Julie Day Plus Ava

Back in the days before Ava, I used to take semi-regular Julie days that were sort of like artist dates from the Artist's Way. A lot of times this would be to get myself unblocked or unstuck - as Ann Lamott writes in Bird by Bird - when a writer can't write they're not blocked, they're empty, go get yourself full.

So what usually fills me is to go somewhere, by plane, train, bus, or automobile. Once I took a train up to Oregon and then drove up to Washington. Often I'd get on a bus in the city going anywhere and keep bus-hopping until half the day was gone. After my Africa trip, I wasn't quite ready for reality yet so I got up jet-lagged early and drove up to Pt. Reyes.

For this trip, I consulted yahoo maps to figure out where I could go within a couple hours. Somehow I ended up choosing Pinnacles national monument. I packed the car with everything for an overnight stay, just in case, and the robust Ava-backpack and we hit the road.

The one thing quite different about Julie Days vs. Julie and Ava days are that previously there was minimal crying involved. This does take some getting used to.

Something in the slow meandering road through the dried out yellow hills of central California calmed me down. My brain started going slower, and all those angry thoughts started to become less critical, less vital.

Ava and I made friends with a nice man and his nine year old daughter at the start of the trail and ended up hiking just over two miles round trip while managing to only slightly get lost. I'm still amazed I managed to carry the 25 0r 30 pound Ava+pack up hills, through caves, up narrow rock stairs & back down. Ava loved it, no surprise, and even tried to touch the rocks whenever possible. She babbled most of the way in her happy baby babbling talk saying things that make perfect sense to her, but to me sound like ba-ba-da-gee-gee-gee with the occasional uh-oh to really throw me off.

When we finished the hike our new friend said he thought I was courageous for doing the hike with Ava. Desperation breeds courage, and I was desperate to get out of town and see something new and unfamiliar, if only for a day.