The Wilderness

posted on: 2007-09-20 at 8:12:00 AM

Sorry for the long pause in the blogging (again). I used to update this thing once every few days! GAH! I'm going to try to stop being such a slacker and start posting more -- I PROMISE!

So, what's new in CarlLand? Firstly, I just got back from a most bizarre camping trip. This was the first camping trip for Angie and I that included a baby. We were worried that he may not like the great outdoors, so we had our contingency plan afoot: cut and run. If he became a nuisance, we'd just toss him and all of our gear in the car and head back home. But to our surprise -- he was fantastic the entire time!

We went to Seaquest State Park in Washington State. We've been there before and enjoyed our experience the last time. We like it because it's the closest (reservable) state park to Mt. St. Helens and is also clean and quiet. Our plans were to spend one day near the volcano at the two observatories, one day hiking through the dense forest, and the rest of our time relaxing at the campsite.

Well, none of that happened (except the relaxing .. we relaxed a little).

On our way to the campsite, Angie tripped and did something nasty to her ankle which pretty much derailed our plans to go hiking. I had to put in a half-shift at work the day we left, so we arrived pretty late and only had an hour of daylight to set up camp. We were crippled from the beginning.

The first night was actually quite nice! The weather was cool and calm, Oliver was content, and we were able to enjoy some grilled steaks. We all slept through the night with no problems, too (I think Oliver was better behaved because he was sleeping in the same "room" as mom and dad).

The next morning looked promising: The weather was overcast, but all indications were that the cloud cover was low enough that the view of Mt. St. Helens was spectacular from the observatories. We wanted to get everything ready, so we drove out to get some necessities and then came back to the campsite to load up on firewood for that night.

That's when the car broke down.

We've been having this problem with the car for months now where the ignition won't turn over without hitting it with a hammer. Well, the hammer no longer worked -- so we were sitting there next to the camp host on a beautiful day .. stranded. Luckily the camp hosts were very nice and drove me to the nearest phone and helped contact a locak locksmith. It took a few hours for him to come out -- but he did. He expected the job to take "less than an hour."

When he was done completely dismantling the dashboard and steering column, drilling the old ignition, building the new one from scratch and installing it -- over three hours elapsed. Our day was ruined. No volcano, no picnic, no relaxing at the campsite. I do have to admit, the locksmith (of J&J's Auto Locksmith from Kelso, WA) was VERY professional, polite and reasonable. The experience wasn't all bad -- I got to chat it up with the camp hosts and learn a lot about Ford ignitions along the way.

The next day is when the weather went sour. Rain, fog, cold, rain, more rain, more fog, and then more rain. Determined like only we can be -- we still decided to head up to the observatories. The visibility was next to nothing. The view was WHITE. The funny thing is -- the view of the PARKING LOT was WHITE. The fog was so thick, we couldn't see the observatory itself until we were near it.

We headed back the next day -- and of course, I went directly to work that afternoon. As Soul II Soul would say: "Back to liiiiife... back to reality..."

In other news: I'm now working in the Tigard store. I don't mind it so much except for commute -- and the fact that it is in Tigard. I drive about 20 miles each way. I did the math and I'm guessing I'm spending nearly $1000 in a gas per year. I used to work in the west side (Nike, Excell Data Corp. and others) I do NOT miss the west side at all -- that place is not my style. The main roads have 12 lanes! When you're at a red light .. it can take ten minutes to get through! The thing that seems extra weird to me is that almost every driver is a single-occupant car. Where's the HOV lanes? Where's the bicyclists? Where's the anti-Bush bumper-sticker laden Toyota Priuses? I guess there is always Washington Square.. IF SOMEONE CAN SHOW ME HOW TO GET THERE!!! GAHH!!

I miss my old store, but I'm learning that I can't really grow roots as a "manager in training." Soon, hopefully, I'll be landing a permanent REAL manager's position complete with the manager perks.

The weather is changing and I'm LOVING it. I've worked hard to secure my studio and make it more toddler-proof. Angie and I rearranged the whole living area and put all the "safe" stuff on one side and all the baby-damaging stuff on the other. We're going to put a big fence down the middle and keep him supervised when he's in the "ouchie" side.

I am going to try to make a CD this Christmas. It's been three years. I sooooo miss being an active artist sometimes. LIFE IS BUSY NOW.

Labels: camping, fall, oliver, work

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