One month in and I still have to be an adult

Santa Elena Canyon after a hike through mud as we crossed the Terlingua Creek

There have been a million things I could have written about in the last couple of weeks, but remember how I said last time that I kindof have ADD?

Anyway...

One triumph I am happy to share with you is that I have read an actual paper book for the first time in YEARS! Some of you may be gasping in horror at this admission, but the last 9 years of commuting 2-3 hours a day converted me into an audiobook girl (I like to call it "ristening.") That being said, Audible helped be risten to many more books than I *ever* would have read without it (TYVM, Sandy!) School basically ruined me by forcing me to read things that weren't interesting to me...well, that and Netflix. Ahem, so I am now on book TWO of our 30-ish day trip and I am loving waking up most mornings and lingering in bed with a story. It's an "every day is Saturday" feeling, but now I feel like I'm bragging, so let me change the subject.

Last Thursday, 2/9/20, there was an epic rainstorm in Winston-Salem, site of our new home and everlasting construction project/would be AirBnB in-law unit. Let's just say that Friday morning 2/10/20 did not start out spectacularly well. Limor slid out of bed and into a tiny mound of cat poop which had been maliciously? desperately? deposited on the rug. Sport, our little kitty, is the troll under the bed that decides whether Gingi, our big mellow guy, will be allowed to pass through to use the litter box. Obviously, he had not paid the appropriate toll. Not long thereafter, our amazing friend and interior design partner, Kristin, called from Winston to say there was a manageable event that had occurred, but "not great news": our newly constructed basement had flooded in the deluge. Thankfully she had gone into the house for something and discovered the issue (she's been working on furnishing and stocking up the finished basement in law to rent starting by March 1). Half of the apartment is carpeted, and that area had absorbed quite a lot of water...thankfully it kept the water from flowing into the other finished area of the basement. She and our contractor Kevin, (love you, buddy!) had sprung into action to start cleaning up before she even called us. Kevin found a water extraction contractor to come out a couple hours later. If any of you have had a finished space flood, you know it's critical to get the water out within 24 hours and get it drying or you're in real danger for mold and mildew. We are so blessed that these two took charge and were able to get someone there to clean and remove the carpet even as hundreds of people across Forsyth County were faced with the same flood woes. Blessed as we were, it wasn't that "Saturday morning" kinda feeling I've been enjoying upon waking. I groggily made some breakfast and as I went to sit at the banquette to enjoy it, I found this:

Thanks, Gingi.

Limor and I decided that the Universe was sending us some very clear messages that we needed to go and "deal with our shit" in Winston. Thankfully, Limor and I often are of one mind when we know a decision needs to be made. We were clear that we would leave the next day to head toward NC instead of pursuing other plans we were considering (like going to North Texas or to Oklahoma to see friends at this point in our journey...sorry Suz, Wes, Susan and Alan!). So, that's where we've been the past few days. We finally crossed into Louisiana after driving through Texas for two more days since making the decision.

We got to spend our last couple nights in the state with our beautiful friends Annette and Darcy, on the incomparable Gulf of Mexico: first in Brownsville at Boca Chica Beach, 150 yards past Elon Musk's creepy and seemingly overly-simplistic-given-the-price-tag SpaceX launch center, and then our final night on Padre Island. I have never camped so close to the ocean before, and it was pretty special to look out at the waves topped with moonlight and smell the salt air as we slept.

I'm really excited to go to Winston and see the people we love there, and to start fashioning our home with our own hands after driving the creative vision from a distance all these months. We are definitely hoping to go back out on the road again after dealing with our water/foundation issues, getting the basement finished, and finding a new tenant for the upstairs (main part of the house). A huge upside to this turn of events is that we will be able to register our cars in NC sooner, which will save $$, and VOTE in the primary elections! One (serious) reason we moved to a purple state was to bring more blue voices and votes, so hoorah! that we get to put that vision into action sooner than we thought! I do feel sad about the places we had wanted to explore that we are going to have to table for now, but we are still planning to hit some important civil rights landmarks on our way (Whitney Plantation in LA, Legacy Museum and Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL, and hopefully some others in Birmingham, AL, a place near and dear to my heart. We are letting our intuition guide us with what to see and how long to take as we make our way to our new home. It's all going to work out as it needs to...we are keeping the faith! 

One last thing I will say is that Big Bend National Park in Southwest Texas is absolutely gorge(ous)! Limor and I both shortchanged it by not telling you more in these most recent blog posts,  but if you follow me on Facebook or RubyVanDykes on Instagram you can see some shots of Santa Elena Canyon on the west side of the park. Oh... and we also got to sit in a natural hot spring along the bank of the Rio Grande (!) It's an incredibly special place that I strongly encourage you to visit with your friends and family.

Thanks for coming along on the journey with us! Let us know how you're doing in the comments.

Love,
Rachel and Limor

Child's Play

As global climate change envelopes our airways in plastic and Trump faces an impeachment trial, as  fires decimate Australia and Coronavirus segregates us, I've been falling in love, rather unexpectedly.
I've been given a precious gift: the time and resources to explore this country, my adoptive land,  rekindling my passion to fight for it, our planet.

It's challenging to be empathetic to nature in front of a computer. I would look outside, see the red Salvia blooming, beckoning the iridescent hummingbirds, but I couldn't hear them and I couldn't smell the Angel Trumpet sidling nearby. I longed for the taste of winter greens profusely growing in my vegetable boxes, despite my neglect, but I was too busy making lists, producing and cleaning, running out of time.

As I embarked on this journey, I decided no lists would be made, no watch would be worn, no calendar would be created. I would practice omitting the words "should " and "have to." It's a process. It's imperfect. It's an unfolding of going inside to check when I'd like to eat, sleep, wake, hike, nap. I have been able to sleep 8, 9 even 10 hours. If you really knew me, you'd know that this is unfathomable. I've hardly slept more than 6 hours in my California life, never dreamed, woke up startled with an impossible to-do list that grew exponentially, daily. I dream nightly now. I believe my adrenals are happier. Remembering how stressed I was when I owned my business, lived in fear of it crumbling by lawsuits, disgruntled employees, dissatisfied clients, rapid turns and twists of the industry. Today, my internal, nagging, persistent fears dissipate into the vast landscape. I am Lilliputian in my significance under this immense sky, these formidable mountains. It feels like a walkabout.

Meandering in Saguaro National Park in New Mexico, I am awed by the harsh, dangerous, relentless and captivating desert landscape. I walk gingerly with Gingi, my cat, holding my knife, comically, really. My senses as alert as they can be at dusk, waiting, anticipating coyotes, mountain lions, rattlesnakes. It's a daily juggle between wanting my feline to be free amidst the lizards, the Ocotillos, the Palo Verde and a different dread, that of being prey in a land so unfamiliar. The Saguaros stretch their arms in prayer, their "private parts" erect or Madonnaesque perky. I wonder how the Native people have survived here: what did they eat, how did they stay warm as the temperature dipped into the 20's, the days furnaced into the 120's. The space is mind-boggling; Oceans and oceans of tundra, mountains and mountains that climb higher, peaked and sloping, russet, magenta, bright white, neon green, pendulous, curvaceous, unabashed boners; the cacti variegated hot pink, purple, sage green prickly with thorns, ever warning: not for you!

We continue to White Sands National Park and the terrain transforms into an ocean of white waves of gypsum undulating in the breeze, falling, dancing, inviting us to sled. It's spectacular against the bluish-purple mountains, the sky a panorama of puff, clouds roiling by stark white, light gray, ominous, heavy, dark rotund, rain-filled. I buy a hot-green sled from a guy and we head to the slopes, my inner 4 year old, breathless, excited, demanding: faster.
My legs pump up the hills. It's easier than snow. I don't sink. On top of the crest, the valley on the other side spreads languidly, but my 4 year-old is on a mission.  I try what seems to be a promising hill, but, alas, the grade is not steep enough. I spot a more radical slope and run to that one. Previous sledders have impressed a trail on that slide already. Rachel's camera is at the ready. I scream all the way down - all 7 seconds. Then, like a teletubby, I yell; "Again, again!"
Fat, drooling drops send us scurrying to our rig, laughing, snorting, satisfied. I had forgotten the reckless abandon of child-play and I am determined to bring it back and remember.

Onward to Carlsbad Caverns in Southwestern New Mexico we went. There is a magic, a mystery, an unanticipated surprise in coming upon a natural wonder not having read or heard anything about it. These caverns blew my mind! I had never seen anything like them. If the Spanish artist Gaudi had a threesome with a venerable Thai temple and an Indiana Jones set, their baby would be this marvel. Hundreds of miles of drapes, lions' tails, chandeliers, crevices, caves, holes and pools, drippy monster-like shags, toothy faced animals, whipped-like cream, oozing, shimmering, stalagmites and stalactites in audacious halls met our incredulous eyes and breathless lips. Stunningly speechless, a rarity, I was.

One cannot experience all of these wonders and not want to create as well, so I had to write. I had to photograph. I'm not making a list, but maybe, at some point, somewhere on this astonishing journey, someone would be moved to paint or draw or collage...Just sayin'...