Good Morning Fine Folks!

I know that I don't often have a good grasp of geography/weather etc, so I guess it won't really come as a big surprise to you that I am totally shocked at how HOT it is here!! I keep saying to Bob, "Wow it's like summer here honey!" My Canadian body is so geared and programmed for Fall that I can scarcely wrap my head around it. But I am managing... :-)

We left River Rouge with warm hugs, prayers, blessings and a honking big lunch! We are so blessed. I started driving first because as I mentioned yesterday I woke up at the crack of dawn and I wanted to drive before I got tired. I love driving. Our poor little car is so loaded down with all our stuff plus the kayaks on top have stuff in them. We are having some trouble with the roof racks. Because of the shape of the car (kinda rounded on top) it is difficult to get the racks to stay tight and so they sag down and the top of our car is getting a bit damaged. Bob said I need to drive slower. Sigh. I don't know if that is possible but I can try.

Some incredible sights yesterday were: the majesty of Mt. Shasta, driving over the pass was breathtakingly rugged and in some ways reminded me of the Coquillhala except more 'wild west looking'.

At one point we stopped to take pictures (which I will post later. my camera is in the car and I don't feel like getting dressed and heading out. no the people here aren't going to get to see my ugly purple housecoat!) Anyways, we got out of the car and stood on the San Bernardino highway and were stunned by the heat. Later we found out it was 108 degrees up there! We saw a sweet little red sports car on the side of the road over heated, and I thought well well that is a shame... guess you can't be cool all the time!! :-)


I want to write a bit about what it is like to have everything we own in our car. It is an amazingly liberating feeling. About 10 years ago we had our stuff in storage for a year while we were living in Ontario (prior to N.S.) and it was the same feeling of simplicity. Alot of people can't believe that we are doing this and they kinda click their tongues as if it is a terrible loss to not have our possessions with us. For me it is totally the opposite: it is an incredible gain. I feel more free. As we drive along we talk about this and realize afresh how well suited Bob and I really are for each other. When Bob asked me to marry him he basically told me how he wanted to follow and serve the Lord, and he couldn't promise me alot of stuff because that wasn't what he was going after. I felt the same way. So here we are 26 years later finally truly travelling light again. It makes my heart sing. I realize it isn't the kind of lifestyle for everyone but for us it is a most beautiful thing.

We were listening to Brian Doerksen's song "I don't need anything but You" and I almost cried as I identified so deeply with that he was saying.

"I don't need anything this world says I do, I don't need anything I can't afford, I don't need anything You won't supply, I just need to trust you will always provide, I don't need anything but You. You are my everpresent help, You are salvation from my self, You are my comfort and my joy, I don't need anything but YOU!"

Okay just so you don't think I am a real saint (because I am not) I will tell you a couple of "things" I miss. I will miss all my Christmas 'stuff' this year. I know that. For those of you who were in our home at Christmas you know I love to decorate. Well...not this year or the next or the next or...

I will miss my pictures on the wall, and the pictures of my family. I think that is about it.

More then that I will miss you. People are what really matter.

Yesterday while in San Francisco there was a torrent of people swarming everywhere. I loved that city by the way!


We went to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. The smell of the sea, the sound of the gulls, and the sailboats dancing on the water was glorious for us! We wanted to eat outside in order to enjoy the view but that is a bit tricky because well...so does everyone else. We found a nice place up on a second story with a wonderful outdoor view of the Bay but the hostess said there wasn't any room out there. There was an outdoor spot with stools in a row and I saw that there were two stools out there (both single stools) so I said to the lady, "hey all we need to do is ask that couple to move over and then we can eat out there!: She looked at me like I was nuts (surprising I know) and I said, If you don't want to ask them to move then I will. I don't have a problem doing that and I don't think they'd mind moving. As I was trying to convince her they actually stood up to leave. She laughed and said, "where are you from?" I said Canada. She thought I was from New York (pushy maybe....!!) and then she told me she was from New York and that was a compliment actually. Alrighty.



We had fish and chips (of course) and a beautiful shrimp caesar salad. YUMMY!

I got to drive in San Fransisco which was a real treat for me (Bob navigated) It was crazy driving here because the traffic was so heavy, plus you have trolley cars, buses everywhere, horse drawn carriages, and of course tons of pedestrians. It was thrilling for me though. I was shocked to see a lady in a wheel chair collecting money right in the middle of the street. She just kinda wheeled her way around the traffic. Crazy.

BUT here is the ultimate part of my day. Leaving the city and heading down the Pacifica Coastal Road was soooo beautiful. We stopped at LindaMar Beach and I could barely get out of the car fast enough! What a beach! Amazing high waves, (I got soaked from trying to get some nice shots), a beautiful curved beach with lovely sand.


Not a shell to be found though. Tsk tsk. Good thing I brought my lightning whelk to continue with my flickr 365 shell project. As I was photographing it this lady almost ran up to me exclaiming, "Did you find that here??! That is so beautiful!!" I only felt a little stupid saying, "No I brought it from home!" It was rather funny. Ya I brought my own shells, my own little bit of sea water and oh yeah here is my little bit of sand too! :-))



The coastal drive was one of those "ohhhh, ahhhh, wow, that is amazing" drive as the sun sank slowly into the sea as we drove along.

So begins another day. We just heard that the weather is going to be a scorcher today. We are heading to the Red Wood Forest, King's Canyon, and Fresno. We have some high mountain passes to get through so we are getting ready to head out before the heat hits.

One of the other things we do as we drive along is pray for you, tell stories of 'remember when' and no... we have not forgotten you. Thanks for coming along on this blog. Some of you have left comments which is nice because I don't feel like an idiot for writing to 'myself'. I know you are there... maybe just leave me a wee comment... just one...

Don't make me beg... :-)
xoxo

I will post some pictures later on but here is our hotel here so you have a visual
http://www.mission-inn.com/