Road Trip: Day 3 It's All Handled

When I packed for this trip, I tried to account for a variety of possible circumstances, incidences, and emergencies we might meet on the road. I gifted Ana a fire extinguisher for her car. I packed the first aid kit from my car and clothes for a variety of climates and temperature swings.

I was not prepared for an emergency at home.

Wookie called last night to report a huge water issue at home. The flooding had done a lot of damage.

It was one of those times when you know who your friends are and we have many. My brother in law came right away and helped Wookie deal with clean up. Good friends Mark and Rich said they'd be over today.

Paul's computer was damaged. Mine was already down. Today two of my celebrant friends offered me loaner computers.

There were hours where I debated going home. Ana figured out several flights I could take from a variety of stops.

Wookie said I should stay. He's got it handled. When I checked in this evening he and Rich were laughing and having dinner. Lots left to do but he's got it handled. (Yes, I am repeating myself. )

Travel details for today: Tennessee. Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock.

It's a blur.

Tomorrow, we continue west.

Road Trip Day 1

I hate leaving.

Once I am on the road, I’m okay. I’m in the moment. I’m “on vacation”—whether the trip is a vacation or not.  But the days leading up to the trip are a blur of packing and unpacking, sorting, skimming, and trying to make sure I have everything I need (or might need) without bringing “too much.”

What I brought--not including
the 24 inch duffel with my clothes. 

I had gotten used to people asking “do you really need that” till Wookie and I found each other. He’s always been accepting of my packratish tendencies.  Now I can add Ana* to the list of those who appreciate my packing genius.

Wookie taking me
to the rendezvous  point

This is the first time we’ve traveled together and one of my biggest worries was that she would feel I was bringing too much. Instead my stuff was greeted with “we’ll make it fit.”

And so we did.

Ana, Steve* the dog and I set off a bit later than we planned but we hit the road today and its been a good day.

Wookie worked an event in New York today, so that’s where I met Ana. 

From there we drove back in New Jersey, through PA, Maryland, and finally came to rest here in West Virginia.

The first leg of our route was mainly I-78.

We covered a bit over 500 miles. Saw some lovely countryside, the usual assortment of farm animals—mostly cows, and a few deer.

Saw many farms like these. I love red barns.

I don’t have many pictures from today because one shouldn’t take pictures while driving. There should be plenty of pictures tomorrow though—at least that’s my plan.

Mandatory self portrait. 

*Names changed to protect the identity of "Steve" the dog and his person--mainly Steve-- because my cats are jealous of this trip and, should his identity be revealed, Rosie might start mailing him fur balls. 

Road Trip!

When I was a kid we went camping every year.

My parents, my little sister, and our two small dogs would pile into a car with every available inch of space inside and on top packed full and tied down with camping gear. We would be out of touch while we were away. No way to reach us but to call the ranger station. Payphones our only means of calling while we were away. Nothing to guide us but paper maps with a carefully highlighted route.

I am amazed by how much has changed within my lifetime. I am not sure what I would do if I suddenly found myself back then. When I leave the house for coffee, I carry an arsenal of technology that, in the 70s, NASA would have envied. Between my phone and my tablet I am reachable and traceable by any number of methods. I have maps at my fingertips that show me sattelite views and traffic. Between these two devices I have two GPS units with multiple navigation apps--and that is not counting the actual dedicated GPS for my car.

Camping memories from the 70s. I'm the tall one.

Between my phone and a couple of little red Nikons, I usually have enough digital cameras on me to document every event in my life several times over in stills and video. And thanks to the wonders of digital media, I can take hundreds of pictures a day. A far cry from the little 110mm camera we had when I was a kid with it’s little film cartridges. We had to wait till we got home and then wait some more for those pictures to be developed.  I have the option of sharing my pictures almost instantaneously.

I am going on a road trip. 

My friend needs to get her car and her dog across country. I'm going to help her get there and get a much needed break along the way. When I was growing up, a trip like this would have meant being totally unreachable. Today, my husband, AAA, and 911 are all as close as the phone in my purse. Thanks to Skype, I'll even be able to see Paul and meet with prospective clients. 

In some ways, driving thousands of miles will be no different than going down the block.

My phone/GPS/Camera/Video Camera/Concierge/Tri-Corder...
in a picture I took and edited 5 minutes ago.

The flip side of the convenience though is knowing that my daily barage of social media and email will also follow me. I will pick and choose what gets to interrupt my trip. But the truth is that I have become acustomed to being there and responding, often immediately. I have to wonder if pretending to be unreachable will be more stressful than actually being so. I guess we’ll see.

We’re going from New York to Phoenix. Our route is not strictly planned, though we have a date by which we need to arrive so I can fly back. It’s going to be an adventure and, dear readers, I may just take you all along for the ride.

Timing is Everything

Today was one of my busier Saturdays. It began with a long drive to Hamilton, NJ for a baby blessing ceremony. I had been anticipating the same kind of cold, damp, dreary weather we’ve been living with for the last week, but it turned out to be a lovely, sunny day. Good weather, as it turned out to find myself running back and forth across the Garden State Parkway.

Now, I don’t know why this is, but in five years of being a Life-Cycle Celebrant®, I have yet to have a ceremony start on time. Today’s ceremony was about an hour late. As I am currently not in the habit of double booking myself, this was okay. My only concerns for the rest of the day were for getting to the pet store before it closed.

[Addendum: I did also stop on the way to take a picture.]

It was my need for cat food that led me to get off the Turnpike on the way home in favor of the GSP—a more familiar road for me and one I consider easier when I have to go to the pet store.

And because of the cats and the late ceremony, I once again found myself the first responder at an accident. I didn’t see today’s accident happen. It must have occurred a few miles and minutes ahead of me. But when traffic backs up, I start looking and when I saw the first of the three vehicles involved had it’s airbags deployed it was time to pull over and call 911.

Let me take this opportunity to say—and I can’t emphasize this enough—always wear your seat belt. There were three families in three cars involved in this accident and I have no doubt that seatbelts and child safety seats saved their lives. The front of one vehicle was gone. The car it hit was pushed to collide with another car so those people felt the force of impact from the front and the rear. The car the middle car hit was impacted so hard the back windshield shattered. While multiple ambulances were called to the scene, I am sure it would have been worse without seatbelts.

After I made the 911 call I spent my time running back and forth between the three vehicles checking on the passengers, making sure everyone was breathing, and encouraging everyone to stay put. As none of the vehicles were smoking or on fire, the best place for the passengers was in their cars both to avoid getting hit by oncoming traffic and to prevent moving something they might not realize had been injured.

I am very grateful to the corrections officer who also stopped to assist at the scene. With one car on the right side of the road and two in the left lane, it was good to have someone with the passengers of the third car. They had already exited the vehicle when I stopped, their car was full of glass. He was able to alert the EMTs of the need for another ambulance when one of the passengers of the third car complained of back pain.

©Cristina Kollet 2010

On the flip side, I am annoyed with the other motorists. At first everyone was driving past slowly. But eventually traffic began to resume a more normal pace and that was dangerous—first for those who’d been in the accident, then for me and the corrections officer, and finally for the EMTs and police who responded.

Complain as we might about rubber-neckers it is good that people slow down when passing an accident. You don’t know if someone might suddenly exit a vehicle either because they are in shock and don’t know what they’re doing or because the vehicle has caught fire. It’s also safer for rescuers. EMTs, police, and fire personnel who may have to cross traffic either in their vehicles or on foot. No matter what you’re rushing to, it’s not worth hitting rescuer to be on time.

I’m going to close this post with my hope that the people involved in the accident (six adults and five children) are all safe and well. I know this was a scary day for them.

San Francisco!!! (Part Two)

San Francisco (and the surrounding area) is beautiful.

My first few hours in the city were a wonderful reminder of that. To start, the architecture is full of wonderful surprises, wherever you look. It says something about the people that they put so much pride and creativity into their homes and buildings.

Some people visiting San Francisco will make a special trip to Alamo Square to visit the famous Painted Ladies.  But I find 'painted ladies' in every neighborhood I visit.

And the natural beauty here is breathtaking.

The last time I was here, was about 10 years ago. I remember finding a spot in Golden Gate Park where about a dozen humming birds were feeding. I spent all day trying to get a picture, but my camera (and my photography skills) weren't up to the challenge. This time it was easier. This little guy lives in the back yard of the house where I'm staying.

San Francisco is definitely  eye candy, whether you're looking up

or down.

Next post...I go out to sea, Whale Watching!

San Francisco!!! (Part One)

On Friday the 13th, I flew out on my first vacation in two years. I'm out here tagging along. My sister is out here for a wedding and rented an apartment. I'm hanging out here and will be headed out to Berkley for a weekend to visit a friend for a few days before I go.

For me, vacation doesn't start till I am on the plane. I am a home-body by nature. Getting me to leave my home, my cats, my routine--even when it's all work and little play--generally involves a lot of angst and a crow bar.

I travel best with my husband, but this year, he's home. He's staffing an Instructor Development Course (it's a SCUBA thing) and taking care of our pride of cats, two of which are currently on medication.

But as I said, vacation starts when I get on the plane. So I will start there.

There's one thing I've wanted to do on a plane for quite a while--that is to watch Airplane!  It's an odd goal, but ever since I found out, via the director's cut, that the movie was only shown as the in-flight movie on one flight, I've wanted to view it on a plane.  So I rented it via iTunes before I left and there I was.

I'm so glad I did it. Travel in economy class is less than fun. It's cramped, cramped, and did I mention cramped? But watching Robert Hays buy his ticket "one way, no luggage" and being reminded why it's a bad day to give up smoking/ stop drinking/ quit sniffing glue really made laugh. And the guy next to me kept sneaking peaks at my laptop while the movie played, which was funny in itself.

The other thing I like to do when I fly is take pictures. I am fascinated by what we can see from planes, the landscape, the textures, the colors.  Paul got me a new camera for our anniversary and where I usually shoot a few pictures from the plane, thanks to the wonders of digital photography, I took over 400. I don't expect all of the pictures to be interesting to someone else, but here's a selection to show what catches my eye.

I never get tired of looking at the clouds.

I love how farmland looks like a patchwork quilt.

Round crop plots fascinate me.

I love that I saw so many wind farms. It made me very happy.

The textures of the natural landscape are beautiful.

I find it amazing that I can see a mountain range from the sky.

California!
This is what I saw when the pilot announced we were 100 miles from our destination.

The weary traveler has landed.

My first glimpse of the hills of San Francisco

More to come! Stay tuned for music, food, whales, rain forests, and birds--and I'm only here four days so far!

In the mean time, check out what I'm up to on my Facebook feed in the margin, or skip to the chase and become a fan!

Busy Weekend and Busy Week

I am up to my ears this week but I wanted to at least post a preview of some of the things I plan on writing about.

This weekend was a very full one. Paul and I got started on a few projects we've been talking about for a long time. One was to get me through my dives for Rescue Diver.

Now I'm contemplating going for Dive Master, a professional rating, over the course of this coming year. I am also thinking about getting trained as an EMT--if it fits into my teaching schedule for this year.

Saturday afternoon, on the way home from diving, we found ourselves on a spontaneous balloon hunt.

And then Sunday, at a party celebrating my niece's birthday, I tried my hand at tie-dying for the first time.

This week I am preparing for a trip. This means packing and planning and an a 2 hour activity that I call disarming my purse. (So many things you're not allowed to carry any more!)

And once again, I am posting well after midnight. So off to bed with me. More to come when I can catch my breath!