Tag Archives: travel

Visiting an 800-Year-Old Friend

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August 20:
I drove out to Deception Pass today to see an 800-year-old friend. Just knowing my old tree-friend is still there, still making oxygen for us, still standing tall, gives me hope for our planet. It was good to see her again.

I met NEW friends while I was there, too – Bucky the pup approached me with a wagging tail and a sweet doggy smile; and I met Mike, who was there with his young family. When Mike and I got to chatting, I learned he, too, had climbed Rainier – and I, of course, had to show him Dad’s Wikipedia page, and tell him about the paintings Dad had painted on K2 at 25,000 feet, back in 1953. (I love how Pop is still connecting me to new friends.)

I explored the beach for a bit – found an agate glowing up at me from a bed of pebbles, and snapped pictures of birds and driftwood and other cool beach-stuff. After I left Deception Pass, I drove to my favorite bookshop in Oak Harbor, The Book Rack, and treated myself to a new murder mystery (*A Cute Little Murder*) and a cupcake and cookie from their bakery. I sat there at a high table for a bit, swinging my legs, and reading from my new book, and soaking in the magic I always find in a bookstore.

And now a poem.

This is one I wrote for my old tree-friend back in 2022.

Be a Tree

The son and I talked about the tree
on the drive home.
850 years it had lived on this planet!
It had been seeded in the late 1100’s –
around the time of Genghis Khan
and England’s King John,
before Mansua Musa or Marco Polo,
da Vinci or Michelangelo.
Before Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare,
Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. or Mooji.
It rooted into the soil as a tender seedling
and grew during the Black Plague; grew
while the ash from Krakatoa blocked the sun;
and while factories sprouted up across
the northern hemisphere. It grew while
soldiers fought to end slavery; while
World War I and World War II raged
across Europe; while our planet warmed;
and while division and despair
made humans sometimes wonder
if our planet was beyond repair.
It grew.
Quietly, without fanfare or medals
or approval or star ratings –
it lived, created oxygen, and grew –
because that is what trees do.
And maybe when it was older and sturdy,
indigenous children played in its bends
and called it “friend.”
I like to think that’s true.

Yesterday I visited my wise friend, Charles.
He could tell I was scared about our world.
“Just be present,” he said. “Be a tree.”

-Karen Molenaar Terrell
(Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)

Annual Table Mountain Hike

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When I drove up to Artist Point this morning, I’d been planning to do the Artist Point hike. But, once I got there, the Table Mountain hike called to me. It’s short – but it packs a punch. There’s a quick elevation gain (725 feet, according to the Washington Trail Association) up the side of a steep cliff, and there’s one place where hikers have to navigate a high step made for people with longer legs than me.

I try to do this hike every year, and I decided today was the day.

When I started out, the temperature was perfect – cool and breezey. I stopped every now and then to take pictures of Shuksan and butterflies, alpine flowers and the Bagley Lakes down below.

I managed to get myself over the high step by using a handhold I found in the cliff, and pretty quickly found myself at the top. I sat on a boulder and ate my trail mix and enjoyed the view.

On the way down, I kept thinking about that one place where I’d have to figure out how to get over that high step. In my experience, a rock scramble is always harder going down than going up. But here’s a cool thing – when I got to that spot on the trail, there were two young men – brothers – maneuvering around it as I got there. I was trying to figure out how to get out of their way, while they were trying to figure out how they could help me. The one brother said to the other: “She’s going to need to use that handhold.” And the other brother responded by giving me room to reach for it.

But, in the end, I found another way down. I said, “I think I’m just going to do this…” and I sat down on the step and lowered myself down. Easy!

When I turned the corner of the switchback, I saw a couple that I guessed were the parents of the young men. They confirmed this. Then I told them how kind their sons had been to me. I learned the family was visiting from Colorado and had never been to Mount Baker before. I told them that years ago I’d climbed a mountain in Colorado’s Collegiate Peaks called Mount Harvard, and they knew exactly what I was talking about. I pointed to Mount Baker and said I’d climbed that one, too – and now I look at it and think, “What was I thinking?!” Appu laughed and said, “You weren’t thinking and that is why you could do it!” The family was delightful. Appu kindly agreed to let me take her photo.

When I got off Table Mountain, I decided I wasn’t done with my hiking, yet, and drove on down to Heather Meadows to do a quick hike of the Fire and Ice Trail. And on THAT trail, I met more cool people! There were two couples – each with a toddler strapped to a parent’s front – and seeing the babies made me go right away to my grandma place. One of the little ones grinned at me from his pack and reached out to touch fingers. Awwww…

I told them it was so good to see them bringing their children into the mountains – away from screens – and they nodded and said, “Exactly!”

I don’t like posting pictures of children, but Sam and Addison, and Katie and Sean, agreed it would be fine for me to take a photo of them from the back. So there they are!

It was so good to be in the mountains again, my friends. The mountains are a healing place for me.

So Many Wonderful People to Meet! (And I Met A Lot of Them in LA Last Weekend)

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So many wonderful people to meet in the world – and I met a whole lot of them on my weekend trip to LA!

There was Heath who was sleeping on this way cool Inflatable bed in one of the waiting areas at Sea-Tac. When he woke up, he told us he’d bought his bed to use for the work he does on the north slope of Alaska. When he deflated it – and he did that really quickly – it fit into this tiny bag that he stuffed in his backpack.

Not long after Heath left to board his flight home to Boise, we met Aubrey, who was flying with her mom, dad, brother, and younger sisters to LA. Aubrey and I talked a bit about our travels and I learned that she’d gone to the Philippines on a mission with the LDS church when she was out of high school. I told Aubrey that, as a teacher, some of my favorite students had been LDS because they were always polite and respectful, and were able to share what they believed without being argumentative. I admitted that I’d guessed they were an LDS family and had assumed they’d be taking the flight to Boise. Aubrey and her family nodded their heads and laughed at this, and Aubrey’s mom said they did indeed use to live in Idaho.

The day after I landed at LAX, my daughter-in-law, Christina, brought me to the annual Swirl Surfskater fest in Venice Beach, founded by women to cultivate community through skateboarding. It was so fun! There were free things and special deals and friendly people and PUPS! I was in Karen-heaven.

Christina introduced me to her friend, Gonzo, who has a shop that sells jewelry made by women in his home country of Kenya. (I bought two pairs of earrings because I could not choose just one.) Gonzo is one of those people who just radiates pure love. I felt an immediate connection to him. When we parted we both simultaneously put our hands over our hearts in recognition of kindred spirits.

Out on the beach, a woman was selling colorful bags of fruit. I was impressed by how she was transporting them – on top of her head! – and asked her if I could take her picture, before buying a bag of mangos from her. It was a HUGE bag! I ended up going around, asking random people if they’d like a piece of mango – the young woman sitting on the bench behind me, the young man sitting on the other side of the bench (they both said “Yes, thank you!”), a group of motorcyclists, who smiled and declined. Giving away mango bits is a good way to meet strangers.

There was Seamus pup with a pink mohawk, and Buttons and Brooklyn pups with very chic pompoms on their heads; there were beautiful people handing out free things – Odalis, Charlotte, Tatum, and Niora; and Riley, who was creating discounted tattoos at the tattoo booth; and there was this wonderful family – Nasim, Esme, and Linus – selling “LIVE A LOT” caps designed by the youngster of the family, Linus. (I bought a red cap with cheery yellow letters.)

We ate at some very cool eateries while we were there, and were served by some amazing folks at the Cafe Gratitude, and the Buena Vida Tea Bar and Garden.

We visited the Vietnamese Market in Westminster on Saturday night, where I ordered a boba drink from Jing, and snapped a photo of some cool shoes being worn by Matthew.

When we got to LAX for our return trip, I needed to get some beverage in me – I was really thirsty. I went to the Peet’s Coffee shop where I saw a green drink being made by the barista. At that moment, Jose came up to claim the drink – he was bringing it to a coworker – and I asked him what the drink was. Jose told me it was a matcha tea and that nobody made a better one that his friend, the barista, Dylon. Dylon guided me through the process of ordering a matcha – what kind of milk? sweetened or unsweetened? Dylon told me some people really like matcha and some people really don’t – and then he waited to see my reaction. It was really good! “You did good, bud,” I told him, and he grinned.

I went to get pizza at the pizza shop next door, and Elena – who was very kind – was sorry to tell me they were all out of pizza, but she pointed me in the direction of another pizza shop. When I got to the Wolfgang Puck pizza place, a woman stopped me to ask about my amber necklace, and then I remarked on her necklace – which she told me actually has a little light inside it. I love meeting fellow rock-lovers, and Batman let me take a picture of all her rock jewelry.

We’d gotten to LAX a few hours early, and, in the waiting area for our plane, I saw a flight attendant standing there and asked her if she was going to be the flight attendant for our flight out. She grinned and said she was! I told her I’d never seen a flight attendant waiting in the waiting area before, and it was cool to actually meet the flight attendant for our flight before we got on board. She laughed and said she’d arrived early and that’s why she was there – and noted that I’d arrived early, too. We introduced ourselves – she introduced herself as “Michelle” and I introduced myself as “Karen, because you’ve got to have at least one Karen on your flight, and I’m yours.” She laughed and agreed it was important to have a Karen on board. Later on, when we were in-flight, Michelle and I waved at each other and she introduced me to the other flight attendant as her friend, Karen. I told the other attendant that Michelle and I were old friends now, and Michelle nodded in agreement.

Finding Heaven at Peace Arch Park

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July 18th:
I spent time at Peace Arch Park today hanging out with my friends from the “Peace, Love and a Handshake” group. I found bountiful border magic today. I met some way cool people; made new pup friends; and found a whole lot of floral magnificence. I always come away from these Canadian-American gatherings feeling inspired and hopeful for our world.

As I arrived in the park, I could hear Lean on Me playing over the loudspeaker. and I knew Haidee was in charge of the music – she always picks the best songs. Sure enough, as I approached the group, Haidee saw me, and we began to dance towards each other with our signs, to the beat of Lean on Me. I love these people!

Peace Arch Park is looking fine, my friends. Whatever lovely, dedicated people tend to the gardens have my respect and gratitude. The flowers are brilliant – geraniums, asters, hydrangeas, purples and oranges, reds and yellows. And there are these quiet, shady little nooks and crannies built into the park that offer those zen moments we all need in our lives.

I saw a young man taking a photo of his partner in front of the Peace Arch, and I offered to take a picture of both of them together. Nadun and Ruvini smiled and thanked me and handed me a phone. I learned that they were originally from Sri Lanka and had immigrated to Canada in the last couple years so Ruvini could get her Master’s in Education. Ruvini and I talked about teaching for a while then and I, once again, enjoyed the connections I always find with the people I meet. Ruvini and Nadun had been out shopping and, on impulse, had decided to check out Peace Arch Park today. They weren’t planning on going beyond the park and crossing over the border. Nadun shook his head and grinned and said it was so “random” that we met today. And I said, “Cosmic!”

Ranger Rick and Destiny came out to chat with the folks in the park then – to make sure we all had our Discovery Passes showing on our car windows. The people who work in the park are very cool – kind and friendly and helpful.

As I was walking back to my car, taking pictures of the flowers, I passed a family coming down from the parking lot. We got to talking and I learned that Angela and Dante and their grandaughters had traveled all the way from Florida, and were planning on crossing over into Canada and stopping at the first big city they found, and then coming back to the States later today. One of the little granddaughters told me that she and her sister had actually started their journey in Texas, before joining their grandparents in Florida. Imagine the adventures this family has had!

I decided to walk down to the L&L Bakery to get myself some macarons, and on the way I met Sandy and Luna pups, and their human, Anthony. Anthony gave me permission to take a picture of his sweet pups, and Sandy and Luna came up for pets.

Macarons and pups, new friends, and a park full of flowers – I was in Karen-heaven today.

Hike to the Pinnacle Peak Saddle

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We went up to Rainier yesterday to join family on a hike to the Pinnacle Peak Saddle. Along the way we met way cool people from all over the world; reminisced about other times we’ve hiked on this trail; saw butterflies flitting in the wildflowers, and came upon marmots, picas, and chipmunks.

We met Robert and Kathi, originally from Panama, and now living in Seattle. They told me they’d seen an animal that looked sort of like a badger. “Was it about this big?” I asked, and they nodded their heads. “You saw a marmot!” I told them. “Aren’t they cool?” They smiled and agreed and we talked for a bit about the hike and Rainier and… yeah, I brought Pop into the conversation, and told my new friends that Dad had guided me to the top of Rainier when I was younger.

A little later I met Tery, who works as a traveling nurse. We agreed that hikes in the mountains are a most wonderful escape from the stresses of “down below.”

We’d just about reached the point where the switchbacks begin, when a ranger volunteer came up the path from behind. It didn’t take me long to bring “Dee Molenaar” into the conversation. Stewart’s face lit up when he heard Dad’s name. He said Dad’s book, *The Challenge of Rainier* was his favorite climbing book, and he’d pretty much read them all. I love the connection Dad still brings me to mountain people, and I’m not going to apologize for using his name to meet cool new friends. I learned Stewart was originally from London, but he came to the States in 1979 and decided to make it his home.

We met a trio from the Philippines; a cheery family originally from Thailand, who now live in D.C.; and, at the top, we met a family from Provo, Utah – the patriarch originally grew up in the tri-cities area and likes to bring his family back periodically to share in the glories of Mount Rainier.

I talked with my brother and niece about my first climb of Pinnacle Peak when I was four-years-old. I remember being pretty tired on the hike part, but I also remember feeling energized when Dad and I reached the last climbing-scramble up to the top of the peak. I remember loving the climbing part. Later, when my brothers and I were teenagers, Dad took us all up together to the top of Pinnacle Peak. And when my oldest son was four, Dad guided Andrew and me up the peak. There are a lot of good memories in these hills.

I could feel Mom and Dad with me yesterday, and my sons. And Scotty actually WAS with me – we have a lot of memories together on this mountain. It was good to be making another one with him.

Finding Magic on the Clayton Beach Hike

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Oh, my friends! I really needed what I found on my Clayton Beach hike today: peace, stillness, quiet. I had a little mini vacation from my computer – there was no password I needed to remember or files I needed to access; no problems I needed to solve; no fears or worries or news demanding attention. It was lovely.

As I got near the beach, I saw a small family of deer crossing the path up ahead. Magic! And pretty soon Wes and Leigh appeared on the trail, coming my way. They told me that I had flushed the deer out for them – that the deer had turned towards them when they’d seen me. Leigh and Wes were as excited about the deer magic as I was. I love meeting other people who recognize magic when they see it.

When I got down to the beach, I found a boulder to sit on. Then I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the waves shushing onto the beach, and the birdsong coming from the forest. I felt rich beyond imagining.

I stayed down at the beach for a while, snapping photos, looking for agates (I didn’t find any today, but it was fun looking), enjoying my alone-ness.

When I headed back to my car I passed a group of hikers with toddlers and babies, being led by Jillian from the Whatcom YMCA. Jillian told me that the group meets every Thursday for a hike. How wonderful! Maz, Carina, and Jillian graciously posed for me and gave me the okay to post their photo on Facebook.

By the time I got back to my car, my soul was filled with birdsong and babies’ smiles, new friends and the magic of waves and rocks, the forest and life.

Heaven Everywhere

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I admit I was nervous about traveling to LAX this week. I was flying with Alaska Airlines, and they’d had a spot of trouble last week. Also I was concerned there might be a dearth of air traffic controllers – seeing as how these heroic folks haven’t been paid for the last week I wouldn’t have blamed any of them for leaving to find work that would provide them with income. So it was with some trepidation – and a lot of prayer – that I I started my journey to Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.

There had been moments before my trip when I’d had this sense of certainty that Love was with me, preparing my way for me, leading me. I was motivated by Love to travel to California to see my son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby, and I knew this was a right desire, and could only lead to Good. At those moments, I determined that my mission was to shine love on everyone I encountered on my trip. But, every now and then, a news headline would hit my newsfeed that had me doubting again. There was a battle going on in my thoughts between fear and happy anticipation to see my loved ones again.

My husband drove me the hour and a half to Sea-Tac (bless him!) and dropped me off at the departures door. Now it was just me and Love. It took practically no time to find the security line – and I was, like, the second person in line! I got through the whole security line in probably three minutes!

Once I was on the other side, I went in search of a restroom. There was a flight attendant in the restroom, standing by the sinks, cleaning out her bag – apparently she’d spilled something in it. I asked her if she was going to LAX, and she said she was – I told her we were going to be on the same plane then. Her job, I said, was one of the hardest jobs in the world – flight attendants have to serve and take care of everyone else first, but they’re dealing with the same difficulties as everyone else on the flight. She smiled and nodded and said that yup, we’re all in the same boat together. I asked her if she’d had any problems last week while Alaska Airlines’ technology wasn’t working, and she said she and her crew had been grounded 12 hours someplace. Yikes! But here she was – ready to get on another plane and serve her passengers. Another hero. She indicated – pointing to her bag – she was feeling a little frazzled at the moment, but I told her (and this was true) she totally looked put together, and I felt reassured knowing she was going to be on the plane with me.

An hour later, when I boarded my flight, I saw Sheryl there, greeting people at the door, smiling. I said, “We made it!” and she started laughing.

The flight to Los Angeles was incredibly quick and smooth – I think we landed early. And when I got there, my beautiful daughter-in-law and precious granddaughter were there to pick me up. My daughter-in-law set my little granddaughter down about ten yards away from me and let her race to me, a big grin on her face. I scooped her up and held her close and felt myself in heaven.

I was only in LA for three days – but it was chock full of joy and hope and good people. It was chock full of love. And it was so good to be with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby again.

We went to the neighborhood playground and I climbed the equipment with my grandbaby and enjoyed watching her work her way around the big toys; We stopped at Shawn’s Pumpkin Patch https://shawnspumpkinpatch.com/ , where we met Whitney and Dennis, and I had fun volunteering to take family photos for the other tourists; We strolled down the Santa Monica Pier, and stepped into the photo booth for some pics; We went to the Cafe Gratitude for dinner and met sweet Kiara pup standing in line with her human there; The next day we went to the The Butcher’s Daughter for lunch – that day I was proudly wearing my Mariners shirt and I asked one of the servers if he was a Dodger’s fan – he said no, but I found out he was a Yankees fan, and I had fun talking baseball with him for a quick minute; I bought fresh-squeezed lemonades from Mike at Hot Dog on a Stick in Santa Monica – and I really wanted to give Mike a tip for his genuine kindness to me, but he wouldn’t take one – he graciously allowed me to snap his photo, though, and laughed when I introduced myself as a Boomer named Karen – passing my Karen test; Then my daughter-in-law, grandbaby, and I sat and listened to Ian Bradley and his drummer make music next to the Hot Dog on a Stick restaurant while we sipped our lemonades. I dropped a donation in their box and got thanked and twirled for my humble gift.

The morning of my last day there, my daughter-in-law brought me to a music-in-the-park event for toddlers hosted by the musician, Ryoji. And oh! Once again, I felt I was in heaven. The music, the youngsters, the parents and grandparents and nannies – of every color, race, and ethnicty – enjoying music and dancing together and showing love to one another – isn’t this heaven?!

In the afternoon my son drove me to LAX for my trip back to Sea-Tac. We gave each other big hugs goodbye, reminded each other we’d see each other again soon at Christmas, and I headed for the security line.

I got in line behind a woman who just radiated good will and kindness. I told her I’m always a little nervous about going through security – afraid I’ve accidentally committed some security transgression (this time I accidentally wore my cellphone into the full body scan, but – thank goodness! – the TSA official clocked the cellphone before he scanned me – he said cellphones are 99% of the reason the scanner alarms go off – yikes!). My new friend, Alia, laughed and yawned and said she was too tired to be nervous about that today. We got to talking then, and learned we were both on the same flight to Seattle! How cosmic! I followed Alia through the security line and then we both went separate directions in search of food. But we met up again in the waiting area before we boarded the plane, and got to talking about our families, the goodness of people, and kindness. Heaven again!

I met so many wonderful new friends on my trip! And every place I went I found heaven.

Cosmic Magic in Alpine Fields

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Cosmic!

October 8, 2024
Last week my son, Xander, and I planned a trip up to Mount Baker today. But this morning when I woke up and checked the weather it looked like it was pretty miserable up there. The son and I decided to call the trip off. A couple hours later, though, when I checked the weather again, it looked like there might actually be some sunshine at Baker. So I texted my son and told him about the change in the weather forecast, and asked him if he’d like to give it a try. Then I opened my thoughts up to the Cosmos and put the day in Her hands. I decided I’d be happy with however the day evolved for me.

Pretty soon the son texted back and said he still wanted to go up there. Within the hour I’d picked him up and we were on the road.

And it was glorious up there! We stopped at Picture Lake to take some quick pictures of Mount Shuksan (and we got there at the just right time – not long after we left the clouds moved in and blanketed Shuksan). We did a quick little hike on the nature trail at Heather Meadows and then went on up to the Artist Point parking lot and hiked up to the top of Artist Point.

On the way up we came upon a bride and groom, Sarah and Etienne, in full wedding regalia, and they cheerfully agreed to let me snap a quick photo. Later I asked a couple from Canada if they’d like me to take a picture of them together with their camera and they thanked me and said yes. On the way down we ran into them again, and this time I asked Kathy if I could take a picture of her with her sweet pup, Coriander.

It was such a lovely day – a gift from the Cosmos. I really needed this.

Autumn at Rainier

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Scotty and I went up to Paradise yesterday to walk around in the autumn colors. Last week the weather forecast had predicted sunshine up there, but… that changed. 😀 It was pretty wet up there, but it was still beautiful. I thought my camera was doing some sort of weird automatic “vignette” with my photos (fading my photos out at the corners), but then I realized my lens filter was actually all fogged-up on the rim. 😀

Highlights: On the drive up to Paradise from Longmire, I glanced over at a parking lot by the Nisqually Glacier (or where the glacier USED to be), and saw a familiar van – I was pretty sure this was the same van I’d seen at Mount Baker last week, and I was pretty sure it belonged to my new friends, Cecelia and Bob. Whoah. So I messaged them, and learned that they were at Rainier, too! That was kind of cosmic. (We passed them on the way back down, but I don’t think they saw us.)

We went into the Paradise gift shop at the Visitor Center and chatted with the pair of salesclerks behind the counter. I told them I’d worked in the old Visitor Center almost 50 years ago – back when the Visitor Center looked like an alien spacecraft. They laughed and said the old Visitor Center had flown back to the Mother Ship.

I found one of my Dad’s books in the giftshop – it’s always fun to come upon his books or maps in tourist hangouts. It helps me feel he’s still here with us.

At Myrtle Falls, we came upon a couple of National Park employees getting the trails ready for winter. I thanked them for their service and we chatted for a bit about climbing. Noah and Carter were pretty fun and graciously agreed to let me snap a photo.

Then, as we were coming back from the Falls, a little family of sooty grouse (I mistook them for ptarmigans at first) crossed our path (literally) and we snapped some quick pics.
***

We visited the Ashford Creek Pottery shop on the way up to Rainier yesterday to visit its proprietor, our old friend Rick Johnson, and to take pictures of the artwork of Dad’s that Rick has hanging on the walls. I also got Rick to pose with art by Todd Horton (who, coincidentally, lives in the same Skagit Valley communicty as us), and to pose with one of Dad’s books.

(I think the painting that most tickled me yesterday was one Dad had painted depicting mountains of Alaska – and in which he’d whimsically added the Matterhorn in the background. I was looking at the painting, and then thought, “Whoah. That’s the Matterhorn there. What’s THAT doing there?” 😀 It put a grin on my face. Dad. Hahhahhahahar!)
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

A Land of Magic

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There’s a land of magic
Where magpies sing morning harmonies
And at night stars sparkle serenely
Above silhouettes
Of trees topped with palm fronds
And long-beaked Ibis birds casually browse
In parking lots packed with cars
That have steering wheels on the right

-Karen Molenaar Terrell

podcast link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/karen-molenaar-terrell/episodes/A-Land-of-Magic-e2fofun