utah

finally. i tried to blog last week, but the wifi at the flying j was wonky, and i went back to the canyon until tonight.

the scoop with the phone (i have a palm centro) is that i can blog from it, but the window for typing at blogspot is so tiny that it is difficult to reread my entry and heaven forbid i should miss a word or a punctuation, and i can't download pics, so i am going to try to blog from the laptop. i need to learn how to type while i'm offline and then when i reach wifi, i can upload my posts.

anyhow, another big catch-up here. my big sprint across the midwest paused for a stop in lincoln nebraska (june 16th) to visit adam and ann and their daughters sophie and iris. what a cool family! i was welcomed with hugs, and felt instantly like family. it was good to take a breath and regroup. we had dinner that night with their friends sean and amy....how great to talk to someone besides mutt!....and i began to get an idea of the great things that are being done in places like lincoln.....by people like ann and adam, who are making a difference every day. after dinner, they took a tour of the van, with an impromptu spindle spinning demonstration. adam taped it and stuck it on youtube, which was cool. my youtube debut! there will be a separate blog about my stay in lincoln, with more about adam and ann and the girls (you too, shuma) and their tribal business "meadowlark". but thank-you, guys, for the sanctuary, the food and friendship, the clean clothes and community, and the chance to hang out with some great kids..... i can't wait to see you at Ten Thousand Ways in oregon!

after a 2 day stay in lincoln, i headed west again, and made cheyenne, wyoming just before sunset. i spent two nights there, giddy with the cooler temps and the need to wear my mukluks again! i was having a problem with my cel phone....it kept ringing randomly throughout the day and night for no reason, and was seriously affecting my sleep. there is only one sprint store in wyoming, and they were unable to repair it. my choice was to go south to denver, or west to salt lake city to find a repair center......well, since my friend heidi was in slc, that was an easy choice. the drive across wyoming was so beautiful....i love the mountains so much....we made it to salt lake at 9 pm that night, and promptly got lost. yikes, are there alot of lanes in their highways! i ended up in a section of town with alot of pawnshops and LOTS of billboards for bailbondsmen. a fight broke out minutes after i pulled into a 7-11, and my first inclination was to get out and box some ears, i was so hysterical to find a flying j. not that that would have gotten me anywhere but in jail, or dead, but i woulda felt better anyhow. my friend laren came to my rescue with downloaded google maps and calm reassurance that i would eventually find my flying j, and talked me safely to my destination.

on sunday, heidi and scott rescued me from the big city, and took me to a canyon outside of the city, and near to where she works. we set up a camp near a creek formed by snowmelt from the mountains, underneath some cottonwoods. i thought i was in heaven, and mutt was certain he was :-) we have stayed there up til now, coming out to the mouth of the canyon to get cellphone reception, and into town for provisions, meetings and hot showers at the J. we had one excursion to petsmart which restored mutt's faith in mankind, and to REI, where we met another salt lake city vandweller named steve. we yakked it up and drooled over the cool gear and made plans to get together again before i leave utah.

living on the road is falling into a comforting non-routine.....we move more slowly, and more mindfully through our days....less worried about our next meal, my next shower, or where we will sleep next. things fall together more effortlessly, and wherever we are ends up being just right. i am more at peace than i have been for a long time......

more later, about people we have met, places we have visited here, and a persistant coyote at our camp.....

testing

this is just a test entry to see if I can blog from my sprint phone. if you are reading this, stand up and shout "woo-hoo"!

finally....on the road

well, i finally did it. i am on my road trip! tonight i am in nebraska, settled in at a truck stop to use the wifi and to get a few hours sleep. but i need to backtrack to catch you all up on my "great escape"....

i left on june 2nd, and my first stop was in southern pa to visit fellow vandweller john nomads and his wife rose and their little boy bobby. it was a great way to start the trip....i was welcomed as family, treated to chinese for dinner, and got to rub john's head for good luck.....it must have worked, because i haven't broken down yet :-) we watched the movie/documentary "rubber tramps" which is a must see, especially for all you vandwellers out there. mutt really enjoyed his new buddy bobby, who was kind enough to "dogsit" mutt for me, and charmed his way right into my heart. thank-you so much bobby, john and rose.....you made my first day very special!

at the chinese restaurant that night, my fortune cookie said "your dearest dream is coming true". how cool is that? so true.....that little slip of paper is in my wallet, at the bottom of my picture of olivia, who is my soon-to-be grandaughter and already the owner of my heart. she is my other dearest dream come true :-)

the next day i headed into lancaster county to visit my sister ann and to have dinner with her and her friend lexi. lexi has been a reader of my blog and a crocheter of my yarn, and i was glad to finally meet her in person. she is as sweet and as goodhearted as my sister had told me. my sister's not bad either ;-) ....love you both!!!

i headed north the next day and spent a few days with a friend in bradford county before heading back south, ultimately hitting rt 80 on june 10th and pointing the rondyvan west.

i was like a woman pursued. i couldn't get out of pa. fast enough. i spent my first night in a toll plaza in ohio, then discovered upon awakening that i couldn't get far enough from the east coast fast enough. i wanted to be too far away to be found, too far away to go back, too far away to realize how crazy it was to hit the road with a van and a dog and a tank of gas and some food and a dream too big to explain to anyone.....including myself. i didn't have a plan, but i didn't have cancer either, or one stinkin' medical appointment until october. hallelujah!

the next night i spent near gary indiana, continuing on to davenport iowa the next day.

i shoulda listened to the news....

iowa and surrounding areas were experiencing record storms and flooding, which closed down rt. 80. stubbornly refusing to detour, i stayed at the flying j for 3 nights. it was a pleasant three days....i had a visit from fellow vandweller john and his 3 cats, and spent time knitting and sleeping and reading. i woke up the second morning and cried because not one doctor or radiologist could find me if they wanted to. i felt such freedom and relief and gratitude, and very much in the now.

by sunday it was obvious it would be days until 80 opened again, and more roads had closed, so i headed north to dubuque to detour around to des moines, and on into nebraska. so here i am just outside of omaha. tomorrow i will continue on to lincoln to visit my friend adam, and his family. i have never met adam in person, but know him well through the ishmael/ daniel quinn related websites of ishcon and ishthink. i am looking forward to finally meeting face to face....

so that is an update via my mac laptop through wifi at the flying j. tomorrow, i will try posting using my sprint palm, and try a picture, too.....

catch ya then.....