Dirty Hippies

Since we last posted, sorry it’s been awhile, we have been in and out of the Redwoods and explored the Sonoma valley,  and a bit more of the coast. After we left Samuel P Taylor State Park we did a short hike in a place called the Devils Gulch, due to some bad poison oak we didn’t stay long. We played with Rora in the stream to ease our minds about the toxic oils then hit the road. California is full of poison oak and ticks, two foes that make our skin crawl and tingle.

We drove through Santa Rosa and onto wine country in the Sonoma Valley. We stayed in Fairview Glen for just 10 bucks a night. The rate was so cheap because their well had failed so there was no water in the park. The park was surrounded by a spidery reservoir where we took our first swim for the summer. It was very cold but refreshing.

On the Lukey’s birthday we did two winery tours in his honour. The first was to a fancy one called Rammond Burns (owned by the actor who played Perry Mason, we saw his Academy Awards) here we sampled 6 wines and knew that it was going to be a good day. The second winery was an inspiration for our future. It is called Quivira. They have over 80 acres of certified organic vines plus an acre of organic raised beds. The vegetable gardens are maintained by the vineyard with produce going to local restaurants. They had a beautifully landscaped property with a great looking and pleasant smelling chicken coup (no really).  We made notes ;)

From here we drove down a mental 56km windy, sinuous, often single lane road through the redwoods back to the coast. We camped at Salt Point State Park. Cali has been expensive for us, there are fewer free national forests and BLM lands to camp in which means we have been spending about 35 bucks a night to camp. Ouch.

On June 10^th we drove the short distance to Fort Bragg. It was a Friday and we were planning to spend the day a library. Unfortunately, our plans were foiled by budget cuts. So a quick change of plans sent us to the Jackson Demonstration Forest. The campground we were headed to was about a 25 minute drive heading inland. Once we made our way down some more crazy roads we were disappointed to find out that these campsites were still closed. A nice fireman who just happened to be in the area sent us another 16 miles down the road to an open campground. Turns out that we weren’t the only dirty hippies to find out about the free camping. These folks made us look loaded and clean as a whistle. Yikes. 

On June 11^th we woke up and had a lovely breaky of French toast. I think this is the first time we have ever made this, it was a hit. Next something happened that some of you won’t believe. Brad drove in the complete opposite direction. Not that I was any help and in fact as navi this is probably more my fault that his; nevertheless, BRAD drove the truck due east instead of west. So instead of spending our Saturday at the Fort Bragg library we spent it at the Willits community library. No harm done, but a little funny.  Willits was a wonderful little hiccup. We stayed in their library for about 2 ½ hours and then wandered around the downtown. After hanging out downtown for a while we got back in the truck and drove to Standish Hickey State Park. We stumbled upon a wonderful place to swim. Finding ourselves ill-prepared we swam in our undies. The water was crystal clear and a great temp.  Aurora swam like a champ and we were very proud ‘parents’.

On the 12^th of June we spent the morning at the ‘beach’ at Standish Hickey we had a great time sunning ourselves, playing Frizbee with and without Aurora, reading and swimming. After lunch we drove through Eureka and on to Hammond Beach state park. The campground was a simple parking lot with sandy sites around the perimeter. It was cheap and we were right on the ocean. We went for a great barefoot walk up the coast. As we walked we worked on a leashless heal with Aurora. It was great to have a lengthy encounter with the Pacific. The beach was full of life and death; we saw shore birds, thousands of crawling sand creatures and a dead seal washed in the surf.

Brad made ‘taters and beans for supper (his favourite meal to make, next goulash). In the evening we had a couple of beers and played cribbage. Courtney is beginning to be a contender; in that she has a slight winning streak.

On the 13^th we headed north to the Redwoods National/State Park. We spent the day hiking in the ancient, giant forests. We did two hikes: one to the famous Lady Bird Johnson Grove and a 7-mile loop towards the coast. The forests were stunning; we often stopped, awe-struck, by the trees. We took off our boots for a more intimate  experience in the forest. Courtney walked 6 of the 7 miles barefoot. It was glorious. Walking barefoot allows you to feel and appreciate a whole new dimension to a forest. We strongly recommend that you give it a whorl next time you are in the woods.  There are two downsides to being barefoot, one of which sent Brad back to his boots after about 2 or 3 miles: millipedes and having to watch your step.

After the Redwoods, we headed north into Oregon, where we spent the night in Brookings. We have made arrangements for our first couch surf in Eugene on Wednesday night; we are very excited for the experience.