Alone Until Eternity

 I had arrived at my adorable Airbnb right around midnight and crawled into bed. I was in Miranda, CA. I woke up a few hours later and got ready for my day. It was finally time to see the redwoods! They were amazing! I went to one of the visitors centers and learned a little bit about the history of the area and then wandered on a little nature walk.  Then I headed to one of the drive thru trees that are in the area. It was crazy! I headed further south from there and eventually crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and arrived at my hotel for the night. I had some down time to rest and enjoyed that. Then, I headed out for a nighttime tour of San Francisco.    I did some souvenir shopping and ordered in some dinner before getting some sleep. Still more adventures to come!

I slept well on the train, as I usually do and enjoyed a nice breakfast again. I chose the same breakfast that I enjoyed the day before but remembered to take a picture!  I failed to take a picture of my delicious lunch so you’ll have to suffer with some pictures of California instead. Haha!   The train ended up running about 2 hours late, which happens. I arrived at the end of the line, in Emeryville, CA and grabbed a ride share to the Oakland airport to pick up my rental car. Then, I headed to my destination to the north…. But didn’t arrive until midnight. 

 I scheduled myself a trip on Amtrak from Denver, CO to points west. I’ve been enjoying relaxing, snoozing, and sightseeing all day today. Plus - being fed and taken care of while being soothingly rocked back and forth. It’s one of my favorite ways to travel! (It’s hard to beat cruising…)  Here’s a few pictures of my room: Here’s a few pictures of the view throughout Colorado: We went through more than 40 tunnels in Colorado today and the longest was the Moffat Tunnel. Here are a few facts:  it takes about 9 minutes to travel through.  The railroad tunnel is 24 feet high, 18 feet wide, and 6.2 miles long. The apex of the tunnel is at 9,239 feet above sea level.  The tunnel is  2,800 feet below the surface of the mountains.  It also crosses the Continental Divide. Lots of fun! Here’s my room turned down for the night all set up for bed: Now to just plug in my lovely, tiny CPAP machine and settle in for the night…  Until tomorrow!

  Today was Day 8 of the Trauma Retreat which can otherwise be known as an EMDR Intensive. We tackled 2 more triggers today, my dad's death from AML and my POTS diagnosis and my continual struggle with it. We did some positive future resource building on my POTS and dealing with my inner critic. We did a little bit more parts work and identified some of the values my wise adult possesses. We also talked through defense mechanisms, how to challenge negative thoughts and several other helpful things.  I was also challenged that instead of Keeping it Real (like I like to do) that I should consider Keeping it Kind. This really needs to start with me being kind to myself. It's something I will ponder on. Then they set me loose - just kidding! They dropped me off downtown Denver at a hotel I'd reserved for my next part of this adventure. I knew that I would need to spend more time healing after finishing up my EMDR adventure so I'm not headed back to AZ (home) just yet. Sta