It was only one day after the original Non-Plan planned day to leave the city that I finally had the car loaded (“Oh crap. It’s never all going to fit” -- reduced, rearranged and re-loaded) with whatever was left of my house, said a tearful goodbye to Kristen (who was off to manage the
NSP field trip that had been my brilliant idea a month earlier), and headed South on 101. My original Non-Plan was to drive up the Pacific NW, gradually meandering up the coast on what was promised to be a spectacular drive. I was truly hoping to have a co-pilot for this part of the trip, but was also determined to make it happen with or without someone in the passenger seat.
About two weeks before departure, and by luck not by plan, I found the perfect travel companion: my longest tenured friend, Elizabeth. Elizabeth and I went to kindergarten together, graduated high school together and have managed to remain close across the space-time continuum.
Elizabeth and I have countless photos like the one here. I believe this was taken for a play we were in circa 3rd grade.
Here we are at her wedding 3 years ago -- which was at her grandmother's house in Carmel.
There’s something novel about having such a good friend who has known you for almost your entire life as your co-pilot when making a major life transition. It’s especially helpful when this person happens to be one of the most easy going people you know. Elizabeth and her parents were visiting her Grandmother in Carmel, which meant that my trip North would start with a little detour South to pick her up. After running a sleep deficit that would rival the national debt (if there were some conversion), I arrived in the welcoming arms of my second family. It could not have been better therapy. That night, Fourth of July, without any firework fanfare, I fell asleep instantly – my first night of actual sleep since Memorial Day. It goes without saying that at that moment, I could have stayed in Carmel indefinitely.
Carmel: A refuge from the madness...
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