The Move

On April 18 we packed up what we thought was all of our stuff in an U-Haul and trekked it up to Eureka to store at Matt's parents house. With the truck only a third full it appeared as though had succeded in sheding most of our worldy posessions. Matt manuevered the U-Haul trailing behind me in Ariana's Volvo S40. We took two cars since the U-Haul was only a one-way drop and Ariana had faith in me to navigate her precious Blue Lightening for the long drive up north. We had sold our Subaru a week earlier to a young law student so once again we were back to our car-less roots in SF. It was the perfect time of year to drive through the wine country and to wind through the redwoods because everywhere you looked fresh green grass sprouted from the hillsides. We made a pitstop about halfway in Hopland at the Blue Bird Cafe for BTLs and burgers. We refueled the gas guzzling U-Haul and Ari's race car and continued on up. I couldn't get over how many people actually drive at the speed limit or below 65 mph. I'm no road warrior but I at least like to drive with some purpose. We finally made it up to Eureka about 6 hours later.

Matt was a tetris master strategically packing nearly all of the boxes into his childhood room closet. Leave no trace was our motto. His parents, Marilyn and George, and aunt and uncle, Patricia and Jim, spoiled us with delicious meals, toasty chocolate croissants, G&T's and strong coffee. One of my favorite nights was up in Trinidad at Moonstone Beach Restaurant. We sat overlooking the ocean watching the sun dip behind the haze far off the coast. With magnificently large redwoods trees lush with fern coverings practically dancing along the beach it's hard to say that's theres a place on earth more magical or spectacular than in Humbolt County. For Matt and for myself it gave us a great sense of peace to walk among the redwoods one last time and to have the family up there all to ourselves. It was a brief trip that left little time for games, although the padres did manage to swindle about 4 bucks from Matt and I in a friendly hold'em game.

(April 21) The condition by which we agreed to Ariana's car was that we had to drive it all the way back to SF. The only hiccup was that it was our time to spend with my mom, Carol aka Cah, Cahberger or just the Berger, back in Rohnert Park. We made a formula one pit stop to drop off our bags at Cah's and then drove the final hour to SF. An even quicker turnaround there we were on a express bus back up to RP. Dinner was at none other than El Favorito, Cah's favorito Mexican restaurant. We then spent time with my brother Sean, his wife Lori and their two boys, Ty & Brady.

We had a busy calendar of activities but most importantly the baptism of one of my oldest and dearest friends Devin and Karen's son Nicklaus. Just east of Santa Rosa is a retirement community called Oakmont with lavish golf courses and a small Catholic Church where the baptism took place. It was a special little ceremony for wee little Nicklaus and he was serene in white. Later in the evening after the reception for Nicklaus my highschool girlfriends gathered as the men folk played poker. It was a bit of a trip to go from girlie slumber parties to mini-daycare with 8 kids and 7 women. Time is masterfully sneaky the way it robs you of youth even when you still feel and are young. It is wonderful to see those you've shared your most intimate secrets through the years with whisper with the same tenderness sweet words into the ears of their children.

After all of the babies and toddlers were put down for the night, I joined the boys in some poker. Being one of only a handful of that highschool crew without kids I felt I had to represent the "non-saggers" if you will. It was worth the trip out to Cotati to steal some cash out of the pockets of Petaluma's finest. The next day with my adreline still pumping from my winnings Matt and I met up with Karen for a walk around Spring Lake up in Santa Rosa. We solved most of the worlds problems in the time it took to walk up, down and around the lake. Afterwards Cah made some mouth watering salmon for dinner.

It was a whirlwind of familyand friend goodbyes. The reality of the trip still manages to elude me. All these places that I have called home still feel like home. I guess that it is a good thing knowing that those places will always be there. Finally Cah drove us back down on Monday (April 24) to our apartment for the final clean-out, the home stretch.