We woke up this morning, for the second time this trip, in the back of a rented Nissan Armada SUV. It was a pretty good night’s sleep, too, because of the cushions and mattress topper Kimmer found a coupla nights ago at Home Depot and Walmart. :-)
For posterity, the winning prescription goes like this: on the bottom, yoga mats we picked up at the Medford GoodWill; on top of those, the two sets of seat cushion pairs from Home Depot; on top of those, the thick foam mattress topper from Walmart and then one of our sleeping bags inside up, then us, then a wool blanket, then our other sleeping bag inside down, and finally... our duvet cover from home. Icing on a pretty layered cake, as it were.
It was all super comfy.
And warm.
A good night sleep was definitely had by us both.
By morning, the clouds and wind that rolled in last night were finally gone... well, at least the clouds cleared away.
Eventually.
Which made for a sun that was definitely cookiin’... at the same time the continued breezes cooled it all down.
It was a heckuva balancing act of temperature control. :-)
So sun, wind, waves. Yeah.
We’re off to a lazy morning start.
By the way, I legitimately forgot what day it is today. Both the day and the date. That’s how far off our normal life schedule we’ve wandered.
Now earlier we talked a little about the solar panel set-up Kimmer’s cousin employs. He actually uses two: a larger one powering his teardrop trailer and a smaller one that’s mobile.
So far, though, Kimmer’s used the power, WiFi, and plentiful outdoor tables ‘n benches under quite lovely palm trees at the local shopping center for her Zoom meetings. Today, though, she’s thinking about using the domed tent her cousin set up along the west end of camp.
So I set up table, chair, and equipment in there... she takes a seat to make sure she’ll be comfortable in there (which she is)... and thus the plan’s set.
Except.
A coupla minutes before her first meeting she discovers to her horror that her laptop’s nearly out of juice. Jumping to her rescue, her cousin does this:
He grabs his smaller, mobile solar panel set up, moves it to the west side of the tent, snakes a cord into the tent and into a power bank he places at the foot of her desk into which I plug her laptop.
This was Kimmer’s aha! moment, by the way. Proof of concept. The one in which she realizes how working on the road could work. Could actually work.
She’s also sold on the idea of buying a WiFi hot spot while we’re down here because she’s well aware of how completely dependent we are on everyone else’s WiFi: Fred Meyer, Lowe’s, Moro Campground. In fact, our first attempt to do what we usually do on these trips, Starbucks, was a complete failure this time because what we usually do is snag a table for an hour or two for WiFi and recharging. So taking care of some of the business that followed us on this road trip has been, to say the least, a brain teasing, logistical challenge.
So it’s settled. Tomorrow, we’ll be passing by the Spectrum Center in Irvine where there’s a T-Mobile store. T-Mobile’s our cellular service provider... so we figure that’s where we’ll start.
By the way, I called Oregon Light Truck & RV to see if it’d be okay for us to leave the Rialta with them one more day than planned... and here’s what the rep said:
“No problem. It’s only costing you $284 per day.”
That was a little joke, by the way. We’re totally good for another day. Plus, we ended the call wishing each other a Happy Easter.
Wow.
Tomorrow’s actually Easter.
Okay so the story so far’s that Kimmer’s completely set with her Zoom meetings in her cousin’s tent with her laptop powered by the California sun.
In the morning, I while away the hours writing about our adventures thus far. Man, those first few days were brutal.
After lunch, I head out into the Laguna/Newport wilds gathering the different supplies and groceries here ‘n there of which we’re in need. Trader Joe’s, less than a mile from camp, was first on my route, of course. Picked up some lunch here and I swear if boy scout camping was more convenient like this I woulda totally been more into it.
Later I was at a nearby Starbucks sitting outside in the shade, partaking of both an iced chai tea latte and a little bit of peace.
Remember that?
Peace?
Seriously. It’s the best.
I highly recommend it.
In my case, the critical ingredients were a disconnect from my usual daily routine... and the time to experience what’s actually there when I’m not being a perpetual motion machine.
After Kimmer’s last meeting of the day, we’re out for a walk again on the beach. These walks, by the way, are substituting for the ones we take along South Lake Union only way, way better.
I guess you’ll just have to trust me on that one.
Today’s walk was our longest walk while we were here, with the sun dropping ever lower and the tide creeping higher this time around.
We walked all the way to the other end below the Shake Shack high on the cliffs above. Also to the very end of those beach cottages that’re either being torn down or remodeled.
This end of the beach, especially, was hoppin’ with teens and families and couples and boogie boarders enjoying every last moment of the day.
On our return walk, I became fascinating by these four little birds with long necks and super narrow beaks. They seemed to be playing in the surf as well. Because as the surf receded, they chased after it. As it came back in again, they ran away from it. As in
Run away! Run away!
I’m guessing they were feeding on something right there at the leading edge of the moving surf. Tiny things that their beaks could snatch even with the surf racing away. But not when that surf was coming after them. In fact, whenever the surf raced too quickly for these birds, they’d take to the air... then set down immediately nearby.
Rinse.
Repeat.
Most of the time the four birds acted in sync. One time, though, three took to the air going left while the other broke right. Immediately realizing its predicament, the last one did a mid-air pivot... and throttled up until rejoining the rest.
And I suppose the reason I’m telling you about this tiny scene is that it really did feel like young friends hanging out. Doing stuff together. Joining and rejoining. All while being very young.
Back at camp, it was full blown night as we joined the camp fire with family, enjoying each other’s company in conversation, joking around, and laughing.
It was a reminder how there are different ways for Peace to manifest in our lives. And for Joy to enter in.
Sitting alone at Starbucks. Walking a sunset beach together. Experiencing it even around a campfire.
We ended our day, once again, in the back of our SUV rental, this time partaking of a streaming episode of “Hot In Cleveland” on ParamountPlus.
Because, you know...
Camping.
