Left the KOA in Salinas at a leisurely pace, It was going to be an easy travel day – 90 minutes to Oakland to meet my friend, Anna, for lunch. I haven’t seen her in a while and she had some big life changes recently so we needed a catch-up. From there, another 90 minutes to Doran Regional Park at Bodega Bay. Packed up so much more quickly and easily.

One thing I am finding is that all the little things I built into the trailer are actually working the way i wanted them to. The simple things like adding in the table that folds out in the galley to the little IKEA shelf inside all are doing exactly what I wanted them to do – and more. I guess I did plan my build well. You never know until you’re actually using something if you did it right.

The drive to Oakland was easy. Anna choose a mall to meet at so I would have a place to park Sky without too much trouble. Indy kind of bitched and moaned, as usual.

When I got to the mall, I put Indy in his stroller. Anna met us and we walked over to Panera to grab some food. So glad so many places have outdoor seating now. We were able to sit outside – with Indy in his stroller – and chat safely.

Side note – as always, Indy was a hit in his bright fuchsia stroller.

It was great to talk with Anna. We’ve been friends for decades. When we first met, we used to go out for “pie” at weird hours. “Pie” basically meant go eat something somewhere and talk about men and life and work and men and things and men. I miss those days of hanging out, just talking. It’s funny how friendships change as we grow older. Maybe we don’t need that connection as much as we did when we were younger. Maybe it’s just time that gets inbetween friends. Whatever it is, I miss our long chats and our “pie” dates. I’m glad that she’s gotten to a very happy point in her life. That may be why she doesn’t need to talk as much. Or the many miles between us is probably another thing. But it’s always good to see her.

We had a lovely lunch and catch-up, then I loaded Indy back into the car. He was really good in the stroller, dozing while we talked. The good thing about that is he was really quiet the rest of the ride.

Doran Regional Park was an easy drive through lots of farmland. Am I the only one who yells “cow!” or “sheep!” in the car, even when I’m alone? Indy ignored me as I identified the livestock along the way.

I reserved a campsite right on the end of the jetty at Doran which basically looked down on to the water. I couldn’t have picked a better site. I backed the trailer in pretty easily – only 15 tries instead of 32. We got in around 3 PM. The skies were cloudy and the temperature definitely felt lower than it probably was. I quickly changed into warmer clothes.

   

I literally could walk out of the trailer and almost straight on to the beach. Gulls and pelicans were flying overhead, squawking away. I walked down the beach a bit just to get the lay of the land.

I find it amusing that I’m an Aries, a fire sign, yet there is something about water that draws me to it. I love to listen to the waves wash up on the sand. The smell of the air.

But like I said, it was cold. So I didn’t wander too long as I am a wimp. I moved to LA from Canada and have never wanted to be back in the cold.

I walked around the camp itself just to see where everything was. I was happy to discover a Teardrop-ish camper that was definitely a sports vehicle of some sort. But it made me happy to see another one of us!

Not long afterward, another Teardrop pulled into the spot right across from me. It’s one of the ones I had admired when building my own – a Vistabule. They are handmade and gorgeous. The couple who owned it came over and we traded tours of our Teardrops. It was a lot of fun to talk to someone else who knew about Teardrops! I was very envious of theirs and they were very complementary of mine.

To be honest, nothing much exciting happened in the days that I’ve been here. There’s not much to do but walk on the beach, climb on the jetty, listen to the seals bark. That is not a bad thing. It just doesn’t make for exciting descriptions of what’s going on.

 

I did venture out to Target to pick up some supplies, which was a good half hour drive each way. I left Indy in Sky, which he was more than happy about.

I did buy a new camera to replace the one I dropped. It’s not as good but it’ll do.

I did try to record a class to put up for rent or sale. It did not go well. I don’t think I prepared well enough. I’m going to try again next week when I get settled in again.

I did get to share Sky with lots of people.

Once again, the kindness of strangers. As I sat by the fire pit at the end of the first full day there, a woman came over to me, offering me a hot toddy. I have to be honest, I can’t remember if I had met her during the day because I had talked to a lot of people about the trailer. But I had the galley closed and I think she saw the website on the galley. Anyway, she said she had been reading about this trip and wanted to bring me something to keep me warm. She handed me the hot toddy and we chatted for a while. It was delicious! The next morning, she also brought by a muffin, some trail mix and a peach!

I am always overwhelmed when people do these kind of sweet things for me. It means the world to me and, as I’ve said before, I often feel that I don’t deserve all of this kindness. But I appreciate it so much and it helps me get through the days when I wonder what the hell I am actually doing. So please know that I accept the kindness and appreciate it more than I can say.

This morning, I went in search of the seals but they are on the other side of the other jetty and I couldn’t find them. Oh, well.

I did get a lot of writing done on the current novel, which is great. I finally broke through a block I’ve been fighting with. And though there’s nothing on paper, I did get a lot of planning and plotting in my head done for the trip and for other things along the way.

So for tonight, we’re curled up in the warmth of the trailer. Even without a heater, it’s pretty warm inside, which is nice. I’m going to watch a movie or something and get to bed early. We have a long travel day tomorrow, which I am not looking forward to, so I want to get an early start.

We’re going from 50 degrees at Bodega Bay to probably 100 degrees near the Sequoia. Guess I should take my Airborne because my system is going to be very confused.

More from the other side of California when we get there!