Introduction, Part 2

I took a break from my work as a group fitness instructor at the end of March to begin preparations for this adventure. There were a few projects around my new house, (that’s a different story), that I wanted to get close to finished before leaving and to make sure the trailer was all ready to go. One of my friends I am blessed to have offered to grease my wheel bearings, so I got that done. That gave me 3 weeks to get organized, decide what I need to bring, how I want to get where I’m going.

Actually the planning for this wild ride started back in October. I applied with Oregon State Parks as a volunteer. One of the available posts was at Heceta Head Lighthouse as an Interpretive Host. I often thought that would be a fun place to spend some time, at a lighthouse, I listed a couple of other parks as backups but the lighthouse called and I accepted for May and June of 2022. How exciting!

It’s more of that visioning thing. What do I want to do with my life after this divorce? How do I want to live? If I don’t make the decisions, who will? 

Am I going to sit back and wait, or do I grab that bison by the horns and take control? I had been doing a lot of sitting and waiting for things to happen, some things out of my control, like trying to get a divorce in the midst of a pandemic when the court system is shut down. That will teach you patience like nothing else. 

Then, I thought what will I do with the rest of my summer? So many options now with my own trailer. I can go anywhere!! Colorado, South Dakota, exploring the country side. Then I thought about my Mom, she’s 92. My sister, brother and I made arrangements in May 2021 to help her move to Spokane, Washington. I haven’t been back to see her since then and I thought, why not find a park near her and spend some time there? So I looked at Washington State Parks and found a campground host volunteer position for August and September at Riverside State Park. They called and confirmed me for that at the end of January, I’ll be working at the equestrian campground there.

And that’s the short version of a long story that gets us to the beginning of this adventure. 

Toby, aka Pajama Cat and Ruby

And I’m not traveling alone, I have along with me my two 16 year old cats, Ruby and Toby and my mascot, Brownie Bear. Brownie has been with me for 52 years and has been on many adventures. If you saw my previous travel blog you would have seen her on the Continental Divide in a few locations, Old Faithful, Mt. Rushmore and many other scenic places. 

Brownie waiting for Old Faithful

Which gets us caught up to the present day at Burro Creek Campground. I had a pretty early start, leaving the house a half hour before my goal of 8:00 a.m. The drive was pretty windy in places and I could feel it pushing the Jam around a little bit. Oh yes, I give names to my inanimate objects. The Subie is Pearl, the Scamp is the Jam, because we rock!! Not my favorite band, but it works. My mountain bike is Scout and somehow the road bike got the name Pinkie, even though it’s purple. 

If you’ve made it this far in my ramblings, I hope you’ll check back once in a while over the summer to check out photos and stories to come. Please leave a comment below or ask any questions you have about my adventure. And you can follow me to get notifications of new posts if you like.