 miles inland- Caspers Campground in San Juan. We set up the tent, made a fire. Our idea was to find a little seafood restaurant on the beach & relax and have dinner. Instead, we ate chex mix in front of the fire. Thats real life. We didn't even have matches or a lighter. But we had nice neighbors, and met Joshua who was camping next to us. He taught us how to build a fire & let us use some of his stuff. We were so exhausted we couldn't even think about driving in the car one more hour, so we made the decision to stop & enjoy this part of Southern California.
Day Five
We woke up in between mountains somewhere west of LA. We got back in the car & headed west towards the coast of California. We just took a small windy road we saw marked in the road atlas & it was one of the most beautiful drives ever. We literally just drove through the mountains, with 20mph curves, 8% inclines, and no one around. A good portion of the forest at the western most part of our drive was burnt to a crisp.
Something fun we have done on this trip is only use the road atlas. It forces is to improve our navigation skills & also helps you see more interesting scenery that you would not otherwise find. That's probably been another favorite part of the trip... Just picking a random road, and heading the general direction we needed to go & enjoying wherever it would take us.
Santa Barbara: we saw the Pacific Ocean!!!!, drove along California highway 1, stopped & sat at the beach for awhile, wandered around the city, and sampled local beer. We begrudgingly got in the car & made our way south to LA.
(Santa Barbara's fancy shopping!)
(So happy to be in the sun!!!)
(Obsessed with Palm trees!!!)
The traffic sucked south of Santa Barbara heading in to LA. We didn't get to LA until maybe 7 or 8. We drove in circles trying to find the hostel. And then we drove around more trying to find parking. It was gnarly. Eventually, we finally made it out to the streets of LA & found that the hostel was in the downtown section of LA, with all of the chain stores & restaurants. Which is alright, I guess. But we kind of hoped for something more intimate & smaller , maybe in a neighborhood. We needed dinner suggestions. Where do you find cool, nice people when you are in a strange city? REI & trader joes. Both of those types of people are always so nice & will tell you where to find the towns favorite cafe or hole in the wall dinner place, or just talk to you. So we walked in to an REI & spent the next hour or so there & walked out with a tent & sleeping bag. From there we went and ate some sushi, and then walked a ways down to a neighborhood, where we thought they had a local brewery. Along the way we met Felicity, a local who told us all about LA. She was really talkative. And nice. We got a drink, hung out & talked & then walked back to the hostel.
(We pulled over to watch the sunset)
At this point we were pretty exhausted. We had been doing a ton of driving. It was somewhat early..: maybe 1030 or 11? We didn't want to go to bed, but we also didn't really want to stay out & try to figure out where to go next. As we entered the hostel, and gave ourselves a tour, we met a middle aged Carlos from Argentina, Romeo, a college student from Hong Kong, and Rodrico a young artistfrom Mexico City. Conversation started easily, and before we knew it, it was 4am and we were getting impromptu salsa lessons. Our conversation covered a very wide variety of topics... Language & cultural differences, geography, the purpose of life, dating, communication styles, and of course hearing a little of their life stories & what travels they have done. It was a light night but totally worth it. A funny moment was when Carlos was trying to compliment me and said "oh Courtney, you are a piece of cake!" Not exactly what he meant to say, but it was hilarious & we keep laughing at this phrase.
Sedona: Day four
After we explored some of the south rim at the Grand Canyon, we drove south to Sedona. Of note: we really did not see a lot of it. We hardly even saw the tip... I think a lot of people (myself included) go to a city or national park & see one neighborhood, or one small piece of the park & think they've "been there". I really would love to do an expedition where you can actually experience the Grand Canyon by hiking to the bottom & spending time rafting/ hiking, etc. Anyway ... I never want to seem like because I've driven around places that I've actually experienced it... Because I haven't.
We ate peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast & dinner, and kept stopping at beautiful places to take pictures.
South of I-40 is Sedona. We took the exit. And then were absolutely floored as we started to enter the area... You twist & turn around mountains, drop offs on one side of the road, huge red rocks everywhere. It was one of the prettiest drives ever. We made our way to Cathedral Trail after wandering around the city a bit. Best hike ever. It's so funny how we kept stopping & taking pictures of the breathtaking view, only to find that there was something better ahead.
Sedona is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. During our hike I kept wanting to go out on ledges, because I hate & love the edges of things. I feel like I'm going to throw up when I stand on an edge & there's a huge drop off. I keep thinking about Eleanor Roosevelt's quote- do one thing every day that scares you. When we started our hike back down, we were adopted in to this guys' tour ... He was giving us tips on how to climb down the mountain, stopped & told us exactly where to pose for a picture, and pointed out other mountains along the way. So fun.
Once again, we wanted to move to Sedona & hike very trail & soak in the 75 degree sunshine. But we still had more driving to do. That night we planned to drive to LA... But we become really discouraged watching another sunset from the car, and driving in the dark means that you are neither experiencing or even seeing what's around you. It was gnarly. (Thank you, Joshua for teaching us this west coast adjective).
On our way through the desert, it was pitch black & the stars were incredible. We played all of our favorite songs, every classic road trip song, and sang along, as loud as we wanted. This was one of my favorite moments of the trip. Our plan was to drive to LA. It was getting late & we were annoyed with driving so we stopped at this little junction in between the mountains, called Cajun Point.
Impossible
While we have been taking this route across this US, we keep being amazed by what we're seeing, only to continue our journey & see even MORE amazing things! Like our first cactus, the small bumps that turned into hills, that turned into mountains, which have turned into massive mountain ranges!! You become overwhelmed by the magnitude. We keep trying to take pictures & then just give up because it's too beautiful to capture. Additionally, it's easy to take a picture & post it of a cool door, or an interesting tree. But once I try posting pictures of Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Mojave desert, Angeles National Forest, or Highway 1, it feels so unsatisfying. Like I am disgracing the amazing view. Maybe I'll stick to photographing doors & random finds instead of mountains & forests. It's easier.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Picture Perfect
I'm a big picture person. I feel like if I can take a picture of a scene I love, or something I find beautiful or interesting, that I can go back & revisit that moment anytime I want. I really wanted a jumping photo at the Grand Canyon. One of my favorite pictures is Jacey & I jumping in front of Lake Michigan, after one of our races. So I was determined to get another one like that. And this is what followed.... We cannot stop laughing looking at these pictures!
Finally! Nailed it.
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