traveling

Christmas Holiday Accomplishments (in a nutshell)

December 31, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

There were lots of tasty eats, including breakfast at, The Griddle, located in Winnemucca, Nevada — look at the glorious green vinyl!

There was me, in my truck, writing 300 Christmas postcards for you! Don’t worry…I kept the message short…but if you’re wondering why the writing is messy it’s because Nevada highways are a wee bit bumpy.

There was one long haul drive across Idaho, Nevada and California to Christmas with the American side of our family in the sopping wet Oakland Hills.

There were a couple of quick runs through the redwood regional forest.

There was some squeezing on our niece and twin nephews (who are so darn active that I failed to secure a couple of good shots of them…every shot turned out monstrously blurry…next time…).

There was a fantastically commonwealth themed stocking for me, by Robert — he never fails to surprise me at Christmas.

There was some hunting for Zorro.

There was some hunting for the Farlinator (and a good thing too, he was becoming a tad neurotic after days of driving in a truck and lots of lazing about in Oakland).

There were small song birds.

There were whistling swans and buoyant ducks in the central valley of California.

There was a dash of hope, peace and joy in the wind.

Then there was the drive home, creeping across the central valley on highways choked with crazy California traffic.

There were a couple of nights in Grass Valley at the Krapfel homestead.

There was the half door in Nevada City.

There were those beautiful little homes wrapped in wreathes and garlands.

There were doors opened and doors closed.

There was a pastie (a 49er country phenomenon that’s a bit like a meat pie) for RW and a quinoa salad for me.

There were those twisting and turning California gold country roads that can make a girl feel queasy.

There was that little town called Rough and Ready that has always romanced me to the core.

Through the rain, there was a glimpse of my dream bug on Rough and Ready Road.

There was our 7 year wedding anniversary, on December 28th, just an hour away from the wee wedding chapel we eloped at in Reno!

There was Penelope as co-pilot.

Then there were two “required chains” sections on highways between Grass Valley and home, slow going with our wheels locked in high 4×4, a small ice storm in Nevada, ditches littered here and there with vehicles that failed to slow down for winter driving conditions, a wee blizzard white-out in Idaho just outside of Twin Falls and then finally, that moment when we rolled up and parked the truck at the curb in front of our little 103 year old farm house; fresh snow on the ground and bright stars in an ink black night sky.

Home.

There were two eggs for breakfast this morning. One from Winona and one from Rhonda. Apparently, Judith is taking a holiday from laying and since she’s my favorite hen, I’ll gladly allow her this!

Tonight is new years eve. We plan to spend it floating on our backs under the night sky at the local hot springs with Thai food take out for dinner afterward and then quiet in our home with tea, treats and perhaps a glass of nice wine or two.

We hope your Christmas holidays have been delightful with a pinch of the sacred buried well inside your heart of hearts.

Happy New Year to you, dear friends.

Love,

The Plumes

PS Now is a good time to mention that if you’ve not yet voted for your favorite Christmas Tree, you should do it as soon as possible since we’re beginning to tally votes! Thanks to every person to has taken a moment to vote!

Filed Under: california, I just adore christmassy things don't you, idaho, nevada, traveling

Two Weeks In Rapid Review

November 21, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

It’s home again home again jiggity jigg!

Here’s a quick review for you!

I spent two weeks in Long Beach taking workshops at Studio DeLucca

with the magnanimous Khobe (mother to the world). Her teaching studio hosted a pair of peeps from NC Black, a tool company from North Carolina.

Days were spent like this.

And it was lovely.

Of course, there was more of this:

And then November 15 rolled around and I spent the day with a dear friend before having her drop me off at the airport to fly home. Little did I know, RW was planning this:

[you’ll probably need to turn this up, he’s slight of voice in this video]

Which resulted in this:

[As you can see, I was very confused…]
NOTE: I do apologize for how high pitched my voice is in this video. I was shouting/squealing to be heard over the sound of my truck. Apparently, I sound like a hyperventilating chipmunk which I am mortified about but RW has demanded that this video be shown so put in your ear plugs and try to enjoy it…oh…hang on…RW has now told me that he feels like he sounds just as horrible and dorky as I do in this video. I guess that settles it. We’re the captains of Dorkville. Love us or leave us.

So now you know that RW is the king of surprises! I mean it. I was so confused and bewildered even after he told me that the truck I had been riding in all day was MY truck. Wowee. That man can plan a surprise!

We hopped in our new truck and detoured South to San Diego where we played with our dear friends for a few days:

We delighted in their dainty little barn house.

We ate some sushi, met their puppies for the first time (one of their dogs is actually a niece to Farley), romped about on the dog beach in San Diego, ate some Thai food, stayed over night at our sister’s home in San Diego and then made the long trek home in our little, big, growly, silver chariot. I slid over on the bench seat, up front, and snuggled my mister all the way across California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho. It was a perfect detour.

Now. Let me tell you about my new truck.

I love it.

You’re probably scratching your head since at the moment most individuals seem to be downsizing their vehicles to save on gas and emissions and oil wars and the like…we went bigger and have been planning to go bigger for a couple of years now. Our new rig gets the same gas mileage as our Tacoma on the highway and it is capable of hauling, pulling or dragging absolutely anything we throw at it which will be very handy when we put a cab-over-camper on it this spring and even handier when I get a horse or two that need to be towed around from time to time in a trailer. It’s ten gazillion times more comfortable to ride in than our little Tacoma and the dogs can sit up front in the cab in bad weather. I’m smitten. Smitten as a kitten. If you put a stethoscope to my heart you’ll hear it say vroom vroom.

All this is to say, it’s very good to be home!

I missed my wardrobe, my yard, my mountains, my boofie woofies and meow paroww, my chickie babies, my studio space and man-oh-man.

I’m through with traveling for a while. Just simply and completely spent. I’ll not be going anywhere for a while and there’s so much to do in these days before Christmas! I’m looking forward to this holiday season with all my heart. I hope you are too!
I hope you were well, whilst I was away.
I missed you to smithereenies, dear pudding pops!

Plume

Filed Under: travel, traveling, trip

Up In The Air

November 6, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

[click to enlarge]

Believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve seen the Southern end of Pocatello from the air. The plane was off the ground for a matter of minutes when I felt the pang of homesickness. I’m not good at traveling. But I love traveling.

During my flight, I read snippets of Atwood and was delighted with her short stories, as usual.

Nibbled on some mixed nuts.

Sipped Idaho water from my nalgene.

Felt excited about this upcoming week.

Wondered if the Californians would stare at my teal cowboy boots.

But most of all, I was thankful to have remembered my sunscreen.

Long Beach is making me a bit hottish around the gills.

I remembered how I told RW about my trip goals, last night. I want to love and learn from every moment of this trip. I hardly ever find myself in large cities for extended periods of time. I need to soak up some urban inspiration and love the bustle of the culture here. Everything my senses manage to wrap around needs to come home with me, banked in my memory and soul; if these experiences are ready and willing, I’m going to press them into metal, glass and stone. That is, after all, my job.

Filed Under: california, travel, traveling

At the Shore: Part One

August 28, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

I spent hours on the shoreline on the West side of Bainbridge Island yesterday. Hours. Sifting through the sand. Weaving my way through sand dollar cemeteries. Farley retrieved a dead and rancid sea otter for me — that was traumatizing. Penelope played in the waves like a careful little lady.

I found myself pondering, in the middle of filling my pockets and pails with treasures, why on earth do I do this? Why on earth do I go to the sea and insist on spending hours and days hunting for treasure in the sand and waves? I’ve never lived by the ocean. I’m a girl who has always lived in the interior of the USA or Canada. I don’t know what it’s like to live by the sea, I only know what it’s like to visit. When I visit, I connect so firmly, so cosmically, with the tides and the life in the water that I need to take parts of it home with me.

So as not to forget.

Yesterday, I realized that at some point in my life, I would really like to live by the sea for a stint.

RW will pass out when he reads this.

We’ve both been such staunch interior people for so long I think we deny ourselves the sea out of habit. It’s for no good reason at all that we’ve never lived by the ocean.

I’m going to try to find a way to do it. Even if it’s only for a summer.

I’m going to find myself a piece of the sea

and I’m going to stay awhile.

Someday.

Filed Under: traveling, washington