Climate Control at the Oregon border?

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

- Nelson Henderson

We went to breakfast at the Best Western in Garberville, where we were staying. The quote above was in the newspaper that was sitting on our table. I thought it was appropriate, since we planned to spend the day surrounded by trees that were hundreds of years old.

One side note: we were VERY thankful there were no fires in Garberville last night; our hotel room was within 15 feet of the corner of the fire station. It was a neat little town that looked a lot like West Virginia. There was a saloon that promised "Fun every five minutes", but we didn't stick around long enough to ask what kind of fun they were offering.

We got back onto Highway 101 for a bit and then got off onto the "Avenue of the Giants", which took us 33 miles, through the redwood forest. The redwoods are like something out of a science fiction movie, and in the fog, it was even more surreal. Some of the trunks were way bigger than the car we were driving in!

Our first stop was the living Chimney Tree. This tree was measured in 1978 at 78' tall and 50' in circumference. In 1914, a forest fire burned out the center of the tree, creating a 12' (diameter) "room" inside the base of the tree. We giggled with another couple who stopped right after us. Aunt Rocky had noticed them the day before at Glass Beach, and teased them about following us.

We stopped again at Humbolt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This had a great visitor's center with exhibits my kids would have loved. Mom asked the volunteer about the fog that we had been driving in all day. He replied that the fog usually burns off about 11:00, but we had a long drive and decided not to stick around to wait.

Another 20 miles or so north, we stopped in Eureka. We had a great lunch at a little deli/coffee shop, and browsed a couple of galleries...but nothing really caught our eye, so we pressed on. (I did see some photographs by an artist named Chuck Chen that were really inspiring).

We stopped next at a small fishing village called Trinidad. (Lucy will probably remember driving in Chapel Hill with a cabbie from Trinidad, with Tico subconsciously talking to the driver in his "native accent".) This is a cliffside resort full of tiny but beautiful cottages and a replica of their original 1871 lighthouse. It seemed REALLY small compared to our Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, so it was fun to see. Aunt Rocky and I trekked down a LOT of steps to the small beach. I took a couple of pictures, but nothing great, since the light was almost nonexistant. I wish now that I had taken the picture of the truck that we passed advertising "Heiney Painting" (silly sign number one for the day).

We skipped the next three parks we passed, but decided to pull in to Paririe Creek Redwoods State Park, about which we read, "The park has an unusual welcoming committee: herds of Roosevelt elk, some with three-foot antlers, graze with serene indifference on the tall-grass prairie bordering the scenic parkway that threads through the area. We pulled in...and NO welcoming committee greeted us. Go figure. We did get a good laugh, however, out of the many signs that read, "Caution! Wild Elk. Do not approach on foot." DUH? Silly sign number two. On the way out of the park we saw a couple stopped with a video camera. Lo and behold, there were two male elk waaayyy over in the field, lying down so only their heads showed. No great photo op, but at least we didn't get skunked (or Elked?). Okay, that was really bad...but if you know my dad you know I come by it naturally!

We hit paydirt for Tacoman's science class (who has been studying the composition of rocks) at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. We walked along a riverbed and collected about 12 different types of stones and rocks. I hope to mail them home to him, and can't wait to hear how their composition compares to the pebbles I picked up yesterday at Glass Beach, and the samples I plan to collect tomorrow at Crater Lake.

We made one more unplanned stop at Crescent City. The harbor full of fishing boats was really interesting in the fog. The Pacific fleet that fishes out of that harbor looked surprisingly similar to the Atlantic fleet out of Wanchese. There was a great sailboat that must have been at least 100 years old. We saw a couple of sea lions playing with each other, but they refused to come close enough for a picture. Instead, they swam just outside of the reach of my 200mm lens, "barking" as if to mock me. (Like that kingfisher at home that teases me to the amusement of my kids).

Shortly afterwards, we crossed into Oregon. The transition was AMAZING! We had started the day in the fog and soggy forest, then traveled through some terrain that looked like it was in a drought, then back through even denser fog, and then, as if there was some kind of force field around the Oregon state line, the blue sky broke through the fog and we crossed over into a land of scrub trees and dry red clay soil. The temperature, that had been hovering in the 50s and 60s, steadily climbed back into the 80s (and up to 94 here at our motel in Grant's Pass).

We have been trying not to belittle the locals, although we have seen very few people that are not (1) stereotypical mountain people, sturdy and with lots of scraggly hair, or (2) sixties-style hippies who likely support the legalization of hemp, or (3) homeless people walking along the desolate stretches of road, eating berries. However, our restraint was tested when we passed the third silly sign of the day, which advertised the local farmer's prize crop, "Fresh Cron". I tend to transpose letters and numbers on a regular basis, but I'd hope that once I noticed the sign was misspelled, I wouldn't put up a 20-foot billboard advertising my incompetence!

Anyway, it's once again late, my belly is full, and tomorrow should be a great day. We're not going to travel as many miles because we have to go way out of our way to see Crater Lake. But I am so excited...with or without any new photos to add to my portfolio...I will get to see the country's deepest lake and more of the breathtaking west coast scenery.

Greetings from Garberville

Does the road wind uphill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.

But is there for the night a resting-place?
A roof for when the slow, dark hours begin,

- Christina Georgina Rossetti

I thought I was going to post every day of this vacation. I think I overestimated my stamina for yesterday. We flew from Norfolk to Chicago's Midway airport (which incidentally is about midway between the Atlantic and Pacific). We had a three hour layover and then flew on a looooong flight to San Francisco. We landed on time with only minimal aggrivation, that consisted of leg cramps and the people who INSISTED on going to the front of the plane when the bathroom was already occupied, which forced the flight attendant to give us a "FRIENDLY REMINDER" about not congregating in the front of the plane, for security reasons.

Here's what I think...after a dozen reminders, it's not friendly anymore...just ask the adult their name, then announce over the PA system: "Joe Schmo, please return to your seat for a five minute time out. You can go pee-pee after you learn to listen to directions." I just don't have patience for people who make the rest of us listen to someone with a grating voice tell us the same thing over and over and over again for four hours.

Okay, back to the trip...we landed on time. We took the Air Tran to the rental car garage. Aunt Rocky stood in line for at least 30-45 minutes before it was her turn to speak to the ESL (English as a Second Language) check-in counter woman. The paperwork took another 15 minutes or so, at which time she gave us the keys and told us to go pick up our Legacy. "Is that an SUV?", asks Aunt Rocky, who had specifically booked an SUV because we needed the room. "Yes, it's a Legacy," says the helpful (but not exceptionally astute) clerk. We found our car; a Subaru four-door CAR with a tiny tiny trunk. We debated going back upstairs to see if they had made a mistake, but decided we were (1) too hungry and (2) too tired to get back in line for another hour.

We left the garage and, after about 30 minutes of driving around downtown San Francisco, found our hotel. While we were driving, we were TRYING not to complain about the car, which was not ENTIRELY automatic - it had a stick to put it in drive, park, and reverse, but you had to goose the stick up and down to go into first, second, third, and fourth gear. Suffice it to say that we didn't figure that out until we were almost at the hotel, and therefore we were going 60 on the freeway in 2nd gear, with the engine making noise like it was ready to self-descruct.

The hotel was a cute little two-story place with parking spaces the size of my laundry room at home. While mom checked in, Aunt Rocky and I collaborated and finally, with the help of a couple of men, squeezed into a space. We breathed a huge sign of relief, and trucked our 10+ pieces of luggage up to the room. We had dinner at a place within walking distance of the hotel that I would recommend that everyone avoid, if I could remember the name of the place.

This morning we got up and I finished re-packing. Aunt Rocky called Hertz and found out that they had made a mistake, and given us a mid-size sedan instead of a small SUV, and arranged for us to go exchange the car. We now have the cutest little red RAV-4, and a lot more leg room. Yay us!

About 9am California time, we were heading north on the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped on the north side of the bridge at the vantage point, and I took a couple of pictures of Alcatraz. Last year Tacoman's grade read a book in which the setting was Alcatraz (Al Capone Does my Shirts), so it was fun to take a couple of pictures of the island, even though the light wasn't great.

We headed up 101 about 100 miles or so. The first hour went by in a flash - we drove through Sonoma and enjoyed the beautiful wine country views from the road. The next stretch was definitely more stressful! Up and down and around mountains, with hairpin turns and NO shoulder!

Finally we reached Van Damme Sate Park, to see the pygmy forest. The trees are supposed to be "little trees" because of the acidic soil and harsh environment. It was nice to stretch our legs, but wasn't exactly what we expected. Next stop, Mendocino. This is a beautiful little seaside village. We enjoyed the lush landscaping. We stopped at a neat little gallery, only to find out that it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We turned off again at Russian Gulch State Park, which was pretty...but not enticing enough to make us delay our next stop at Fort Bragg; Glass Beach.

This beach, years ago, used to be the town dump. Now, it's full of bits of sea glass and assorted "junk", embedded into the layers of rock. I took pictures of four seals and found a few neat pieces of glass. I also worked on some coastal pictures, but don't know if any of them turned out. (Too tired tonight, as my jet-lagged body thinks it's almost midnight).

Our last stop before eating dinner at a place that had a talented cook (and that's the ONLY nice thing I have to say about that) was the Chandelier drive-thru tree - a hollowed-out, 315 foot tall redwood tree. We didn't drive through it but did enjoy the scenery. Now we're all checked into a hotel in Garberville, trying to stay awake long enough that we sleep through the night.

Today was full of beautiful scenery and lots of "Oh, Wow" moments, as we came around some (admittedly scary) hairpin turns. I did see one whale breach - but we were going to fast and there was nowhere to stop to share it with anyone else. The family is surviving without me, which is good. I miss them, and I know they miss me, but Tico has it all under control, Tacoman is a big help, and my beautiful girls know I'll see them soon.

I would definitely recommend the Pacific Coast Highway scenic drive to anyone who makes it to this part of the world.

Tomorrow, part two, will take us another 250 miles up the coast and into Oregon, on the Redwood Highway. Hopefully I'll get some pictures posted.

My journey starts today

I have two of my best friend's blogs bookmarked, and I check them regularly. Not religiously, but then again there are very few things that I am able to wrap my scattered mind around doing on a daily basis. Brushing my teeth? Three times a day (or more). Other than that, I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached. Anyway, I have been debating creating a blog of my own. I love to write (that's what I chose to study in college - GO TAR HEELS!), and I'm getting ready to embark on the trip of a lifetime and am so worried that I will forget all the little details as soon as they happen. So...this seems like a good time to start my travel journal, photo diary, rambling thoughts, and the record of my creative journey through this crazy life.

Lucy always starts her posts with a quote. I love that format, but didn't want to copy/use her template without the proper credit. I hope she won't mind...


A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step
— Lao-tsu c. 604-c.531 BC


Packing drives me crazy. I know it shouldn't be a big deal, but it's one of those things that fills me with dread, so I procrastinate as long as possible. Like I said before, I'm leaving home soon (today or tomorrow, depending on what Tropical Storm Gabrielle decides to do) to go with my mom and my Aunt (I'll call her Rocky, since she has been my rock and a source of strength for me for most of my life).

We will fly out of Norfolk, Virginia to San Francisco, California. We'll rent a car and spend a week traveling up the west coast to Seattle, Washington. Mom and Aunt Rocky have planned the drive around scenic locations, and I will hopefully be able to capture some beautiful images for my portfolio. At the end of the week, we'll get on a Norweigan Cruise Lines ship and cruise for a week up through Alaska, making four stops for shore excursions. We will return to Seattle and fly home.

Mom, a CPA, and very organized person, has a binder full of information with all of our plans. I have stayed away from the planning process because my life is so crazy if I stopped to think about this trip before it happened, I wouldn't be able to foucs on the day-to-day issues, like school, feeding the children, the gallery, or anything else. I am just happy to do anything and everything they have planned.

When the trip first came up in conversation with my mom, my husband (I'll call him Tico, as Costa Rica is his 2nd favorite place in the world), was thrilled - he decided I HAD to go. I was a lot more apprehensive. On the one hand, I will not get this chance again. I don't want to miss any opportunity to make memories with Mom. She was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago, and while there is currently no sign of the cancer anywhere in her body, it had spread to about 30 lymph nodes before they caught it...so that was a reminder to not take a single minute of time, with the people I love, for granted! This is an AMAZING chance for me as a budding photographer to see and capture some amazing things, and to get creatively "recharged" (I have been in a bit of a slump lately). But on the other hand...I have never been away from my kids for this long. I will never forget that the last time I went to San Francisco (for four or five days), Tico called to say that one of our twins, A, had broken her arm and was getting ready to go into surgery. That was one of the absolute worst days of my life. My baby was more than 3000 miles away, about to be "put under", and I wasn't there. And, while Tico is a great dad, and more involved with the kids than many other moms and/or dads that I know, there are times when the kids just want their mom if they need to talk or something goes wrong. OKAY, so I may be a little melodramatic, but it's how I feel. The bottom line is that I realized that the family would survive without me for a couple of weeks, and this is something that I would regret for the rest of my life if I missed. One of my favorite sayings is that it's "better to do it and regret it than to regret not doing it". So I'm going.

Now I just have to pack.

I've been thinking about packing for about three weeks. I've had the list from my mom (what she's packing) for about a week. I have had some clothes laid out for three or four days. Yesterday I put most of the clothes in my suitcase(s). And still, I'm not packed.

"On packing: Lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then, take half the clothes and twice the money."
- Susan Andersen

Three women, in a small car, with luggage for two weeks, most of my camera equipment (which weighs about 20 pounds!), who don't know where they are going - although they have a great plan for how to get there. This really should be fun! Mom is taking her computer so I can post daily and keep in touch. If I can figure out how to post some pictures, I'll do that as I go.

I'd better go pack.