Thought I’d share some of the road photos from our trip last weekend. We started in L.A. and went north up the I-5 (see previous posts), ending the two-day journey in Sisters, Oregon. The travelers were: my husband, Hari Bhajan Singh, who singlehandedly did all the driving for the two days; my son, Sat Sangeet Singh, who we picked up in San Francisco and then got stuck in a massive traffic jam for an hour; and our two pooches, Yoshi and Ria, who are always eager to get in the car and see where it takes them.

I thought of a great road poem by Gary Snyder that is one of my favorites–I spend a lot of time in New Mexico and Madras is only a few miles from Sisters and where I grew up in Redmond, so there’s some resonance with the places and also the space of leaving behind a life that wasn’t mine to go and do “what is to be done.”

More from Oregon and the journey back south to come. Enjoy and Be at Peace!

I Went into the Maverick Bar
Gary Snyder

I went into the Maverick Bar
In Farmington, New Mexico.
And drank double shots of bourbon
backed with beer.
My long hair was tucked up under a cap
I’d left the earring in the car.

Two cowboys did horseplay
by the pool tables,
A waitress asked us
where are you from?
a country-and-western band began to play
“We don’t smoke Marijuana in Muskokie”
And with the next song,
a couple began to dance.

They held each other like in High School dances
in the fifties;
I recalled when I worked in the woods
and the bars of Madras, Oregon.
That short-haired joy and roughness—
America—your stupidity.
I could almost love you again.

We left—onto the freeway shoulders—
under the tough old stars—
In the shadow of bluffs
I came back to myself,
To the real work, to
“What is to be done.”

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It gets a little cozy in the back of the car.

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Hari Bhajan Singh & the not-too-sure-about-this-ledge pups.

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At the edge of Crater Lake.

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Our number one rated rest stop located in Southern Oregon.

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Loved this road.

On Friday my husband and I and our two dogs are all piling into our car and heading north on the I-5 out of L.A., destination: Sisters, Oregon. We’re leaving at 5 A.M. (well, between 5 & 6) to avoid traffic and get through the hottest part of the state before noon. About half way through the day, when we get up near the Bay Area, we’ll take a left off the 5, go west on the 580 and stop in Pleasanton to pick up our son, who’ll be waiting at the BART station with his backpack to climb in and join the troop. By early evening we hope to reach our stop in Dunsmuir at the foot of Mt. Shasta and relax at the Cave Springs Resort (rather rustic, but right on the Sacramento River under some tall pines).

In the morning, after breakfast and the obligatory dog walk, we’ll keep driving north (with a possible detour for a dip in a hot springs), over the California-Oregon border, pass by Crater Lake and all the while more and more trees, more and more green and above—those clear, blue skies that just make ya wanna dance or sing or cry, depending on the moment. We should roll into Bend by about 3 or 4; hit the health food store to stock up for the weekend and then the last twenty miles west, where the mountains will rise into view with their white cover and startling majesty.

When we come into Sisters we’ll take a slow turn right onto Camp Polk Road, drive three miles past the Sisters airstrip on the right, Indian Ford Ranch on the left then curve right, turn left at Sage Meadows. We’ll pull up into the driveway, park the car under the Ponderosa Pines, with the aspens and wildflower meadow to greet us. The doors will open and the dogs and the three of us will pour out, exhausted and exalted. And, there we will rest for the week. And play. And walk. And watch for deer and geese and owls and eagles. And look up at a million stars at night. And breathe deeply. And be thankful. Be so thankful.

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Mt. Jefferson and the meadow from our yard.

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The house in Sage Meadows

I took only four photos when I was in New Mexico this last week. My friend and I were driving on the road from Santa Fe to Espanola and I had her pull over so I could take these. I figured I would post one but they are all spectacular so thought it best to share the wealth. The vastness, the amazing beauty is transcendent.

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