Leaving San Fran Behind...

So, when we first arrived (literally the first night), Dee came down with a wretched cold that his big brother generously shared during the plane flight over. We tossed and turned and sat up and back patted and offered sips of water and rubbed our eyes and somehow we made it through the night. There are times when its really nice to be two people parenting and not just one. We just kind of traded off when it got insane and we were wishing for toothpicks to hold our eyes open and between the two of us we both managed to scrape up survival levels of sleep. The next night was the worst (although mercifully Ru has improved more and more and has been sleeping like an angel every night) and then we had one more wretched night at A's maternal relative's home. The great mercy here was that they had us set up in two separate rooms (intended to be kid and parent quarters) but what it actually allowed was for the "off duty" parent to get some quiet, closed door sleep while the other person took a shift. A and I both slept more deeply, even though there were still not really any more hours of shut eye between us. But folks, that was the blush of dawn on the horizon...last night there was no wheezing and many fewer wakings and so much less anguished wailing. Praises be...we felt downright normal in the morning. So, here we sit, preparing to dig into the quilts at a new mom and pop joint and we have every hope of getting decent rest for the second night in a row and ending up positively giddy on the road to Hearst Castle in the morning! *glorious whoops of victory all round*

What else has happened? Well, both A and I were surprised how sane and reasonable San Francisco struck us. New York feels considerably more grubby, fast paced and harried. A even ventured to say that San Fran felt like a "town" to him and although I would personally never go that far, I do have to agree that it doesn't have the staggering metropolis feel that NYC feels swathed in. We're both curious how L.A. will strike us.

Another surprising bit has been the fact that besides San Francsico and of course Los Angeles and San Diego (which we know are looming down the coast ahead of us), California feels like a long and fairly empty state full of wilderness, big trees, empty tracts of land, long winding roads and scattered small towns here and there for punctuation. We can't get over how the dominant conception of the state is materialism, city, urban, glitz and yet the real sum total of the state seems more like wilderness with a couple token cities. I guess, its a little like New York state that way although on a larger scale. New York-staters (I hesitate to write New Yorkers) are always complaining that they are not reasonably represented by New York City. Upstate has so little to do with the rush of Midtown. A and I are have learned that we need to quickly check our cell phone messages and rush to update our directions and mapping plans in the cities and bit towns we pass through because big swathes of the state have no cell coverage of any kind and are quite remote feeling, albeit really beautiful, keeps us on our toes with planning and is taking apart our conceptions and silly constructions.

Right now we're spending the night in Big Sur, one of those big wildnerness areas I mentioned, a redwood scattered, turquoise bathed coast with giant black rocks sticking out of the sea cliffs where our path, Highway 1 winds on and on. We both find it curious that the west and east coasts have a Hwy.1 that runs the length of the shore! We never noticed before. We're starting to toss around the idea of reproducing our idea here on the Altantic Coast just for kicks. A nine day drive from our home in Connecticut (or better yet from the top of Maine!) all the way down to Florida's tippy toe. Sounds like fun, no? Sounds like even more fun, knowing that someday I will be un-pregnant and that this imaginary trip might very well fall in that space in time.

(putting my puffy ankles up on the dash as we cross the Golden Gate Bridge)

The shine, I'm afraid, has worn off. I'm good and ready to have my body back. I think this week was the first time I've started to really feel like, "Okay, all this other stuff is all well and good but, I think when we get home...job number one needs to be Baby." I'm ready to be done. I can't wait to feel comfortable again, I can't wait to lie on my own stomach, I can't wait to just be alone in my own skin, call me an introvert...I'm ready for some personal space. I am also of course so excited to meet the baby and very interested in getting home and having a little time to get organized before the actually make an entrance etc. etc. BUT...but but but....I'm up for the next stage. Its time to be un-pregnant good and soon folks and that's the way it ought to be right about now.

So, that's the scoop at the moment, friends...life is good, California is different but different/good and we're about halfway down the state, squiggling our way towards my warren of maternal cousins in Orange County.

And one more thing...(how crazy is this bit of familial info that A and I just put together)....we both have, Aunt Nancys...who live in California, are teachers by profession and had sons named Matt. What are the odds, people? Nuts. Life is just wild.

So, goodnight California, quirks and wackiness and double-takes galore...we're glad we're here and we'll see more of you in the morning.

Chuggin' On Down The Coast

Well, how in the world can I begin to re-cap our adventures so far? Just a couple of days in and the "Moments to Remember" are beginning to dog-pile in my brain to ridiculous heights. We've walked through redwood forests, eaten seafood, driven along the sea cliffs, had a great (albeit very short) visit with A's maternal relatives, eaten about three rounds of fresh California strawberries and had many a happy talk together, driving winding California roads while two short people snore behind us in the backseat. So far, so good.
As my dear, midwife told me..."This kind of [very pregnant] travel is just a different thing. You must just wear a different lens and adjust your plans as needed." And indeed we do find ourselves adjusting. We walk slower, we take a lot more breaks and we have learned to get up in the morning, read our supposed itinerary and then chuckle up our sleeves together and make guesses at what we'll actually do. I'm holding up pretty well although I do find that I start crashing at about 8:30 at night and absolutely no use to A in the "supplying directions to our intended hotel" department. I basically snore while he and his gps take us on down the road to a good, soft bed. Its a great feeling to know you can be replaced electronically if needed.


Photos not uploading tonight for some reason so I will try to add a few in the morning and hope to keep sharing photographically as we go some more....

We Arrived!

Well, here it is...officially, technically Saturday but, I'm still calling it Friday in order to say that I posted my five consecutive weekdays. I think that counts, don't you?

We made it. It was a long flight (two layovers and three different airports) but, one pair of wet pants, two crying sessions, a squished pear and an almost battery-less phone later...we're all tucked into bed at our hotel in Medford. I have tried to explain to Ru that we're in Oregon even though we're "going" to California for vacation. That was a little hard to get across. All that powering through security screening, chatting up stewardesses and living with all the wrong picture books that Mommy picked out to bring and we're not even in California now? The lower lip began to tremble and I gave right up and erased the whole idea with a bright smile and told him, no worries. California. I promise. K?

We're all super bushed and have started to slightly lose our minds a bit. Its amazing how wearing it is psychologically to travel with two small ones on airplanes. I wonder if we'll be brave enough to do it with three kids. Whew. Sounds intimidating. By the time we were in our last flight, Dee insisted that A read the flight safety information card to him, over and over, and over...I heard four rounds before I fell asleep. A was a hero though, it was the only thing that would keep him from screaming. My picture is a little blurry but, I think you can catch a glimpse of how intent and serious he was about the whole thing. Such a silly little engineer of a boy.

The other thing that was really a huge hit was the in-flight headphones for listening to the ambient music seemingly pumped into the arm of your seat. So cool. Dee was hooked and asked immediately for his headphones to be hooked up and propped on his head before he was even actually seated. Yet another silly thing that stopped tears well. Its all about learning to read your kid.

We stopped for diapers and a few breakfast items on our way from airport to hotel just now (love those 24hr groceries) and A picked up our first batch of strawberries. We plan to taste strawberries wherever they show up and tempt us all the way down the coast. These are gigantic, priced at a dollar a pound and grown right in California! Its like the first real taste of summer! Breakfast will be good.