And We're Off

It seemed to take forever. The endless snail's pace of dealing with one's parents deaths. Handling the estate, remodeling the house & selling it... Paperwork... lawyers... contractors... realtors... details. Did I forget something? Better check again. Suddenly it is done. Over. Pardon the language, but it is a shitty deal. Not the work, but the result. I lose my parents and sister & end up with a little cash. It sucks. I really don't care how much money. I would rather have my family. I'm sure my brother feels the same way. But that is the way of life. If you are lucky, you have a good relationship with your parents and they die first. Brachiosaurus

My last month at Fort Bragg ended onthe second July. I had to go somewhere. My transportation issues had been all, mostly, settled at the last minute... like Friday, the first. No chance of finding another hotel room on the holiday weekend. So I gleefully accepted the invitation to spend the weekend at some friends' place in Piercy CA. My friends decided at an early age that they wanted to live off the grid, raise goats and grow as much as their food as they could. They have the philosophy that time is money and if you can work things out so that you don't need a lot of money, in exchange you have a lot of time. Time to take care of the goats, grow the garden, build a home, make art, make music and enjoy the days. She plays violin, he plays guitar and together they play dance tunes from all over the world. From Hungarian ditties to Duke Ellington. Frisky Brisket is their handle and they play Saturday evenings at Calico's Restaurant in Garberville.

After an extended and enjoyable weekend of goats, music, food, wine & conversation, Tuesday finally arrived & it was time to hit the road. I fired up the rig and puttered down the long and winding dirt road that leads to their place. North it was. I had a mind to head to Alaska. Be a human pachinko ball. Zoom up to the top and then bounce my way back down, see what I see. The days are getting shorter now. I needed to make time but was still not in too much of a hurry. Hungry Goat

I took the scenic route. Through the redwoods. Yes, you should too. Giant old-growth trees. Stop, get out, walk amongst them... Oh my... it is something that I can't really imagine how to fit into a camera, so I didn't take any pictures. The picture in my head is better anyhow. I made it up to Trinidad. No open motels... kept on toddling 'til I found a vacancy. It was a sad little motel that had seen better times. Better times a long time ago. Times for some folk are hard. They have to make do with what they have & with low cash flow, some maintenance gets skipped and the hole begins to deepen. If you stay in the hotel, try to be understanding, the rooms might have a smell, but the one I was in, at least, was clean... even if the chair cushion was a 4" concavity.

The Redwoods National & State Parks are just north of there and a scenic bypass runs through them. By all means take it. Drive really slow. Get out and take a walk through the forests. Take your shoes off. Walking barefoot on Redwood duff is really lovely. Redwood needles are flat, so the experience is soft and downy with little twigs. Of course, if you absolutely never go barefoot and have no calluses, your experience might be different. Feeding Frenzy for the Goats

Redwood trees are socialists... Or at least very friendly. Their roots are on the surface and weave into a mat that allows them to support each other and stand against the high winds that blow through the Northwest. And every year more needles, leaves and whatnot falls from above, covering the roots and building a rich soil. The paths through the forests are laced with these roots. The crests bare and polished from decades of shoe leather.

The Southern Oregon Coast is dramatic & beautiful. It seems that every half mile there is an overlook to pull off & see something else new and interesting. You could probably spend a worthwhile week or two checking all of them out. But I didn't. I was out of California now and it felt different. It really was behind me. I had no family there to call me back.... And... Oh yeah, I'm headed to Alaska... I guess. Fallen Redwood

I made it half-way up the beautiful Oregon coast on Wednesday. Only the vaguest of plans... Just the general urge to go north. Maybe I had been eating too much salmon. On Thursday I continued on. I crossed the bridge into Washington from Astoria and it started raining. The lovely patina of mud & dust I had been carefully building on my vehicle melted away. A plan started to develop. I would get to Bremerton Washington on Friday and spend the weekend there... catch a ferry on Monday. Woven Redwood Tree Roots

Why Bremerton? During World War Two there was a shipyard there. My mother had moved from South Dakota during the war to do her part for our side. My Father had been a Naval officer and had gotten a job as an engineer after the war at the local electric utility. That's where they met.... Bremerton. They both had great memories of the town & times (well they were young too...), I thought I would check it out. Corn Memorial

I was 80 miles from Bremerton at the end of Thursday, I was going to take the long route around Olympic National Park Friday to turn the 80 miles into 200 or so. Friday morning I decided to check the Ferry schedules. I learned something very valuable. Ferries are not like busses. Not only do they float a whole lot better, but they are not scheduled to leave every hour or so... at least not the ones to Alaska... The ones to Alaska leave every Friday at 6:00 p.m.. and they leave from Bellingham, not Seattle. Like I said... it was the idea of North that was in my head... I hadn't really started the research. At about 8:00 a.m.. I realized that I had a slight chance of making the Ferry that day if I could get to Bellingham in time.

I did.... Barely. They started loading vehicles at about 3:00 since I was going to the next-to-last stop, my car had the be one of the first ones in. I had about 15 minutes to spare. I was sitting in my car waiting for my turn to drive on and I realized how little I know about Alaska. Well, I know the stories. TV documentaries.... Read a bunch of Jack London books and a bunch of autobiographies of mushers... They have grizzlies, salmon, eagles, orcas and I heard tell of mosquitoes the size of humming birds.... but what's the weather like this time of year? Has it thawed yet? When is it going to freeze up again? I don't even own a warm coat! What the hell am I doing?

So here I am on a boat to Alaska until it lands in Haines at 11 a.m.. Monday. No berth, those are booked to smart people, who plan things ahead, through September, so I am sleeping on the floor. No sleeping bag or warm coat. I've Shanghaied myself for the duration and there is no going back. And you know something? Things couldn't be better.

Psittacosaurus

The spotted Psittacosaurus sculpture at the Prehistoric Gardens in Oregon


A Drive About
  And We're Off
Alaska? Alaska!
Jul 29, 2016
So Where was I? Oh yeah, I was getting on a ferry to Alaska. That was three weeks and a few thousands miles ago. Ah, the romance of the high seas... "Just give me a tall ship and a star to sail her by"...
Alaska & Out
Jul 30, 2016
OK, so you took a ferry to Alaska, spent a few days around Haines and drove up through the Yukon to the big part of the state. What now? Well... sha... drive around, find backroads, what else?
Oh, Canada!
Jul 31, 2016
Coming into Canada the second time I was asked a lot more questions. Was I headed home? Was I going to be staying down there for a while? Whatcha got in the back of the vehicle? I almost felt I was going to be given a limited hall pass: "This guy has five (5) days to get down to the States or else we will find him and ship him south ourselves." But, after all of the questions, I was allowed in with a cheerful, "enjoy your trip."
Canadian Rockies
Aug 02, 2016
I am driving through the stunning landscapes of the Canadian Rockies. They are huge! Not just in stature, but in the volume of the area, If you are looking for an "Endless Summer" experience try driving all of the roads up here. You will discover that there will be a lot of roads yet to cover by the time the Aspen & Birch trees begin to turn.
Wyoming
Aug 13, 2016
Wyoming?" You ask... "Weren't you just in Canada?" Well, um, yes... but you see... There was something I needed to get done in Wyoming,so.... "What about Montana?" You coninue, "What happened to Montana?" Montana? I love Montana, but I needed to get to Wyoming so I drove through it.
The Windmills of Colorado
Aug 17, 2016
"The Windmills of Colorado" sounds poetic doesn't it? There are a whole lot more windmills in the Midwest since the last time I wandered through the area, Two of these pictures were taken from the ground... the rest from the air.
A Colorado Crawl
Aug 27, 2016
From Limon, Colorado I headed west. Back across the plains, through the forests of Ponderosa Pine. There was a bit of business to conduct in Castle Rock and then onward to the West. A dirt road "short cut" surpriosed me with this formation... Upended strata , almiost free standing!
Deeper Into the Rockies
Sep 02, 2016
A dirt road is not the interstate. You can't pretend you are on the autobahn with the countryside flashing past at 150kph. You've left the fast lane, speed is an impossability. Relax, take your shoes off, roll down the windows and sniff the perfumes offered by the crisp, country air.
A Layover Day in Buena Vista
Sep 03, 2016
Sometimes it's good to stop. All of those places you've been driving through... Well. People live there... Yes, they spend weeks at a time in one place... Years even, I hear tell. So if you want to feel like a real local, you have to spend at least a day in one place. I decided to settle down in Buena Vista it seemed like a nice place to call home.
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