Day 2 - A million miles away

So it's day two and I feel like I'm a million miles away from Bainbridge. And perhaps I am. Let's face it, I live on a small island 10 miles by 3 miles - if that. Small, quaint, postage stamp size - you can get around fast, but it is home and the island is that of gold. Now I'm in the belly of a whale, the Sacramento Valley a 1000 miles by 500 miles. Vast, bright open land spaces, cluttered with houses, strip malls and car lots. Architecture from the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's pass by the window as you drive down I-5. It's either new or old or in between. And the old looks quaint, the medium looks used and the new is lifeless. They say this is California, the land of opportunity. To me......it's different.

I've traveled 515 miles today. I traveled 515 miles today in a car with 4 girls under the age of 8 years old and two women over the age of 35. Needless to say, once we settled into the hotel tonight......after the drive down I-5, the broken records of "Are we there yet", i-Pod's mixed with bathroom breaks, naps in between dvd's on portable players, swimming in hotel pools, pizza, juice paks and whiny kids staring at a T.V. like zombies.......I had a drink. Chelle and I shared a bottle of wine. She's tired......I'm tired. But I'm anxious.

I'm anxious to travel through I town I knew 30 years ago but don't know today. And I'm anxious to see my dad. I love my dad. He and I both now have cancer. We have a bond.....and I wonder will it bring us closer. Is he part of the vastness....the whale, the place I used to know. While now, I'm part of the quaitness and the island the home I've grown to love....