Twists & Turns & Loops

Today was day four of waking up on the floor.

I’ve come to the conclusion that it is much better than waking up to intense heat radiating onto my skin. At least, now I know how Katniss felt that same morning her hair got singed with fire. Or, I’d like to think so.

As previously mentioned, nothing was specifically set for today. But there was one thing I needed to check off of my list of things to do: the dreaded financial aid scramble.

For some reason unbeknownst to me, I decided to attend a private, costly university. In that case, financial aid is necessary. However, there have been a few challenges - I have lacked to find some clarity with the office until the final week everything is due.

Since our campsite does not house internet connection, my mother and I went exploring for such a thing in order to complete this task. Soon, we found ourselves in the little town of Odell. While I was able to connect and offer up yesterday’s blog, I was unable to do anything about financial aid. Stuff still needed to be done on the other side before I could touch those payments.

Despite our failure, we made good use out of this trip.

We stopped by a grocery store in town that lacked many materials; however, we did acquire the jugs of water my mother was looking for. While checking out, we had a short conversation with our cashier about water. Apparently, she thought that Californian tap water is dirty. This made me question if that’s what people think in general about our state – dirty tap water? I hope not.

From what I know, our tap water isn’t dirty. Maybe she was just insane.

After our purchase, we took a trip to two locations on the ‘fruit loop’ that we had missed.

The first was Cody Orchard’s Farm Stand, which had to be the best stop yet. They housed some beautiful looking fruits. My mom picked out some peaches and nectarines while there, and the owner let us sample their ‘donut peach’. Its sweet taste surely lives up to its name! While we didn’t get any of those kind, I’m highly considering returning at some point to get a batch of those.

During part of that stop, we marveled at a highly accurate sign (pictured below).

Cody Orchard's Farm Stand had a perfectly accurate sign on boys.

Since we didn’t have time to stop by a cider shop the other day, my mother and I walked into Draper Girls Cider Company. I’m looking forward to trying that apple pear cider!

A small lunch of crackers and hummus filled my stomach when we got back to the trailer. I played more of that game that I keep talking about. I won’t get into that again.

Eventually, I grew tired and my eyes shut for about an hour. I made my way to my parents’ bed to snooze for a bit until the scent of steak wafted into my nose.

Dinner was delicious, as expected. My dad fired up the new grill for the first time and was successful at produce a juicy, delicious steak. Along with white rice and salad, I filled my stomach up – but not before I could munch on more peanut m&m’s!

It was soon discovered that we would have to get up at six in the morning to head to Portland in time. Apparently, my brother and his girlfriend arrive at nine.

Wanting to play a game, my mother and I broke out Mancala as we enjoyed some ice cream. (Did I mention earlier that the pint I got was called ‘empower mint’?) We played two quick rounds of the game, resulting in a tie. I have a funny feeling we’ll want to break that tie eventually. Or, at least, I will.

My mother and I played two late night games on Mancala.

Soon after, I brought out the memory foam and prepared myself for the next night of sleeping on the floor. As it turns out, it requires a lot less work and offers less chaos in the morning. The best part is that I don’t have to get out of my bed so people can eat.

I guess this is my permanent position now. But, like I said earlier, it’s better than burning.