Relaxing on the River...4 days of Tranquility...

On Thursday we (Jessie, Cody, Clara, puppy Murry) and I headed to Tionesta, PA to the cabin on the Allegheny River...(Jason and Marley were already there. Jason having had work travel to do in PA the prior day.)

While the drive to Tionesta from Ohio is beautiful, it was not so enjoyable for me....Word of caution here: Do NOT, I repeat do NOT, go without Sonic for a week and then in one day eat a Sonic BLT croissant with tots, and a BLT and cheddar peppers later in the same day...Also do NOT try to re-heat Sonic...Even it means you will have to go days without Sonic because the nearest one is an hour or so away...do NOT re-heat Sonic...Sonic is intended to be eaten in the car as soon as it is handed to you...Any attempt to defy this law of nature will result in feelings in your tummy that are unnatural and ungodly...So, since I learned the aforementioned from my own experiences - and am offering the advice to you completely free of charge (I told you, it’s a learning experience) you will understand that the drive to Tionesta was a little less lovely for me than it otherwise would have been...

AND I must admit we stopped on the way on Tionesta at, yep, you guessed it... a Sonic...Look, a few severe stomach cramps and fast poop can’t deter an Ohio-ian that often has to wait weeks at a time for her Sonic fix...

((And fast poop is Cody’s term for it...which I find humorous...And yes, I am discussing bodily functions and no I am generally not a fan of that type of discussion..BUT 1)It is more important for me to be real than it is for me to make sure that everyone who might be reading this is really never offended by what I say... and I believe I forewarned you about that 2) I’m sure you’re probably thinking I have no shame (or something worse than that) and you’d be right...I have no shame...and whatever it is you’re thinking of me now, I’m quite certain worse things have been thought and even said directly to me...and guess what, I survived... and 3) that’s a pretty astute definition and somehow less offensive than other terms for the same problem - and when you’re not experiencing -- an even humorous -- term for what is no doubt an offensive feeling to endure....4) as a bonus, I’m pretty certain the 2 pounds I gained in DC are no longer an issue... 5) oh, and by the way...everybody poops...))

Anyway, I was certain a big old Route 44 Sonic Diet Dr Pepper with vanilla would not make matters worse...and it did not. In fact it made the drive to Tionesta bearable if not pleasurable...

The cabin is breathtaking...and stress-taking and worry-taking...and anything you want to get rid of -taking... It’s fabulously amazing...And, while I am uploading pics to the Shutterfly Share site, I don’t know that there’s any way that mere copies of the images that I drank in, digested, and was nourished to my very soul by can ever do the setting justice...But check the pics out anyway and multiply your wonder by 100 and you’ll have some idea how incredible the place is... (http://queenstraveltourpics.shutterfly.com/)

After unloading our things at the cabin, making a quick trip back into Tionesta to the grocery store and having a hot dog dinner (or for me saltines and skim mozarella cheese slices) the kiddos went to sleep and we settled down by the fire pit to talk, laugh and relax. The weather was lovely...cool enough to need long lounge pants and a hoodie (which were also needed because of mosquitoes and other woodland bugs) but not so cold that it was even for a moment unpleasant. Jason retrieved the spotlight at some point because we kept hearing loud splashes in the river. I was hoping for a bear (I’m always hoping to see a bear -- and not at the zoo --, but even when I go to Ruidoso and stay at a place where they swear they have bears and have pics to prove it posted in frames all around the front desk...nope, no bear) and I was again disappointed that our splashing friend at the cabin was apparently just a really big fish and not a bear...

And so Thursday ended...And I slept on the comfy couch in the cabin...The windows were open and the fresh clean air made the comfy quilt even more comforting...While the couch in the cabin isn’t as extravagant as the crisp high thread count sheets of the DC Hyatt, it is somehow just as luxurious and incredibly wonderful.

Friday... after the fog rolled off the water and above the trees, I went out to take a few pics of the serene setting around me and just soak in the tranquility...I saw what was the absolute best photo op -- and missed it, sorry, the batteries went dead on my camera at precisely the wrong moment -- A large brownish bird, which may have been a hawk, or an eagle (and I’m going with eagle because bald eagles do nest in the area around the Allegheny River near Tionesta and it makes a better story (- poetic license, remember)) swooped down, skimmed across the surface of the water and sailed away above the trees with its breakfast fish clutched in its talons. It was beautiful and you’re just going to have to trust me on this...

When the kiddos and Jes settled in for a nap, I headed out to the adirondack chair under the shade of the big tree and listened to the surging, mumbling, gurgling river traveling over the rocks. The smell of fresh cut grass and the splattering of sunlight on my shoulders, legs and grass made me feel that this was the perfect environment to do some thinking, writing, reading, and well, just breathing...really breathing...breathing in life...

I thought a bit about how much I was loving my time at the cabin and also about how different this place is from DC -- although as you know, I loved it too --I'd never been to DC, but I’d been to the cabin before. In fact, the cabin was the last place that Garrett and I traveled together. The river is where Garrett learned to fly fish and became interested in tying flies. It was where (or Ohio, actually) where he took his first and only plane trip to. It was the place that I think he really became obsessed with fishing. He’d done and loved it before, but couldn’t get enough of it after we left this place and couldn’t wait to share his fly fishing expertise with Travys. I suppose on some level I was reluctant about this part of the travel tour for that reason...But I found that this time, as I have many times in the last two years, that I am blessed to be immensely comforted by memories rather than tormented by them. I also thought about how different this place is from DC in that DC was all sights and sounds, hustle and bustle...and here it’s peace. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there are many things to see, the water flowing over the rocks, the birds plunging from the sky to get a drink, the trees stretching toward the beautiful blue sky, but there aren’t things here you feel like you have to see or need to see...although maybe these really are the things more people need to see. This vacation unlike the DC leg of the travel tour requires little walking or physical activity, but a walk from the lake up the tree-lined drive is enjoyable and seeing the river, trees and cabin from numerous vantage points is certainly pleasurable to enjoy. And so for a while, I walked, I looked, I thought, I simply breathed...and loved the life I was breathing in...

The late afternoon was spent playing in the river. Jessie and I pulled the green plastic stacking chairs down into the edge of the water and let the stress wash downstream with the occasional leaf and long twigs of river weed. Cody and Clara splashed about in the water and I waded out to where my capri pant legs were getting wet, but not so far that I might slip on an algae covered rock and float away...And no, I probably wouldn’t have actually floated away, but the current in the Allegheny was stronger than I suspected.

We went back in to the cabin after a few hours and headed in to the less than booming micropolis of Tionesta to the farmers’ market. We bought yellow squash, cucumbers, zuchini and a fresh baked blackberry pie for dinner. We also stopped by the Tionesta General Store where the highlight of the wares would have to be the Mossy Oak lingerie, which comes in both regular camo and pink and black camo...and which assured me that everywhere you go there will be something that will make you realize that there are real redneck, kountry (yes, with a K) people everywhere and everywhere there are there are things that only they would think of to make and market and that would appeal to them...

After we ate a great dinner prepared on the grill, we sat by the fire and enjoyed a glass of wine while Cody and Jason did a little fishing -- they didn’t do as well as the bird this morning...they still seemed to enjoy it. It was another relaxing and refreshing day in absolutely beautiful surroundings.

As I wrapped up in the comfy quilt and waited for my dreams to begin, I enjoyed the cool crisp air coming in the cabin windows and marveled at the beauty I’d viewed, the joy I felt, the realization that the thought I’ve had so many times that not having the life I wanted doesn’t mean I can’t have a life I want is so true, and just feeling so blessed and to be spending time with great friends, in the still calm quiet of such serene surroundings that made this peaceful portion of my journey such a true treasure.

Saturday...

Another lovely, lovely, lovely day...Took a shower and did NOT dry my hair or put on one bit of make-up...Somehow it seems easier to relax in nature without make up or hair spray or clothes that really touch you in any place besides the shoulders and waist...After the shower and the fog lifted, I read some on the deck. And while I brag a lot about my perfect reading spot at my apartment -- aka the magical balcony -- the air chair on the deck was a wonderful reading spot, too, a magical deck of sorts. After a little reading Jes & I spent a couple of hours on lounge chairs in the edge of the river soaking up the sun, relaxing, talking and laughing. And other than the annoying children (whose parents just happened to go off canoe riding and left them behind) it was an absolutely wonderful time -- and they actually did provide us with some pretty good things to laugh at through the rest of the evening. For lunch we all had sandwiches and such. I made mine in a utensil that one generally uses to make pies over an open fire. I made a yummy chicken and grilled cheese sandwich. And while my open fire cooking skills are far from expert, other than a tiny black spot on one piece of bread, it was a pretty good sandwich and was a new experience I enjoyed and am glad I had. I spent some time in the hammock and realized that I had really good cell reception there. I hadn’t really missed being somewhat disconnected from the rest of the world, BUT the Tech football season was soon going to be beginning in Lubbock and I really wanted to know that I could get updates and insight into other game day sights from Lara as needed. (Thanks for the updates Lara...Can't wait to be with you in our great seats next week)...

We spent the evening around another great campfire. We also had what Cody calls Smarshmallows...We made our own special smarshmallows by taking the Dove chocolate squares we had and cutting them into halves. When the perfectly roasted marshmallows came off the fire, we’d remove them from the roasting stick and place the chocolate piece inside the marshmallow...and voila...Smarshmallows...yum, yum, yummy...so good in fact that Cody made up a smarshmallow dance, which I would have done too, I am sure, had I not been so totally relaxed. I was so very relaxed. So relaxed, in fact, that I was barely conscious. This was a state that I must say I have rarely, if ever, experienced. I wasn’t just sleepy. I was just so completely stress free and completely at peace and relaxed that consciousness was almost an impossibility. So, at a little after 9 -- yes, 9 pm...crazy, I know for someone who stays up til 2 am on a very regular basis ...I gave up on the laughter and talking that was so enjoyable, but was also definitely the only thing keeping me conscious and went to bed early.

On Sunday morning we got up and packed up...It’s always hard to leave a place where so much beauty, joy, tranquility, laughter, and all the things that make life pleasant and serene are present. But we had to get back to Ohio. I had packing to do to get ready for the next leg on this tour -- Boston/Concord -- and we all needed showers or baths that were a little longer than what the cabin shower accommodated.

We stopped by Sonic, of course, on our way back to LaGrange and we arrived at the Grimmetts wonderful home late afternoon... I feel a little sad about being back only because it means I will soon be moving on. I have so enjoyed being with my friend and enjoying her family. I know I will miss them all so much...I think after almost two weeks Jessie and the rest were all starting to get used to me...Not quite used to me, but starting to adjust to the randomness and ridiculousness that is me...But at the moment Jessie is urging me to get in the shower and get the river funk off of me...For someone who loves luxury and fineries, it's hard for me to believe how reluctant I am to let that go...I've always known and embraced the fact that there are at least two sides of who I am and the opportunity to indulge and explore them both in one vacation is something I've truly enjoyed...I suppose a long, hot shower and the washing away of things will help me return to civilization and prepare for the next exciting solo leg of the Queen’s Travel Tour...Tomorrow morning I head for Boston/Concord MA...ALONE...unless, of course, you’ll come along with me...