It’s day two, and we are on the road IN California! I managed to post yesterday’s blog this morning from a gas station parking lot… internet service was down at the campground where we stayed in Southern Oregon. Until we get to Quail Springs on Thursday night I’ll just have to upload posts and pictures when I can. Last night, huddled under a Douglas fir sapling at a campground in Southern Oregon, I realized it’s been months since I slept with branches in my face! It felt good to be sleeping out again, and though the night was a cold one I stayed warm – the sleeping bag and sleeping pad both inside the bivy sack helps keep them together so that I stay on the ground pad, and the wool blanket inside the sleeping bag is the latest technique that I have come to consider key. This morning the East society woke us up with singing to frost on the ground and a fire already blazing. I am impressed by the efficiency of this crew. Moving forty people through the morning routine of breakfast, camp breakdown, and repacking the trailer is no small feat. But like yesterday, what at first looked like chaos was rapidly transformed into a clean camp, a well-packed trailer, and a bunch of grownups standing around in a circle pretending to be chickadees and kangaroos, squirrels and mountain lions, and of course… penguins. I think it has taken some time for this year’s class to find unity, but it feels like that is shifting and I am curious to see what effect working together on the road for 12 days will have. As I write this, we’ve just passed Shasta City, and are descending through snow, listening to a CD of the birds of California intermixed with Dixieland jazz. I’m a convert – listening to a bird CD with music is far less sleep-inducing than straight birds. There are still a few tree mysteries to solve, but we seem to be short on field guides – a notable change from previous years when we had them stuffed into every nook and cranny of vans and trailer. I think we didn’t quite find the happy middle ground. Ravens are playing in the snow beside the freeway and Manzanita has appeared on the landscape. This afternoon we will arrive in Sunol, and tomorrow we will awake to the songs of Titmice and Acorn Woodpeckers. I’ll look forward to sharing our adventures when I next log in…
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Thought you would get a kick out of hearing that the Shell fraud people called to tell me that 3 of our credit cards had been used within a minute to buy large amounts of gas...I thought about pretending to be surprised, but didn't want ya'll to be using your scout skills on the California HP, so I told them to expect more unusual activity...Have fun ya'll, and post some more cool stories and pics.
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