Sea Dreaming
The wind blows my hair about.
Gulls in the sky cry.
Seashells crackle beneath my feet.
Foot prints in the wet sand are washed away.
Sand castles of a small child’s dreams slowly drag out to sea.
Imagine all the wonders an ocean has seen.
It has been a week since I left Hatteras Island. I love the beach. The first morning on the beach, after walking and taking pictures, I fell asleep. I cannot remember how long I slept, but I woke up with a sun burn. I do not think it would have been so bad had I been able to quickly jump into a shower. Unfortunately, the KOA campground I was staying at was under construction, repairing damage from the last hurricane, and the water was shut off for several hours. By the time I did get a shower the damage was done, and I spent the night tossing and turning, being cold and burning up. I am smiling because I cannot say that I did not absolutely adore the experience of sleeping in a tent, listening to the waves crash and roar, and watching the vivid stars move across the night sky. I laid out on the picnic table for hours watching the stars. I wonder what it must have been like centuries ago when there where no houses, power lines, and the islands where pristine. My regret is that I did not get to stop at Corolla to see the wild horses. I feel like the trip is unfinished. You know what that means! There is going to be a sequel one day!
How fitting is a shot through the car window as I head north.
I tried to stay near the coast as I headed north and did some unnecessary back tracking trying to do so. I knew something was wrong when the adventure began to irritate me. I gave up and headed on to Ohio by way of D. C., what a mistake. The day started cold and I had put on a long sleeve shirt and light weight workout pants. At some point near noon it began to feel like the Sahara Desert and the sun burn was not helping matters. I am the worst for not wanting to pull over unnecessarily. I will pull over for a photo opp. but on to change clothes. The longer I drove the worse I felt. I arrived in D. C. about 4 p. m. and I did not even feel like making detours for photos. Something is wrong with that. It took me two hours to go twenty miles in rush hour traffic with two accidents on the belt line. I am not usually one for road rage and today was no different, but by the time I got out of D. C. I was done for. I made it into Pennsylvania and through the mountains when a really terrific storm began to hit. The light show was tremendously vivid and as tired as I was I pulled over in the township of Cranberry, Pennsylvania. I stayed the night at the Howard Johnson just off Hwy. 76 and amazingly it was great. The night clerk even had fresh coffee ready. Howard Johnson hotels employ an 800 number and a customer service staff to link you with a local restaurant so that you can have room service. It was as good as any delivery service. I have to hand it to the girl who delivered my food that night, because that storm was a blaster shaking the whole building. I gave her a five dollar tip just for letting me stay in my safe and dry room.
The next morning I allowed myself to sleep in until 10 a. m., because I only had another hour until I reached my niece’s apartment in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, which by the way is an Akron address. Interesting. It was cool and rainy that day and the next few, but I did not care because I was sick, AGAIN! I blew my nose so much I thought my brains were coming out. I rubbed my nose raw with lotion filled tissues. I went through two boxes and two packets of tissues. Lucky for me my niece is a clean eater, like myself, and I was able to keep my diet to no processed foods. If you have read my prior blogs you may remember that I have been more sick than well since Thanksgiving 2012. This time I was cooked. Even though I began to feel better after a few days, I just had no energy to do anything. Today is April 23, 2013 and the first day that I did not have sinus issues upon waking up. I really give the credit to my niece who made me take short trips out of the house every day, drink vitamin filled shakes from Robek’s (Tropikale is the best), cooked for me, and let me sleep as long as I needed to. Oh yeah, she helped me with my homework too. So, I give myself a guarded clean bill of health. The most activity I am doing is yoga, at least for the next week. Anyhow, I am house sitting this week in Salem, Ohio, taking care of my sister’s dogs while she is in Florida. I am having a great time with my nieces laughing my butt off. They have an obsession with Herbert the Pervert from Family Guy and anything I say is subject to be turned into an innuendo from Herbert. I tell you I laughed so hard I started snorting and could not move. Laughter is the best medicine. Jonathan is still in North Carolina. He tells me that he is working on the van. We have tossed a few ideas around about putting a bed of some sort in the rear of the van. We also are looking into a platform that goes on top of the van and when you unfold it the tent pops up. I liked that idea because we would be off the ground, but putting a bed inside would be useful if the weather were really bad. I think that some of these issues we will concur once we get on the road. We both agreed that we wanted to make most of the decisions together. I, in the mean time, am making good use of my sister’s garage to clean my car and get it ready for sale. I am also repacking some of the stuff I brought so that my nieces can store it for me. We are also starting a digital library of family photos for the future generations. I am down to four totes of clothes and two boxes of craft supplies, but I gained a bag of yarn. What can I say, but I am trying to minimize. I also ordered a new pair of glasses to replace the ones I lost in that fight. Cringe!
Here is to good health and happy wanderings
