travel | Change Is Hard

February 19, 2014
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

I didn’t get to go!

Katie here. I gather my Mama went on a big adventure. Yep she smells different and she smiles more and I don’t think it’s because of me. In fact I think she tricked me! Last Friday she was walking around just like she does every day before she goes to work. Yep, she was in the shower and packing her lunch and stuff. But she made a few more trips to the car than normal. And then she picked me up! What? She never does that. Usually she just pats me on the head and tells me she loves me and then she goes off to work and I go back to sleep!

Well. You know what she did next? She put me in the car! That’s not so bad. I thought I must have my days mixed up and it’s a school morning. I like school, so I was just hanging out back there bobbing my head and thinking about the treats I was going to get and then she stopped and came around the back and I was all happy and stuff and she opened the door and it was not school! I totally freaked out, but she carried me inside and the nice lady behind the desk told me I was beautiful and asked if she could hold me and I liked her a bunch so I just relaxed in her arms while Mama and she talked. And then another nice lady came out and carried me into the back. I sighed because I knew right then that I wouldn’t see my Mama for a very very very long time.

So anyway, camp was OK, they’re nice there and all, but I’d rather be home with my Mama. She came and sprang me from the joint this afternoon. I was very happy to see her but I didn’t want her to know that. Wasn’t going to let her off the guilt hook you know. So I howled all the way home. At the top of my lungs…which wasn’t very loud because I’d been barking for five straight days and my voice was pretty hoarse. And now I follow her everywhere. I even howled when she went out to shovel the driveway. Because I couldn’t see her you know. She said something about settling down, but I know she knows that’s not going to happen.

Not until I decide it will.

Cause I’m a princess.

PS: I got a present from my boyfriend Reilly and Mama took pictures, but she can’t figure out how to download the pictures to the computer so you’ll have to wait to see what I got. But Reilly honey…thank you very much. You’re too good to me. Well. Not too good for a princess I guess. Love you lots Reilly!

Wishful Wordless Wednesday

February 19, 2014 by dawnkinster 18 Comments

February 16, 2014
by dawnkinster 15 Comments

A break from the snow

Those of you still struggling with snow might enjoy a quick glimpse of something not covered in the white stuff. So here you go. (Click on any of the photos to see more detail.)

Walking through the woods on a sunny day.

Of course you might just become jealous.

Fishing lures glow in warm sunlight.

But don’t be too jealous, I have to go back home soon.

Steps up to a view.

Dramatically at the top of the tower.

And I hear that the snow there has not been vanquished.

Three of the four.

So soon all of this warmth and sunshine will be but a memory.

Heading for adventure.

Soon I too will be back in the cold and snow.

Home.

Sad really. But someone will be glad to see me when I get back.

It’s OK, I LIKE snow Mama!

Photo credits: Walk in the Woods and Steps to a view: Beth Badger; Dramatically, Three of Four and Heading for Adventure: Bruce King; Fishing Lures and Home; Dawn.

February 16, 2014
by dawnkinster 23 Comments

Relaxing

All I can say is that it’s not snowing here. Right now anyway.

Sunshine….on my shoulders…

And that is all I can ask for.

Family love

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Hope it’s a long one for you too.

December 19, 2013
by dawnkinster 19 Comments

Dreams v.s. responsibility

I’ve been thinking a lot about how people deal with their dreams. Not the crazy out of control dreams in living color I often tell you about on mornings after a restless night, but the kinds of dreams we all had as kids when we thought about our futures. Believe it or not when I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be a truck driver. Given how my family’s life was irretrievably altered by the trucking industry I think it was an ironic dream. But that’s another blog for another day. As a kid I imagined the open road would be romantic, free, nomadic. Of course I knew nothing about the reality of driving big trucks cross country. And I wasn’t interested in the reality of it; it was the chance to see what was around the next curve that pulled me in, that still does.

Now that I’ve spent a good number of years in one spot the restless itch has come back. Truthfully it never really left, it’s just been stuffed down under the weight of responsibility. My folks were nothing if not responsible and all four of us were brought up to be productive, to contribute, to be self sufficient. Yet we were brought up to be curious too and they made sure we got to see as much of this country as they could share with us. We traveled every summer somewhere new and these days husband and I try to travel somewhere new every year still.

So why am I so restless? It’s not as if I never get to go anywhere – you’ve come along with me on plenty of adventures – yet as soon as I’m home I’m looking for the next opportunity to get away. I consciously work at being satisfied where I am, but half my heart is always one step out the door. I could throw a dart at a map and find something interesting to explore at any random location. Often I’d like to do that. Get up in the morning and throw a dart. And the day after that throw another dart.

So where is the balance between dreams and responsibilities? What makes one person stick with routine, follow the rules, maintain the status quo and be happy while another person turns away from responsibility and throws that dart? And can a dart thrower ever be happy with routine?

Can contentment with what is be learned? Or is a dart thrower always a restless dart thrower?

November 19, 2013
by dawnkinster 15 Comments

Re-entry

Larger than life

I have survived the first day back to work after being off for a week. Can’t say that it was easy. I felt as though I had been to another country and gone for a very long time. I suppose that’s good, it must mean that the vacation successfully removed me from the stress of the office.

Even bigger

But being back in the cubicle was difficult today, too many emails, too many issues, too many people that needed something. Too much to do in too little time. I’m sure I’ll get back on top of it, get it back under control.

Relaxed

Meanwhile I hope you enjoyed a few more photos from last week, photos I hadn’t had an opportunity to show you yet. I didn’t take one of them, all the credit belongs to husband, but they remind me that there is more out there in the world than my beige cubicle and that sometime, hopefully soon, I’ll be off on another adventure.

Tips of the mountains

Far or near, adventures sure make things better!

Fly away

November 17, 2013
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

I’m baaaaaack!

Katie is in the house.

Getting released

Let’s go Mama!

Hurry UP Mama!

My house…my toys…all mine!

My sofa too! I’m a happy girl.

November 16, 2013
by dawnkinster 7 Comments

Between here and there

It’s quite easy to see the beauty of the ocean or the giant trees; easy to see the photo opportunity in beautiful canyons or majestic mountains. When you’re traveling you’re always looking for that outstanding photo, the one that tells the big story. It’s easy to miss all the little things when you’re going from here to there.

On this California trip the place between the big photos was mostly farm. And just as I am at home I was drawn to the farmlands there. The deep black fields, the orderly lines of crops or vineyards, the homesteads far off the road surrounded by acres of crops or by nothing at all.

I want to go back and concentrate on the places between here and there, the places that aren’t so easy to photograph, the places not so glamorous. Not so obviously beautiful.

I want to think about where our food comes from. I watched cabbage being picked in a huge field, and though I only saw a moment of the action as our car raced by, I saw cabbage heads furiously being tossed by stooping men crowded close behind a trailer hauled by a tractor.

I want to think about the true cost of our food. Affordable fresh food comes to us on the backs of people hunched over in a field. And what do these people get paid? I don’t know enough. Just like the fast food workers fighting to earn a living wage, how are these cabbage pickers living?

I want to think about our food supply I’d like to understand more. And I’d like to show you how beautiful the places between here and there are, not from a speeding car, but more slowly, more carefully.

More thoughtfully.

November 15, 2013
by dawnkinster 20 Comments

The long goodbye

On the beach

We spent the day headed down Highway One saying goodbye to the Pacific yesterday, stopping to play among the waves and sand at several beaches. The first was early in the morning at the deserted Ocean Beach, just north of the Vanderberg Air Force base. I had my shoes on so didn’t venture into the water. It looked cold.

Ocean Beach…original name

The second, and best, beach we visited was the Jalama Beach, a county park where we had to pay a $10 entrance fee. Worth every dollar. There’s a campground there that I’d visit again in a heartbeat, right on the beach. Being November there were a lot of spots available. It made me want to fly home and pack up the tent and Katie and head right back out here. Though I think all the pounding waves, salt water and funky kelp on the beach might not be to the princess’s liking.

Anyway, this beach had a few more people on it, like the surfer…

Surfer dude

…and the fisherman.

Fisher guy looked warmer than surfer dude.

I played in the water here and got quite wet. Turns out the ocean wasn’t as cold today as it was yesterday. Or maybe I was just getting more acclimated.

Jalama Beach – wonderful!

We stopped somewhere just north of Ventura to watch some people sailboarding. The wind was strong and they were just flying across the water.

Almost flying

We ended the day watching the sun set at Malibu. Amazing I know; sunset on Malibu’s Zumba Beach!

We had no idea the beach is home to about a gazillion trillion seagulls. Or more.

Some of the many

I found them quite fascinating. They sat in massive groups…

Waiting for the next flight

…and then flew as a unit when anyone approached them.

Jogging at sunset

I almost missed the sunset I was so interested in the birds.

Catching the last light

It was a lovely day that ended in a lovely place with the moon rising over Malibu.

California moon

I can’t ask for more. Except maybe more time in California.

November 14, 2013
by dawnkinster 18 Comments

Magical

Today’s topic is magic. No not in Disney kind of magic, but in the way you feel about a place. That it’s magical for reasons perhaps only known to you.

We visited Hearst Castle yesterday. It’s opulent and way over done for my taste, yet it’s still magical.

Mr. Hearst built this on land he inherited from his parents. They had gone camping on top of this hill when we was a boy, and after they died he decided to build ‘a little something’ because he was getting too old for camping in a tent. There are 192 rooms, almost all done in heavy Italian or Spanish style.

I was most fascinated by the ceilings, each room different. You can see the European influence in the ceilings of the Gothic library where he ran most of his businesses remotely way before remote working became a trend.

Notice the deeply coffered ceilings in the library. I can’t imagine the man hours required to put that together.

And I was taken by the intricate detailing of the ceiling in Marion Davies’ bedroom.

But what made this house so magical for me were the pools…both the indoor tiled pool under the tennis courts…

…and the outdoor Neptune Pool overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Sitting next to the pool, enjoying the sun, with my feet up I could, for just a few magical moments understand what it felt like to be a wealthy socialite visiting the Hearst ranch. It felt pretty good.

After our tour of the castle we wandered the coast again. We stopped for a bit and visited with the seals just up the road from the castle. They were feeling pretty good themselves, enjoying the sun in a way only seals can.

A couple of them were doing a little bit of young adult male testing the waters so to speak as they played a bit of a duel.

But most of them were just enjoying a day at the beach lounging in the sun, having a magical California afternoon.

Finally, further down the beach we found the best dog park ever!

What a great place to run and play in the waves! I got to get my feet wet too, and noticed these cool patterns the water and sand made as each wave receded.

I can’t tell you how many photos I took of not ripples…it was hard to catch it just right and I couldn’t see my camera screen in the bright sunlight to tell. But this is exactly what it looked like and it was magical. I loved having my feet in the ocean, even if it was darn cold. Nothing a kid from Michigan hasn’t felt before!

Actually, having my feet anywhere in California has been great. Couldn’t ask for a better vacation so far. Where to next? Hmmmm…I have no idea. Let me put my feet up here next to the pool and think about it.

Or nap. Whichever comes along first. Magic.

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: travel