Almost a week away ...

I can't believe that it has been a week already. Time seems to fly by these days but especially when I'm adjusting to different time zones, learning new city streets, and still regulating my sleep schedule. Europe, at least the parts that I've visited so far, is 9 hours ahead of the states. Your whole body has a hard time adjusting to that kind of change, like when you eat, sleep, and I'll go there, even poop. I've not gotten a full nights rest since we've been across the pond and I think that has attributed to my now, very present, cold. I'm walking around Budapest looking like Rudolph, constantly looking for napkins to take or some toilet tissue to soften the blow. 

Being in need of anything immediate, cold medicine in my case, in a foreign country can be difficult but doable. Pharmacies are not always that easy to find and when you do find them, there is usually a language barrier. Today I was searching for a decongestant to stop the endless running of my nose and the pressure in my head. We found one close to our hotel and the young guy behind the counter was beyond helpful. He spoke broken english, which was welcomed, and he was more than willing to let me use hand gestures to explain my need. Decongestant found, or at least that is what I think it was since there was no english on the package. I'm hoping I feel better soon with the popping of these mystery pills and our little break at the room. 

That being said, I'm having a wonderful time and trying to just soak it all in! 

Amsterdam was everything I thought and more; lovely canals, beautiful old buildings, and markets galore. You can visit a church, smoke some doobies, and see legal prostitutes all on the same street, before dinner. The tolerance the city and its people have is admirable and there is no shame in people trying to make a living as they see fit. With on average 4.5 million visitors a year, everyone was pretty nice too with English being widely spoken. Only once in a bar did we encounter unfriendly behavior. A couple; she was nice and gave us directions while he was so unimpressed that we were Americans he couldn't be bothered. He only 'knew' of people from the states and gave us the impression it was beneath him. We thanked them and went on our way. I'm sure the locals get sick of tourists and their indulgent behaviors, I might if I lived there, but it is a tourist town after all and people are there to spend money or make it. 

The boats are abundant and varied. Some you can live on, some you can ride on, some you can park on, some you can work on, while others have seen better days. There are new boats and old boats, house boats and canal boats, tourist boats and work boats. In a city built around canals there is no wonder why boats are a main source of transportation. We took a canal cruise with Friendship Amsterdam boats and got a way different perspective of the city. It was nice to move around the city by boat after so much walking and feel like we were starting to know our way around. 

Bikes are abundant too and the other means of getting around the city. The culture around biking here is marvelous. Everyone bikes everywhere without exception; old and young alike. This almost got me hit a few times, since you not only have to look for cars but also bikes and locals move fast. The bikes are simple, 3 gear cruisers with hand brakes and are cheap to rent. We rented ours and hit Vondelpark, a green oasis in the city where many people and activities take place. Who knew there are just has many rules to biking as there are to driving and once we got the hang of it, we were feeling good but only took to the streets for a little jaunt around the outside gates of the park. 

In a city full of canals, it only makes sense to have bridges. The bridges are either full of parked locked-up bikes or cute little restaurants or in most cases, both. They utilize the space so effectively to maximum effect. Most are permanent structures with a few being drawbridges that are occasionally used for big boats or goods. They are all lit up at night and beautifully romantic to walk across. We even found one filled with love locks!

What makes a city but its buildings. Amsterdam is architecturally beautiful. The buildings are a mixture of old and very old, some from the 1600s, and most are leaning, using each other for support and purposefully slanted forward. Amsterdam is not built on solid ground and you can tell by being in the city and looking around. 

Amsterdam's diversity, wealth of history, and liberal attitudes are why I could see myself living here and think you should pack up, cross the pond, and see this place for yourself! 

less than 48 hrs' til take off ...

You know what it's like...

The cars, endlessly dropping off and picking up

The people, rushing around trying to get somewhere, anywhere

The security lines, boundlessly meandering through time and space but seemingly going nowhere

Finally,  

you get the call, it's your turn, you made it, and the process just starts all over again... 

The queue, flowing down the path ever so slowly

The rows, inviting an adventure to cram into the tiny space provided

The waiting, reading the latest edition of whatever's freshest till it happens

The sounds get louder as the air gets colder and the lights go darker. 

I always tend to hold my breath during those first few moments. 

The point it leaves the ground I feel free, excited for my journey and what's ahead. 

I know what I'm in for this trip, at least a little bit better than my last whirl-wind adventure around the globe a few years ago. I'm finally getting to a place of calm; where I'm just trying to absorb all the planning and organizing, the researching and packing, the love and energy that has gone into making this trip happen. 

Heres the journey ... 

We leave on Thursday for Amsterdam. Yup, that's tomorrow folks!  We are arriving to Thunderstorms but I'm actually looking forward to some early fall weather. Luckily, most of the activities that I will be partaking in are not weather dependent.  

We next head to Budapest, Hungary. It's actually Buda and Pest with the river, Danube, running between. I'm looking forward to checking out the Architecture and some of the worlds largest thermal water cave systems. 

It wouldn't be a trip to Europe if we didn't include Paris. We'll be there for a few days to soak in the sights; the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Catacombs, and visit with our good friend, Kenna. We are coming for you darling! 

We are hitting London next. Pit has family there and we want to connect. Some of the family came last year for a visit and I'm excited I will be getting to see them again and in their element. Also it is Helen's birthday and those are always fun to celebrate! 

After London we head to Morocco. That's right, northern Africa...Who would of thought? Not me, up until we decided to embark on this journey earlier this year. We are going to 4 different cities; Marrakech, Essaouira, Fez, & Casablanca, and I'm definitely riding a camel somewhere. We are even going on a Marrakech food tour.

Following Morocco, we fly to Barcelona for a long weekend of sunshine and more sights. I'm looking forward to seeing a bunch of Gaudi's work; La Sagrada Familia, Casa dels ossos, Park Güell, Casa Battló, and Casa Milà. We are also going on a side trip to Figueres, a town north east of Barcelona to visit the place of Salvador Dalí and his museum. 

All of this, is of course, subjective to life on the road. 

We have most of the trips main features booked, like places to stay but there are so many details that we get to fill in along the way. I'm ready to actually see these places with my own eyes, to be inspired by the world, to be opened up by all that is out there, to become a part of something bigger.  

  Hans Christian Anderson said it best ... 

To move, to breath, to fly to float, 

To gain all while you give, 

To roam the roads of lands remote, 

To travel is to live

Protesting for peace

Lately I've been compelled, compelled to stand, to stand and protest.

It's something not a lot of people actively do in this country. Call it complacency, call it fear, call it an 8-5 job that demands your time or kids to wrangle out of bed before getting ready yourself, or just not wanting to do it that day. I don't blame anybody or point fingers, everybody gets a choice. I think we get stuck into these cycles of living, and believe in ideas that came before us without thinking about them for ourselves. Maybe its the mass produced chemical-laced foods that we over consume on a regular basis and the TV programming that we naively listen too and watch but take for fact. It dumbs us down to the point of cattle, where we just blindly walk into the slaughter house of our true selfs, taking in everything but processing nothing. 

We forget or choose not to think about all that came before.
The struggles, the heartache. 

The ability to change.

I've been compelled, compelled to stand, to stand and protest. 

Preparing to go and then some ...

Leaving is not the hard part, but getting ready is!

I was born to journey, to go, to feel connected to the wanderlust that resides within us.

A long trip, 5 weeks to be exact, takes time to plan out. Not every detail of course but with the timing of our trip, late August through early October, we decided it would be nice to have a rough outline.  I've actually always liked outlines; just enough to get you going but not enough that you can't create your own story or change your mind in the end. 

 It is mesmerizing to explore all the options available to you in these far away lands from the comforts of your own home. For me that means, PJs and coffee in hand, drooling over all the awesomeness that is to come. There are so many tool these days too that help you get good accurate information. I use Travelocity.com and Tripadvisor.com for most reviews, tips, and traveler bewares. Also you can get contact information and connect directly with the hotel, which is recommended in some places. Especially the ones that are a little more remote like Morocco and parts of SE Asia.

I've spent months planning, looking, reading reviews, organizing, and connecting with people, trying to find the best of the best for our adventure. Not the best things really, but instead the simple pleasures, the most different, the weirdest and kindest things we can do the better. I want to see a different side of humanity. One that is not within the US confines of culture and media, social hype and stereotypes. I guess they'll have there own misrepresentations of the way things should be but at least it will be a divergent opinion from what I'm used too. I try and read some history too cause we are shaped by the things that come before, there is no way around it. 

Our trip, will be epic! 

5 weeks in Europe and Northern Africa, 6 countries, and lots of towns and cities in-between. My partner in crime is a seasoned traveler and a wonderful companion for this journey across the pond and beyond. We will be visiting family in London and a friend in Paris. We are luckily to have both during our travel abroad and are looking forward to getting a local feel and a trusted source on how to find the best French 75s. 

Where to go and what to see, you ask.
We will be traveling around Europe and hitting Morocco, yes Africa. 

It will be no surprise to anyone that knows me well, that my first stop had to be Amsterdam and the only place we'll spend time twice. The other emerald city in my heart! My life has been so influenced, both for the good and the bad, by a single plant. I've always been a lover of dirt and the things grown in it, I'm an avid gardner to this day, but this plant was very different. Things are finally starting to change in the states; People are seeing the medical benefits as well as the, unfortunate but inevitable, commercial benefits too. Amsterdam has always had acceptance for this style of life and activity. I want to see it, before its something of the past.

A beautifully old city, with deep history and scars, built alongside canals and open public spaces where you can partake in almost any of your heart's delights, all of them if need be, with no abasement from others.  I'm hoping for kindness, I'm longing to connect. 

Amsterdam, I come to you giddy, wide-eyed, yearning for an acceptance, a welcoming to the part of me most unknown and a side I'm so ready to explore....

May the journey begin ... 

Lake Siskiyou, CA with a side trip to Burney Falls

Camping, by default is badass but road trip camping is better!

You're in close quarters, hopefully with someone you like, for an undisclosed duration of time, that could change at any minute,  headed somewhere magical. I mean not always but most of the time there is this sense of fleeing the reality that is and going out into the world, into the woods, into the open space and filling it up differently.

    

Lake Siskiyou, CA was our destination. It's just on the other side of I-5 from Mt. Shasta, which is another beautiful spot in Northern CA. We had 4 days, our car loaded to the max, and an appetite that couldn't be sated for the sublime outdoors.

We arrived to the campsite 8 hrs later and this was there to greet us. We had arrived! The drive was beautiful and filled with the sounds of the Grateful Dead, Jack Johnson, and Bob Marley to name just a few. One a side note, I never knew or appreciated the Grateful Dead until a few years ago and many road trips later. We set up camp and enjoyed a local brew to call it a night.

I'm a morning person, always have been. I like to get up and watch the world take shape, energies stirring to life, things waiting to happen. Drinking my coffee before most people wake up is a normal occurrence. Camping is no different for me and my sweetie. We got up with the sun, made a little breakfast of bacon and pancakes (cause we're camping), drank some instant coffee

 

 and we were off to hit the trail for our monster walk around the lake and some exploration.


We headed out clockwise around the lake and it was beyond beautiful. The natural world is something else, it reminds me of untold truths and limitless possibilities.

     

       

  

         

This place is just so beautiful. We started in the trees but found there was so much more here than forest. Barren grassy lands with lots of California poppies, tons of dead old trees that birds where using as homes, and the water was so inviting. The walk, just over 7 miles, around the lake was not that difficult but even in the early morning when we got started it was already hot, hot, hot out. We had finished our 2.5L of water in the 2 hours it took us to explore and were sweaty ready for a dip in the lake.

This was our view of Mt. Shasta from the "beach" at Lake Siskiyou!

One of the neat things about camping here, besides the magnificent lake that was way colder than it looked, was that our campground was not only outfitted with a working bathroom, a few sites down, but the bathrooms had showers. I don't know about you but usually showers aren't an option while camping and it was a refreshing change this camping trip.

Rose with the sun the next day and decided to drive to McArthur-Burney Falls state park. It was a 30 min drive south east but so worth it. The falls are not the longest or the largest California as to offer but I think they are the most beautiful. Teddy Roosevelt even declared these falls "the eighth wonder of the world."

There was a 1.3 mile trail loop around the falls from the marina so we parked the car and headed out.

       

The trail was pretty flat, and an easy walk around. Beautiful fallen trees being reabsorbed into the earth. Birds, squirrels, I'm sure there were insects too, all making use of it, finding a way to make life from the departed. This being all being surrounded by healthily flourishing green trees and some volcanic ash too. We even crossed paths with a Pacific Crest Trail access point where I had a "Wild" moment... haha 

           

You can hear the falls before you see them. We get to little bridge above the falls, photo-op and continue on. The creek is Burney creek that helps feed the falls. We got peek-a-boo views of the falls through the trees as we made out way down the switchback trail. 

           

These twin falls are 129 feet high and accompanied by numerous plumes of water. The falls are feed by an underground aquifer so it flows year round even when Burney creek is dry. There was water flowing from every directions out of the rocks, not just at the twin falls. 

 As we proceeded down the path, we saw a fly fisherman actually in the water. I knew I had to get to where he was, a place most people didn't go. I jumped off the trail, slide down the rocky descent, and there I was at the bottom. I could feel the spray of the water hitting against my face, so invigorating. I felt connected to the earth in that moment; the powerfulness of the water rushing from somewhere unknown, the beauty that surrounded me from all directions effortlessly, the energy that was pulsating through everything, unseen, just being.

It felt good to be present, in the moment.
On our way out of the falls and back to the car, we miss a whole busload of tourists coming down to experience the magic of the falls. Luckily, we had gotten our private moment, well mostly private with just us and the fisherman. 

Death

It touches us all at some point or another.
It's not something we can get away from or avoid, it is the ultimate inevitable. 

Empty, sad, hollow

my insides sit full of emotions

but nothing feels real

Tears, screams, misery

my head full of memories

all a wonderfully sad blur

Alone, sorrow, distress

the way I fell

my heart being smothered by it

I can not get away...

Hoping it was but a dream

fearing it was all too real

both enabling me down

down the path of despair

to the land of darkness 

where only grief resides

I'm afraid to loose the anguish

afraid to let go

afraid of forgetting

but your already gone...

The end, it isn't very pretty. Death doesn't ask permission or take requests. It fiercely engages with no warning, leaving but a trace of what was or nothing intact at all.  It stares you in the face, dark orbs filled with nil, taunting you to move, knowing in it's arrogance that already its too late. 

Nisqually Wildlife Refuge walkabout

I don't work Sundays, or Mondays for that matter, but Sundays are my fun-days. I almost always bake something tasty for my work week.  We spend a bit of time in nature, even if that just means cutting firewood or playing in the garden, to heading up to Seattle for a visit. Sundays are for going out to brunch with friends and reading the New York Times in front of an afternoon fire. 

This morning I pick nature, even in its dreary and rainy state. My sweetie and I went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge to see what we can find. 

This place is such a special oasis, a hidden gem, something passed by more than explored. In 1974, Nisqually Wildlife Refuge was established to protect the delta and its diversity of fish and wildlife habitats. Its open daily from sunrise to sunset and if your a wildlife photographer its the place to be. We always see at least a few. 

We start here, along one of the many paths out into the wetlands and woodlands, towards the estuary boardwalk. The sounds are mesmerizing; from the loud frog croaks to the twirps and whistles of the birds, you can't help but feel like your in a mystical place.

The grasses have taken over the fallen trees

and the ferns have gotten the standing ones. 

We walk along the path untill we reach the Twin barns. These barns were built in 1932. They were used as an educational facility until they were damged in an earthquake in the early 2000's and closed. I've always wanted to check them out inside and wish I would have back in the day. 

Doesn't mean the geese can't enjoy them though!

We are almost to the estuary. This is a place where the fresh Nisqually River meets the salty Pudget Sound. A place of flux, where the tides slip back and forth twice daily. 

We arrived a few hours after high tide and could still see the water rushing out. There was lots of movement in the water. 

Freshly exposed earth for the birds to walk on and search for food.

 

The boardwalk goes for about a mile and a half into the estuary. There are so many things to see and depending on your tidal timing you will be seeing different things. I've been lucky enough to see bald eagles, seals, and many types of birds on my walkabouts. The birds are out regardless of the tides, their activities just change.

As we make it to the end of the boardwalk, we see this Great Blue Heron just hanging out. We ended up seeing 5 or 6 different ones. Most just hunkering down, cause it was raining out. Not a hard downpour but more like the misty fruit stand kinda rain. Some were fishing though, like most of the birds we saw, trying to get food while the water was gone. 

Magic, that is all that comes to mind when I see this beauty around me. Its a place in constant flux yet so stable that many species call it home and prosper here. The meandering tributaries within the sanctuary remind me of the path less traveled and the energy that path must bring.

Nature, in all its wonder and glory, never ceases to amaze me or fill me with such joy. It's filled with so many treasures, large and small. The Pacific Northwest, the place I call home, is a magical land filled with creatures like no other and places only within dreams. Luckily, I get to live my dreams. 

Are you? 

Patience is a virtue...or so I've been told

I woke up the other day and came across this on the interweb. It spoke to me in a way I've been longing for, it reached out and touched my innards. 

It reminded me of all the things I thought I knew way back when, all the things I had dreamed for, all the things I thought were important. It reminded me of all those things and then I remembered that most weren't what I was yearning for anyways but were ideas of what I thought I was suppose to be, of things I was suppose to accomplish and achieve.

We as people, me included, are so quick to say what we need, what we want, form ideas and opinions based on loosely spun information gathered from the outside world. We think we have all the answers or at least where to look for them. We look outward to the world, society, our peers for answers that can only come from looking within. We are so short sighted with our goals and dreams and solutions to the worlds problems, let alone our own, that we forget the questions.

I've never really been a patient person. It must have been my mothers favorite thing to say to me when I was young, "Patience is a virtue, Melissa." I was always so quick to remind her that it was my life and I'd live it how I wanted to regardless of who or what got hurt along the way. I thought I knew it all but looking back I had no clue what life was about. 

I should have heeded her advice; taken things a little slower, appreciated all the nuances around me, been thankful for all the little things I was picking up along the way. I should have looked toward my future self with love and admiration, not unreasonable expectaions of a life lived to fit within the world's confines. 

I'm reminded of all the good things in my life that I had to wait for. All the things I know now that I wouldn't do different and some that I probably would. I'm reminded of the educational process called Life; not right nor wrong just different for everybody. It might not be pretty all the time but it's beautiful when looking out from within. It isn't a test to pass or fail, it is an experiment to experiance, in all its wonder, in all its certainty. 

Watching the world wake up

So your either a morning person or you're not. Usually if you're not, that means your a night owl. I know many of each but the morning has always spoke to me in a way the night never could. I always have loved the early hours of light, the day slowly coming into being. Getting to watch the earth wake up, seeing the natural world come into the light and feel alive. The darkeness is comforting to me only when I know the gleam is right around the corner. A blanket that keeps you warm until the chill has left the air and is no longer needed. It feels more alive too, the energy starting to shift about and transform into movement.

I love the feeling of being rested. To lay awake in bed, thinking up the day is an important time for me. To give purpose to your day before it starts, sets in motion the energy around you. Everyday is a choice and one we are lucky to make. It usually hits me around 5:30am and that is almost always not depending on when I went to bed. I can't help it really, my internal clock says wakey wakey and once my mind starts its outta bed for me. Those few percious moments though, when I'm still emerging into the day's self, are when I get to say thanks and put forth my intention into the world.

I start most of my days, once I'm outta bed, the same way by boiling water and stretching my body.  I drink coffee therefore I boil and I'm alive therefore I stretch. I'm a creature of habit, I like it that way. Lucky for me I live in a home that has a view out my window. Although, at 5:30am its dark, really dark and there is nothing to really watch yet. So instead I wait. I wait for the light to come out and play. I wait for the hummingbirds to approach their feeder eagerly drinking it up, the barren tree to fill up with little sparrows to big blue jays looking, hoping for full feeders too, the clouds to come into clarity and start showing off their plans for the day, and the mountains to show themselves in all their glory. While I wait, I stretch. Who knew that in the time it takes to boil a kettle of water, approximately 6 min, I could feel so alive.

Years ago I worked at Starbucks and was the opener. That meant waking up when most others where going to bed. A 4am wake up is not fun, even for a morning person such as myself. I always felt like I was rushed into my day. I would wake up, take 10 minutes to get ready and head out the door. Off into the hurried realm of society without a moment to myself or thoughts of the world around me. Once at work it was a rush to get everything done before the hordes of people would be rushing in to get their morning coffee, then rushing off to their workplace. We seem, as a society, to always be rushing, trying to be somewhere else other than where we are, not really appreciating the day in front of us but rather trying to just get through it. I know I'm one of the lucky ones. I no longer need an alarm to wake me up for work and yes, I'm still employed just somewhere else that allows me the freedom of my mornings.

Beginnings...

A beautiful day awaits, its right below the chaos.
Waiting, wanting, whispering; it sleeps.
Pushed to the edge, its breaks but then it rises.
So many choices we must make before the dawn approaches, under the veil of darkness.
Hidden in plain sight and bright lights, our thoughts demand action.
Movement steps in, showing us the way.

Thoughtful actions that will move you to a different music.