Friday morning me and my Roadtrek took off. Yes that is right, I am now officially on-the-road. It was a beautiful drive across the California desert and into the mountains. I am in Flagstaff for the next couple of days.

Elsie the cat is not riding with me. She was bit too stressed out about the RV. After some very painful decision making I decided to leave her in Santee with Raquel who is taking care of “everything Janet” in CA this summer. Elsie, who usually runs from everyone (the original scaredy cat), was taking treats out of Raquel’s hand and being petted by her as well. In her cat way, I think she was demonstrating the good choice I made. I will certainly be missing my furry friend, yet the last thing I want is for her to be stressed. I am leaving her picture on the blog. I will be able to see her face when I check this site.

I am an east coast girl, raised in the second smallest state in the nation. Any guesses? That is right, Delaware. When I first moved west, it was to Utah. There are 2 reactions, it seems, from “east coasters” when they move west. They love it or all they want to do is go back east, away from those wide open spaces. I took one look around and fell in love, with the deserts, the mountains and all those “see for miles spaces”. Driving across the desert was such treat in my new Roadtrek (RT). I loved sitting up high and I got to see everything from a new advantage point. It was not too hot. The highest temperature I saw was 102 F. But, wait for it…..It was dry heat. I always love it when people say that.

Here are some of my thoughts as I drove yesterday.

The desert

• In the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the desert there are these deserted and often gutted trailers. One was sitting on the top of the hill with the back end sticking over a precipice with nothing to support it. What are they doing there and where did the inhabitants go? And, the one on the top of the hill, did they ever worry about tipping over when they walked to the back? I almost thought of starting a photo journal of the ones I saw. Such an odd thing.
• What am I doing out here?
• Where did Jim go when he died?
• Why couldn’t they fix route 66 so the road was better, it would have been fun to drive more of it?
• Should my inverter be on or off? This part of my RT confounds me.
• God I love these places where I can see for miles. And the big puffy monsoon clouds were such a delight.’

Profound thoughts, right? I love to let my mind wander and go where it will. And, trust me, these were just a few of the millions of thoughts that traveled with me yesterday.

I am staying in Flagstaff for another night. This is the gateway to the Grand Canyon’s south rim. It sits around 7000 feet up and is incredibly beautiful country. The San Francisco Peaks are the home of the Kachina Gods of the Hopi Indians and a wonderfully beautiful year round outdoor playground. I have been here several times before and always look forward to returning.

I am staying with my friend, Sharon. We met years ago when we got involved in building an all women’s sweat lodge on a near-by property. She is a feisty woman who is currently dealing with breast cancer and is in the middle of chemotherapy. This has all occurred in the last few months. When I called to let her know I was coming and she told me this piece of news, she said she hadn’t called me because this was just another passing moment in her life. She is having a tough time with the chemo. I am glad I am here helping to create a diversion for a few days. She is a reminder to me that while I have been going through grief and all my own stuff, life is going on and others are dealing with continuing issues both good and hard in their lives. The lesson for me is that life does go on. She is so honored that she is the first stop in my journey. I am glad I planned it this way as well. We, her daughter and the 2 of us sat up into the evening talking and enjoying each others company and laughing over our past adventures and catching up on her large family’s lives. She knew Jim as well and it was good to reminisce. I have many strong role models in my life and Sharon is definitely one of them.

Janet & Sharon