Thursday, September 19
Today we find ourselves in Carpentersville, Illinois, a
suburb of Chicago staying with Circus’ dad for a few days. Our trip through
California flowed so easily, you’d have thought we planned it….which we didn’t
at all. Monday morning we re-packed our things on the boat in Eureka and walked
about 6 blocks to the local bus stop with Duane and Sandy. A 20 minute bus ride
later, we walked about ½ mile to the nearest Hwy on-ramp where we staked a good
post for hitchhiking down Hwy 101. Not more than 15 minutes later, a nice guy
named Scooby stopped to pick us up and drove us about 100miles south towards
the town of Willits, just into Mendocino County. He took us to a little
spring and showed us a few great forest and coastal vistas. I hadn’t been on
that road since my college roommate and I took a road trip in 2002 and driving
through the Redwoods brought back a lot of great memories of that trip. It is
really a beautiful drive, if you haven’t done it I highly suggest driving from
the Washington coast down through the California coast on the coastal highway.
We had nearly reached the end of our ride when we pulled
into a gas station just before a white VW van. The driver got out and looked
like a friendly 20-something kid so we asked him if he was headed south and if
we could get a ride. He discussed it with his girlfriend, riding shotgun, and
sure enough we hopped in the back of the van on a comfy bed and took off for
their home in Oakland. Very convenient since we were headed to SFO a few days
later and knew people in San Francisco. About 10 minutes down the road, though,
I realized that my day pack was missing (the one that has my wallet, passport,
computer, etc) and that I left it at the gas station. Will, the driver,
graciously turned the van around to retrieve it and Circus called the Chevron
to see if it was still there. Sure enough, it was sitting by pump #3 where we
had changed vehicles, untouched. We gave heaps of thanks (since Circus’ wallet
had already been lost a week before, meaning lots of trouble and very kind
friends in Seattle to get a new debit card and ID before we leave the country
next week) and soon were back on the road southbound. It’s a calm drive through
wine country and into warmer, dryer climate before reaching the big city.
We got into San Francisco around 8pm, just as it got dark,
and took the BART under the bridge and into San Francisco where my cousin, Andy
kindly picked us up and put us up for 2 nights. After 3 weeks of being on the
boat and in little harbor towns, it was fun to have a day in San Francisco,
which is a fun city. We had a great day on Tuesday and did take the Adventure
Cat, a catamaran, around the bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so
windy (20+ knots consistently) that the America’s Cup race had been called off
but we did get to see the boats preparing for the race before it was canceled.
The catamaran ride was really fun and great that Circus got to go under the
bridge. Andy and I had dinner at a delicious Greek restaurant near his
apartment and chatted about travel, relationships, and city living.
Wednesday morning we had our hands full re-evaluating the
WAY too heavy packs we had brought from Seattle with considerations for
airplane packing and weight. Our travel bags consist of a 70 liter backpack for
me, an 80 liter pack for Circus, a day-pack each and a small Camel-Pak. We have
so much stuff! More than I’ve ever backpacked with before, by far. Unfortunately,
we just don’t know in what situations we will find ourselves in the next year +
and want to be prepared. We’d rather take what we have, since we have it, than
have to buy something again in the near future. After about 3 hours, we had
lessened our load enough to get our big packs under 50lbs (mine just squeaked by), with stuffed carry-on
luggage as well. We will have to pare down again, and re-evaluate as we go,
hopefully dropping more stuff than we pick up. We’ll try to live by the 1-for-1
philosophy, when you pick up something you have to leave something behind.
Now we are settled at Circus’ dad’s house and will spend
time with his family for the next week. This morning the gods showed their
might with monsoon rain and thunder crashes just overhead. I was doing my
morning practice at the time and was reminded of my last week in Thailand and
doing yoga under the massive week-long rain storm that flooded the country. We
do have to pull up our last “to-do” lists today, including a trip to REI this
morning, calling Air India, booking a hotel for our 19 hour layover in Delhi
next Friday, and a few more small tasks. Time to crack open the very heavy
Lonely Planet India I’ve been carrying around for the past 3 years again (we’re
definitely switching to Kindle/e-book guide books next time!)
Now that we’re here I’m getting excited to get to India next
week and be in Shillong for 4 weeks. I’m still being mindful of being present
and being in Chicago for the first time is also something I’ve been looking
forward to. And trying to let go of expectations and be open to it all. Again
and again.
On a totally different note, I had an epiphany the other day. I was explaining my
digestive reactions to gluten to Circus’s mom and I realized that the reactions
started pretty quickly upon returning to America. I had lived and traveled in
Asia for near three years and ate primarily Asian style foods with a healthy
dose of daily metabolic enhancers (seaweed, green tea, kimchi). Then I came
back to the states and started reacting to gluten within 6 months. I didn’t cut
it out of my diet until February of 2012, nearly 10 months after returning, but
it was immediately obvious that gluten was the source of my pains. So as I head
back to the East I am hoping that my problems all go away! Either that the
gluten in Asia is closer to the source, less/differently processed, or that the
rest of my diet will create a better digestive environment for yummy things
like Indian chapati, Thai roti, naan, parantha, Tibetan bread, su-jae-be, and
Korean pa-jan and ho-ddeok.
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