1/31/08 - Trading Week

Charles is with us this week and Firecat is providing training in advanced trading techniques. I think we're getting better, but Firecat is still buying dinner (whoever makes the most money each day gets to pay for dinner). ;)

This photo is the view from the tower where we have been trading every day. It overlooks a huge lake and marina from eight floors up. Tough life, eh? The only thing is that it's been really windy here and the whole tower sways. It's either very fun or very unnerving depending on your point of view--feels a bit like the time I was in a 6.8 earthquake on a high floor of the Holiday Inn in Van Nuys in 1976.

Tomorrow we leave here and head down to a resort near Austin where I'll have a chance to sample some of the famous Austin night life on Saturday before flying on Sunday to my daughter's house in New Orleans. I'm looking forward to meeting my new grandson and seeing the rest of her family too. Firecat and Charles will stay here in Texas for a couple weeks and then Firecat will drive out to pick me up in 'Nawlins and we'll head for Florida.

The trip is going great so far--a nice mix of activities, accommodations, experiences and company. I even got to the gym for a workout a couple times this week. It's late tonight now though so I'm going to "pack it in" but more later. Good night, y'all!

1/27/08 - Van Halen

Last night we drove into Dallas, met our trading partner for a drink at an Irish pub and then had another wonderful dinner of sushi, plus yakitori. I hadn't heard of yakitori before but basically it's meat skewers cooked on a hibachi behind the sushi bar. I would never have expected to get meat at a sushi bar, let alone chicken livers, but they were the best I ever ate...and I like eating them fairly often.

Then the highlight of the night; I went to my first rock concert...a little late in life I know, but hey, at this age I didn't even need earplugs. Firecat took me to see Van Halen, whom he hadn't seen live before either, and it was great--lots of theatrics and good guitar.

Today we went for a hike in the nearby wildlife refuge--saw lots of geese that are wintering here and enjoyed getting some exercise after all the riding in the van the past week. It's also nice to have a big kitchen so we are able to make some home cooked meals again.

I'm heading for a nice soak in the jacuzzi tub that's in our room and then hopefully a good sleep before we're back to the drama of the market tomorrow morning. At least it's great being in the central time zone so we don't have to get up until 8:00am instead of our usual 6:00am when we're home.

1/25/08 - Tanglewood, TX

We arrived at a beautiful resort tonight where we will spend the next week in a focused trading seminar. It's a gorgeous place near a lake and wildlife preserve in northern Texas and it feels very luxurious to be in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath "home" after the van. I'm going to enjoy the spa and gym here, as well as walks in the surrounding forest. We had a nice simple dinner of champagne, bread and cheese and are enjoying spreading out. Internet access here is great, even though we are quite rural, so it is the perfect location.

Last night we were in Amarillo TX, my first time in Texas other than a quick overnight near the airport in Houston in the 80s. It really is a different culture and I enjoy listening to the accents. The people are very friendly. I felt bad sending my overdone prime rib back to the kitchen last night, but hey it's Texas and I expect a good steak...we opted to substitute the filet mignon and it was great.

We had heard that WalMart allowed overnighters in their parking lot so we checked it out last night and it was perfect. They were open 24 hours so I had a ready bathroom and didn't need to rely on my jar. ;) It gave me a little taste of what it would be like to be homeless...and it's not all that bad. ;) We woke up and drove to Starbucks, traded there, where Firecat had a good day in the market so we were able to leave early on our long drive to the resort. Texas really is a big state.

The night before we were in Santa Fe. We had planned to stay in the van after a nice night at the Hyatt in Albuquerque, but the forecast was for 17 degrees so we went on Hotwire rather than brave the cold and for only $39 found a wonderful old-style three-star hotel full of wood and southwestern charm called the St. Francis. Santa Fe is a lovely town, full of art galleries and interesting shops. I liked being there during the off-season with hardly anyone around. The surrounding rock formations are exquisite and the forests beg for me to return and give them an explore.

As I relaxed in the back of the van this afternoon while Firecat drove I found myself contemplating my life, my character, my mistakes and gifts, in a way as prelude to thinking about what I want in my life going forward, and who I want to be. So many thoughts swirl through my head. I am not ready to share them, but I realize I want to spend more time in this way. I have often found travel to be pivotal during transitions in my life. I don't know which is the cause and which the effect, but I sense this trip will be no different, and I look forward to seeing how all this will play out in my life. It seems like just the beginning...and I am feeling more of a positive expectancy of what comes next, both on this trip and in my life in general. Hmmm, stay tuned. ;)

1/22/08 - Albuquerque, NM

Well, here we are in beautiful (cold) Albuquerque, just returned from a wonderful dinner at Sushi King, which Firecat discovered last October when he came to pick up the trademobile.

We spent a couple days in the LA area where Firecat completely rebuilt my laptop so I could trade this week after it completely crashed the day before we left home. I'm so lucky to be dating a tech genius!

After that we spent a night just outside Yuma, AZ--our first real night in the van--and last night was in Sedona. This was the first time there for both of us and it's beautiful. We're ready to go back, maybe for a week, on our way home. The red rock formations are amazing and there's a light layer of snow in the surrounding forests--wished we'd had more time to play on the way out, but we had to get to Albuquerque tonight for a non-refundable hotwire reservation. Mmmm, I wouldn't miss a real shower for anything.

The van is great to travel in--Firecat has it well-organized and we have our night time routine down pat now. But it sure makes me appreciate a warm shower and a shampoo more than I ever have! Still, if I think of it as camping it seems pretty luxurious. We've had champagne and cheese under the stars, watched a DVD on the computer (Hitch--rent it, it's a fun one), and kept warm snuggled under sleeping bags on top of a great self-inflating air mattress Firecat found. We have Internet access (via cellular modem) that works in the boonies and while driving...so all-in-all it has most of the comforts of home.

As I was driving along today (well, as Firecat was driving and I was enjoying the view and deep in thought), I realized that I'm finally getting to live my "Moon River" fantasy. You see when I was in junior high school my parents had an Andy Williams album that I fell in love with (and confiscated for my own room). I listened to it so much that I knew all the words to all the songs. It was something of a conversation piece among my friends who were all into the Beatles, etc.

My favorite was Moon River, I guess because it sounded like the kind of life I wanted to lead:

Moon River, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're going, I'm going your way.
Two drifters off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see.
We're after the same rainbow's end
My huckleberry friend
Moon River...and me.

So, I feel like I finally found my huckleberry friend and we're drifting around (last night under the full Leo moon) seeing the world. It is becoming a special bonding experience with Firecat and I'm glad we have the chance to make these memories together. I was telling him the other day that I feel like I have begun a whole new chapter in my life...that no matter whatever comes after this, it's going to feel different and I doubt I'll ever see my life in the same way again.

"Well, next we're on to Santa Fe, NM then we'll probably take two days to get to our resort north of Dallas. We'll be there a week and Firecat will be conducting a trading workshop for our other trading partner and me, and I'll get to pick up the new computer I'm having delivered to his house.

Maybe tonight I can get Firecat to post some photos--he has taken some great ones, including photo documentation of where we spend the night each night...that's a guy for you, eh? ;)

Hugs to all!

Countdown to January 18

The travel traders will depart after close of market on Friday January 18, 2008. Stay tuned for sporadic updates and photos of our journey from Morro Bay, California. The plan is to mosey our way to Texas by 1/25 where we will have a traders seminar with our trading partner Charles holed up at a lovely gold crown resort north of Dallas about 90 miles.

This will be our maiden voyage in FireCat's new Eurovan. It will be a fun, decide-as-we-go adventure that will also be a trial run to tell us whether we want to do the same thing in Europe in a year or so.

After our seminar week in Texas, Teaser will fly to New Orleans to visit the new grandson for a couple weeks, and FireCat will join me in mid-February to continue our sojourn east to Florida.

Stay tuned after 1/18 for insights to the adventure....