Heading out again

The idea was to get up early this morning, drive forty-five miles east to visit my friend, Nicole, for breakfast, then head back into town to catch I-5 north to San Clemente, about an hour away, to visit another friend, Linda May. And then hop-skip my way up the coast, visiting more friends along the way, meandering up the famously gorgeous Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco, where I will visit still more friends. (God bless the internet for sending me so many wonderful friends!)

And it’s still the plan, But I didn’t get very far after breakfast with Nicole this morning.

Pine Creek Trailhead

I couldn’t come out all this way and not drive three extra miles to my favorite town in the world, Pine Valley. After spending months in some of the most beautiful country in America, I was afraid that my love affair with Pine Valley might have diminished. But as I drove the winding road to the nearby Pine Creek Trailhead in the Cleveland National Forest, I inhaled the intoxicating fragrance of sun-warmed pine needles mixed with sage, listened to the quiet, and I knew:

This is still my special place

It’s not spectacular but it is beautiful. And mostly, it just feels right. This is where I want to settle down — after my wanderlust is slaked, of course.

That may take a few years

So I decided to stick around a while — a few hours, maybe a day or two — because what’s the hurry? That’s what this vandwelling thing is all about, after all.