Back in the USA

After 24 hours of travel from a 5:15am wake up call in Mullum, to a speedy rural run to the corner where the shuttle picks up with Tessa and Spud sitting copilot, I made a smooth journey home.  The shuttle, plane, cab, train, and walk back to my house did take 24 hours, and despite having 4 seats to fully spread out in, high up in the sky, I didn't sleep much at all...it must have been the soy flat white that kept me wide eyed, staring into movie after movie, while being fed well on Qantas. 

I got back to Oceanside on a sunny winter day of 65 degrees, with only chemtrails in the sky, no clouds, and full sun.  I turned on the water in the airstream, and the power breaker, and said hello to Rachel, who is living in my house with her fiancé, Noah.  The place looked great, with new plants and landscape lights.  The two love birds are loving there move from rainy Oregon to Sunny San Diego. 

I slept for a few hours and headed off to get some food, a juice from the juice bar at Cream of the Crop and some curtain rods for some needed privacy with the last minute airstream situation.  I really didn't have the time to do anything other than prepare for departure prior to leaving for Australia.  I opened my storage shed and saw my mountain bike in the back, behind a stack of boxes, so no going there. 

My laptop died in Australia, so I went to Fry's and bought a nice Dell I7 with Windows 8.  I was at first shocked by the unfamiliar operating system, and had to return with an unrecognized battery...luckily the tech loaded Classic Shell from a memory stick and things are good to go, similar to Vista. 

That night I went to Seaweed and Gravel in Leucadia and saw friends, Ari and Dario.  It was really nice to visit with them and hear about there updates and share mine.  I came home and spent some time online searching for the aforementioned laptop I bought on Wednesday, and crashed out at 11:30pm. 

I slept till 12:30pm and felt great upon waking.  The motorcycle started right up, but needed a trickle charge after to make it reliable.  The Toyota was well cared for at my neighbors, and Floyd, the magical vdub also cranked right up and the brakes were firm after sitting nearly 3 months.  This has always been my experience with these super simple designs.  I love that about them!  Happy, the '66 Porsche 912, was not as happy to get going again and since it hasn't been registered or driven in years, the battery was tired and it didn't fire up.  Not an issue though since I new at the end of the restoration it would need a little extra TLC, as all Porsches, especially vintage ones do.  And, since I'm nearing the end of the process with about a week to go after a lengthy nut and bolt resto, I'm happy to oblige. 

After visiting Floyd at Dario's down in San Diego and sharing some of his homemade miso soup, I hit whole foods for a $15 togo box full of the best organic fixings to get me back into commission.  I loaded it up with kale, spinach, quinoa, all the veggies, blueberries and blackberries and herb tofu, plus kidney beans and garbanzos which reminded me of all the special protein filled meals Tessa was so gracious to prepare to keep our mission on track with loads of energy.  It worked! 

Later that night, I dropped in on a great friend and cohort at his three story row home in Oceanside down the road from my pad.  He and his wife had just finished dinner, so I told them about my adventures in Oz and they updated me with theirs in Hawaii.  They bought some land on the big island and are designing and building a B&B, using sketchup as the medium to express their dreams.  They are both professional consultants, ready for something a bit slower paced with more time to relax and soak up warm ocean breezes.  I'm super excited for them on their mission to a happier life, not that their current one is lacking, but dreams have a way of adding that extra ingredient of magic and inspiration!  I was loaned the software I needed to feel prepared incase any tasks come up during travels to Oregon, so that set me a little freer. 

Back at Ditmar street, I set the laptop into download mode and got the latest pro/e build of software.  Once the zip was on my drive, I took off for LA around 11:30pm with more energy than usual since I was still set on early evening jet lag...in this case, a benefit to getting on with the completion of projects. 

I made it to Santa Barbara and slept the night in the back of the SUV for a good 8 hour sleep.  I'm now at Starbucks, heading to Santa Cruz to see my great friend Samantha, her dog Fehren, and her new hedgehog, Vesper Lou.  I'm hoping to see my relatives in San Francisco and then back to the Church in Toledo, Oregon which I'll be preparing for sale.

Leaving Brisbane

Los Angeles, from a cab leaving LAX, to Union Station to make an 8 am departure on the MetroLink to Oceanside train station. 

 Metrolink oceanview ride from Union Station to Oceanside Station.