An update

Suffice to say, I am not very good at blogging when it comes to committing myself to it.  Here I have all these viewers and I haven’t updated in four months.  Here’s what’s been happening around here...

From when we looked at this place for the first time we knew there was a sense of magic about the air.  The gentle breeze drags the scent of trees and earthy clay, leaving the taste of

sunshine on the back of your tongue; the trees for all of their magical, towering glory make only distant squeak of protest while they dance in that wind.   It’s not all perfect...

Just before the day breaks into a sunshiny glow, the birds scream and sing in revelry over what is to come, fighting and squawking and rapidly chasing one another through the air.   When they are silent, you can hear the squirrels bouncing off of seemingly too small branches to send a cascade of redwood feathers and dew to the ground.  This takes place at about 5am.  Do you know what the world looks like at 5am?  Dark and cold and angry; but the birdsongs are ethereal.  

Every morning, Ross and I throw on our PJ’s and amble down to the lower section of our property to make discoveries.  We have found wild roses, strawberries, irises, thimbleberries, various orchids - there’s always some beautiful bloom or otherwise edible treat to be found on this acreage.  At this time we also find mosquitos who are delighted to have fresh breakfast delivered to them on the daily (that’s us.).  Sometimes we want to go further but Ross is allergic to poison oak so the travels are not always so easy.

I haven’t been to the creek in ages.  I went down there and there were so many mosquitos I couldn’t move without eating a swarm - I am not going to lie: I cried like a baby and whined at Ross about taking me to rainforest-like areas without the good part (ie the animals and plants *in* a rainforest, versus *just* the nasty bugs).  We learned that there is a bird here who makes a wonderful sonar like sound and he eats poison oak berries.  So there is a use for that plant.  Phew.  

We started a rather large garden, where I have now learned to and have grown the following from non GMO Heirloom seeds:

Tomatoes, Strawberries, Cucumbers (I MADE PICKLES), Dill, Basil, Rosemary, Cabbage, Peas (sugar snap), Beans (bush), Borage, marigold, carrots, oregano, mint, potatoes, onions, spinach, lots of lettuce blends - I’m probably even missing things.  

The following are not finished growing yet, but are working on it: Cauliflower, brussels sprouts, corn, various squashes and watermelon, okra, peppers (bell and serrano), eggplant.  To ward off moles and potential gophers or what-nots, we have everything above ground in grow bags, wooden containers (Ross made me garden beds out of redwood!!!) and pots.  Insects, we have, but we bought tons of ladybugs and attract hummingbirds where we can.  The next step will be bats!  

On May 16th we got hot water - Woohoo!  It was glorious.  Yes, I spent an entire month without hot water.  I boiled water for sponge baths and used a heated hose in the middle of the day to wash my hair.  Needless to say, I wasn’t the cleanest hippy on the hill.  It’s the little things.

So far we have been blessed with good neighbors.  There are new ones up above us that we don’t know much, but the people at the end of the road are good and the lovely woman further up has been super sweet (considering a whole bunch of kids just moved onto her street after 27 years of peace).  

On June 17th I was climbing up the ladder and fell.  I didn’t “slip”.  I was almost all the way up when the ladder slipped out from underneath me (forward) and I landed flat on my back at the bottom of the floor (over 7’).  It hurt!  I bruised large portions of my body and could hardly move my neck for days.  I consider myself lucky - the ladder shattered into pieces as it exploded on top of me, making certain to bruise that side too.  I was mere inches from bouncing off of my oak door.  Luckily my brother gave me “falling practice” by pushing me off a balcony when we were little.  I bounced then too and I still bounce at the age of 31!

I also learned on June 17th that baby skunks are adorable and don’t care about humans being in their way.  Looking forward to more Baby Pepe’s next year.  We may lose out because we got a puppy.

BARLEY!

Living in the Tiny House did NOT make us tired of each other.  Actually, Ross and I are closer than ever (we haven’t had a winter yet, so check back when we’re stuck inside :P) and wake up with big smiles every morning.  Living without mirrors or scales doesn’t hurt either - neither one of us really has time to think in vain.  

I have a tan now - I know, sun is bad, but I have a tan and I forgot what it was like to live under florescent lighting.  

One day I woke up and told my friends and family I wanted to quit working, build my house, move to the middle of nowhere and live off the land.  Then I quit working, built my house, moved to the middle of nowhere and am currently growing food to live off the land- all in one year.

HOW COOL IS THE POWER OF HUMAN WILL? Good friends help!

Now, I WILL plan a wedding and I will also get married this year, just to make it harder to beat 2014 in "perfect".

So you can tell yourself "I would like to..." forever, but I can tell you DOING is a hell of a lot easier than doubting OR hoping.

Time to start a new post... I’ll explain what’s been going on with the outdoor kitchen, which seems to be popular curiousity.  

Friends, family and the birth of our Utopia the Tiny House

Some people call their family when they go into labor and are having their first born.
We called to help raise our first house.
It wasn't that it was a large home or particularly difficult undertaking as it was a time constraint - we were closing on the land on January 22nd and wanted to be into the house by April 1st.   On top of that, we needed to do so while Ross continued to work a full time job as an employee at Creative Visions in Monterey and getting time off for the project was difficult.
In stepped his mom and dad, Nick and Cathy.  When they came, his sister Anji followed shortly thereafter.  Suddenly we had half a dozen people standing at the wheels of our base floor lain trailer, ready to raise the roof, as it were.

The framing for the walls was like magic.  Words were passed quickly back and forth between father and daughter, sister and brother, mother and son.  Jeff and I wedged in where we could, took commands when they came and did what we could where we fit.  They worked like a well-oiled machine in a way that would put the Brady Bunch to absolute shame.  Needless to say, the walls were done in a few frames, as it were.

Once this was done, it was simply a matter of putting the truck on the end of the hitch and cranking it up the hillside.  We had cleared a nice spot for it, after all, and the truck could tow 10,000 pounds, right?

Unless the tires are bald and it has been raining on the clay and redwood feather mush you're trying to climb.
Instead of getting up the mountain we went sliding further down the hill with our trailer and its walls, the weight simply too much against the natural slip-n'-slide we were up against.

"There is where you live now," Someone commented.  We all laughed because it was the first place we had chosen but there were too many trees in the way and we didn't want to cut back any more.

"Should we wait til' it dries?"

"Nah.  Let's get a come-along."

I stood there, useless and baffled by the conversations going on around me once again.  One trip to Home Depot later (did I mention we went there almost every day for those two weeks?) we were back on track.   We (Jeff and Nick, though I certainly tried and discovered that houses are heavy) ratcheted the house from the bottom of the hill all the way to the top one click at a time.

From there we had cleared most of the hurdles and tree stumps that could get in our way.  The rest was putting the walls up and adding the gables to get the "barn roof" I was hoping for (I needed the extra head space so I could stretch out and sit up completely.).  Remember, this house was being built for not one person but two, so every inch was going to matter!

While the guys lifted walls and constructed a roof I set to staining what would soon be the exterior walls.  The color?  Barn red, of course.  Anyone who has ever known me knows my fascination with the "Little Red House" that I've always dreamed I'd live in.

I promise you some of the stain was left on the wood and not all of it ended up on my hands...forehead...hair... face...

Anyway, Ross ground down anything leftover on the trailer sides we didn't need while Jeff and I wrapped the house to protect it from the weather.  After the house was wrapped (everything is easy when its this small) we did some exterior work by laying and hammering bead board into place.

Once I could hammer no more and the guys decided to work on the roof - we were also competing with oncoming storms - I wandered off and started pulling strands of poison oak off of the redwoods.

Yes, that vine in my hand is poison oak.

They say when it rains it pours and let me tell you that this was the point in which it started pouring, metaphorically or otherwise.

Just when we were in the midst of windows, frames, soffets, fascias, wine, plans and tea, Ross sprained his ankle.  Heck, it might actually be broken - we still haven't gone to the doctor for it. Hey, there was no health insurance at this point...

Not only did Ross hurt himself, the green truck took a rather bad turn and, just to remind us of silver linings, some itty baby seedlings began to sprout: Future food!!!!

Here, we took some much needed time to sit back and breathe.  Clearly we were in too much of a hurry and something was suggesting we take it easy.  At this point we were so exhausted we had begun looking for reasons to fight so sleeping in a morning or two couldn't hurt.

It didn't last long.
Soon thereafter we were back up and whooshing through the interior of the house, the electricity, the road and the water all simultaneously.  We certainly had enough hands to conquer all!

 I learned to use a Skid Steer and giggled like a mad woman all the while because I totally need one of my very own.

I learned how to wire those little boxes that the plugs to into (so I didn't learn all the names/terminology) and how all of that worked back there.  I laid a floor and helped build a door, walls and shelving.  I can proudly say I did a large chunk of the interior work; tongue, groove and all!

A stain later we were ready to move in.

When was the last time you moved?
It's just as awful now as it was the first time.
Did I mention it chose to rain while we were trying to beat the clock?  Some stuff arrived... wet.
Everything was in a constant state of stress and disarray at first, but it didn't take us long to change our tunes.

Within the first day of moving we realized, however, that not only had we moved to Paradise but we were now in a position to be "glamping" our days away!
Everything felt magical (it still does) and different.

If you've made it this far you've made it to the end (check further back in the blog if you didn't for the beginning of the adventures!) so thanks for coming to join in our adventures!


Here are some pictures of the finished product of the Tiny House, Utopia

And, of course, the Narwhal Bar and Grill

That's it!  That's how you build a tiny house!  Stay tuned for how this works out for me!  And the book can be found here: 
http://books.squidoo.com/the-small-house-book

While I catch up...

Be sure to read our listing over at http://tinyhouselistings.com/nine-and-a-half-week-utopia/

I am trying to write more (I.S.H.W.M.O. Part 3)

I'll admit, moving into a tiny house scared me at first - enough that we had to build a shed for my stuff first.  I know, it's awful, because it stayed in the shed and I didn't need it after all!

Have you ever tried to build one of those Arrow Sheds?  They look pretty slick in the yard, nice and metal and sliding doors of absolute glee!
You may or may not have thought about it when you picked up one of these boxes: How could that shed possibly fit in there?  

This was probably more difficult than building a house, I'd say.  Everything is labeled with random letters and numbers in sequences that are random- and in chalk, so that if part has rubbed off it is unreadable.  The instructions are confusing and misleading and at times you just have to make up what happens next.

We even got a bag labeled "Extra Pac".  WHAT?

By the end of the third day with three of us attempting to work on this we finally stretched the ends out and drilled holes where we wanted them to go, not where they thought they should go.

I'll have you know our caveman method turned out just fine and it did not leak or fall down.
Then we dug a drainage ditch around this baby and carried on with our lives.

Now, I know you want to get to the house but this was all a test of patience, because first we had to clear the yard.  As you can see in this last picture, there was a bit of a brush pile going on where I wanted to put my roots down.  I'm not usually an advocate for cutting trees down but this was a situation where we needed to find a mutual agreement with each other for who could live where.

At this point Ross's parents came out to help us get things together.  His dad works construction, after all.
As you can see, everyone pitched in (though you may be hard pressed to believe I had any part, given that any pictures of me are selfies :P.) and tore it up.

Then Ross broke out in poison oak like a giant puffy rash-monster and I turned 31.

I should have written more often - part 2

Moving right along - we have a lot to catch up with.  On January 12th we scored on a sweet Trailer (before we actually owned any land) via craigslist.
January 14th was the day I got engaged.  January 18th Jeff sanded the trailer and painted the whole thing green (it was rusted and had rotted wood along the bottom).

We had to put aluminum flashing along the bottom to keep rodents out and lay wood across the bottom for the base for insulation and, eventually, the floor.

Here is the beginning photos from the project:

We lagged a lot because we weren't sure if the land was going to go through and it was hard to hang our hopes on some future idea that we had created perhaps out of nothing but fairy dust.  

On January 20th we received good news about geological reports we'd had done.  Two days later, the land and money were through;  we threw the trailer on a hitch, dragged it down to our raw land and we began to draw our plans.


We based them off of the Fencl by Tumbleweed Tiny Houses, pleased with the exterior idea.

 

I should have written more often - part 1.

So here's how the story goes:
We had this crazy idea to go buy a house to secure our future - there were three of us: best friend (Jeff!), fiance (Ross!) and I (Gina!).  We found many places along the way but never one that suited our needs.  Time and time again our excitement was put down by eroding foundation or expenses beyond our means.  I wanted to give up.  To be frustrated.

Then the real estate agent called and said there was a plot of land close to where we were looking before.

Here was the picture:

And here was the description:  

"Approximately 17.5 acres of beautiful land. Property fronts Valencia Creek and Tunnel Gulch with a couple possible building pads via tree removal. Seller use to log property in the 90's so there are dirt roads giving you access. There are other beautiful homes built in the area with power, septic, well, etc."

Certainly, I thought, this was going to be a let down.  It was listed at $235,000 and just down the street from a place listed for almost twice that amount.

We went to check it out and were somewhat surprised by the ... potential.  There was a beautiful creek at the bottom and redwoods all around.

It could work, we thought, but what did it need?  Soil surveys, potable water, a septic system.  Electricity, a place to live, a road.  Some tree removal, poison oak eradication, brush clearance.

We put together our dream and rubbed some pennies together.  The place had been on the market for a moment.  We offered $150.  They came back with $200 and "It doesn't *have* to be sold."

We took it.  We borrowed $250k from Jeff's dad so we'd have $50k leftover for whatever needed to be done.  For those of you who have not done something like this before, $50k is a very small amount of money for all of the things needing to be done.  We did surveys because the county had it listed as a landslide.  Turned out it was sitting on clay and sandstone and there was no potential for land-slide and there hadn't been - woohoo!

Then, Jeff's mom brought home THIS BOOK for Christmas and everything changed.

2014 and guess what

I AM ENGAGED.

HOLY ****.

Look at that ring, too!

Diamonds with mystic topaz and a platinum band.

my computer is finally fixed

i finally have a computer that works.  i don't even know what to do.  It's been awhile.  What's new with you?  I am getting ready to do some homesteading.  Seriously.  Buying some land somewhere on the west coast so I can learn to do some goat milking and chicken-egg hatching and whatever it is people do when you leave them in the middle of the forest.
The forest we own, though.
Not like, into the wild or whatever bull kids are falling into these days.  I'm talking about consciously going into the wild with some knowledge of what we're about to deal with and the money to get us through.
Mostly.
If I didn't have oligodontia we wouldn't have these problems.

maintaining a relationship

I have always been able to maintain long relationships.  I have dated guys for years at a time and then continued to be their friend to this day.  Even now I am in a committed relationship that never feels like any work and is always an adventure.  So people ask me - How do you DO that?

It's easy!

Don't be mean.

Fights happen in any relationship and they're perfectly normal.  What's not normal is "gas lighting" to start a fight is completely inappropriate.  What is gas-lighting?  It's putting out little pokes and prods to get a rise out of someone or to attempt to manipulate power over a situation.

If you do end up in the middle of a fight, don't bring up anything you've already hashed out or forgiven one another for in the past.  It's desperate and downright rude to rub the past in your lovers face.  We all make mistakes and once something is settled leave it alone forever.  You aren't accumulating a GPA here.  

Adore your partner

I always dreamed I would find a man who would make me feel beautiful.

The thing is, sometimes we get so drawn into what we would like out of our lovers that we forget that they need to be told they're beautiful too.

When we take our showers, my man and I each wash each other.  We don't just sponge and go but take the extra five minutes out of every day to commit each section of each others bodies to memory.  I know every freckle and every hair.  I have washed between his toes and behind his ears for a year and I still get excited to take a shower with him every day. 

Funny enough worshiping someone else makes you feel better about your own body.

I never assume someone will wrong me.

It's easy to think someone might cheat on you or that they're up to no good.  That they are sneaking around.  I make it a habit to never allow that seed to enter my brain.  I trust my partner wholeheartedly.  If he is out partying with the guys and has had too many my only request is that he call and let me know he hasn't been hurt.  I would never think he was doing something with someone else - that's just disrespectful poison to the relationship!

I let him know that I trust him with every part of me and that I feel he has the respect enough to tell me if he ever feels differently about me than he does now.  I think that's critical.

Be honest

Sometimes it's okay to say: "I'm being moody and I'm sensitive."  In fact, warning your partner of these times of moods can not only keep a volatile situation at bay but can often present you with just the type of comfort you need the most!

Don't be so prideful that you end up hurting each other: SAY IT.

Other than that we have other rules for ourselves like that we don't leave the house when we're fighting.  We can go in separate rooms but no one gets to leave the premises until all accounts are settled.  I drop everything for him when he comes into the house.  Whether I'm in the middle of reading a book, blogging, or am elbow deep stuffing a turkey it doesn't matter.  When he comes in nothing in the world matters to me but a hug and a kiss and a Welcome Home, darling!

So stop over-complicating it. 

More on him - www.squidoo.com/mypersonalperfect

i write on squidoo

Look here to see what else I'm writing about
Clever Girl Name

I update often!  

You might learn something!

i turned my office into a fort

I am fully and wholly a child at heart.  The girl who pounds a case of some bizarre energy drink like Bawls or Mana just so I can finish "just one more level..." in whatever game I happen to be hooked on at the time.  I am guilty of simultaneously playing games all over my consoles and PC.

I am also guilty of turning my entire office into a fort.  I'm talking I have changed no less than one-quarter of our shared home into a fort.  It took four queen size sheets and a few towels and blankets but I've finally blocked myself off with some nice pinkish-reddish mood lighting.  I have a blanket and some pillows on the floor so I can take naps without leaving.  There are snacks, books (I have all my books in here, actually) and obviously internet.  There's even a little room (read: cave) under my desk (that I *do* fit in, thank you very much).

I control the music on the Apple tv from in here - though as you can see by the large picture the television is outside of my fort.  So mostly I'm making roommates suffer invisible person across from the living-room controlling what we listen to all day.

It's probably a good thing for their sake that they go to work.

The fort is permanent and no one has told me I had to take it down.

#win

lazy and in love with me

Oh man, I don't even know where to start.  First let's get this issue out of the way - is it okay to put age-appropriate sex scenes into young adults literature to keep them from acting out what they have seen in a porn?  Is it responsible or abuse to subject your children to it?  You know they're getting it already - they go to school, right?
I think some people need to take some ADULT RESPONSIBILITY so their children don't HAVE to learn about sex through pornography.  It is your moral responsibility as a parent.
As far as writing that type of information goes - how are you comfortable with WRITING that?

I just stumbled across this chocolate bar at Cost Plus World Market while trying to find a nice bottle of >$10 wine.
I didn't get it because I'm currently being denied the finer things in life because I don't have a job and I'm lazy and no one wants to pay me to work for them or donate to my cause.
:'(

Oh right, the chocolate.  I can't really review it but I can say it has been a long time coming.  Bacon saw it first but jerky is the bacon of road trips.

my laptop broke saddest girl in the world

Today I am as sad as sad can be.

Stupid Girl.

I left the laptop on the edge of the table plugged in and the dog went running by and pulled it off the edge of the table.

The Power Connector wrenched sideways and now it won't charge.

I am broken without it.  Like a bird with a clipped wing, unable to fly.

How will I finish my story?

open to suggestions

As many of you know - if you have been reading at all - I have am currently unemployed and doing everything I can to find the next great adventure.  I know that I like to write and that I have a lot of free time on my hands.  What would you suggest I do, if anyone is reading? Do I go fill out an application at the local taco joint and hope for the best?  Perhaps take a route as a dishwasher?
Do I follow my dreams and write?  What hobby should I do in the meantime?

It's interesting when you feel like you're starting over this late.

i need a girl to teach me make-up.

Or, you know, a boy who knows how to do make up.

Sure, there's a million videos... And I've seen them all... but there's nothing like a hands-on approach, right?  Too bad I don't have any female friends.

Christ I sound all alone and emo in these when I read them.

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm gonna eat some worms!











Anyway, on a COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE, I ran into some shoes in my travels that I decided needed to be shared with you, my readers.

Fashion designer of the odd, Marjan Pejoski, created these SWEET shoes that are appropriately created with leather.

No seriously, if you haven't yet, click that link.  They're cow shoes.  COW SHOES.

Now if I could get my hands on some cat pads made out of kitteh hide...

early saturday

it's early and I am tired

Is it sleeping in if you don't have a job?

Is 30 too old?

Am I ever going to stop being lazy?

What is my place in this world?

Why does my coffee take so long?

how did you find me?

Oh holy h e double hockey-sticks it's amazing how quickly the day goes even if you aren't going to work.  Things are looking good around here in my home beside the ocean, where I weave tales about my life and what I like and shoes.

That's right - shoes.  God, I love these shoes..
#ihaveaproblem

It's been awhile...

It has been incredibly too long.  First, let's start off with some shameless self-promotion, because lord knows this girl needs the money, but more on that later.

All they can say is no, right? 

 Fund Me

Now, where were we?
Oh, right, so I did this road trip thing years ago and now no one cares anymore because here I am this unemployed girl leaning on nothing but the remainder of previously earned paychecks and a bottle of whiskey.   Hey now, don't judge me because I drink.  Judge me for the million other reasons you could have if you sat and talked to me for a day or two.

I quit my job because I hit a brick wall and didn't know how to find my way back out of it.  It was Saturday May fourth, sunny and well enough a day.  I was out to breakfast when my phone rang.  Conversations went as conversations normally do, no astounding end to say so, but allofasudden I had a full blown panic attack.  Out of nowhere, I started breathing heavily, my heart started racing and I was shaking.  I couldn't even finish my food.

From here, it only progressed.  I was worked up about everything and nothing that could have ever been anything at any point in time, but I was worked up and that was all that mattered.  That night, just as I fell asleep I woke up again, this time in a sobbing-heaving-retching panic.  I did not sleep again.

The next day, I could not be consoled and was sobbing myself into a mess.  I called in and said I could never return to work again.  Seriously, when they say life changes in an instant, I think some of them might be talking about moments like that.  For whatever reason, I could not convince myself to go back there, and to this day I still cannot fathom stepping back over there.

Too bad I'm not at the age where it makes sense to run away anymore.  I think that 30 years old is a little late to be playing the game of "What do I want to do with the rest of my life?"  But hey, I'm going to give whatever it is my all.

So what the hell am I doing?  Panhandling the internet, it looks like, because as it turns out the skills of someone who was selling body jewelry to piercers in the industry are not in-demand.  Other than management skills and working in customer service, I think it's probably been a gap of 9-year-uselessness.  It's simply not something that can be done professionally anywhere else.

I know I can write, but either I need the idea for a story or I need to get my foot in on the article writing world.  Either way, I've got quite a bit of work in front of me.

Wish me luck!

a race to the end.

It doesn't matter.  I've lost the spirit to write about it.  We went from Nashville to Georgia.  I finally got to meet a long-term friend of mine - Michael.  He lives in Hiram.  Hiram isn't much to speak of, but Michael was amazing, and his video of backyard brutal wrestling I will never forget!!!

From there we went to Raleigh, but I thought I was going to die the whole time because of storms.  In Raleigh, I drank a lot of wine and whined about wood roaches, which are disgusting and wrong no matter what anyone tells me.

From Raleigh to Parrotsville - I love Jeff's grandparents on that side.  They're wonderful.  His grandma had a stroke, so she can't say very much, but she's sweet and she makes your heart ache.  His grandpa keeps up conversation wonderfully and is curious and kind and made us biscuits and boiled apples - with cinnamon, this is very yummy!!

From Parrotsville we went to Kentucky.  In Kentucky, we met up with Gela (friend of ours from back here), and her house was gross and I won't get into it (grossdoublegross).  This is a speed story, so I can only briefly tell you we ran into a bartender whom we left $40+ to as a tip, because she was quitting that day because the blonde owner was a bitch (she was totally a bitch.).  We gave her a thumbs up and well wishes and snuck out quietly.  After calling the owner a bitch.

From Kentucky to Ohio.  It's a story all its own that I don't know how to tell here just yet.  It was life changing, and I didn't want to leave, but I knew it was just a page to turn ...

... Ohio to Missouri, we met up with my little sister.  I stayed up much too late in Rolla and enjoyed conversing with new friends and spending a giggly moment with my younger sibling...

... Rolla to Colorado Springs, where we met up with Amanda (previously of Amandatomical).  It was a horrible, horrible drive which involved too much tired, TOO MUCH KANSAS DEAR GOD (someone in Ohio compared this to a treadmill that goes on and on - a perfect description), Too much turnpike, and too much too much and we were at her house.  It was wonderful and smelled of home and pasta dinner (she made us food!) and warm bread and a guest room and a guest shower and the most perfect perfect puppies ever!
This was amazing.

Onward, from Colorado Springs to Denver, to Rawlins, Wyoming.  It should be noted there were real hobos here, with beards and a dog and the hats and clothes and everything that made them train-hopping hobos.  This was their ONE REDEEMING QUALITY.  I swear to god, on all of the road trip we did not fall into as much ass-hole-ism as we did in Rawlins, Wyoming.  There's a little shit-bar there called The Keg or Keg or something, and the old woman in there is about as far from friendly as you can get.   I guess tourist welcomings are a thing of the past - we come in to spend money, and we're nice, but you're a rude bitch.

We left there immediately, though we had planned on staying.  There was no way we'd pay $100 for a hotel room in a town where people are dicks.  Whizzing forward with rage and complaining about them most of the way to Rock Springs.  In this little snazzy town, I think we found Bombers.  This was a Karaoke sports bar with a bunch of people who'd been hurt or wanted to hurt people or were there just to sing and dance.  It was a blast talking and laughing and the food was DELICIOUS.  As an added bonus, our hotel room was next door.  I was glad we gave this place a try, as we were about to get bored of it, before there was almost a fight from a loud-mouth at the bar.

From Rock Springs, Wyoming to Elko, Nevada... I broke up with Randall here.  I'll never forget that.  It was kind of awful, actually, but I knew he was headed in a direction I didn't want to go along in.  He's still making mistakes to this day, so I know I made the right choice here.  I went into a Casino and sat next to a lady.  When I hit some money, she hit me.  When she hit some money,  I threatened to hit her, so she hit me again.  Somehow we got to talkin, something... She said "How are you?"

"I just broke up with my boyfriend in the parking lot..."  She gave me a sympathetic pat and an "Oooh darlin, you'll be okay" or something to that effect.  Can't remember exactly.. She explained how her husband had died of cancer, and how  you really are amazed at what can happen over time, or what's going to happen, or the strength of the human soul.  Turns out she was taking exactly the opposite of the trip we were taking, and her husband had grown up in Capitola, and she was going to Edmond, Oklahoma.  My angel.
Here to Carson City, Nevada.  There we met up with Chris (Jeff's friend) and hung out for a little while.  There wasn't a lot to say here, though there had been a shooting at the IHOP there not long before we arrived, so that seemed to be the thing to talk about.  We didn't stay long in the morning - there was home to be gotten to.

Carson City to Santa Cruz.  To Scotts Valley car wash.. To home... It's really been slow since then, but an emotional roller-coaster.  I didn't want to break up with anyone, but I am more important to me than anyone else in the world.

...Right?

a quick jaunt through nashville

I think you have to go through Arkansas to get to Nashville, but I'm pretty sure it's never worth mentioning.  Ten years ago, it wasn't worth mentioning either.  It's that little southern state you pass through that doesn't have anything you remember.  Yeah, that one..
We arrived in Nashville and shot over to Icon Studios to meet up with Betty Ann.  It was sort of a spur of the moment thing that we were ending up here (we had time!) so she had to work until midnight.  We were exhausted, but I was hankering for a drink and there were at least six bars on all of the corners around the shop.

Which one?

We stood there on one side of the street watching a deck with people piling up on it, but there were too many people and the music was loud and it wasn't our sort of atmosphere just yet -we were sober, remember.  There, across the way, was a little sign up above that spelled out "Winners!"

That was it!  That was our bar.  We were winners. The downside was that it was a sports bar, and we really aren't *those* type of people for sure.  Halfway across the street I saw the dingy little dark room beside the other bar.  This one had a little sign, nowhere near as big as the "Winners!"  It said: "Losers."

"My mistake," I told Jeff, "THAT is our bar."  And there we went, where I was mesmerized (as always) by the bartender and her oh-so-southern accent.  I have a thing for accents, if that hasn't been mentioned previously.  A few drinks in, we were once again remembering exhaustion and moved outside to find/eat some food.

We ended up back in front of the shop, where we actually sat and ended up hanging out for a couple of hours.  When Betty Ann got off work, we zipped over to here house, while I tried to resist my sleep yet again.  I think I fell asleep sitting up a few times.  I can't remember most of the conversations, and what I do remember wont be shared here, but we snuck out at 6am, long before anyone else would wake..