I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I’ve been following blog of an 87 year old woman who’s been traveling around the US in her van. She is just so inspiring, not only in what she’s doing, but how open and honest she is about her experience. When she was scared about driving over the Rockies and the Sierras, she told everybody about it and didn’t let the fear stop her. When she discovered that staying in campgrounds where most everybody else seemed to be in couples or families or groups made her feel lonely she talked about that too. I really appreciate that honesty. I also love how simple things make her so happy – seeing a huge tree, hanging out with family, etc. I want to be like that when I’m 87, still getting out and adventuring, seeing new things, meeting new people, and being open to all the beauty in the world.
I’m also following a YouTube channel, Couch to Trail, about a woman in her late 50s who is hiking the Appalachian Trail. She’s so positive and enthusiastic even when she’s had some challenges, having to spend a week here and there off the trail because of injury and even getting a root canal! But she’s still on the trail and even though it isn’t happening exactly the way she planned, she had to skip ahead so that she could get to the finish in Maine by mid August in order to go back to a teaching job (she’ll finish up the skipped sections closer to home on the weekends in the fall), she is still out there. Now she’s up to 20 mile days and she has gained such knowledge and confidence. She too talks about her fears and challenges, but keeps going. She even lost one of her dogs unexpectedly when she was home for a couple of days for a job interview. But she’s actually grateful to be on the trail because she doesn’t have the constant reminders of her dog and she has lots of alone time to process her grief. They are both such an inspiration to me.
On our morning walk Otis and I passed a place with blueberry bushes in the front yard (yum!) and later on a huge house where the picture windows were dominated by several cat climbing structures – must be some spoiled cats to have that real estate! Speaking of cats, while I made lunch Chicken the cat entertained me by licking the sunflowers.
I also got to go for a walk by myself on Baker Beach and dictated part of my story for the gap year guide. Later when Otis and I went for our evening walk the fog had cleared off though it was very breezy and we saw a kite surfer doing crazy jumps. I ended the evening with the family zoom call, then a catch up with my son who has been very busy working on rebuilding the engine for his Ford Bronco and helping friends out with house repairs. He’s definitely got more energy than I do!
