It's all in a day's travels (countdown 48 hours till departure)

Am about to take a nap in a �hut� Martha Stewart would envy. After meeting
Rosie�s parents, I can see where she gets her charm, sweetness, blue eyes,
good hugs, and style. The former playhouse that I am staying in has tiny
white curtains and is lined in Christmas lights� the bed is clad in a
beautifully worn quilt. I also appreciate the hand painted nature
silhouette border that surrounds the space�. I could go on and on. It�s
great to stay in a place and really feel the love seeping out of it.

Onto the quite amusing story of my day today� well perhaps I should start
last night because I haven�t written in a while. My last night in Arcata
was very d�j� vu� same red skirt and CCAT had a potluck. At the potluck we
enjoyed such games as the notorious �Big booty� (not what it sounds like at
all, it�s a camp style game appropriate for children), and the ever popular
�avoid the guitar kid�. I sported the intern sash just because. Again, I
found myself saying farewell to wonderful people I didn�t get to spend
enough time with�Then the evening drew to a close with a light rain and
glorious winds. Just like the last time I left Arcata (okay, so not
*exactly* like the last time� but reminiscent of) it was suggested that we
take a small group night hike. Under the dripping redwoods we quietly hiked
listening to our feet on the trail. This time we actually found my favorite
tree (which made me very happy). So we left the trail to huddle into the
hallowed out stump for some silence, chatting, laughing, raindrop catching,
and singing (all of which were most appreciated). Feeling much better
having said farewell to my tree we left the woods and walked back to CCAT.
Inevitably getting to bed a little later than planned I finally hit the sack
around 1 am.

� only to get up at 6:45 to meet Valentina in Eureka to go down to Rosie�s
parents house. This is when the day�s adventures began� Noelle and I take
Liz�s car and shortly after departure realize the gas is below �E�. Dang.
So we stop to get gas� except, wait-for-it, she drives an old thunderbird
which is only a problem if you have to put gas in it� because the gas tank
doesn�t have a groove to pop it open with your finger, leading us to believe
it�s among the breed of car that require enough forethought before exiting
the car to hit the �open gas tank� button. Minor hold up, so we look for a
button�. But wait, it�s not in any of the usual locations (to the left of
the driver, on the floor, in the glove box). So after much deliberation and
having no other option, we just decide not to put gas in the car because we
can�t get the tank cover open. (Sidenote-we later discover that the
illusive button lives in the console.) We make it to the Eureka CO-OP just
before 8. Valentina apparently lost power last night and subsequently track
of the time� but she assured us she was on her way. Indeed she was. After
a tiny goodbye to Noelli, I got in the car with Valentina and we hit the
road. No big deal. The rain stopped, and it was just the sun shining
brightly through the tall, tall trees. It was turning out to be a good day
after all.

Valentina mentioned her car occasionally overheats. Not a minute later I
noticed that the little gauge read over the H. Rats� so we�ll turn on the
heat and add coolant. Except it turned out we actually had windshield
fluid, not coolant. Not a problem, we�ll just add water� and we did and on
we went� not another minute passed and it was up over the H again. So we
stopped at the next gas station and added coolant to what I now know is the
wrong spot. Woopsy doodle� Valentina asked a random customer if he knew
anything about cars. He responded that he knew a little. So she asked him
what he thought was wrong because her car was overheating and shaking. He
said not to worry too much about the overheating, because we just added
coolant, but he recommended we stop by a tire place down the street about
the shaking. Reluctantly we went to the place he suggested and an eager
employee came out and asked what problems we were having with our car. Wait
a sec. if our fan isn�t actually working, perhaps it�s just a switch that
needs to be replaced. He sent us to a parts store just down the street a
bit. There a grandmotherly woman came out from behind the counter to look
at the car and then regretfully told us that she doesn�t carry the part we
might need, but we should go across the street because they have a staffed
mechanic. We arrive at the prototype of all garages: with burly, bearded
men smoking cigarettes or cigars, covered with grease, listening to eminem
in the background. One guy comes over to our car and asks what the problem
is. We tell him it�s overheating and the fan doesn�t work. He adds coolant
to the radiator (apparently this is where you�re supposed to put it� huh�.)
and then has Valentina start the car. I guess it�s not a good thing at that
point for the coolant to shoot out the top of the radiator because Mike
definitely grimaced when it happened. Then he told us that this means the
head gasket is blown and that takes a week and $1500 to fix. Dang�

This is the part when SuperMama comes to our rescue (that�s my mom who
bought me Triple A plus, even though I don�t have a car right now). With
regular Triple A you can get a free 5 mile tow, but with Triple A plus you
get a free 100 mile tow. So I call them up and ask about it. The operator
asks where we want to go� I ask him to see how far it is to Petaluma
(Rosie�s house). From that rinky-dink tire garage to Rosie�s doorstep it
was 98.6 miles� WOOT! (that means yippee!) So we call and get a ride with
a driver who works for Darcy�s towing company. He tells us random stories
about past customers, the towing industry, his kids and wife, and how he�s
financially well off. Also, he told us that he often gets little or no
sleep between shifts� hmmm� doesn�t make one feel entirely safe�. But we
were almost there, I mean here�. And that brings me up to the present�. What
a day it has been. Now I�m planning to enjoy a nap in this lovely little
nook. Goodnight.
Love,
mn