Joshua Tree and Surprise

The last time I wrote, I was going to describe 29 Palms Inn for you. It was a neat old place with a collection of assorted adobe cottages for rent. We stayed in the "Bottle Room." It had bottles set into the walls and was furnished with a collection of charming antique furniture. It looked like a picture come to life from Sunset Magazine. We had an excellent dinner on premises.  At night the property is only lit by the stars in the sky, and as we walked back to our cottage I stumbled into a prickly pear cactus and a bunch of thorns got stuck in my legs. Ouch! 

The next morning we checked out and drove into Joshua Tree National Park for a hike before we headed towards Phoenix. We stopped at Skull Rock to climb some boulders and snap some photos. As we were heading back to the car, I stepped on slippery gravel and took a nasty fall on to my back. I panicked about harming our baby and we considered finding a hospital to check on her. After a little bit I calmed down and decided to let some time pass before we ran to the emergency room. As we drove out of the park I felt her stirring inside me which was very reassuring. It's now a day later and nothing unusual is happening to with body so I think she's alright. I will be more careful about what I do from now on - no more climbing rocks. I'll stick to mellow hikes on flat surfaces. 

We rolled into the Phoenix suburb of Surprise at around 8pm on Thursday night. There aren't any cute boutique hotels or weird retro motor lodges here so we just chose the top rated hotel in Surprise - the Marriott Residence Inn. Grandma told us spring training was going on so I had some trepidation about booking a room on the fly. It turned out that spring training is over and the Marriott had plenty of room. The friendly front desk clerk even gave us a discount. When we checked into our room, I was very happy to see how plush and spacious it was. It was a relief to check into such a nice comfortable place after I had banged up my body with falling, cacti, and sunburns.

After we checked in to the Marriott, we went out for a little bite to eat and to pick up a swimsuit for me at Target. I didn't like any of the maternity suits they had (hot pink and gold buckles aren't really my style) so I tried on some "big girl" sized swimsuits that would fit over my expanding belly and chest. Let me tell you… trying on swimsuits while you're 37 and pregnant in a fluorescent lit dressing room is hard on a woman's self-esteem. I tried not to look too hard and reminded myself I'm growing our daughter inside me and my new body shape is normal and healthy. And what is important? Being too concerned with my looks is shallow and seems so foolish when you consider the miraculous changes and functions my body is going through. 

Today we relaxed with Grandma. We took a dip in her pool in the afternoon… it was refreshing in the hot Arizona sun. Grandma's new home is really nice. We had dinner with her and met a lot of her friends. Grandma is very popular, which didn't surprise me because she is a very charming person. To know her is to love her. It's always a treat to see her and I miss her already. 

We've cancelled our tow hitch reservation. I'm going to drive the VW all the way to Wisconsin. The Penske truck seats are extremely uncomfortable and we decided it would be better for me to continue sitting in the far more comfortable driver's seat of the VW. The Penske truck seats are messing up Mike's back and I'm sure they'd do a much worse number on my back. I'll miss having conversations with my best friend as the miles fly by but I feel confident in this decision. We've decided we'll download the same audio books and listen to them simultaneously to help feel connected and keep the boredom at bay.

Tomorrow we're driving 7 hours to Santa Fe. I am very excited to see beautiful New Mexico! 

Through the Central Valley and into the Southern California desert

(I'm posting this posthumously because I didn't have internet connection at our hotel in 29 Palms...)

I am much happier today. Why? Because I'm in Joshua Tree, one of my favorite places. Or more specifically, I'm currently in a really neat place called 29 Palms Inn on the border of Joshua Tree National Park. I love this area of California so much. I feel so peaceful here. These little bohemian desert towns down here feel like home to me. 

I am certain that I will live in the Southwest again someday. The next time I will live in the desert though. I like to picture myself as a long haired old hippie desert lady like Georgia O'Keefe. I will wear flowing purple dresses and chunky turquoise jewelry. There will be art all over my little ramshackle adobe and Spanish tiled home. I will give names and personalities to the various cacti growing outside my house. I'll definitely bring our daughter here before then. I think she will enjoy all the odd plants and climbing on the boulders in Joshua Tree Park. 

Anyways, let me tell you about our very long day. After a terrible free hotel breakfast, we hit the road around 9 and headed south for Los Angeles. We had to get to the Palm Springs Penske office before 5 to pick up a tow hitch. We wanted to wait until we were out of the bad traffic of SF and LA before we attached the car to the truck, since it's hard to maneuver in heavy traffic.

  

We drove for about 7 hours today. The first part of the trip was through the agricultural central valley past towns like Bakersfield. Mile after mile of fruit and nut trees. This is where all your food is grown. The only thing came in on my radio was mariachi music or religious ranting. We stopped several times for gas and bathroom breaks. I love how so many of the gas stations out here have independently run taquerias inside them. Yum. I didn't do much thinking as I barreled down the freeway. It was blissful to just zone out. I can imagine long haul truckers must get into a very Zen state of mind. 

We drove through a mountain range before hitting the endless sprawls of L.A. Mile after mile of suburbs. I started picking up more interesting radio frequencies and listened to a talk show about quantum angel healing, whatever that is. How Los Angeles can you get? 

Onward we drove, past the L.A. suburbs into stretches of desert populated by mile after mile of massive windmills. We hit a crazy dust storm in Palm Springs. We were only outside the Penske office for a few minutes in the storm, but I got a lot of sand stuck in my eyes and throat. The Penske office was literally rattling from the high winds and there was a fine coat of dust on everything. The employee told us she was having terrible sinus headaches from all the sand she'd been inhaling. Since the winds were so bad, we cancelled our tow hitch reservation and decided to pick one up in Phoenix instead.

It was around 5 at this time and we decided to spend the night somewhere in the Joshua Tree area. Mike did a quick internet search and found a listing for 29 Palms Inn in 29 Palms. We decided to stop by and check it out. I'll write more later after I catch up on my sleep!

Goodbye

It's about 10pm and I'm at a Comfort Inn in some crappy California Central Valley town called Merced. It's not the nicest place but whatever. We're both totally mentally and physically exhausted and can't drive anymore.

I feel like my mood is so low that I shouldn't bother writing a detailed blog entry because it will be so negative. So here's a brief synopsis of what happened:

- It was raining cats and dogs all morning. This was odd because there was a drought all year and then it pours on the day we move. Was it a sign?

- We drove up to San Rafael and picked up the Penske truck. Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge for the last time was really emotional.

- Our two hired movers were both from Russian satellite countries and barely spoke English. They did things like pile heavy items on top of my record collection (a lot of it rare, out of print pressings worth a lot of money), neglected to wrap wood furniture, or scraped furniture along the floor. We had to check their packing all day long and adjust things. It was not pleasant. I won't be surprised if a lot of our stuff ends up ruined from this move, but what is done is done. 

- Walking out of our apartment for the last time was incredibly emotionally draining for both of us. We spent almost 6 years of our lives together there and it was hard to say goodbye. I felt like I was hallucinating as I looked around the empty rooms. It was really happening, we really did it, we were really giving up our life in SF forever. 

- We finally left the city around 6 and drove across the Bay Bridge for the last time. While I was driving, I felt our baby kick me so hard and fast that it frightened me. I feel her moving inside me all the time, but never so forcefully. Once we reached Oakland she stopped. Was she upset about leaving too? 

- We had dinner at some random Mexican food joint in a tiny truck stop town. It was packed with truckers and staffed by a happy Mexican family. The food was delicious and we both remarked how much we were going to miss the Mexican food of California. We are ruined forever - it's just so good out here.

I am going to try and get some sleep now. Tomorrow we have to pick up a tow hitch for our car in Palm Springs. Hopefully we'll make it to Sun City West by tomorrow night but I'm not betting on it. 

I am just so sad. I am trying to focus on the good things coming down the road.

I left my heart in San Francisco

This is our last full day in San Francisco. We've spent most of the day packing and cleaning with a break for lunch at our favorite restaurant Nopalito. I tried not to cry as I ate my favorite fish tacos for what will be the last time for a very long time... if ever again.

I'm blaming my pregnancy hormones on all the tears I've shed over leaving San Francisco. I've grown to love this city very deeply... it's such a beautiful, special place. Unfortunately a lot of other people love it as much as I do and there's only so many places to live on this little 7 mile by 7 mile peninsula, and everyone wants a piece of the dream. High demand and low supply means unaffordable prices for a baby-friendly two bedroom apartment. But there are many other reasons why we are leaving...

I am absolutely certain that we are making the right choice to return to Wisconsin. I know that once our baby arrives, I will feel relieved that I'm living nearer to our family. We want our little girl to grow up having all the good things we had. A beautiful, safe house with a yard. Good education. People around us who share our values and beliefs. A childhood spent enjoying nature and the four seasons. All these things can be had easily and affordably in Wisconsin.

With these things in mind, we're setting off tomorrow back to Wisconsin - but not before a little adventure first! Our plan is to loosely follow what old Route 66 was. We're heading down to Los Angeles and then making a stop to see my Grandma Elizabeth in Phoenix. After that we'll drive through New Mexico, and maybe stop in Albuquerque and Sedona. Then we'll make our way across the Texas Panhandle up to Oklahoma City, through Saint Louis and Chicago, finally arriving in Wauwatosa on April 2nd.

I'll try to update as much as possible.