10/29/07 Colombia Falls -Meadow Lake Golf Resort

What an interesting trip, the seasons of life, growing up, buying your first house, pouring all your love into it, painting and decorating and buying furniture, having babies in it, celebrating all the holidays, I remember my most favorite time was Christmas, sitting on my oh so comfy couch watching the blinking lights on the tree, meditation is was, I would sit for hours, early in the morning and late at night, staring at the lights, full of warmth and joy and gratitude. Looking at all the ornaments on the tree, many made by my kids, many gifts from friends, all full of love and memories.

I loved everything about that house, the light that came flooding in from the backyard, all my plants, my beautiful blue tile kitchen, the cooking classes we held there and ginger bread cookie making parties, the awesome playroom we built for the kids, the tree house built with love, the amazing sunsets, the gorgeous french doors that Bill painted so well that glistened, the lilies that Lee gave me from his garden that bloomed year round, the flower bed in the front yard that i put in, labor and childbirth, the red trim around the house and the red front door with the little reminder sign to take your shoes off, the mantle the Johnny built for us, all the parties, Kevin and Edie singing and playing, the house full of love and friends and memories... Everything.. and then the season changes and it's time to let it all go.. my kids have the best memories of that house.. who can blame them for struggling to let it go.. and now we are living in the RV.. life on the road is very different.. simpler, quieter, better views and scenery, more diverse terrain, more adventure, different that's for sure.

After 10 months of vacation renting our furnished house, we found a long term tenant (who may even buy the house), it was a huge task to empty the house, but the good news is we sold a lot and got to donate a ton to the those who lost their homes in the recent fires. It's got me thinking about all I have to be grateful for definitely.

And after 4 months living in the RV traveling from California to Nevada to Oregon to Washington to British Colombia to Idaho to Montana.. we are checking into a super deluxe 2 bedroom condo at the Meadow Lake Golf Resort in Colombia Falls, Montana. They have it all, game room (with playstation, pool, ping pong, air hockey), pool, 3 Jacuzzi's, tv, movies, and a bed! Reese says he had the best night sleep of his life last night. Nothing like 4 mos in the RV to make you appreciate a house huh. I've heard you never truly appreciate things until you lose them. I am totally enjoying our life now and completely appreciating the great life we had in our house too! It feels like a win win plan.
We've got a week to enjoy a home, relax, stay put, and when we pull out, we'll have 21/2 weeks on the road venturing through Montana, Wyoming and landing in Colorado where we'll be staying for 10 weeks. We have rented a condo right on the mountain at Winter Park for a month (I figure the boys will be expert skiers by then), a big house to spend the Christmas holiday with Martha, Alexis and all the kids, we even get Ronnie Alexis's mommy, what's Christmas without a grandma! I am hoping my sister and my cousin Dean will come visit us in December. Then after New Years we'll head for Boulder to a beautiful condo right downtown for the month of January. We'll be able to really check out the AA community, the homeschoolers, the Osho group there and the Adyashanti tape group that meets every Tues night. And we can still ski a few days a week with our ski passes. I am hoping Colleen and her kids will come see us in Boulder! I't gonna be a great winter for sure, different, I've never lived in snow, an adventure i'm sure, something new, new friends, new sights, i am so grateful for it all! And.. you've got to let go of what you have (or who you think you are) to have new experiences, let it go, let it go, open up to what is.. and i'll tell ya, the view from our condo in Montana is something else!

10/26/07 Kalispell Montana

We got in touch with the local homeschool group here and we headed for the boys and girls club friday to go roller skating, so fun, Reese made a lot of friends, they had foosball and air hockey too and I had a blast skating. It was so fun, we went back for 3 more hours that night, Luc is so awesome, totally picked it up in one night, even found a teenage girl to skate with him. Reese spent the evening hanging with the boys and chasing a girl, a 12 yr old ,he is so cute, she kept saying, ladykillers these boys are gonna be..
brought back so many memories i have of skating as a kid, friday night at the skating rink.. checking out the boys.. so much fun..

We also met some homeschoolers at a local park and spent the day with them. I try everyday to find kids to play with, good thing my boys are so adaptable and can make friends in a minute and play with anyone. That is a gift.

On Saturday morning we headed to a park and they had a candy hunt just like on Easter, we got our booty and momy headed back South to Symes Mineral pools. It got very cold in the last few nights, we've been running our portable heater all night and we bought flannel sheets and an extra blanket as well. But nothing quite compares with soaking for 4-5 hours a day in that hot mineral content 106 degree pool. It really quiets you down, awesome place to get very still, I go deep within, don't talk much and relax very deeply, until i cease to exist.. at least for a little while.

Strange day, i started out going to an AA meeting in a treatment center, it was great, the speaker was a guy with 5 mos sober, the secretary had 13 years and went out and was back 3 years with a totally new appreciation for all of life. He was on fire doing all kinds of service and it was great hearing from the folks in patient too. It made me very grateful, I've also been reading some newspaper headlines lately of moms losing their kids and going to jail and all kinds of drama cause of their drinking and the insanity that follows, but for the grace of god.. I am forever grateful to be sober, what a gift!

10/23/07 Glacier National Park

We woke up this morning and after several cloudy days it was sunny and not a cloud in the sky. After 3 days of soaking we were in close to a comatose state and well i guess the sunshine motivated me, I knew today was the day to head back up North and visit Glacier National Park. Unfortunately they close a lot of roads (for road repair) in the fall and we were not able to access the most talked about areas, but we drove 16 miles of the Going to the Sun Road, took a short hike and then watched the sunset turn the mountains purple, spectacular!

The next day we went hiking and biking in the park, taking in the full autumn views, it was so quiet and peaceful barely anyone in the park, I had a full on religious experience watching the sunlight on the trees and the reflection on the lake, the boys built rock towers and dams in the creek and we had to rescue Luc when he got in too deep.

I dropped my camera leaning out my window to take a picture, gotta head to costco tomorrow to get a new one.. ouch, gotta love those unexpected expenses.

Good news is I got an awesome camera and a bunch of warm sweaters from Costco and no sales tax in Montana, gotta love that.

10/21/07 Hot Springs, Montana

After a day in Kalispell we headed south an hour to Hot Springs, Montana. We stopped at Symes Hotel and Medicinal Springs and spent 3 days there. We parked the RV right next to the big pool of mineral water and I soaked 5 hours the first day, it was divine. They had it all, RV hook ups, a restaurant, live music, a big fire inside to sit by, 3 soaking pools, gorgeous scenery, nice folks, really a sweet spot. I was diving deep into my new Barbara Kingsolver book, Prodigal Summer, it's awesome! I just love her books, i bought The poisenwood bible to read next, they are so well writen, great characters, and i learn so much too.

Another great book i just finished was Follow the Cowherd Boy, by JA Joshi. I met the author at a book signing, she said the book was about India and Spirituality and a story about a 16th century princess and her spiritual path, i just loved it, a book about devotion and being truly who you are in the face of great pressure to be who the world wants you to be or to conform and be like others. I related a lot to the character.

10/19/07 We're in Montana Now

The drive after getting off the ferry ride across Kootenay Lake was so beautiful, a perfect exit from British Colombia which was the most spactacular scenery I've ever seen. A huge wind blew in and millions of gold leaves blew across the road as i was driving, I've never seen anything quite like it. Mother Nature's version of Cirque de Sol, oh my god, I kept saying oh my god, branches were flying and leaves leaves leaves, wow.

When we arrived in Creston it was 4pm, sunny and we were ready to boogie back to the US, we crossed in Porthill and what an encounter those federal agents, the front line of defense of our country. We had to exit our cars, wake the kids up from naps and sit for 45 minutes in the office while they went through everything in our cars, it felt so violating, just cause we wanted to take a trip to Canada for 2 weeks, this is what we signed up for. They were quite pleased to confiscate 2 lemons, 3 avocados and 2 cans of soup bought in canada that had signs of meat (mad cow disease). Imagine if we'd ate that stuff we probably would have died. So rest assured, you are all safe, the government is on the job! what a joke! I think the basic idea is this.. Everything bad in the world is out there, not in here mind you, don't worry about that at all, just keep all the bad stuff out and we'll all be safe! And those agents, they believe it, I don't though, I think what is most harmful to us is right here in our very own borders thank you very much.. To top it off I discovered 100 miles down the road that I'd left my wallet at the border and had to call them and ask them to mail it to me in Montana. oh joy..

We were in Idaho for about 20 minutes before crossing into Montana, we ate dinner and spent the night in Libby Montana and headed to Kalispell in the morning.

10/18/07 Ainsworth Hot Springs - Paradise!!

About an hour North of Nelson is a primo hot springs.. Ainsworth.. a hotel with all the amenities.. a giant 98 degree pool and a 105 degree smaller pool attached to a cave with all kinds of springs running in, very unique and an ice cold 38 degree dip.. I discovered the secret.. you sit in the ice pool for as long as you can, i made it about 2.5 minutes, then hop in the hot pool and wow, it's a kundalini rush of energy that lasts for 10-15 minutes.. i did it over and over!!

So.. Canada is expensive.. grocery store food is move expensive, gas is over $1 a litre, 3.9 liters in a gallon, and the biggest kick is how excited the Canadians are about the Loonie being higher than the dollar right now I guess it is 1.04, i remember recently reading how much you saved going to Canada for vacation, i guess that was over a year ago?? well those days are over.

Our one reprieve was the free ferry ride we took across Kootenay Lake on the way back down South, it is about 5 miles accross the lake and takes 30 minutes or so.. the boys and I were playing up on the top deck and waved at the Captain and next thing i know, they are waving us up to the deck. We got a tour of the whole Captains Deck and the boys got to see the whole operation they were very nice, what a treat!

10/17/07 Welcome draft dodgers to Nelson BC

One of the big scores for the homeschooling camping trip we took with all the Oregon folks in Sept.. was we made some friends!! One of the families there who used to live in Hood River Oregon now lives in Nelson BC. 4 hours North of Spokane, Nelson is a bit remote, but it was right on our path to our next stop Ainsworth Hot Springs.. check it out.. http://www.bchotsprings.com

We called our friends .. we're here.. ready to play?? sure they said, come on over.. Lorraine and Brian have a house up the hill from town, they are very much in process of remodeling, the house, 2 barns, and the garden?? Brian is very busy! Reese was so excited to see Logan 14 and MacKenzie 11 and Luc was really happy to play with Logan's 10,000 legos. Logan, Reese and I had a game frenzy.. playing Masterpiece 2x ( i loved that game as a kid) and then we got the whole group to play Bananagrams into the night.. I love that game!! Their house has a view of the Kootenay Glacier and is in the midst of a forest of golden trees, just beautiful.

Lorraine is a nutritionist and member of www.westonaprice.org , a non profit group that promotes natural healthy eating.. boy looking into her refrigerator was an experience, everything natural, no packaged items, very inspiring. She had great stories about health issues her family (and many many others) faced and how they all went away when they changed their diets. I am not there yet, especially living on the road, but i was inspired enough to make some changes and we've been eating more fruits and vegetables in the last week.

We had fun exploring Nelson, a radical liberal town with lots of hippie types and political vibe. Steve overheard several conversations in the coffee shop about how they don't want to buy anything from the US, they don't want to show support in any way for the politics coming from the US. I was told that Nelson was the town that all the draft dodgers came to avoid the draft. They had a Buddist center there and a load of alternative food, spiritual, etc..
Apparently homeschooling is the majority in Nelson, the community is huge and very active.

We so enjoyed visiting friends, recharged our batteries and reminded us that you can feel at home whereever..

10/16/07 Falling apart and falling together..

So.. what a week.. beside traveling, soaking up all the beauty around us and enjoying myself and the boys as much as i can.. a few other things were just sitting unresolved..
you know how that is... sometimes you think.. for 2 hours in the middle of the night.. or drift away during the day.. thinking.. and resurface several hours later.. not knowing where in the hell you've been..

so i was really tired of managing vacation rentals of our house, the house not selling, not even getting one offer in 3 mos after we lowered the price several times, our winter in colorado was not going as planned, they wouldn't sell us season ski passes online so we were considering scrapping the whole deal, then we lost the place we wanted to rent.. blah. blah. blah..

Then in one day.. everything resolved, we found a long term tenant to rent our house, yeah the payments are covered! A friend of a friend helped us get our ski passes, done deal! We found a place to rent! Steve booked a flight to ready our place for the tenants. Oh and i was feeling lonely.. i haven't been calling my friends since i've been in Canada..

But I went to an AA meeting when we arrived in Grand Forks and met a guy and we had a mutual friend in Hermosa Beach and he invited me over the next day to meet his wife, she made us lunch and we talked for 3 hours about life and AA and our amazing lives and yoga and children and i left feeling a full heart for sure.

everything got handled.. amazing.. i felt such a lift.. at the same time i realized that only when there are problems do you learn how to be serene in the midst of drama, then when it resolves.. you really appreciated it.. when things are always smooth you don't have the appreciation or strength of character or heart.. sad but true..

10/15/07 NK'MIP Cultural Center in Osoyoos

After 3 days of jacuzzi, heated pool, beautiful sunny days, bike riding, free gameroom with pool, shuffleboard, ping pong, etc..
we had to move on.. On our way out of town, we spent the afternoon learning about the NK'MIP tribe and we got lucky and got to join in another groups tour.

They had Indian history, art, hands on art for the kids, and outside trails where we saw the types of housing the indians built and heard stories of how the lived, ate and interacted. I was most impacted by the wisdom of the elders, their respect for the earth and constant thougth of future generations and providing for them.

We saw 2 good films about the tribe, then and now and one really touched me.. It featured a teenage girl spending the summer on the reservation with her grandparents to learn about her culture. She struggles a bit at first to embrace the traditions, stories, spiritual beliefs etc.. but she gets really open quickly and jumps right in with the dancing, drumming, awareness of nature and feeling like a steward of the land. Her grandfather tells her of the coyote spirit who is always about watching and soon she feels him and is aware of his presense. The coyote is there to teach the people the ways of the land and Grandfather says he can feel the hunger in her, I'm not hungry though she replies.. not in your belly in your heart. She thinks deeply about this..

As the summer unfolds the girl really finds her way and in knowing her people and their ways, she comes to know herself and feels a sense of wholeness she didn't feel before, she is open, secure, & joyful. The closing line of the film is .. When you come to know who you are.. you aren't hungry anymore.

Very powerful for me, i sat there for several minutes (as the boys ran out of the theater)... Yes this is too is what i have found
knowing mySelf, awareness of the One Presence, the One source of everything and I AM THAT.. ends the seeking, the hunger, the looking outside for wellbeing, fulfillment, satisfaction..
Like Mick Jagger says.. I can't get no satisfaction.. and i try.. and i try.. and i try.... I can't get no... satisfaction..

There is no relationship, career, amount of money, drug, estatic state, physical health.. nothing that will untimately satisfy..
these things all fade, change, come and go.. i can enjoy them but not seek for happiness in them, for they will change and then i'll want something else.. hunger.. buddists call it desire.. the source of all suffering..

But in knowing my oneness with everything, feeling the aliveness in all the bodies, the trees, the sky.. identifying with the source of all, the hunger is no more.. there is resting.. aahhh

10/13/07 Princeton, Osoyoos and Highway 3

We've been in Beautiful British Colombia for 8 days now and it gets better and better. I finally hit a
highway that said 100KM (about 63MPH), until then it had been 80KM max, (that's 55mph) Canada is
making up for the high speed driving in Germany. We spent yesterday in Princeton, we camped out at a juice stop with WIFI,
Steve is working a bit and I am stilll trying to find a long term tenant for our house. I was able to talk with a friend using ichat (a mac to mac internet chat for free which includes video, technology is wonderful!) We took a nice bike ride around the town, got Reese's bike gears fixed, wd40'd all the bikes and soaked up the sunshine.

So we've been driving under 100 miles a day, cruising along and enjoying the scenery. We spent a day in Hope (that is my neice's name, so we had to go there, we played in the park, rode our bikes around, walked the main street, ate Beet Borsch soup with sour cream.. i did, Steve would have none of it. We enjoyed the sunshine, we've had 3 days in a row now, beautiful sunny days and starry starry nights. We rolled out in the morning, it was a brisk 30 degrees, but heated up to 53 later in the day. The boys and I stopped to play in the creek, built dams, skipped rocks, and generally soaked up the incredible beauty.

I can't believe how much i love to watch my children play, almost as much as i like to take pictures of them in gorgeous scenery. Reese built prayer rock towers and Luc fished with a big stick, we looked for heart shapped rocks and crystal rocks.

We spent the night at the Princeton Golf Club, they have 20 or so RV spots there and the scenery was very nice. The season is over here, it was the last day of golf and when we woke up and it was 28 degrees with frost on the ground, we knew why. Many of the RV parks, bike shops, recreation in general is closed already, the shops say closed, but list the owners phone numbers and say call if you need us, we live close by.. gotta love that small town feel.

Today we drove through Keremeos, a farming town, with orchard after orchard after orchard, 20 or so fruit stands, winerys, and lots of pumpkin displays. We arrived in Osoyoos 40 minutes later and parked right on the lake that surrounds the town on both sides. We fed ducks, swans, and seagulls, rode our bikes from one end of town to the other, Reese worked on his drawing and did a bit of reading and writing, Luc built Lego Star Wars space ships and explained to me how the game went, he is amazing how his stories flow.

When the sun set, we went in search of our RV park, we scored, it had a heated indoor pool, jacuzzi, game room, ping pong, pool tables, and WIFI. We played and played.. and the stars were out putting on quite the show.. we are gonna spend 2 nights here for sure.

10/09/07 Beautiful British Colombia

10/09/07 Beautiful Whistler Village

gotta love it, it is spectacularly gorgeous, the people are super friendly and accomodating, the trees with their golden and red coats on just rock my world and you can walk everywhere. The day we arrived, it was sunny and beautiful, it was the last day of summer/fall so to speak activities wise, folks were riding up the chair lift to the top to walk around, play in the snow and take in the views. They had loads of bike riders riding down the dirt mountain taking awesome jumps and entertaining the crowds. They had a zip line going and tons of folks shopping, eating and the like..

The next day was raining all day, we took a long walk, explored the village in a much less crowded state and really soaked up a quiet Whistler about 5 weeks before the season starts. I went to an AA meeting last night that was great, people are so friendly here and there was so much intimate honest sharing it really opened my heart up. I walked to the meeting (4 blocks), in the rain, jamming to tunes on my ipod, i was in heaven.

This morning I went for a run in the rain, so amazing, i ran the city, then on a trail through the trees, I came back drenched and cold but feeling fine, exercise has been a challenge, I have not been very motivated, so I am vowing to keep my running shoes right by the door to inspire me to go.

Whistler feels a lot like Vail in terms of how it looks, but without the pretense or attitude. Very Canadian, friendly and warm. We are heading North today toward Pemberton another resort town and up to Lillooet, up highway 99, it is supposed to be one of the most scenic drives anywhere. I am ready with camera in hand and the rain has stopped so maybe we get some good visiblity.

10/7/07 Squamish & the Railway Museum

The 60 minute drive from North Vancouver up the 99 to Squamish is really beautiful! Snowy mountain peaks, puffy white clouds, beautiful sunny day and lots of eye candy of the nature variety, the best kind! They are doing massive construction on the road, blasting through granite to widen it, a major endeavor to prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympics that will be held in Vancouver and Whistler. We stopped for the night in Squamish, very cute little town, bought some British Colombia maps (yeah!) and the boys and I hit the Railway Museum that is basically 12 old railway cars that you can expore, climb on and play in. Some of them are from 1914 and they have loads of photos showing folks from that time peroid traveling the railroad.

Steve spent the morning on a business call, he is using skype to make calls from the computer and it has video too and it is totally free. Much better than what Cingular offered us for calls at 60 cents a minute. The internet is amazing! Apparently you can use ichat too if both people have macs, i have yet to try it, i'll get there.

We headed North from Squamish, another amazingly beautiful drive about an hour to Whistler. I have heard of Whistler/Blackcomb forever as a world class ski resort i am sure it is tough to get in here during the season, but October is wide open. We booked into our World Mark condo right downtown in the village a one bedroom condo that sleeps 4 with pool, jacuzzi, work out room, and view for $30 a night. Awesome! It is cheaper than staying a the RV park and the kids like catching up on cartoons and I like the jacuzzi and bathtub!

10/5/07 Vancouver -busy busy city

ok, so pulling into Vancouver at 6:30pm on a Friday night is not the best idea, it was insane bumper to bumper traffic and having lived in LA for 30 years I've driven in loads of traffic. But this was crazy.. and I did not have a map and I did not have great directions where i was going and I got lost for about 90 minutes, which would have been fine as I did get a great tour of the city as I drove around seeking and searching. But I was tired and frustrated and not enjoying the wondering around aimlessly, I actually circled the same area several times before I figured it out. Finally I got on the right road, headed the right way and found our RV park, got parked, and ran for the jacuzzi. AHHH! it felt so good!!

The next morning was Sat, my plan was to head South to Stanley Park, a giant Golden Gate Park type of park, but the traffic was bumper to bumper coming over the Lions Gate Bridge so I said forget it, and we headed to a close by indoor play place instead. Driving, navagating, reading maps, looking for RV parks, looking for activities, following directions, definately takes some energy out of you and sometimes you have to just stop and chill out for a day or so. So we did, unfortunately we did not see anymore of Vancouver, but no issue, we will be back is how i feel, we see what we see and what we don't see we will see later.

I did get to have a great visit with my girlfriend Nicki, who i have known since I was a teen. I loved introducing her to my family as we have not seen each other in over 12 yrs, Reese was excited to show her his art portfolio as she is currently in her 3rd yr of art school.

We had some great adventures together including a trip to Puerta Vallarta some 15 yrs ago. We got caught up and actually had a great healing, it seems that some 9-10 yrs ago she shared some things going on in her life and I was quite judgemental with her and can you imagine very straightforward telling her how i felt she was wrong in what she was doing. I was quite horrible she told me and amazingly enough, i don't even remember this at all. Fortunately for me, she did not hold a grudge and when i called this time, she came right over to meet me. I had a chance to appologize to her over and over actually for being judgemental and condemning and I felt a real healing. Interestingly enough I was also able to share with her that this had come back around to me and recently in my life I had felt harsh judgement and condemnation from people in my life who did not agree with things happening in my life.

If there is one think i want to teach my boys it is this, don't judge others, you can never know what is really going on with others, what there situation or mental state is, you can't play God in others life and while you don't have to agree, you can agree to disagree and you can do it with love and respect. This one thing is the greatest cause of pain in relationships and what a lesson in life to learn, to accept others just as they are, to trust that they are having the experience they are supposed to have and to not reject people and hold them up to your "standards" and think you are better (or worse). So yeah, the life lessons keep coming and frankly I am glad for this, whatever it takes to open the heart, to create a greater and greater capacity to love, honor and respect ourselves and others, this I think is why we are here and what we are here to do.

10/4/08 Bellingham stay downtown avoid the dentist!

10/4/07

Bellingham is a cool town, great downtown area, we hit the Children's Museum and had a blast there. We did Halloween
masks, played space station and pirates, played Zingo and read books. We also spent an afternoon at the Railroad Museum where they had remote controlled trains, the kids could add trains, build their own and then drive them through the town. Luc and I built a massive wooden train track and he was so happy to have it all to himself!
We walked all around the downtown area, shops, coffee houses, consignment stores, it is a hip but not snobby scene. We had rain and sun and we made the most of our stay while we had every little thing repaired on the RV, all the leaks, and all the little things that break on an older rig.

Our last day we had the best time, we drove south toward Ferndale and found a little park right on the water called Boulevard Park, it has a great play structure, a bike path, gorgeous views, WIFI, and a coffee house! We were in heaven, the boys and I rode our bikes a mile down the road through town to another park, through the forests.. played for an hour there, met some cool folks, talked about traveling and rode back. Daddy was done with his work and he played frisbee and pirates while I jumped on the internet to look for a house to rent for the month of December in Winter Park. Yes we will be with our good friends on the holidays and i am so glad for that. My girlfriend Martha lives in Boulder area so we wanted to rent a place near her and stay in one spot for awhile, so i began searching for something reasonable ( a feat in itself during the holidays at a ski resort). Also my friend Alexis wanted to come for Christmas so we all want to get a big house together like we did in Steamboat 3 years ago.

Fall is so beautiful here, the trees are red and golden, i never get tired of seeing this, it just takes my breath away everytime i see them. Because it rains so much when the sun comes out it is time to celebrate! And so we were, drinking coffee, taking in the views, oh and i almost forgot... I dropped the car key during our bike ride.. mild panic.. and someone found it and turned it in at the coffee house 300 yards away, that got me high for the whole day..

So $1300 later, we picked up the RV, not that we didn't enjoy the hotel stay for one night, but i was glad to be home and we hit the road at 5pm or so and headed to Canada.

Oh yeah, we had a not so great visit to the dentist (is there such a thing as a good visit, i've not had one yet). Reese has 2 new cavities and Luc would not even open his mouth, no exam, no cleaning, no way no how, and they were very persistant, a bit more than i would have liked. I was really appreciating Janelle Holden our dentist at home and how respectful they are with the kids. This kids dentist didn't even have TV which normally i don't want but at the dentist I do! Also when they find out you don't live there and are traveling they don't even want to see you, so all in all it was a painful day, oh and then the boys were leaving they broke some glass display on the way out, that went over well.

10/3/07 Bellingham WA

We are loving this rain, but the RV isn't.. we had leaks everywhere, ceiling, floor, walls,
oh boy, the old gal was not ready for Washington rain. So we are camped out in
Bellingham WA while we're getting weatherproofed. Meanwhile I hit the consignment store
and bought long sleeved shirts, pants and jackets. The boys love wearing their rainboots
everyday, but Luc still says he wants to wear shorts everyday, not an option. So we are taking
care of business and getting geared up and getting our teeth cleaned and still swimming, soaking,
playing and going ice skating later today.

Reese and I talk often of our friends back home, today we were thinking of you Xan
and all the fun you and Reese had ice skating.

I hit the morning AA meeting in town this morning and the topic was Self Care, taking care of
ourselves Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, and Spiritually, it was great to hear everyone share.

We've been trying to hook up with local homeschoolers and hit AA meetings when we can, it is a
great way to meet locals and feel like you have breathed in the culture and feel of each town.
Steve has been meeting very cool folks too at the local coffee shops that he "works" at each day. He
has 3 clients that are keeping him very busy business consulting and he is having fun and enjoying himself.
Yesterday I met a lady that traveled a lot with her husbands work (he was with Dept of Defense Intelligence
and she homeschooled her 3 boys in Panama for 10 years. Now her husband is a golf pro and she runs a
great coffee house and they call that retirement and they are having a ball. I really enjoy meeting new folks
everyday.

10/1/07 Doe Bay Hot Springs - a slice of heaven

Hot Springs attract the coolest people. Not only are we enjoying the remote isolated beauty of Doe Bay,
the hot springs, the sauna, the gorgeous ocean view that further calms and soothes the body and mind,
but i have met the coolest folks here and that has been so rich. There is something about being naked and
relaxed and surrounded by beauty that opens you up in a very good way.

No kids under 6 allowed and no kids at all after 6pm, so I am also enjoying some adult only uninterrupted conversations which is always a treat. Our first day here I met a couple from Seattle area, we started talking about his work, he worked as
a Physicians Asst at a homeless woman's shelter, tough job, but rich and rewarding.

Somehow he made a reference to Mother Theresa and i remembered a quote about her that what makes
her remarkable among many who do what she does, is that she comments that she is just feeding God no more no less.
In otherwards she has an awareness always that everyone's reality is wholeness/God/well being, and
yes they appear to be starving and so you feed them, but it is God that you are feeding and don't forget it. If you do forget it, and you just see the suffering and sickness, it can really deplete you and the heart gets very heavy.

If you are to last there I thought out-loud you'd better have an awareness always of their wholeness, their divinity, that whatever the appearance, each life is an expression of the one source, it changes how we see things and how we feel and also allows for wholeness to express which often looks like healing.

I mentioned to him that I did an AA panel at a recovery home in Watts, similar population and how rewarding it was, are you in recovery he asked? Yes I said, me too he said, small world, he had 90 days of sobriety, now we had something else to talk about. yeah, you meet very cool folks at Hot Springs.

9/29/07 Hot springs on Orcas

After 2 nights at Deer Harbor we ventured to the other side of the island. Orcas has been a big
change of pace already, slowing way down, relaxing, what happens when you are moving less?
What happens when you do less? How does it effect your experience with yourself? with others?
how do you feel? So i'm reading Jack Kerouac's On the Road and it reminds me so much of my dad it's uncanny.

My dad was a mover, he was always moving, it's gotta be better over there so let's go!
An excitement junkie, Mr Excitement, Mr Energy, excited about everything, creating and dreaming,
Mr Party Animal, he was so passionate about everything, it was contagious. And he thought he could
do anything, he was not interested in hearing about why his idea would not work, he was busy making it
happen. He had a best friend Marvin that was a maniac and they were crazy together. Marvin was the
king of bullshit, he could get into any private party, super exclusive, back stage event there was. He would
walk up to the guard that turned everyone away, say 5 words and they guy would treat him like a super celebrity
and escort us in. Marvin and my dad were made for each other, they thrived on the same wild crazy high energy.

That is how the characters in the story are, they are pursuing the experience, whatever it takes,
beg, borrow, or steal, they think crazy is cool, the crazier the better, they want to live on the absolute edge
of life, music, experience, all of it, and they do.

So I'm feeling nostalgic, I visited Rosario's Resort here on the island, my dad was a bartender there in 1967, my mom
cocktailed and sang in the lounge, they were 21 and 22 yrs old. They both had day jobs too, dad worked for the phone
company and my mom answered phones in an office. When i walked into the bar I could picture
my dad at 21 behind the bar, on fire with life he was. Full of dreams and adrenaline and willing to go to any lengths
to feel it all, the highest highes, teetering on the edge for effect for as long as he could.

So i am imaging my parents here, I am reading this book about these crazy folks having all of these pretty insane
adventures and at the same time I am having another type of adventure all be it a bit quieter and saner.

We are staying now at Doe Bay Resort and Retreat and i think i could stay a few weeks here at least. It is very quiet
and secluded, there are hot springs, a sauna, a cold dip pool, and a cafe all set in the midst of trees and rugged coastline
and ocean. Luc and I hiked in the rain today, we pet some horses and explored the property.