09/08/2026
2nd LETTER TO CHANEL
“The World-Class Traveler Goes Country 😂”
Seven Days With God in Northern California — A Travel Journal With Letters to Chanel
My Chanel,
Okay, my girl. Now we’re actually going on the trip.
But first, you probably already know this because you’re probably always checking on Boosh anyway. But don’t worry about him. I left him in really good hands.
Brett and Jenny happened to be gone the exact same week as me, so he couldn’t stay with them like he did when I went to the jungle for a month of prayer.
But he has Bronny and Hannah.
Bronny is staying at our house with him and sleeping there every night. She has to work during the day, which means your little man is going to have to be alone more than he’s used to because Grandma made life revolving around him all the time. But when Bronny gets home from work, she’s his girl. I stocked the house with dinner stuff for her and even got her Disney and HBO so she can watch TV, relax and cuddle with Boosh at night.
And Hannah from the animal sanctuary is coming during the day to give him his medicine since he’s 12yrs old now which is pretty much unheard of for a bunny! She will make his lunch and spend some time with him.
So your Boosh is covered, my girl. He’s loved and he’s in good hands.
And Mikey? Your 16yr old turtle
Oh, please.
Mikey runs the turtle sanctuary. 😂
She’s with Kelly and Brian in Kaneohe, who are gifts from God to this earth and to me and so many others and turtles! They opened their home basically up to the turtles, and have a turtle sanctuary, Bless their hearts.
And your turtle mikey apparently believes Kelly and Brian were placed on this Earth specifically to serve her.
She’s treated like a queen.
So both of your babies are taken care of. I’ll go see Mikey when I get home.
Okay.
Now your mommy can actually leave Hawaii.
Teresa is coming with me.
And this is a really big deal because you were my person.
For all those years, whenever you and I went anywhere or did anything together, I already knew what it would be like. We would laugh until we peed our pants, have deep talks that could go half the night, sit quietly together somewhere beautiful in nature, probably headbutt a little somewhere along the way, and then be laughing again ten minutes later.
There was no wondering who I needed to be with you.
I was just me.
I haven’t traveled with a friend in probably in over twenty years, so this was completely new for me.
And Teresa wasn’t just any friend.
Before you became an adult, Teresa was probably my closest adult friend. She had been part of our lives since you were about fifteen. The three of us hiked together, danced together and laughed together. She knew us as a family.
Then you grew up.
By the time you were around twenty, you weren’t only my daughter and best friend anymore. You had become my adult best friend too.
And slowly, without some big decision being made, I stopped spending time with Teresa. She had lots of friends and social circles, and you and I had each other and needed each other.
That’s how it stayed until you were 28.
Then you met someone and told me you were in love.
And your mother basically said, Oh, absolutely not. Not him!
You were 28 years old, so you can imagine how well that went over. 😂
We fought.
And then you left Hawaii after that in 2021.
There is obviously much more to that story, but that’s the simple truth of how that chapter of our life together hand in hand changed.
And now, all these years later, here comes Teresa again after her helping me for your memorial 3yrs ago.
Except while I’ve spent the last ten years living my little country-nature life in Hawaii- always staying away from city parts and places.., apparently Teresa has become a world-class traveler.
This woman travels all over the world. Beautiful destinations. Beautiful hotels. Michelin-star restaurants.
And I’m over here going:
What the heck is a Michelin-star restaurant?
It’s food.
Breakfast, lunch or dinner.
You eat what the Earth grows and then you move along with your day. With my jungle woman mind.
Meanwhile, I packed an entire suitcase with cutting boards, knives, vegetable peelers and everything I needed to cut tomatoes, avocados, cucumbers, cantaloupe and apples.
Because apparently my idea of vacation is flying 2,500 miles with my own cutting board like when I went to live in the jungle in Costa Rico.
I didn’t even know I was “roughing it.”
That’s just how you and I lived.
We’d go to a grocery store, get good food, find a picnic table or beautiful place outside, cut everything up and eat.
Even at home we didn’t live like restaurant people. We’d make a big batch of beans, rice and vegetables that would last us several days. You’d grab a tortilla and make yours with avocado, tomato and lettuce. I’d throw mine into what we’d call a Buddha bowl.
Simple.
Normal.
Us.
So now imagine these two women traveling together:
Me: Where are the trees? Where’s the river? Where can we make lunch?
Teresa: Where’s the restaurant?
But here’s what mattered.
Underneath all of Teresa’s world travels, she was still the Teresa I remembered.
She was one of the only people besides you that I could completely be myself around.
I could say something ridiculous and instead of judging me, she’d make it even more ridiculous.
I could laugh too loudly.
I could be silly.
I didn’t have to be professional.
I didn’t have to serve anybody.
I didn’t have to have it together.
And I wanted this trip to have something for both of us.
I knew what was calling me.
The Redwoods.
The Russian River, because God knows how much I’ve missed rivers and creeks.
And eventually Harbin Hot Springs—a place I’ll tell you much more about when we get there, because you spent so much of your first year of life there with me.
But I also wanted Teresa to have things she’d love.
So I started adding little places to our trip.
Calistoga.
Sonoma.
Bodega Bay.
Country enough for me.
A little bougie enough for Teresa.
Perfect.
What I didn’t know yet was that by adding those places for her, I was unknowingly creating a road straight back through my own childhood.
But we’ll get there.
First, we landed in San Francisco.
And we drove.
Once we got out of that little stretch of city and highway, I wanted nothing but country roads.
And, Chanel, it was beautiful.
Open meadows. Wildflowers. Dry golden grasses because summer was almost over. Cows. Horses. Old barns. Little roads winding through the countryside.
Teresa had brought the music, and we just drove.
Eventually the land opened toward the coast.
Bodega Bay.
That Northern California ocean is nothing like our Hawaii ocean.
Hawaii spoiled us rotten.
Our water is crystal clear and warm and inviting. You look at it and think, Get me in there.
Bodega Bay feels completely different to me.
Wild.
Cold.
Raw.
Powerful.
Almost like a mermaid ocean.
The kind of ocean I don’t necessarily want to get into.
I just want to stand there and look at it.
So there we were.
Our first stop.
Our first day.
The world-class traveler and the country girl had officially begun their vacation.
And within practically five minutes, we’re standing in front of one of the most magnificent oceans imaginable while I’m filming its beauty and the wildlife…
And, Chanel, I have to tell you this because you would appreciate it more than anybody.
Remember how YOU were always the one taking the beautiful videos?
And remember your biggest pet peeve?
Me.
😂😂😂
You’d be trying to quietly videotape some gorgeous landscape, and somewhere in the background you’d hear:
“CHANEL! LOOK AT THAT!”
“OH MY GOD! LOOK!”
And then I’d hear:
“Mom. I’m videotaping.”
Well, excuse me. A little warning would have been helpful.
Apparently I was just supposed to look over, notice you were holding your phone up, and figure it out.
Well, my girl…
God has a sense of humor.
Because now I’m the one trying to make the beautiful video.
I’m filming this magnificent, wild Bodega Bay ocean, trying to capture all its majesty…
and in the background I hear Teresa:
“Oh! Did you see the dolphin just jump?”
Wait.
What dolphin?
“Right there! It was black.”
Okay.
So now forget the majestic ocean.
WHERE IS THE BLACK DOLPHIN?
😂😂😂
“I don’t know. It was right there.”
“Where did it go?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think it was a dolphin.”
Then…
“Maybe it was a shark.”
WHAT?!
😂😂😂
Okay, Teresa.
Was it a dolphin?
Was it a black dolphin?
Was it a shark?
Was it a whale?
Was it a mermaid?
WHAT WAS THE BLACK THING AND WHERE DID IT GO?!
😂😂😂
Now both of us are looking everywhere.
Gone.
The mysterious black creature has vanished.
Then Teresa suddenly realizes:
“Are you videotaping?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh! Well, maybe you got it on the video!”
OH!
Good thinking.
WE HAVE EVIDENCE.
😂😂😂
Except apparently our evidence is two women repeatedly saying:
“Where did it go?”
“I don’t know.”
“It was black.”
“I think it was a dolphin.”
“Maybe it was a shark.”
😂😂😂
And, Chanel, it gets better.
There are THREE videos.
And by the third video…
WE ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT THE BLACK THING.
😂😂😂
It has now been gone for who knows how long.
But Teresa and I are apparently not prepared to close the investigation.
Dolphin?
Shark?
Black dolphin?
Mermaid?
WHERE DID IT GO?
😂
I almost put music over these videos so everyone could quietly enjoy beautiful Bodega Bay.
Then I listened to us.
Absolutely not.
The talking stays.
Because all I could think was:
Oh my God, Chanel.
I have become YOU.
😂😂😂
I’m finally the one trying to take the beautiful, peaceful nature video…
and we’re talking through the whole thing.
And now I completely understand:
“Mom. I’m videotaping.”
You would have been cracking up at us.
And honestly, that’s one of the things I loved most about being with you.
You kept me young.
And now here I am at 59 with Teresa, standing in front of this magnificent wild ocean, and apparently we cannot just look at the ocean.
No.
We need answers.
😂
We’re investigating marine life.
We’re looking for evidence.
We’re replaying sightings.
We’re trying to determine whether the black thing was a dolphin, shark, whale or possibly a mermaid.
And eventually, yes, we’re also wondering where we parked the car and whether we locked it.
😂😂😂
Twenty years ago we probably wouldn’t have remembered we even had a car.
We laughed so hard listening to ourselves afterward.
And I thought about you.
Because you would have laughed at us too.
So I’m leaving those videos exactly as they are.
Not perfect.
Not quiet.
Not majestic.
Just real.
And one of my favorite memories from the beginning of the trip.
Two friends together again after all these years, standing beside a wild ocean, talking over each other and trying for THREE VIDEOS to figure out what the heck that black thing was.
And just like that, my beautiful girl…
the trip had begun.
Love,
Maja
(Maja is what Chanel called me. It meant Mother — not sure why?)
Special Thanks to
Brian Soileau & Kelli
Hannah Mizuno
Bronwyn Almy
And of course
Teresa Abenoja
And always Jennifer Small Griswold & Brett
And God & Yeshua
🙏🏽🙏🏽🐢🐰💫💫🐬
