http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/ Second Life and Virtual world discussion forum and photo sharing community site en Mon, 20 May 2013 12:48:44 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/images/styles/bingo/misc/rss.jpg http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/ http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/666-journey-10k-ends-oil-change.html Mon, 18 May 2009 14:57:25 GMT My last day driving started out with gerbils under the hood - the first hint of anything wrong with my car. A little power steering fluid calmed... My last day driving started out with gerbils under the hood - the first hint of anything wrong with my car. A little power steering fluid calmed them right down and the car purred along the final miles.

I've driven the last stretch so often, that it was kind of a blur. My brain was in planning overdrive and ignoring the scenery, even though I've finally caught up with the Spring I was fleeing as I drove North.

After a wonderful night in my own bed, I'm tackling unpacking from the trip, a monster pile of mail and preparing for my interview (otherwise known as mad shopping this afternoon for an interview suit)

The trip was everything I hoped it would be. I achieved my primary goal of seeing a good cross-section of Alaska. I'm sure I will be taking some more trips there, this time concentrating on one activity or area. I saw my first (and second) bear, wolf and whale in the wild. And got a real sense of if I'd be interested in working/living in Alaska.

I also achieved my secondary and very important goal of recovering my mental energy and deciding where I want to go next in life. For the past year, I've felt very restless and dissatisfied. The coming year is going to be very demanding. I'm not certain that I'm up for it, but I'm going to give it a good, hard try.

I'm a little leery about laying out my plans, both because I really don't know if I can carry them through, and because of that "jinx" feeling. So here goes - I'm applying for nursing school, Fall 2010. I've got an amazing number of hoops I have to jump through in the meantime including relearning a whole lot of math that drained right out of my head.

I have a lot of reasons for wanting to this. For one thing, I want to spend the last 20 years of my working life doing something that makes a difference and alleviates human suffering. I'm also looking towards job security, mobility and portability. Eventually, I'm sure I will want to live someplace with beautiful nature and those places don't have jobs in my current profession.

I'm a bit nervous about basically starting over, but I figure.. one step at a time, and just chew away at the goal.

Being connected to my friends via wandering wi-fi made this trip unique in some ways. The only downside of traveling alone is sometimes you just want to say - WOW look at that to someone. Being able to post pictures and get comments gave me that connection. Thank you everyone for staying in touch.

The only thing that would have made this trip better would have been to be able to hike and kayak, but those things will come. And I've seen Denali. ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/666-journey-10k-ends-oil-change.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/663-mile-10-758-safely-home.html Sun, 17 May 2009 23:47:17 GMT I'll post a wrap-up later when my cells stop vibrating and I catch up on my sleep :) ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/663-mile-10-758-safely-home.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/662-final-leg.html Sun, 17 May 2009 11:28:37 GMT Heading out in a few minutes on the last leg of the journey home. 9-1/2 hours drive, however, I suspect it may be interrupted by a mid-day nap. I've made this drive numerous times, so it's going to be blah - just need to avoid the Ohio speed traps.

Just waiting for the morning meds to kick in, then load up the car and hit the road. ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/662-final-leg.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/658-mile-10-055-i-miss.html Fri, 15 May 2009 21:09:24 GMT I really do. Today I went downtown and lunched at Seva, an excellent vegetarian place. Enchiladas Calabasa and Yam Fries FTW. Walked around a... I really do. Today I went downtown and lunched at Seva, an excellent vegetarian place. Enchiladas Calabasa and Yam Fries FTW. Walked around a little bit having a nostalgia moment.

I really miss being so close to great parks and places to go hiking. I miss taking my kayak down the Huron River. :bawl:

I DO NOT miss the asshole drivers and the horrible roads. ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/658-mile-10-055-i-miss.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/652-hitting-pause-detroit.html Fri, 15 May 2009 01:50:09 GMT Now that I'm a day's drive away from home, I'm taking some down time in Detroit. I plan to sleep for at least 10 hours, maybe longer.... then have a second shower, followed by some leisurely shopping for work clothes tomorrow.

I'm hanging with the ex, his girlfriend and best friend from high school. It's quite odd. ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/652-hitting-pause-detroit.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/651-mile-9-600-rest-areas.html Thu, 14 May 2009 14:21:13 GMT North Dakota, oh how I love your pristine rest stops... so warm and clean... with WI-FI!! How I enjoyed my night, tucked up in my cozy nest,... North Dakota, oh how I love your pristine rest stops... so warm and clean... with WI-FI!! How I enjoyed my night, tucked up in my cozy nest, plurking and skyping and blogging away.

Contrast this to the Yukon... bleak gravel turn-outs, perhaps with a breezy outhouse and a bear-proof litter bin. Of course the scenery is stunning.

Then we have Ohio, where all is toll roads. Nice to wake up and shuffle in for a cup of chai and a pastry, but only a few have wi-fi and their parking lots are not at all restful. No trees.

But it beats the area around Chicago... super busy with dire warnings that lingering over 3 hours will get you pummelled.

The Michigan Welcome center really knows how to welcome you. .... yes! with wi-fi!!

:) ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/651-mile-9-600-rest-areas.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/649-mile-9-000-some-change.html Wed, 13 May 2009 14:11:33 GMT Sansarya and Phoenix gave me a warm welcome last night and I'm spending a few hours with them before traveling onward.

I was treated to a fine feed of indian tacos (I have a guilty love for fry bread) and Sans gave advice on my twisted mutant sock project... kindly sharing her knowledge of gussets with my not-so-nimble self.

Watching the storm roll across last night had me jonesing for where I grew up. The smell of fresh-washed prairie and sweet grass at night makes me think of Kansas. I think we never escape evocation by certain smells of our childhood.

I can't visit as long as I'd like. The job interview yesterday went well and I have a second face-to-face interview scheduled for a week from now - so I must boogie my butt across the rest of the country and get home. ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/649-mile-9-000-some-change.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/648-perplexed.html Wed, 13 May 2009 14:02:19 GMT Image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3307/3527091450_3a75e94b12.jpg My first thought on seeing this was WTF ... why? And in my extreme...

My first thought on seeing this was WTF ... why?
And in my extreme geekiness, I flashed to the scene in Lord of the Rings where the fellowship is entering Agonath, where the carved Kings are facing out into the wild lands as a warning to their foes. Rushmore seems like Big Brother IS watching You! ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/648-perplexed.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/645-mile-8-500-so-about.html Tue, 12 May 2009 00:24:06 GMT Hello South Dakota! I'm off shortly to see Mount Rushmore.. well maybe after bed. I vaguely remember seeing them 35 years ago... emphasis on vaguely.

I made a little side trip in Montana at the Petroglyph Caves... very pretty spot although it was disappointing that the drawings haven't survived and aren't really visible.

]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/645-mile-8-500-so-about.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/644-leaving-alberta.html Tue, 12 May 2009 00:03:51 GMT Image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/3523962536_a13aa7bbd4.jpg This picture is out of order, but I need a good connection to upload pics. ...

This picture is out of order, but I need a good connection to upload pics. This awaits you at the Alberta Welcome Center. A bit worrisome. ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/644-leaving-alberta.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/642-mile-8-095-hello-great.html Mon, 11 May 2009 01:35:29 GMT Yay! I'm back in the land of cheap gas and frequent coffee shops. :) ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/642-mile-8-095-hello-great.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/641-mile-7-850-ish-exultant.html Mon, 11 May 2009 01:31:33 GMT Extra long drive yesterday put me in the mountains well after dark... and in a driving storm. I love storms, but not on windy roads I don't know, shared by truckers and mixed with sleet. So I pushed on a couple of hours longer than I would have and ended up in an overly well-lit rest stop with RVs running their generators all night. Crawled in back, insert ear plugs, brain hits standby.... until 5 am when I'm absolutely unable to sleep any more, despite being very tired. My motto is if you can't sleep, drive.. so I drove.

Made good time so around noon, I found a provincial park on the map and pulled in for a snooze. I had the place to myself and it was lovely. Down in a sheltered river valley with plenty of shade and wonderfully warm. I rolled all the windows down and slept in the warm sunlight for a couple of hours, then woke up and had a leisurely grooming and lunch, followed by a slow walk along the river. I was refreshed, relaxed and very peaceful. But I have to make the US by Monday, so I had another 8-9 driving ahead of me - Time to push on.

Maybe 20 minutes later, I'm driving in heavy traffic approaching a city... 3-lanes each side of a divided highway – when this magnificant buck leaps across the road in front of me. I manage to stop as do the 3 cars behind me.. and the buck almost makes it across the oncoming lanes of traffic, but he's clipped by the very end of a trailer and is spun about and flung into the air. The trailer is unharmed and the driver pulls over to see to the deer... which lets me drive on. I assume he will do the right thing and kill the deer (I doubt it was dead, looked like smashed leg and maybe internal injuries). If it had been a woman driver, I would have stopped... but I don't think about my double-standard until later. Maybe I should have pulled over... guys can be stupid and cruel too. I'm hoping it was a good ole boy with a sharp knife and freezer space for some venison. I abhor suffering and waste.

I was very down for the rest of the drive... crying at retro songs on the radio and wishing I was home in my own bed. I feel overwhelmed sometimes by the inescapable structure of nature... and how we multiply it with our obliviousness and designs.

Tonight I'm back in a provincial park. The frogs are having a grand operatic time. I miss the frogs singing... although there is always that Lovecraftian moment when they stop at moonset. I boiled up a generous baths worth of water and am clean and in my jammies. My down comforts around me and I've a good book. I just realized that I didn't take the evening dose of vicodin and I don't need it... that bodes well. ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/641-mile-7-850-ish-exultant.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/638-mile-7-175-shorter-way.html Sat, 09 May 2009 13:59:49 GMT I spoke too soon, my voice mail finally caught up with me and it looks like I have a phone interview either Monday or Tuesday... so Montana, here I... I spoke too soon, my voice mail finally caught up with me and it looks like I have a phone interview either Monday or Tuesday... so Montana, here I come. I think I feel a visit to Glacier National Park coming on. :) ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/638-mile-7-175-shorter-way.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/636-mile-6-900-headed-home.html Sat, 09 May 2009 01:53:27 GMT I didn't hear back today about doing a phone interview on Monday, so I'm turning South in the morning and heading for Seattle via Vancouver.

I was at peace with either possibility... hell drive for job, or continuing my vacation, so I'm not arsed over not hearing.

I drove back through the most twisty, windy, treacherous part of the mountain roads today. I'm glad to have it behind me, although it was great seeing what a week had done to the advancement of Spring. Critters were out!



]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/636-mile-6-900-headed-home.html http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/635-mile-6-545-somewhere-yukon.html Sat, 09 May 2009 01:48:42 GMT The full moon is rising over the shoulder of a mountain in front of me while the sun is setting behind the mountains in the west. It's crisp, but above freezing. I'm nestled into a parking lot for a recreation area - snow banked up all around.

This is where sleeping in the car is superior to a tent or RV. After I get chilled watching the moon, I crawl into my nest and watch it some more through all the windows.

I've done a lot of thinking on this trip. The long empty drives ensure contemplation...a driving meditation. I've dragged out bits of my guts and taken a hard look - some of it, I didn't much like.

I've chosen a direction... which is what I came out here to do and I'm feeling that first thread of passion that foretells hard work towards success.

Good night and sweet dreams. ]]> Surreal http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/blogs/surreal/635-mile-6-545-somewhere-yukon.html