It's been a busy four months since I last posted a real entry. Working full time and going to school almost full time has taken its toll on me. Since Dad has died being so busy has often been a blessing for me - I am always occupied, overwhelmed, running to the next task. Having a new job that is a good but challenging one along with the intellectual stimulation at school and all the school work that's required and I am just completely exhausted at the end of the day. This blog has been on my mind though, and there is plenty to say - I just need the time and energy to get it out. 
In June I did a big trip to deal with the estate. I finished my semester at school on the 14th and two days later I was on a plane to Eastern Oregon for a week long trip to move the remaining estate items to a location in California that would be easier for me to handle and coordinate. One of my life long friends was able to come with me for most of the trip. We flew up on a Wednesday, spent one whole day loading a 16 foot trailer and then hit the road, first going west to Eugene and then heading down to Northern California. I got next to no sleep the entire time, my insomnia rearing its unfortunate head. We stayed with family and friends along the way and attended a BBQ in Dad's honor. On Sunday the 20th my friend Jacob and I had the bulk of the driving to do in a single day. He had to fly back to LA for work on Monday so we'd arranged to drop him off in Eureka and I'd drive the remainder of the trip to Fort Bragg by myself which in the planning stages didn't sound so bad - its normally only a 3 hour drive from there.
I'm not sure how many of you have driven a large moving vehicle? But a 16 foot truck is pretty damn big and pretty damn hard to maneuver - when empty. Add in a mostly full trailer and it is dreadful. It wobbled and careened the entire trip and I had been white knuckling it the entire week already. We got stuck more than once in driveways. I normally avoid rest stops because they are often dirty and spooky but they ended up being the only place I felt save parking so I could avoid going in reverse which was always an unpredictable and dangerous experience. I knew going up hills would not be fun, but it was painful. SOOOOO SLOW the entire time. We only over heated once, just outside of Crescent City - but to avoid overheating again I had to basically go 25 or less up every hill from there till Fort Bragg. 
It took forever. What should have been a 10 hr drive max turned into well over 14 hours. I ended up going over Willits Road at twilight. I had hooked up my ipod and was blasting music as I swerved around corners trying not to both drive off the road nor make myself car sick. About 10 minutes into it the significance of the trip hit me: I was alone driving at night (I have terrible night vision and go to extremes to avoid having to drive at night whenever possible) on my least favorite road in the history of roads.... on fathers day, with my fathers ashes tucked behind my seat and everything that remained of his life packed and securely retrained in the trailer behind me. I don't think I had been so sad or inconsolable than that first night after learning of his death.
As tough as the trip was, I was relieved to finally have my fathers things neatly packed into my sisters garage rather than in a dark dirty old house a 1,000 miles away. Where we can go through everything more carefully and slowly and comfortably in our own time. I'm going up there for a whole week in August to spend time with Rhea & Josslyn and so most likely there will much to relate after. Stay tuned.
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