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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

WEST COAST TRIP - PART 1

I arrived in Oakland California Thursday evening, hopped in a rental car and promptly got lost 5 or 6 times on the way to Brandon's with the help of a navigation system. (Ironically, the same navigation system stopped working approximately 1 hour into our trip Friday morning).

ON THE ROAD - BRANDON


Friday morning arrives, we have a quick workout, grab some food and snacks for the road and head north for the 5.5 hour trip to Eureka, a small coastal town where Brandon has friends who own a home that they also run a nonprofit political organization Democracy Unlimited Of Humboldt County out of. It also just so happens that one of the hosts is also a Virgo and was celebrating her birthday with a dozen or so friends the Friday evening we arrived.

Turns out Brandon's friends David and Kaitlan are incredibly kind, warm and welcoming people whonot only welcome us into their home but also make us feel like part of the family, part of the community.

In preparation for the night's festivities we drive Kaitlin north to Arcata where she is part of a co-op farming effort and was planning on picking up her fresh produce and bunch of flowers from the cutting beds. We had no idea that the "cutting beds" were going to be the size of most small Manhattan parks. The woman who oversees the farm got wind that it was my birthday and suggested that I go ahead and cut myself a bunch of flowers.

CUTTING BEDS IN ARCATA







The party was wonderful, 2 delicious cakes, lots of wine and beer and tons of tasty homemade foods.

CHICKS AND DUCKS (Thanks for the delicious eggs ladies)



Saturday, after breakfast made with fresh eggs from the hens as well as the ducks that Kaitin cares for in her backyard, Brandon and I decided to head a little further north to Trinidad in search of the sun and a nice place to draw and grab a bite to eat. The fog apparently had little desire to lift, and we were not prepared for the chilly air so we ended up finding the wonderful little restaurant located in a cove, had lunch, took a quick walk on to the pier and promptly got back into the truck, no drawing today. On the way back to the house we decided to hit a few beaches along the way and discovered that you could drive 3 miles one way and it would be foggy and freezing and at the blink of an eye and 3 miles in the other direction it was 20 degrees warmer and sunny, something that was both intriguing and baffling to both Brandon and myself and a lesson in geography and weather related conditions as well.

PIER IN THE COVE IN TRINIDAD



Sunday morning we shared a quick breakfast and decided to head back to Oakland with specific instructions from David Cobb that we should take a slight detour on the way back and drive through the Avenue Of The Giants. A scenic route of sorts that drives through one of the oldest redwood forests in America. Needless to say,it was an awe inspiring experience with many pit-stops before we finally made it back on to the freeway.


1 comment:

the ice chewer said...

What a perfect setting for your b-day.