Heaven: Special Delivery!

Truly amazing things happen when you open yourself up to receive them. Yesterday, Kyle and I woke up in our trailer, and walked out to our car to find a citation from Orange county. We had parked our trailer on city streets for more than the allotted 2 hours, and received a $50 ticket. Not exactly the best way to start our day... It was already not ideal to be sleeping in Orange County in the first place, as we were evacuated from Escondido due to the Coco's fire which sadly burned down most of Sky Mountain Institute- the non-profit organization and permaculture farm where we were staying and helping. Yes the massive fires took a huge toll on southern California, and the Coco's fire that we were effected by burned more than 6,000 acres. 

We were unsure of what to do with ourselves, feeling a bit low and displaced. So we decided to run a couple of errands we had been needing to get done. After some thrift store shopping and getting our purified water refilled, we headed back towards the spot where we got the ticket, right outside of the Ecology Center we planned on volunteering at for a few days, when all of a sudden a white suburban pulls in front of us. Kyle, not knowing who was driving it, told them to go ahead and take the parking spot he thought they were racing to get. When I saw the faces of Sue and Keith in the driver and passenger seat my heart filled up like a balloon! I was so happy to see the familiar faces of my family! Sue is my mother's cousin, who I met and bonded with at our family reunion a few years back in Cape Cod (as well as her husband Keith, and children Meghan and Brent). We were planning on calling them when we went through LA,  because I had thought they all lived in Riverside. This was truly a sign that we ran into them at that time on this day! Today Keith and Sue are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary- congrats guys!! 

Sue and Keith took us to the quaint downtown San Juan Capistrano and showed us Dana Point where we took a lovely stroll on the beach with their dog Tucker. 

Keith is a machinist and knows a lot about building and has given us some great ideas on how to install our solar panel in the next couple of days as well as some other design elements that are going to benefit Skipper greatly!

Today we went around looking for scrap wood on peoples curbs to build some storage units which will double as seats towards the front of the trailer. As we were driving around we saw a "Farm to Market" store that was going out of business. We decided to go in and see if they had any wood they were willing to donate so we could recycle it. They were so kind and actually gave us a few great crates which will work perfectly as well as a really cool shelving unit that says "Brad's raw foods" which fits perfectly next to our sink where we can store food and dishes!

We've really lucked out in the last couple of days, and hope/plan to give back to this community and the people who have made all of this possible for us! All love and good vibrations~~ 

Kyle and I at Dana point. 

Sue, Keith and I on the beach!

One of the cool wood crates we will be using for a set and storage in the trailer! 

We made some great memories in Lali's beautiful home just a few days before the wildfires. It is now in this state. If you are willing and able Sky Mountain institute will will be setting up a relief fund- check in with their Facebook to help  this amazing organization rebuild.