Thursday, 14 November 2013
* Tir na nOg / Vegantopia, Blodgett, Oregon to Yreka, California *

As the veil between the worlds draws thin, travels between the realms of faerie, ancestors, and mortals becomes possible … November 7, 2013 marks the official Celtic New Year known as Samhain and is the pivotal point for these doors to open. It is a time to commune and walk with the ancestors … sharing respect and gratitude for the knowledge they’ve shared and gifted, the technology, the stories, the arts, magic, and wisdom.

Sleep deprived and exhausted, with only a few hours of sleep, and slightly hallucinating Sir Thomas Leaf got up to finish packing at 8 am, oversleeping the 6 am alarm he set. The explorers really hoped to hit the trail before light, but it wasn’t in the cards for them. Juggling baby Cian, house cleaning, laundry, and packing whilst rigging the Explorer Vardo for the journey was a sight to see. Several loads of laundry later, they were ready to leave around just before noon. Sad farewells to Lord Markey who’ll be holding down the sanctuary for the next 2 1/2 months while they embark on this adventure. Luckily Sir Athonwy will be popping in each Monday to do music and tempeh with him, as well as covering the DeDanann clan’s orders for the Tree Leaves’ Oracle. Sir Thomas Leaf was warm-hear-ted thinking how good to have community and family around again who help care for one another, and good to have another Irish-man like Athonwy to be part of his extended family, they’ll miss them. A light fog was breaking with rains taunting to begin as the delvers left Tir na nOg/Vegantopia farm and headed on towards Philomath. Realizing they might have left the baby sling behind almost caused a turn-a-round, but Sir Thomas Leaf has a steadfast rule with adventures to never turn around if one forgets something. They hit the Philomath post office and dropped off Lady Breanna’s Solstice gifts as it was the only chance they would have to send it before heading to Eire. They were tempted to stop at Safeway for Starbucks, but given that merchant always screws up their orders, it was easy to bypass for them. Overcast and cloudy day, the drive was misty and wet. Just like traveling through the veils from the fabled Tir na nOg. Onto I-5 south the travelers dropped into Springfield for a late lunch at Panda Express, for a Chinese junk-food fix (as it was the only thing they had time for) as well as a Starbucks Chocolate Chai Creme Frappacino break, and to pick up some bungy cords and towels for the journey from Target. Back on the road, the adventurers grabbed gas in Eugene at the biodiesel living Earth Eco-health food gas station known as Sesquicentennial.

Over the mountains they went – up and down grades 7%, past the village of Merlin, over the Rogue River, weaving their way to Ashland. Already dark, unable to reach their friend there, they pit stopped for Indian cuisine at the Taj Indian Restaurant on the river, with a stroll down through the Shakespeare Festival village. All the shops were closed, but they did manage some window shopping nonetheless. The explorers visited the famous Ashland Lithia Springs, took a sip of the horrid tasting healing waters for their journey south. Hitting the Am/pm for gas, the infamous Mid-Southern Oregon and Northern California experience of road dogs, hippies, and hitchhikers was true to its nature as a road dog ran into the convenience store while they were paying for gas to see if he could hitch a ride with the adventurers even though he was banned from entering the shop earlier that evening. He had no success with these travelers as they had a baby on board and not trusting with limited room. Am/Pm didn’t do lotto tickets, so they had to cross the bridge to Chevron to cash in their winning tickets. What Sir Thomas Leaf thought was only $10 of winnings turned out to be $20. He was super excited. They passed the road dog again heading south, after passing, he gave them an unhappy look going on by. Sir Thomas Leaf doesn’t trust American hitchhikers though, as too many deadly encounters seem to happen with this practice in the New World. One hears many horror stories. Crossing back up into the mountains with 6-7% grades again, passing dozens of trucks with their tortoise paced flashing lights they finally went over the Mt. Ashland Ski Resort pass summit, then back down to cross over into California. The weary delvers stopped for the night in Yreka at the Motel 6 for some shut-eye. Before bed, Sir Thomas Leaf processed receipts, filled an online order, and passed out watching the super-heroe Arrow fight crime.