Day 1 of EPIC ADVENTURE
Spent all day at the Auburn Ukulele Festival up in the hills!!! had soooo much fun...Stu's Strumbelievable workshop was STRUMBELIEVABLE...we played and played..and I flipped out when the Strum Bums played Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds on uke! fabulous people and fun! spending the night at Sue and Ed's pad in Elverta...hittin' the road and heading north on I-5 tomorrow morn...next stop...Tacoma, WA, with a stop in Ashland, OR on the way...GOTTA walk around downtown and hang out at Cripple Creek Music Store there...just for a little while of course!!! see ya on the road of LIFE!
Day 2 of EPIC ADVENTURE
Coming to you from Motel 6 (how exciting yeah!) in Roseburg, OR (even more exciting)! said good-bye to my awesome friends Ed & Sue...then headed north. it was a day of firsts and mishaps...first, for once I was actually HAPPY to get pulled over by a cop -- because the GPS chick went bezerk and sent me down the wrong path...ended up in Marysville off Highway 70 instead of...I-5 which I kept thinking was around the bend...a young dude at Arco mumbled something about Chico and Oroville..? Cop was concerned cuz I slowed down and caused a traffic jam behind me apparently...but he gave me awesome "short cut" detailed directions on how to get back on track...roads that no doubt Miss GPS and non-local people would have no clue of...! yay for the cop (this time!)...another first...I really ordered from the "senior" menu at a Denny's - egg white omelette with oatmeal! does that sound senior enough?! Oh yeah! LOVED it, whipped out ID for the server and everything! drove in HOT weather, had to stop a lot to hydrate...stretch...man just can't drive for 14 hours straight anymore! stopped in Ashland and walked around downtown...past Cripple Creek Music although it was closed...UKULELES in the window -- OF COURSE! :) Now I'm here...at a cheap Motel 6 (not that fancy Seven Feathers Casino place I had to pull into cuz the neon lights flashed "A Hard Day's Night Beatles Tribute Show!" -- that was around...ummm...not sure what town it was near. already missed the show, rooms too spendy but wow, stellar indoor pool! I will be in Tacoma, WA by early afternoon (I hope!!!)
DAY 3 OF EPIC ADVENTURE
I MADE IT! I am finally in Tacoma, Washington!!!! yayyy!!! the drive through Oregon and Washington was way more pleasant cuz it wasn't as hot....had to get an oil change in Roseburg, OR...luckily all is well with car, whew! I highly recommend Oil Can Henry's where you sit in the car while all these dudes wearing bow ties come running out to help you and dote on your umm......car, yeah! Such cute young men. Soooo cool!!! lots of memories filled me up as I drove through Salem, Oregon and made that trek to Tacoma, WA as I'd done so many times with a carload of kids...arrived this evening and went out to dinner with Julie Pettibone and her kids, Ethan & Hinley...(Heidi's grandkids...at Securo's...amazed at what fabulous, smart insightful kids they are...they rock! seems like just yesterday when my own kids were around 10 and 12...here just for a day and then heading back down to Oregon...
DAY 4 OF EPIC ADVENTURE.
12-year-old Ethan fixed breakfast for us all...hung with Julie and kids all morning and then dropped them off at car shop...heidi's car also in shop today so I did all driving through areas I'm not familiar with....of course Heidi and I got lost in Seattle...we found that big building where my friend Vikki works and then somehow ended up in a tunnel..which took us far away......but eventually we made it. TOTAL Heidi adventure! had a GREAT visit and lunch with vikki!! the view from the 51st floor in seattle is FAB! had a picnic at heidi's with Heidi's son Dougie and Sonja...they're having a baby soon...hangin' with Heidi tonight...leaving super EARLY tomorrow morning...headed for Newport to have lunch with my mother's friends...I'll be where the "book" begins...then to Corvallis to see Colleen...she asked if I brought any ukes with me and I told her I brought two and she said, "Cool, we can jam!"
DAY 5 OF EPIC ADVENTURE
(warning: this had to be longer than usual. Read at your own risk!).
Got up at 5:30am this morning and it was still sort of dark. SCARY! (I never get up this early!) Had coffee with Heidi, said good-bye and then headed south to Newport, Oregon to meet my mother’s long-time friends (who are family to me), Vicki and Auntie Jann and Joel. How fabulously ironic that we met at a...restaurant called “Flashbacks” (which by the way I’ve been having all day long!) and how even more fabulously ironic that Flashbacks is an awesome restaurant Vicki picked out for us to meet that happens to be right across the street from where my mother lived for many years, and where that tiny apartment my kids and I shared when we first returned from Germany. The day was cool and clear as I drove down the Pacific Coast Highway (101). My ipod, which I had set to shuffle, played “If You’re Going to San Francisco, Be Sure to Wear a Flower In Your Hair!” as I drove past the State office buildings, the laundromatte and I pulled into the small parking lot of Flashbacks which wasn’t there back in 1986. I had a fabulous visit and lunch with Vicki, Jan and Joel, only missing Bill who couldn’t make it – we talked about life and family and my mother and it made me happy to hear that my mother’s “spirit” is alive and well among their circle. They still remember her and think of her all the time – Posters from the 1960s adorned all the walls of Flashback’s – some of which I actually own! And some cool Beatles pictures too. The “jukebox” played mostly Beatles music, lots of songs from The White Album. They warned me that Nye Beach had gone “yuppy.” Jan was not happy but Vicki said it’s still a cool place. They all looked so vibrant, happy and full of life…we finally parted ways – Vicki pointed out the cheap motel next to the restaurant and said that’s where Mom would stay when the winds came because the building she lived in across the street wasn’t stable. The building is torn down now…just recently.
Nye Beach has indeed become “YUPPIFIED.” What would my mother have thought of that?? She loved Nye Beach. It was probably her favorite place in the world. At first it was a bit jarring to see this transformation – even some “modern” apartments built above coffee shops and cafes – but luckily all the old houses are still there…it was cold, crystal clear and windy on the beach and I could see Yaquina Head Lighthouse – a beacon n the distance – we’d scattered Mom’s ashes a mile off that lighthouse…I remembered. I walked around looking for signs of what was, finding some amid the shops and cafes and more modern looking stuff, which isn’t always a bad thing I guess. On my way out of Newport, I had to make one more stop – to the end of 10th Street near Jump Off Joe’s – I turned the corner and saw the buildings – low income housing – where the kids and I moved after a year in the tiny apartment. We thought we were moving to the fanciest most incredible place ever back then. Oh and I did not see one nice car parked in front of the buildings – one car kept together with duct tape, all run down – oh together with duct tape, all run down – so much for people on assistance driving expensive cars. I’ll bet half those families don’t even have a car. They probably walk with their kids everywhere – in strollers if they’re little, like we did – but I left this place by the ocean all for that dream – the “good” job that would make all of our lives so much better…maybe it was a bad choice. Not just one bad choice either. Maybe I should have stayed in Newport and never left – we had this place by the ocean and I let it go.
I jumped into the car and headed out of Newport, on Hwy 20 to Corvallis to visit another long-time friend, Colleen. I hadn’t seen her since 1998 when I graduated from college. Steve Parker had introduced us back in 1987 at a Macintosh User’s Group meeting in Corvallis and we became instant friends – our kids played together – we both ended up with 4 kids. And here I sit right now at the same dining room we all sat around so many years ago – I can still see our kids running around…tomorrow to Salem, Portland – and then FINALLY tomorrow night at this time I’ll be at the Sunset Surf Motel in Manzanita, Oregon following the dream.
DAY 6 OF EPIC ADVENTURE.
Coming to you from Manzanita, Oregon!! Yes this place really does exist (although I saw NO signs for this town on the road until I got here). It’s almost like a dream – a room overlooking the ocean...I’ve fantasized about this for so many years. I meet fellow writers and Jennifer Lauck tomorrow morning at 10am at a cabin (which I hope I can find!). I’m beyond excited yet ...nervous all at the same time. This is living the dream…I’m here ‘til Monday morning. Today was fabulous! I hung out with my long-time friend Colleen at her house this morning. She took me to a coffee shop right across fro the OSU campus in Corvallis, OR for coffee and lunch – her art will be displayed there in a week. Then we went to her favorite music store so that I could get a new tuner (I keep losing my tuners for my ukes!). Luckily Colleen has a baby grand piano in her living room which is perfect for tuning musical instruments at her house – and Colleen plays so beautifully. I remembered that from back in the day when our kids were young – how she played piano and sang – professionally even. I gasped when I saw that beautiful Chickering upright piano sitting so elegantly among a bunch of guitars…it looked EXACTLY like the Chickering upright that sat in our living room throughout my childhood, the same piano my grandfather gave my mother for her eighth birthday. Mom never really learned to play but she kept the piano. I loved that piano so much, although I never really learned to play that well…could it be the same piano? No way! But what if it was the same piano? I had no way of figuring out what to look for. Mom sold the piano in 1989 or 1990 when she fell upon hard times – in Newport, Oregon and Corvallis isn’t far from Newport and…warm, happy memories filled my heart as I pondered.
We finally left the music store and The Beanery was right across the street – a coffee shop I remembered from the 1980’s when we lived in Corvallis – did they still have that Epicurian Spice tea I loved so much that I’ve never found anywhere else, I wondered? Colleen and I walked into the shop and we found the Epicurian spice tea! That’s when I remembered my mother and I sipping on that tea using a “tea ball” for the tea leaves that second night when I returned from Germany with my kids. They had their days and nights mixed up and ran amuck in the middle of the night while we sat at the cart table in the tiny kitchen and sipped that tea…
And of course I could not leave before Colleen and I had a chance to play more music together! We sang and played Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head and other songs ending with Ukulele Lady – so fun! Even when our kids were young, all running around the house and playing, Colleen played music and sang – and we talked about cool, creative stuff. Now the kids are grown yet nothing has changed. The years since 1998 when we last saw each other melted away. We reloaded the car with suitcase, backpack, ukuleles and headed down the road this time destination Manzanita!!! My GPS chick (whom I still don’t trust completely) said it would take 2 hours 35 minutes and 117 miles. I drove down Highway 99…I used to drive this road every day when the kids and I moved from low income housing in Newport, Oregon to Adair Village in Corvallis – to the State office job in Salem, Oregon. I had forgotten how rural the area was around Corvallis and how I had to drive to get anywhere. Little Beavers Daycare is still there! My kids went to preschool and after school program there – they loved that place. Jeremy learned to ride a two-wheeler there, the kids learned to swim at OSU. Then I passed Adair Village where we lived for a year and a half before I finally moved to Keizer, Oregon closer to my work. It was a cool place for the kids – but so was the cul-de-sac in Keizer, Oregon – that whole guilt thing cropped up again – moving my kids around all over the place. Just keep on driving, I thought. But when I drove through Monmouth, Oregon, I had to drive past Western Oregon University where I went to school for several years before moving to California – got my Bachelor’s degree in English there. Those were wonderful times yet bittersweet as Mom was diagnosed with cancer and passed away six months before I graduated. She was thrilled I’d finally gone back to college. “You’re 38 years old – it’s about time you read Shakespeare!” she said. I’d drop Megan off at the Teaching Research Center where she met her first friend (she was not quite three then)…
And now I’m here in beautiful Manzanita. My room overlooks the ocean the “healing place.” The reality here hasn’t quite hit yet – I’m really here. I can hear the waves and see the ocean and smell the salty air…the writing journey begins tomorrow.
DAY SEVEN OF EPIC ADVENTURE.
As I write this I sit here in my room looking out at the ocean. The half moon glows and lights up the ocean and it’s turned orange. I’ve had an amazing and productive day and have decided that THIS is the ideal life. It goes something like this. Wake up in the morning to the sound of the rhythm of the ocean waves. Make coffee and prepare for meeting with other writers ...at a cabin – walk alongside the ocean and up the hill to the meeting place and collaborate with several other writers for three hours – discuss concrete details vs. abstract details and story structure. Walk back down the hill with backpack, etc. and stop at the Sand Bar Pub for a lovely salad and iced tea. Marvel at how the pub looks like the inside of a ship. Discover that a Led Zeppelin tribute band is playing at the Sand Bar Pub on Saturday night and decide you WILL be there to dance with the band. Walk back to room, drop off stuff and change into shorts and sandals. Walk on the cool and windy beach on a beautiful clear day and notice that the ocean water is actually warm in some areas. Watch three birds glide with the wind and the para sailors on the beach. Notice how beautiful it is on the beach and how the sand looks like desert sand in some areas – yet it’s cool and windy and not hot. Be one with the ocean. Head back up to the room and rewrite an entire scene from my book. Eat a quick dinner and then walk back up the hill again to meet with Jennifer Lauck and other writers. Read my revised scene to three different people. Finally discover what I really need to do to finish my book – it should’ve been clear as day a long time ago. Get excited because you know what you need to do. THIS is the life, living the dream!!!
DAY 8 OF EPIC ADVENTURE.
Still in Manzanita and living the dream! Today I came to the conclusion that writing is just like learning to play a musical instrument. You just have to practice and keep doing it. My friend Heidi is here from Washington!! After the morning writing session, we walked on the beach and a sea gull sat on the railing right outside my motel room. When I walked into the house, ...he walked down the railing and peered at me through the window – stalked by Jonathan Livingston Seagull, yay! I wrote for a couple of hours and then headed out for the evening writing group session at the cottage house. THEN we went to the Sand Dune Pub and ROCKED OUT to this really cool Led Zeppelin tribute band called Ramble On. They were awesome!!! I danced like crazy!!! Another fabulous day in Manzanita PARADISE! Oh there’s a sign on the wall at the Sand Dune Pub that says, “Whatever happens in Manzanita stays in Manzanita!” too funny! signing out...!!!
DAY 9 OF EPIC ADVENTURE.
It’s my last night in Manzanita sad to say and it was the last day of the writing retreat. I love this place even when it’s raining. We could hear the rain fall as we sat in our sanctuary, me and the other fabulous writers – for a five and a half hour workshop marathon. The clouds drifted in early this morning, but that didn’t stop me from swimming in the heated pool when ...I awoke. Then I worked on a piece to be workshopped today and found a lovely quaint store called Salt and Paper where they print copies for you – the younger local woman who worked there and helped me out blushed when a cop showed up with a coffee for her. “Here’s your coffee, they ran out of doughnuts!” he said. She laughed and they gazed into each other’s eyes as I stood at the counter waiting for my copies and for the staples for the stapler I needed to use for my copies. Awww, too sweet. What an amazing time I’ve had with an amazing group of writers! Didn’t think it was possible to learn so much. We all shared incredible stories – and I felt sad saying farewell to everyone…many special moments shared. But the biggest gift of all? I’m writing again. Every day. So even as I return home – back to my chaotic life and my family and full-time job, I will carry my words with me and remember this special place. And yes, I will be back! Tonight, my last night here, I sit here with the fire warming my feet – the sliding glass door is open a little so I can hear the waves of the ocean. Tomorrow the journey home begins. But tonight, in this moment, I am still here listening to the ocean waves.
DAY 10 OF EPIC ADVENTURE.
This morning, my last morning in Manzanita, Oregon, I flung open the curtains of my modest little motel room and the sun shined and danced upon the waves, the entire Pacific Ocean stretched out in front of me. The rain and the clouds of yesterday are just a mere memory for now. The view took my breath away as I opened the sliding glass door and sucked in the cool, salty a...ir. I called the front desk and asked if I could leave a little later than 11am and the lady gave me ‘til noon, yay, one extra hour! So I swam in the heated pool along with a bunch of young kids with the same idea – met a couple from Canada who also fell in love with Manzanita just as I had. As I floated in the pool, I remembered something Jennifer L. said at the writing retreat – “The work we’re doing is a labor of love. It’s all about love.” Yes, I thought, that’s what it is…it’s what keeps me going – and why I must do this every day – for the sake of love. I saw a tiny boy with goggles and swim trunks jump into the water – soon enough my little grandson Baby Jeremiah will be there too…it all happens so fast. It seemed to be just yesterday when my kids jumped and played in pools like this…It didn’t bother me to swim with a bunch of splashing yelling kids. They were having fun and that was okay…all is well with the world.
I said good-bye to my long-time friend Heidi who had driven down to hang out in Manzanita with me for a couple of days – when I wasn’t at my writing. As I waved good-bye to Heidi as she drove off in her van, I smiled and remembered all of our “adventures” over the years. It was no big deal for us to jump into whatever car was available, many times kids in tow, and head off on adventures in Germany when our kids were small. Soon it was time for me to pack up everything and say good-bye to Room 38 at the Sunset Surf Motel in Manzanita, Oregon VOWING to myself to return to this magical place. Once I had everything packed into the car, I gazed over at the beach – what a perfect day. I decided I had to walk on the beach. And so I did, basking in the sunshine and feeling the warmish water against my feet and ankles – this water wasn’t any colder than the water in Santa Cruz, I thought. My brother Michael called me and we made plans to meet at the Lloyd Center in Portland later that afternoon – with my brother Michael, sister-in-law Sharon and my three beautiful nieces. My oldest niece is having a baby any day now!
So I said farewell to Manzanita just for NOW and headed to Portland, Oregon. I only got a little lost and my GPS attempted to take me on a very scenic route, but this time I ignored her and went the way my brother informed me to go – I just cannot trust that GPS chick. I hadn’t driven my car at all since arriving in Manzanita last Thursday. I found my brother and his family at the food court near the ice skating rink at the Lloyd Center – Merehuka looked radiant and very pregnant – blew my mind. I really liked her boyfriend Celio and am impressed with them. They have a plan. Of course babies have a way of changing all plans, and I wasn’t sure whether to share this with Merehuka. My twin nieces, TeRuiHui and Rangitau have grown so much! At 14, they’re taller than I am. They love “Korean Pop” music and tell me they dance to it. I will have to look up this genre of music which I am completely unfamiliar with. My brother asked all about the writing retreat – he’s working on a dissertation for his Ph.D. right now. Now the “urgency” of finishing my book, the labor of love, is more prevalent and close to my heart than ever. We had a fabulous visit and then I said good-bye and we parted ways. This time when I jumped into the car, I pressed “Go home” on my GPS. I don’t always trust Miss GPS chick, but somehow I think she knows the way home. Tonight is my last night in Oregon. By tomorrow night at this time I will be home.
DAY 11 OF EPIC ADVENTURE.
I am home. It was a long journey...I kept the adventure going just as long as I could...stopped in Ashland, Oregon...hung out at Cripple Creek Music and played guitars and ukuleles...NOTE TO SELF: Beware of hanging out in music stores too long...it's waaayyy too tempting. I have enough musical instruments for now! One of the guys who works there remembered me from over a ...year ago when I hung out there (June 2011)! and he was nice to me when I asked if they had capos for ukuleles too! (the guy at the music store in Corvallis yelled at me when I asked for a ukulele capo..."We don't have them and besides, you don't need one! just play the bar chords!" he ranted on and on...well DUH! Like I don't know. But sometimes it is nice to have a capo right? so the capo for ukuleles exists, yay! got one. plus I got to hear the guy who sold me said capo impress me with his stellar licks on guitar and ukulele...! stopped at a book store (NOTE TO SELF: beware of book stores!)...got a book about George Harrison's spiritual journey...walked through Lithia Park...saw many musicians playing various instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, you name it...a couple sitting on a bench reading shakespeare to one another...sweet...lots of academic-looking older people...kids and families...even met a group of people from Corvallis who know my friend Colleen! wow! finally I reluctantly left and drove the final 360-mile stretch home...no sun beating down on the car this time...reality is about to hit me HARD in just a few hours...signing off...
