Northern California

We are staying with Blake and Carla in Stockton, California. Blake and Carla and I are all Aunts/uncle of Jayda, so it is good to spend time together: probably we will know each other our whole lives.

Before being here, we were in San Fransisco. My dad told me when I was about 12 that I belonged in Northern California.(He had fond memories from hitchiking there with the other flower children). I could live in San Fransisco very easily: it's international, green, beautiful buildings, good food. It looked like a little toy town, modelled after a European city: the buldings were narrow and tall, all in a row, painted pink and tan and green. We stayed with an old friend of Peep's named Tony, from Indonesia. I am glad to know him because he is a very sweet fellow, and through his own sad stories of corporate imprisonment and failed international romances, he was giving us advice.

The winding ocean road that lead us to San Fransisco (Hwy 1) invited us to camp inside aredwood grove near a waterfall and showed us fat lazy seals on the cold grey sand below. It was awesome.

Today we will chat some more with the californai Bombens (we have learned so much already about wine and hospitals and the world), then we will drive our tired but loyal Sally to the Yosemite National Park, where we hope to get lost for at least a few days.

California Dreaming

We drove through New Mexico. We got to see an auction presided by my Uncle Jim. Peep got a true cultural experience... Jim introduced us ("Peep from Estonia"), to which a few responded... "Is that south of Texas?" "That's past Mayfield isn't it?" It was a barn of crystal and candles and clocks for 1$ and 2$. We drove through that valley and up to the mountains again, with the aim of camping in the Gila forest, which I have heard so much about.



We got up there around dusk... it was so cold. We piled up our gear and set to walking up and on, trusting that a flat campable space would appear. As the bags got heavier and the light grew fainter, we crossed a fence guarding who know what and began to set up our camp. We dug a fire pit and lined it with rocks... we were so nervous, having just visited my uncle's volunteer fire department, we built the wall up about 2 feet. We had so much fun. We were such a good team.


At night, it got colder and colder. We had our shoes and hats and jackets on underneath two sleeping bags. We woke in the morning to find ourselves covered in snow. I wanted to crawl back under the warmth and pretend I didn't see it. Peep convinced me to evacuate. It was surreal to see snow in May.

Windy mountain roads took us to Arizona, where we wanted to see the Apache reservation. We got there around 6 pm. On the road we saw that permits were required to camp, so we set out to find a permit. The police station was empty, the permit office was closed on sunday, it was almost dark. We had to camp, so we set out to find a spot and buy the permit tomorrow. The place had a special feeling. It really was like being in another country. The lake we found was peaceful and full of life, but also lots of trash and graffiti. I wanted to see the Apaches be more proud of their land.

In the morning, the Apache Ranger found us and gave us a citation. We were not afraid because we didn't think we really had done anything wrong. Our intentions were so good... I thought it we could not be blamed if the office was closed. Wrong. We parted the Apache nation and left an investment of $160.


We drove through the desert and almost camped in Joshua Tree until we both admitted we'd rather pay the money for a shower and a bed. Yesterday, we hung out in Santa Monica. I think we are both very California souls. So far, we love it here. Here is a picture of a forest fire we drove past... the news said it was devastating.







On the Santa Monica promenade, we saw someone carrying a gap (red) bag. So we went to check it out. We had heard of this. It is part of the One campaign (go sign up at www.one.org). The one campaign is to end poverty. There is also the red campaign (www.redcampaign.org), both were started/headlined by Bono. The red campaign is to fight AIDS in Africa. It is so cool. Businesses are being asked to carry red products, from which 100% of profits go to fight AIDS in Africa. So all you have to do is go shopping and you're saving the planet.




Next, we will check out Hollywood and Beverly Hills, maybe Universal Studios, try to meet up with Lily in Santa Barbara, head north on hwy 1, and see what happens

Road Trip!!

We are on the 3rd day of our Southwest adventure, in Cloudcroft New Mexico with my Uncle Jim and Aunt Bev.

We started the trip in San Antonio by watching the Spurs beat the Nuggets in the NBA playoffs. The next day, Peep got to meet my 90 year old grandfather Carl and after lots of dessert and pictures and history, we drove to San Angelo where we could go no further and stayed in a Motel 6! It's not a road trip until you spend the night in a Motel 6. The next day (yesterday) we drove 8 hours to Cloudcroft, stopping to greet the Aliens in Roswell.

Now we are surrounded by mountains and pine forest. This morning we saw 4 wild elk in the yard.

We don't have a schedule or any definite plan. Major things we want to see are: an Apache reservation, Los Angeles, HWY 1, San Fransisco, Yosemite, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park. Other than that, we will stop when we see cool stuff, spend lots of time hiking and camping and getting in touch with people around the country.

We have no schedule, but we do have goals and guiding principals.

These are the goals:

• Have fun


• Learn about each other/ develop our relationship


• See beautiful, inspiring things


• Develop relationships with people we meet/ stay with

These are the principles:

• Whatever happens is the best thing that could have happened (No "we should have," "if only," etc.)


• If there is an issue, we talk about it


• We choose delight (we do not pass up fields of wildflowers where we long to frolic in order to get there faster)


• Carpe Diem (when something cool and unexpected invites us, we do it)

With these, we will track our progess.