Back to Reality

Yesterday was the final leg of our sabbatical, the plane ride home. My dad is staying for another two and a half weeks so my mother, sister, and I flew out of California and (miraculously) ended up in Des Moines. My grandmother picked us up at the airport and drove us home. Even though it was raining when we arrived, I was so happy to see my house again. I was so happy to sleep in my own bed, in my own room, in my own house.

Two hours after we got home I went to youth group. I couldn't stay away from my friends any longer and surprised them by showing up at church. I was soon caught up on everything that had happened while I was away. Even though I was dead tired we went to get ice cream after youth group and had a good time.

It is strange being home after being gone for over a month. Sometimes it seems that I was never really gone at all. I am so glad to be home, though, and since there are only six more weeks before school starts again I have to make every second count.

Sabbatical Day 32/Last Day at the Beach

I woke up to a cloudy morning. We had planned to leave for the beach after breakfast but decided to wait for the clouds to disperse before putting on our swimsuits. It was just before noon when we finally decided to just go with it and headed out to the beach for the last time together (at least for now). When we got there we were dazzled by warm sunshine! We had lunch on the beach and played in the surf all afternoon. The water was clear here but full of seaweed. I went to wave jump and was suprised by the seaweed that wraped itself around my legs. Yuck!

We met a pastor from Point Loma University for dinner so we had to leave the warmth of the beach and hurry to get ready for our last meal as a family during sabbatical. After a delicious dinner and great conversation we headed our separate ways. We are sitting in our Point Loma apartment and my mom, sister, and I are finishing our packing for our plane ride home.

It is sad to think that what we have been talking about for over six months has finally come and gone. We have had a good time together and as I sit here typing I realize that there aren't many family vacations left. I am so grateful that we have had this opportunity, no matter how homesick we have felt at times.

Sabbatical Day 31/Village Pier

We attended First Church of the Nazarene on the Point Loma campus today. It was the first Nazarene church we have been to while on sabbatical and it was nothing like ours. After service we went to the Village Pier where we ate lunch and shopped all afternoon. There were a gazillion little shops and I am pretty sure we at least set foot in every single one of them. When we were sure we hadn't missed anything we left and came back to our little apartment to eat dinner.

That was the extent of our day. My mother, sister and I are starting to think about packing for our flight on Tuesday (but we are just thinking about it at this point). I can't believe that our sabbatical is almost over! Sometimes I feel like we have just begun; but I am excited to come home.

Sabbatical Day 30/Zoo!

I can't believe it is day thirty already! We have been gone for a whole month; it is amazing how time flies. Today we spent all day at the San Diego Zoo. I don't particularly enjoy walking around zoos but today was an exception. We saw so many animals today that I couldn't even begin to tell you about all of them so I will talk about my three favorites!

The first animal we saw was the Koala Bear. The Koala Bear isn't technically a bear, it is a marsupial because it carries its young in a pouch. I also learned that they sleep over twenty hours a day because their food, eucalyptus leaves, take so much energy to digest. There were so many Koalas and they were so ugly that they were cute. I loved their big ears and their big black nose and the way they looked at you with their beady little eyes; it was endearing.

The next animal that we saw that I immediately fell in love with was the Red Panda. It looks a little like a raccoon except is red, white, and black. I saw its raccoon like tail first and tried to get a glimpse of his face before he disappeared. This Red Panda turned to look at me and it had the most beautiful white face; he looked so innocent sitting on a tree branch, I just wanted to hug him.

One of the last animals that we saw was the New Guinea Singing Dog. It was the most beautiful dog I have ever seen; and it was so fearless. I wanted to take him home with me. These dogs are named "singing dogs" because when they howl it sounds like they are singing.

Sabbatical Day 29/San Diego

We left Oceanside this morning and an hour later arrived in our final destination, San Diego. We walked along the pier and looked up at navy ships. After spending some time by the water we went to Little Italy and ate the best pizza in the world. It was seriously good pizza. After we had stuffed ourselfs to the limit we headed out for Point Loma Nazarene University. We are staying in an apartment on campus; the most beautiful campus I have ever seen. There are palm trees all over and the whole thing overlooks the ocean. It it weren't so much money and you didn't have to have an incredibly high grade point average to be accepted, I would totally choose to come here for college.

We toured the campus for a few minutes and checked into our apartment before crashing on the couch. We were all so tired; I took a nap, it was wonderful. When we woke up we decided that it was time to eat again and explored a little more of San Diego. We went to another pier where we ate yummy Mexican food and walked along a cement pier. There were people everywhere fishing over the side of the pier. We saw one guy catch a baby shark! It was so beautiful on the pier.

Sabbatical Day 28/Market Time

We spent the day at the beach again. It was even warmer than yesterday. We drove to a different beach that wasn't as busy and "wave jumped" all morning. We ate our lunch on the warm sand and soaked up the sun for a few more hours. After we were sufficiently sunburnt we returned to our condo and ate dinner.

Since it is our last night here we didn't want to sit, rotting in our condo so we headed out. We ended up at the local city market. It isn't as big as the one back home but it was more diverse: the food, the items, the people. The smells were amazing and the music was even better. It was a perfect night - not too hot, not too cold. If I was a local I would be at the city market every Thursday.

Sabbatical Day 27/Relaxation

We woke up late this morning and headed straight for the water. It was so warm and relaxing. I was thrilled with the summery weather. We laid out on the beach all morning and returned to our condo for lunch. After we ate we went back to a more crowded beach and "wave jumped." If you have ever been to the ocean you have wave jumped. You go out into the water as far as you can and wait for a wave to come crashing down; as it hits, you jump in order to stay above the wave. It's exhilerating. I could see the salt particles sparkling in the sun. It was a very relaxing day. We ate dinner in the condo and (deciding to be rebelious) drank sparkling cider.

Sabbatical Day 26/Oceanside

To my great dismay we left San Fransisco this morning. We left early in order to drive through Los Angeles before traffic rush. We arrived in Oceanside around three and checked into our condo. Oceanside isn't the small town I thought it would be. There are people everywhere! This is the warmest city we have been in so far; today was the high of eighty. Our condo is even better than the one in San Fransisco. For starters, my sister and I have our own room and don't have to sleep on a pull out sofa. I can step out onto the deck and see the ocean. We also have a full kitchen, which we are all excited about because we are getting sick of eating out. Too bad we are only going to be here for three days.

The ocean here is different than in Fort Bragg, it is more calm and a lot warmer. We walked along the pier where at least a hundred people were fishing; it smelled like dead fish. What I love about this place is when you look into the horizon, blue meets blue, and you can't tell ocean from sky. We plan on spending the next two days at the beach, only returning to the condo when necessary.

Sabbatical Day 25/Independence Day

On this Independence Day in San Fransisco we went down to the wharf, along with the rest of the city. We took the street car again to the last stop on the wharf where we toured ships from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The oldest ship we boarded was the Balclucha; it was a ship built in Scotland in the 1880s used for grain trade. The wife of the captain had lived on the ship; she had decorated rooms in Victorian style as if it were a housen. A seaman named John Masefield said, "I saw those sailing seamen cotton-clad, housed in wet kennels, worm-fed, cheated, driven, three pounds a month, and small delight they had, save the bright water and the winds of heaven."

The next ship we climbed on was the Eureka! (I put an exclamation point at the end of the sentence because you can't say Eureka without being excited.) The Eureka! was one of the last steam ships to sail. It was so tiny; I couldn't imagine living on a ship for months. The steam ship is still run about three times a year so they know it still runs. In 1905 the secretary of sailers, said, "In jail my bunk would be no narrower, my food no worse nor I more lonely than in the forecastle."

We went to Ghirardelli Square to find a place to stop for lunch and ended up with free chocolate. Afterwards we visited a World War Two ship and submarine built by Rosie the Riveter. We took a tour of the submarine; it was so small. I had to walk sideways to get past some of the machinery. I learned that during the war eighty men called that submarine home for up to seventy days. The submarine mostly moved on the surface of the water because it was ten times faster than going underwater.

The World War Two ship was built out of mass produced materials in sixty days; it is colossal. It is a survivor of Normandy and after fifty years returned to Normandy for a sort of "reunion." We were able to go down four levels to the engine. The engine still runs and the ship goes out to sea every so often. It was such a great experience to be able to absorb that history.

We were so crazed after seeing an actual World War Two battle ship that we had ice cream before dinner. It was delicious. We sat on the curb and listened to live music while finishing our waffle cones. We finally decided to return to our condo and walked through the crowded Independence Day streets. We walked through China Town and stopped at the Fortune Cookie Factory. (We got free fortune cookies!) They were making the cookies by hand and one of the workers were taking them off the cookie press and folding them to look like fortune cookies; it took all of a second and was way cool.

It is our last night in San Fransisco. We have to get up very early tomorrow in order to get through LA. Tomorrow night we will be at Oceanside.

Sabbatical Day 24/San Fransisco

This morning we went to church in the city. This is the fourth church we have gone to while on Sabbatical and definitely the best. The music was unbelievable; the singers were astounding. If I lived in San Fransisco I would attend that church. After the service we went out to this great Italian restaurant and window shopped for a couple hours.

We made our way to the Lombard which is known for being the crookedest street in San Fransisco. It was so crowded that we just decided to park our vehicle and walk up the street to look down on the traffic. It was more like climbing the street however, because it was so steep. In order to walk up the street I had to walk parallel with the ground. The crookedest street was a one way brick road; it literally was s-shaped all the way down and had the most beautiful gardens along the side of the street. We walked down the other side of Lombard street and looked up at the cars that were slowly making there way down the crookedest street. It was kind of beautiful, actually, standing at the bottom of the hill looking up at cars and gardens.

We climbed out way back up to our car and found the cable car line. The cable cars are old street cars that run on cables right down the middle of the street. They were built because horses and buggies weren't able to make it up San Fransisco's hilly streets. We took a round trip on the cable car. Sometimes they are so full that people hang out the side in order to make room for others.

Sabbatical Day 23/Alcatraz

It is official. I am in love with San Fransisco. We rode vintage street cars to the Fisherman's Warf and spent the morning at Pier 39. There were so many little shops that lined the pier and each one was more unique than the last. After a couple of hours of shopping we decided to find some food. I don't normally talk about about my meals but today my lunch was exceptional. We found a crepe cafe and I ordered a turkey pesto crepe. It was delicious.

After lunch we made our way to the Alcatraz loading dock. We climbed onto a ship that took us to the island a mile and a half away. The first thing you notice about the island is the smell - dead fish and salt water. Before touring Alcatraz I had preconceived notions but now I know so much more about the lifestyle of not only the prisoneres but also the wardens and their families. Alcatraz as an island has a lot of history. It started out as a military fortress during the Civil War; then it was turned into an army prison. The prison was built by the cons themselves. In 1930 it was too costly for maintenance but was saved by the cons like Al Capone and The Bird Man. It was made into a Federal Bureau of Prisons or a penitentury. There were thirty six cons on "The Rock" that tried to escape. Seventy employees and their families lived on the island. The prison was closed in 1963 because of deterioration and lack of funds. In 1969 American Indians claimed the island as their home and lived there for 19 months; during that time the Indians regained their independence and reminded the America who was here first. The National Park service took over Alcatraz in 1972 and has been a tourist attraction ever since.

"Break the rules you go to prison. Break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz." Alcatraz was a feared place; prisoners dreaded the day they were told they were being moved to "The Rock." The last prisoner to leave Alcatraz, Frank Weatherman, said, "Alcatraz was never no good for nobody." The convicts were numbers not individuals. Being a prison guard at Alcatraz could be a dangerous job, especially when there were riots. The bureau of prisons said in 1946, "When men of courage and steadfastness lose their lives in the faithful performance of duty, there is little that need be said by those of us who did not face the danger. Their deeds speak far more eloquently." The history of Alcatraz is both sad and inspiring. The cons who ruined their lives give us grief yet the Native Americans who re-created their past in order to give themselves a better future give us hope.

Leaving Alcatraz was like lifting a weight off our shoulders. We returned to the pier and ate a delicious dinner at Bubba Gumps and returned to our condo, ready for a good nights sleep. Like I said, I am in love with San Fransisco and I can't wait for tomorrow's adventures.

Sabbatical Day 22/Golden Gate Bridge

I am sitting in a condo in San Fransisco! We left early this morning and didn't arrive until lunch. We stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge and were able to walk across it. When I first set foot on the bridge I was caught up in all the noise and the people. Once I looked out across the water everything stopped, the wind and view took my breath away. We were able to see the whole city from the bridge along with the island of Alcatraz. There were people everywhere; bikers, runners, businessmen. The ironic part of the bridge was that there were telephones all over; they were there for people to call help if they think they are going to jump. The bridge is over a mile long and we walked the whole length of it and back.

Reluctantly, we left the wonders of the Golden Gate Bridge and checked in to our condo. This city is amazing to me because the land isn't flat by any means. It is amazing how all these buildings could be built when it is so hilly there. We are staying in a Wyndham Vacation Resort near Chinatown. All Wyndham's are beautiful but this one seems exceptionally so. What I love about these condos is that no matter who you are they treat you like royalty. After we had settled in, we walked to Chinatown.

Chinatown is huge and we walked around for about an hour before finding a restaurant we were satisfied with. It is strange when you are in Chinatown because there are so few caucasians. While we were walking through the streets there was a band of elderly Chinese men. They were playing the most unusual instruments and when I smiled at one of the men he let me try to play it; it was kind of like a banjo. I got my picture taken with them.

Sabbatical Day 21/Beachcombing

Six o'clock in the morning is the time I was up today. My father got it in his head to get up early in order to see the ocean at low tide. I complied, thinking the earliest we would dream to get up while on vacation was eight. No, six o'clock in the morning and I was on a cold beach with wet feet.

Beachcombing at low tide was different than when we had previously searched for seashells. The water was farther out than I had imagined it could be. We stood at the edge of the water and thought that if it was high tide we would be completely submurged. We started out at a beach the locals call Ten Mile Beach, though I'm not sure why. Sand dollars were scattered all over the sand, some were in pieces but we were lucky enough to find at least ten whole ones, many of them have the surface area of my fist. To get to Ten Mile Beach you have to cross over a river. When we arrived at the beach we found that that same river cut through the beach and drained into the ocean. It was the craziest thing!

When we had a full bag of sand dollars we headed out to a beach that we were told had starfish. I was obstinate that we wouldn't find any. Ten minutes later I was proven wrong when we had found over thirty starfish! I touched one; they didn't feel slimy and squishy like I thought they were going to. The starfish were hard. It was fascinating.

We returned to our house and ate a large breakfast before taking a nap. Around noon we went out to the beach again and laid out in the warm sun. We were all so thankful for the perfect weather today since it is our last day in Fort Bragg. Tomorrow we leave for San Fransisco. Personally, I am genuinely excited to stay in a city for a few days. Plus, while we are there we get to see Alcatraz!

Sabbatical Day 20/My Magical Forest

We started off our day driving an hour to see the giant redwood trees. My first thought when I walked into the forest was that it was like a magical fairy garden. The redwoods were beautiful, the biggest one we saw was probably twenty feet wide and who knows how tall. Many of them were hollowed out and you wondered how they stood their ground. Moss grew over everything like a blanket of green. Sunlight was sparse, which made the forest seem even more enchanted. The roots from the trees that had fallen over shot up out of the dirt and reminded me of a crown. The dead trees had green life growing from them; trees growing from trees. Like I said, it was an enchanted forest.

After we had eaten a picnic lunch in the forest we went to find a new beach to explore. We came to a place that said there was a beach within hiking distance. We ended up at a cliff overlooking the beach. Not knowing if there was an easier or more direct way down we slid to the sand below us. We were the only ones down there; it was so secluded and we were surrounded by a wall of rock. We stayed there for about an hour or so before returning to our little house.

Sabbatical Day 19/Sea Glass

It rained all day; this wasn't normal Iowa rain, it was rain that swirled and misted and rose up from the ground. Persistent cold sparkles of rain that made their way to your pores and settled themselves into your bones. It was dreadful! And therefore, a sluggish day.

We didn't leave the house until early afternoon, when we went to the sea glass museum. I didn't learn much except the fact that it takes twenty to thirty years for glass to become "sea glass." Basically, it is trash that has been thrown into the ocean and turns up on the shore as treasure. Sea glass truly is beautiful and there are so many different colors; the most rare color is a shade of purple.

We left the museum and strolled the town for a couple of hours (yes, in the rain). While walking aimlessly we came upon a huge tree trunk that had been propped up on its rim for all the world to see. When I saw huge I mean huge! It was an old redwood tree that had been cut down for reasons unknown to me. It was over 1,000 years old, twenty two feet across, and some hundred feet tall. That was about the extent of our adventures today and we are all hoping it doesn't rain again.

Sabbatical Day 18/Alcove

My father went fishing in the ocean today so my mother sister and I had a girls afternoon. On our way to dropping off my dad a thick fog rolled in. It was the weridest thing, one minute beautiful sunshine, the next, you can hardly see the car in front of you. We went to the beach, even though it was freezing, and walked along the shore.

We walked into a little alcove which led even further down the beach. There were so many perfect seashells and even some sea glass. The fog was still thick at this point and it made the alcove seem even more enchanting. No one else was there and it was like we were the only people on the beach. It was so peaceful back there, we are definitely going back.

We left that beach and returned to one we were at a couple of days ago because my sister thought she saw a sand dollar. We didn't find any sand dollars but we did find a few more exquisite seashells. The mist finally lifted, like a curtain being pulled across the sky and we sat underneath the sun's rays until it was time to pick up my father from fishing.

Sabbatical Day 17/Horseback Riding

Since it was Sunday, we got up earlier than usual and headed off to church. After church we ate at a sushi house (no one got sushi) and then got dessert at an overpriced chocolate factory. We came back to the house and relaxed until it was time to go horseback riding.

I have never really been on a horse without someone leading me before so today's horseriding was quite an experience. My horse was named NightCap. He didn't really listen to what I was telling him to do but was a good enough horse to know how to follow the leader. I felt so tall when I got up in the saddle, it was a new feeling for me.

The ride took us through redwood trees and along the beach. We rode by a campsite and every few minutes you would hear a child squeel "Horsies! Look!" We reached the beach and the horses slowed their pace. A beach looks so much prettier on a horse. We all reluctantly turned around and headed back towards the stables.

When we got back "home" we headed to Glass Beach. Glass Beach was originally a junkyard. It was cleaned up about thirty years ago and smooth, rock-like glass washes up on the shore. Yes, that's right, I walked on glass. I am invincible.

Sabbatical Day 16/Fort Bragg Magic

We started out our day at the tide pools; there were so many little creatures to see. The tide pools were not what I thought they would be. We walked, slipped, and jumped across rocks and peeked into the habitats of unknown animals (unknown to us, anyway). I was informed that the animals adjust to their habitat and if you move them to a different tide pool they will probably parish, so we didn’t do a lot of touching. I was lucky enough to glance upon crabs and hermit crabs, small fish, and best of all starfish! Starfish are the coolest “fish” ever. Seriously, they are awesome.

We ate lunch on the beach, which unfortunately smelled of seaweed and dead fish. It reminded me a little of the “beaches” at home; the sand was coarse and hot beneath our feet. The waves crashed on the beach with such force that I was surprised any parent would let their child play in the water. Nevertheless, it was the perfect afternoon. My dad and I played volleyball near the water where the sand wasn’t so hot (our record was 145 touches! which I consider to be acceptable, since we were playing on a slope) and we all got a little sun burnt, some more than others.

For dinner, we came back to our little house where we stayed until we couldn’t sit still any longer. To pass the time we went to Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. It was closed when we arrived but we were still able to walk the land. The lighthouse was a beautiful rehabilitated building from 1909. There are eleven other structures on the land, three of which are light keepers’ homes. We decided we would definitely check it out and learn more about it when it was open.

There was a little cove near the lighthouse. We went over to see if there were any fish in it when suddenly what we thought was a rock moved. There were seals all over, playing in the water like children. They were so adorable we didn’t want to leave. It was the perfect ending to a day on the beach.

Sabbatical Day 15/California

After another day of driving, we finally arrived in California today. We are staying a week in the tiny town of Fort Bragg. We are staying in a garage that was renovated by an elderly couple to house pastors and their families when they are on vacation.

It is beautiful where we are staying; the house, I mean. The town is a little shabby but it has many unique stores that we are excited to snoop around in. The house, like I said, is a renovated garage. It has a bedroom/living room and a good sized kitchen. My sister and I are fortunate to sleep in a loft. Our loft overlooks the whole house and there are two twin beds, which we are both excited about.

On our way here, the temperature was in the upper eighties and sunny and I thought to myself, “This is going to be a great week. We can sit on the beach and get a tan and find sea shells in the water.” Well, we continued on our way and slowly, but steadily, the temperature dropped. It is now fifty degrees here. I am heartbroken. I was told by a local that the temperature rarely gets above seventy. We are going to make the best of it anyway and go see tide pools, where we shall find crabs, sand dollars, and starfish, and also we will go to see seals, which I heard were around here somewhere.

When we got here I insisted that we walk the beach, no matter how cold it got. After unpacking and buying more groceries than we have ever eaten in a week, we finally were able to stop at the beach. The sun was setting and the waves were crashing down but I decided to go out to the water anyway. It was so beautiful and the ocean called to me, I wished it was warm so I could lie down on the black sand (yes, the sand is black!). I kept walking and before I knew it I saw a big wave rolling in. You know what happened next. I was soaked! My jeans were heavy with sand and salt water and I couldn’t feel my toes because it was so cold. Let me tell you, I have never felt more alive.

Sabbatical Day 14/Salt Desert

We are staying the night in Reno, Nevada. No one is looking forward to a third day of driving but we are so thrilled that the weather is warm here. We are headed for Fort Bragg, California where we will be staying for a week.

On our way to Reno, we noticed that along the highway it was white, like snow. I looked at the dash and saw that the temperature read 82 degrees. Can’t be snow, right? Well we just had to stop and see what the blanket of white was and how far it went. We stopped at a rest stop and walked out to a sea of salt. Literally. The land was covered in salt as far as the eye could see. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before. We all walked out a ways and it stuck to our feet and our legs and sucked all the moisture out of our skin; a desert of salt.