Hoskinwood Family

Can it really be two years later??? It hardly seems possible. SO much has happened in two years it seems. Why am I posting after so long? Well, two of my mom's friends stopped by during my lovely visit home the other evening and we were all visiting. Someone joked, I believe it was my friend Jeffrey T, that I should send out updates of my whereabouts so that people could keep up. He commented that he used to enjoy my funny emails during my travels in Europe. I had heard that before as well and was flattered and glad that people can enjoy random stuff that I type into my keyboard whenever I find myself in the mood to do so and with spare time. So here I am again, bringing with me news from my life, peppered with some commentary on anything, everything, and nothing.

July 2nd 2008 finds me about to board a plane to Maui. Yes, I fly out in seven hours actually. Why am I blogging if I'm flying out in a few hours? Well, I will be in the air for nine hours, and in airports for three. So I figure I will need to fill the time with some slumber while on the plane and that is sure easier to do when you start off with little sleep. Heck, it's practically a family tradition at this point - to stay up late and fly early. I imagine that's the way it works with plenty of other people as well. There is a lot to do before traveling! I managed to pare my belongings down to two bags, one carry-on, and one HUGE purse (thanks cuz!). Mind you, I am going to Maui tentatively for at least three months, so packing light isn't a real viable option. There is no room for error these days, with airlines charging $100 if you go one pound over fifty. That is why I weighed my bags at a veterinary clinic before departing and also why I had to leave some very cute shoes behind. A woman at the veterinary clinic pointed out that Petsmart does have big scales for pets in their store, so that is where I'll go next time and not have to lug my big bags into a little veterinary clinic lobby. Any justification to hold my head up a little higher, I'll take it!

Do I go backward or foreward when trying to catch up on the last two years? I'll just stick with the most recent and try to tackle more later. I have been living in Mammoth Lakes, California, since November '07. It is about 45 minutes south of Yosemite National Park in the Eastern Sierras. It is extremely beautiful and known for its mountain biking, alpine sports, fishing, camping, hiking, hot springs, and dirt biking. It is a wonderful place and start of me is still hoping I made the right decision to leave it. But the good thing about places, locations, they'll always be there for you to come back to if you decide. I was bartending for the mountain at Mammoth Mountain Inn and substitute teaching. Then the work got pretty scarce and I decided to move on, again. An opportunity opened up for me in Maui, working part-time as a nanny for an owner of a hostel. The boy is five years old. I will live five minutes from my brother and sister-in-law. I will also substitute teach there and maybe bartend also. My goal is to focus on getting healthy, and get back on my feet financially.

I said farewell to my wonderful Mammoth friends ten days ago with the station wagon all packed up and headed east for Kansas to spend some time with Philip before going to Dallas.


I am flying out of Dallas for Maui. It was 1,452 miles to Junction City, Kansas, from Mammoth Lakes. I left about five p.m. on a Saturday, and drove until about 1:30 a.m. I then proceeded to squash myself up as much as possible in my front seat and get some shut eye. Being short occasionally has its advantages. I did this for two reasons: 1) I am short on money and couldn't justify $70 or so to sleep for a few hours. 2) There were no hotels in the part of the country where I was traveling. I was about an hour or more west of Green River, Utah, on Highway 6. I found a great little rest area with many other cars there resting for the night. Besides, the doors were locked and the key in the ignition. There are many other more dangerous situations to be in than this one. We could contemplate the validity of my argument all day right, about the safety of this? But really that would just be boring and I'm going to do what I want anyway if it's what I want to do. Just ask my Mom. ;)

I hit the road again the next morning about 8:30. I was just coming out of the rest area after cleaning up and looked up to see a huge bus load of Asians headed right at me, on their way to use the restrooms. I was pretty glad of my good timing. Because really...who wants to brush their teeth and wash their face (and dry it on air dryers!) in front of 40 strangers? I had to giggle a little bit because they just looked so darn euphoric, and were snapping photos in front of the rest area. I always marvel at what large groups Asian folk tend to travel in.

The drive through Utah on Highway 6 and then onto I-70 was so gorgeous! That particular area of Utah was just a bit south of Canyonlands National Park and the canyons that I could see from the highway at least were just so amazing.

I was snapping photos as best I could from the driver's seat while whizzing by them, and stopped at a few scenic spots as well. I drove all the way to Denver and arrived there around 6:30 that evening. I spent a couple of hours in Green River having breakfast and reading the paper, so that is why I didn't make the best time. My friend Amanda lives in Denver and I had not seen her in two and a half years or so. I contacted her and luckily she was free that evening, so I was able to get to spend some time with her for the night and get a good night's rest also. I left early the next morning and drove the last 490 miles to Kansas. It took about seven hours.

Philip met me at our hotel shortly thereafter and I proceeded to spend the next seven days in Kansas.


I will leave more of those details for another blog post. It is almost two a.m. so I'd better wrap this up and get at least a few hours of sleep before tomorrow morning's departure. Thanks for checking out my blog and I'm really going to try and stay more on top of this time. I hope that I can keep to it. I was so touched during this short visit home how many people went out of their way to spend some time with me and were so interested in my latest "doings." It means a lot to me that I have so many great kind and caring people in my life. I hope that I show the kind of warmth and kindness to others that they have sure shown to me.