We are here we are here

One day early, we are here. Hmm. I don't think I want to pay the 100+ bucks to stay at the Town & Country Resort/Convention Center for an extra night. I don't know if I want to spend another night at a cheapo motel like I did last night in Oceanside. You know what? This is boring. Update: I found San Diego, I found the resort, now all I have to do is wait another 23 hours before registration starts. Easy.
 
I've been forcing myself to drive around to find the suggested grocery stores, malls, etc. I've had a few hours of southern California freeway traffic by now, so it's getting easier each time I roar onto an entrance ramp.
 
Fellow Saanich student Bettina is checked in at the resort, but was not in her room when I showed up. Other student Rhiannon is here, too, apparently on University Avenue, too (I'm at Starbucks, she was at Whole Foods) -- anyhow. I expect I'll see them both very soon.

Practising, practising

I have stuck bits of paper to my dashboard with Bikram dialogue printed in block letters. If you were to drive alongside me on the I-5 and take a glance, you'd see me talking away animatedly about head up, chin up, spine straight, etc. The only trouble is that while concentrating on the road and glancing at the script, I can't appreciate the beautiful N. Californian scenery. I think I'm in Willows, at the local Starborgs. There's something about this part of CA, flat farm landscape, driving to the big city of Sacramento, that is reminiscent of driving between Edmonton and Calgary. Vast countryside with distant city buildings.
 
Life in Vaudeville notes: got stuck in an elevator at the rundown Ramada in Redding last night, with a pizza. No harm done, and I didn't even snack. Note #2: I was delighted with the video Bettina took of me practising the Bow Pose with the expert Bikram instructor at the Sept. 12 clinic. The same instructor who asked that the video be removed from Facebook forthwith. Heh. I hope no lasting harm is done, since the instructor [whose name I am now too cautious to post to my silly blog] is going to be in San Diego, teaching us both. The video's down, we promise. Sorry about that.

Yer Basic Humblin' Farewell

I took my last class yesterday (Weds.) at 3:45, with the luminous Namastasia at the helm. After the pranayama breathing, she gave a warm smile and announced to the class that I was about to head off to teacher training. Then she cocked an eyebrow at me and asked if I'd like to lead the class in the Half Moon/Hands to Feet pose. Uhhhh...oh sure, what the hell, I know it, right? Wrong, wrong, little yogini-in-training. Quite a few more pauses and stutters before Anastasia leaped to the rescue. This was *exactly* the wakeup call I needed, too. That's the proof of a great teacher.
 
So, anyway: I'm in Portland, having wasted a little time at Target, and a bit of cash, and now to hit that old I-5 and see how far I get today. Rainy and foggy is the forecast. Determined and still slightly sheepish is my mindframe.

And away we go!

Tonight I'm taking the Victoria-Port Angeles ferry. I don't quite know where I'll sleep (I'd say "crash," except that seems like bad luck when you're on a road trip), but probably somewhere in Washington, off the I-5. To do before the ferry: just about everything I was supposed to accomplish over the last couple of weeks. Well, I've always been a last-minute packer and forgetter. I just hope I won't forget anything too crucial today. Like my yoga outfits.

And a partridge in a pear tree pose

Three boxes of Emergen-C, one vat of Vega Sports Recovery mix, one tin of brown rice protein dust, three boxes of energy bars, a collapsible cooler, a hockey water bottle and a 1-gallon insulated jug. These are the things I'll carry to San Diego.

Just so we're clear

The fact that I'm driving to this yoga school does not in any way mean I plan to be the groceries courier for others over the next nine or so weeks. If others want to come shopping with me, fine. But run errands for others on my own time? No.

NOT SO SMART

Just left my bank card in Canadian Tire, dammit dammit dammit. Could I be distracted? Disorganized? Dippy? All of the above. But I did get my maps and route planner for the drive to San Diego, so that's something. And I did get an insulated drinks jug for the yoga tent in San Diego, as well as a hockey water bottle ('though I promise not to swish and spit in public).
 
My nerves? Jingle-jangle-jinglin'. Now to write a speech about midlife career changes, and my decision to be a Bikram yogini. Naturally this is a humorous speech.