Morning

It is 10:30 am.  I am sitting outside as I wait for my glass perculator top to show the right shade of brown.  We pulled into our campsite at 2:30 am and decided to sleep in the van as we could not see our surroundings and didn't want to disturb our neighbors.  We were exhausted.  A twisty, windey road ... with the dark, foggy night and the constant warning from the straight drop down cliffs and the manmade signs reminding us of the tsunami hazard that led us here.  So many travelers walking roadside!  A direct road to sunny southern California for them.  Away from the heroin tainted, rainy, chilly Pacific Northwest.
At the slightest break of morning light we were woken by a rooster's crow.  Hee hee hee...  is it because I am the mother of three boys that I find his chest puffing strut and you-better-take-me-seriously call absolutely adorable??  Oh!  What a love he is!!  You tell me how tough you are, you strong man!  Love.  Love. Love.
So I sit here, the furthest point from home so far, tired from the night... weighing the risk vs benefit and questioning  our choice to embark on such a journey with our four most precious little humans.  I am so proud of us for this trip!  Everything is filthy.  I don't enjoy dirt.  I am not comfortable on dirt.  Dirt covers my feet, the feet of my children, my pillow, my coffee pot.... and I am learning to just let it be.  To let myself be.  I have heard the kids laugh more in the last week than I have the entire previous six months.  Casper.... he's doing it.  And happily so!  Oscar has become a master of tent assembly and camper set up.  He's learned important life lessons on thr importance of leadership and brotherly love.  Brian is getting his thirst for adventure quenched with every roadside stop.  Tuesday is continuing her life lesson of relearning to trust.... and being together as a big, safe and uninterrupted family is helping her to fall back into the bubble she so desperately seeks.  Milo has had a rough transition though... my favorite words from him were said through the walls of the tent  on the first night camping. ..  "Mom?"  "What sweetie?"  "This really isn't working out".  Hee hee hee.  He's working through the challenges very well though.  Every playground, every beach, every hill, every trail... he's the first one there.  He's the one laughing and exclaiming "WOW!"  So, I know he's fine.  He's like me though in that he does not suffer in silence.  And that's ok. 
The coffee has finished brewing and my cup is halfway finished.  Today I will read a book, drink coffee and we will dance with the redwoods.