SLOW-YOUR-ROLL

So apparently the universe was trying to tell me to slow down. I arrive to Denver on Sunday afternoon totally on time to chill out before a BBQ in my honor at Pam and Amanda's house. I am drinking a beer and my future roommate calls after no communication for a couple weeks. I had to say i was getting nervous about it considering we haven't met in person yet. We make a date to have coffee in the morning. Hooray! 

Ted and Emilly show up and it is soooooo good to see them. Other folks come over and we are having a BBQ! Its fabulous catching up and hanging out in the backyard. 

Pam and Amanda have a big trampoline and in all the excitement i had to try it out. So there i am jumping my heart out holding down my dress as not to flash the entire barbeque. Ted joins me. Jump jump jump i land and Crrrunch. Ouch. I totally hurt my back. The responsible girl i am, i get down and come into the house. Pam and Amanda get me some ice. I am feeling like i need to take a break. I sit. Drink some water and some beer respectively. Ted and Emilly leave after making plans for tomorrow. I am putting on my pajamas and KINK---> i fuck my back up further. I can't even move. I decide to take a muscle relaxer and sleep it off. Throughout the night i realize the severity of what i had done to my back. Getting up to go pee was the most intense experience. I almost passed out because the pain was occupying all of my lung power. 

I am thinking about my trip, i am thinking about sitting in the car and about meeting my roommate the next day. I wake up feeling worse. I have to go to the doctor. Thank goodness that my Kaiser hasn't expired yet. I call my roommate and bail. She's awesome and totally understands. The doctor says its just the muscles and to continue icing it and writes me a prescription for vicodin and muscle relaxers. 

Now i am re-thinking my route. My back is feeling better with the above combination. I have been resting and watching a lot of chick flicks. I decided to let the schedule and the route go. I am enjoying myself here in Denver. I layed out in the back yard on the very trampoline that caused my injury. I am thinking i will head straight to Ann Arbor. But i was really looking forward to the solo camping. But i am not sure if i will be able to set up my tent and how it would feel sleeping on the ground. I just have no idea what i am going to. But i guess, right now i am just chilling with Pam here in Denver. 

Pics and updates later. 

Ufff!

Ugh! It has been a very long day of driving. I am so glad i am not sitting in the car right now. Today is the longest travel day on my journey, so i am grateful to have it over with already. Twelve hours in a car is pretty long. I was pretty entertained, however. I listened to music for a while and then listened to a book on CD. Thank you Kristen for that tip! 

I left my USB cord in the car otherwise i would post some pictures that i took from the car. Most of them have the road at the bottom because i didn't really get out and explore anywhere except public restrooms and gas stations. 

I saw a lizard at a rest stop in Nevada that freaked this woman out as she was going to open the door to the toilets. It was kinda funny. 

I found eastern Nevada to be very lovely. The western half after the Sierra's was a bit unattractive and sparse. Turns out i haven't actually ever been through eastern Nevada. I have been to Salt Lake City when i was 19 and searching for an undergraduate program in Pocatello Idaho. I am sad to say that i will not be exploring SLC either. I am trying to haul ass to Denver in time to have a BBQ with Pam, Amanda, Ted, and Emilly. (I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED TO SEE THEM!!!!!)

i hypothesize arriving by two pm... or three. I am going to try to get out of here by seven tomorrow morning. I forgot about the time difference too. I think its kind of strange to pass through a time zone... i mean what if you are straddling mountain time and central time? where does that put you? On the half hour? I remember my geography class and it was like a minute a mile... so this time difference thing is totally whack. I love how that is my conclusion. haha

Ahhh well i suppose i have had too much time on my own already! Talk to me in a week!! haha

I am really looking forward to my solo camping time. I think i should have brought a knife... or utensils or something. I could always just eat peanut butter and jelly. 

I ate dinner with one of the people staying at the hostel here in Salt Lake. His name was.... actually i don't remember at this moment in time. He was from New York City. He said that he had been traveling for three years!! That is crazy! He said that he was working on Wall Street at one point and decided to quit that and travel. Now he designs his own outdoor clothing line. He is going to be showing his stuff at a show with lines like Patagonia and North Face... Pretty interesting actually. He also does a travel food blog/show that he wants to sell to the Discovery Channel. He was totally a New Yorker and we had conversations that reminded me of Kristen because it just kept going and we didn't even know each other! 

It is also nice to have wireless internet. My mum's house is on the DSL so its nice to use my computer again! 

Anyway. I am gonna go watch an episode of Lost on my Netflix and head to bed. Gotta get up early! 

Hope all is well with everyone wherever you are! 

Cameron

Good bye California!

sooooo... i am moving to maine. tomorrow. wow. My route is planned. My hostel booked for tomorrow. I am spending my last hours with my family. My mom and sister are sitting on the couch talking about babies. Its good to feel this family. They are the reasons that i moved back here. Its been good. It's gotten me to here.
I am totally prepared. My car is packed. My maps are preped. I have snacks for the road.
I am pretty stoked. Tomorrow is my first day and my longest day. It's gonna take me 10 hours to get to Salt Lake City. Its gonna be intense but i've got my own room at the hostel tomorrow. I can't wait to see Pam, Amanda, Emilly, and Teeeeeeddddy!!
Alright folks enough talk. I am gonna go spend time with the fam.

I love you California. See ya in a year!

The Fizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I am officially done with all my FSSBA paperwork. Work is over. I have emailed off my outline for my internship. Found out all my loans have been accepted. It is official. I am fucking moving to Maine!!! This is insane. Now I am ready to go have drinks with the co-workers!
oooohhh I will miss you all (well, most of you anyway ;0))

Trip Deets

Sooooo.... Here is my tentative trip route. Things could change... but this is where i am right now.

Oakland---> Salt Lake City (just for the night)
Salt Lake City ----> Denver, CO (Yay Pam, Amanda, Emilly, and Ted!!)
Denver -----> Hot Springs, SD (Mt. Rushmore National Park)
Hot Springs, SD ---> Sioux Falls, SD (just for the night)
Sioux Falls ----> Mirror Lake State Park, WI
Mirror Lake ----> Ann Arbor, MI (yay Lisa!)
Ann Arbor, MI ---> Syracuse, NY (yay Gretal!!)
Syracuse, NY ---> Northampton, MA (yay Kristen and Vince!!)
Northampton ---> Portland, ME (yay grad school and final destination!!!)


View Larger Map

Ahhh i love planning trips. i wish i could do it all the time!

Spotlight on Amy

Thought it appropriate today. This song always makes me think of Amy. She is one of the most amazing people i have ever met. I am so fucking thankful i have her in my life.

"Twenty something and fog has all but disappeared. With each day passed, i learn something more. Always i'm thinking, hell i must know it all: love, death, a little pain passed through these walls..."

A good run

I guess i am sort of starting off strong. Three posts in one day! Whew!! If this takes me more than a half an hour, it will be tomorrow. 

So, it's my last night in my SF apartment. With my amazing SF roomies. It has been a good stint here in lil ole Cole Valley. Many breakfasts at Zazi's and the Boulange. Moving my mattress on a rainy November afternoon. I was so afraid that i was going to have wasted my fifty bucks on a mattress only to throw it away after it grows black mold from moving in the rain. But it dried with a oscillating fan going all night and plastic bags stretched out underneath, catching all the excess drops. 

Done a lot of growing here. I guess we grow everywhere we are, otherwise what are we doing? I learned a lot in these past few months. Though it was a hard transition, leaving Seattle, it was the right one to make. I learned a lot at my job; about myself, about my work with people. I could finally say i lived in San Francisco. (always an east bay girl at heart though!!) 

It has been so important to be near my family. Spending time with my sister and my cousins has been so amazingly priceless to me. They keep my feet on the ground. The fluidity of relationships is so beautiful. It takes my breath away sometimes. Like my heart is going to pound right out of my chest. 

For that, I am so very thankful. I know that the bay area will always be home. 

Thank you to Kim and Jessie. Thank you to San Francisco. It's been a good run. 

(eight minutes till tomorrow!)