“Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves” ~ Garth Stein

Campground it is tonight. I am incorrigible, I have to escape and we did. "Old Faithful" was ready Friday afternoon by closing time and the ride up toward Mt Rainier was of the best, an uplift I cannot put into words, even if the alignment was only correct with much adjustment of the chair’s hydraulic and preload on the bike. The foreman, Barry, who lives near by and was present upon our return only had a grin listening to my short ride report. He is the best, he knew it would have a need to be once more taken apart. Saturday morning as I came down from my indoor camping space which by then started to feel as I lived there by the fourth night, he must have worked late as all was almost done. With over 30 years experience he is the man to put on the final touch. And what a touch it has been as these past two days the grin while riding has been transferred to my own face.

It is such a perfect alignment and feel as I do not want to stop rolling on those roads ahead of us. We end up going up to the Pass on beautiful 90 filled with the dramatic granite tall Mountains to meet my Friends Heidi and Matt also our OnGuard sponsors. We had time to let Matt do a photo shoot for their website right before the shutting down of the lights of the day. Today, we have adventured ourselves on the Olympic Peninsula. Tired from the past days we never made it to a campground called "Mora" I had in mind. The truth is that The Olympic Peninsula feels and is as big as a State. Today it did as we stopped at Quinault Lake. It is quiet and warmer than the foggy beaches we rode through. This will be Home Base to explore a bit of this peninsula.

I feel bad today about my emotions, my financial emotions of these past days not expecting the amount of work and care Old Faithful needed. Dauntless has even given me a break shaving off many hours spend wrenching. I feel as I fell below my own principles by panicking, as even if, as it was, rightly so, I have surmounted and are overcoming darker cards laid out in years past. This hand, for that matter, any hand cannot and is not of a level to loose oneself and question consequences yet unseen, unfelt. It takes so much strength at times.

Below are some past photos I was looking for for my Panterra Gallery Show on October 23rd in Bisbee, Arizona.

This morning ends up badly. I see on my phone that it is actually after noon. Food poisoning. I know better and yet again purchased some blue cheese potato salad from Safeway yesterday to avoid cooking dinner. Bad batch obviously. I never buy ready made salads. One never knows if food safety rules have been followed. Maybe it stayed out too long. I know it comes from a central warehouse. It has been rough waking up at every hour of the night. At least this gave me a chance to understand why they call this area a rain forest. It was not raining, but it was as the ground, the tent and soon myself where soaked. I have the feeling we are not going anywhere today, being on a schedule would have been detrimental.

Not much has changed. We have been here a couple nights now and only yesterday late afternoon was able to push myself to the little store down the road. I have not had food for two days now. Drank some Gatorade to replace my lost nutrients. I ate some real charcoal also last night as I was told it would absorb the bad guys. I am afraid due to the pain that has not gone away this might turn into an infection. Might head out to a Hospital today or tomorrow. Have not seen much of anything here on this Olympic Peninsula. Only my campsite which fortunately is very quiet. I think the charcoal has helped as the pains now are only coming and going every half an hour or so. I actually made breakfast. Green onions, tomato, mango, cilantro, zucchini and a couple eggs. I don’t know yet how it is going to sit as I am nervous to eat. I might backtrack to Aberdeen where I am sure has a Hospital. It is so unpleasant as being locked in this campground not able to roam freely. I pull my strength from Lance. This is nothing ever compared to what he has gone through his last two years. My thoughts are always on his path, they give me courage, they let me know how futile all is as so few of us should really complain about incidents of our own Life’s events.

Barely feeling human again this morning, walking back and forth and around at camp, Spirit not helping me with a decision, I had to take one. Would we leave this area without seeing Neah Bay? Yes. I just did not bond with the space. That is just me. It did not, unlike the campers we have seen on the beaches parked on lots inches from each other inhaling the neighbor’s wood smoke, smelling each other’s food and listening to their ongoing stories. It could be the getting sick part took it all away, who knows, we are already a bit east of Seattle off highway 90, no clue to the name, but we are at Peace.

Am I getting temperamental as to our destinations? The path I choose? Most likely without a doubt. It was necessary to come here. Again with a big grin on my face "Old Faithful" was rolling with ease and a comfort of mind down the road. Dauntless did a superb job rebuilding the car better than before. We also stopped at Touratech this afternoon on our way out, and the experience and service was outstanding. They are the adult and serious toy store for the rider, off road in the past, on the road also at present with a complete new line for the touring bike. My toe bone has been bruised forever and I knew they would not be too far from our exit eastbound. A replacement shifter sounded like a dream, it became reality. Smog, smoke, overbearing noise even through my earplugs, but saved by the diamond lane and the kindness of drivers letting us change lanes quickly when lost, (they really did it to watch Spirit! I called him "the lane opener" today), we got there in one piece.

Tonight we are in Spokane, rode the Freeway unusually, did not take the camera out a single time neither! A new tire I am carrying will be mounted tomorrow morning and off we will go on to Lolo Pass, Idaho. We are so ready for a new slate, in the Forest… Another day has now gone by. A new slate? The great news is Spirit being named the AmabassaDOG for National Dog Day coming up August 26th. He will carry the Torch. Not so good news? My VISA Debit card was as they said “compromised” and shut down… We will be in Missoula to straighten it all up on Monday. Gazillion phones calls… We are going to Ennis, Montana, see our Friends Teri and Ron, get lost on Gravelly Range road where money does not mean a thing! Come to think of it, it is the same at “The Oasis”!

Be well… there is always someone worse off than you are.

Ara & Spirit

If you find yourself perusing this site extensively, please, consider purchasing Prints, Merchandise or making a contribution above to help us with Internet costs.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 8th, 2010 at 12:51 pm and is filed under travel, spirituality, pit bull, sidecar, motorcycle, cooking, photography, riding, homeless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.