After my visit with Andy I drove five hours back to the coast, only missing the section between Eureka and Fortuna. One of the early realizations of this trip was that you can’t go on an epic road trip without spending a lot of time driving. Go figure! Five hours is now nothing to me. It’s annoying that gas is often over $5.00 a gallon, but I’m conscious of my position that it’s just annoying, not a challenge. Soon I was back in the Redwoods. It was a rainy day when I passed through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The forests are managed collaboratively between federal (one hopes…), state governments and the Save the Redwoods League, a private non-profit that made a huge impact preserving the forests from logging interests in the 1930s. I hiked through Founder’s Grove, where the founders of the League were recognized with a plaque and a tree. Once again it was simply magical to walk in the presence of these majestic trees. The canopy was an umbrella, so the heavy rain was filtered down as a gentle drizzle, making the fern leaves bounce. Nonetheless, by the time I got back to the van I was actually pretty wet.
I turned off 101 to take Rt 1 which hugs the shoreline, and is both beautiful and nerve-wracking. I kept thinking of the hubris of building a road right next to eroding cliffs. Apparently large sections have been abandoned and moved inland enough to postpone doing it again. There were road crews every few miles shoring it up, and sections that hadn’t been worked on yet but were going to need it soon. Passing around a curve on the side of a cliff where you could see part of the pavement cracking towards the precipice, nerve-wracking is an apt description.
I passed a lumberyard and pulled in. After Andy suggested making a whole new platform with the studio underneath, I had sketched it out and made measurements. A very helpful person worked with me to make the cuts I needed. I needed a jigsaw but they didn’t have tools I could borrow. I assumed assembly would have to wait till I got to my next friend’s house. But, Lo and Behold, just south of the lumberyard was an equipment rental place! I got to work in their parking lot. I couldn’t finish by the end of the day, but they let me camp there for the night. I was done by 11:00AM the next day. I am back to sleeping longwise, my studio is ready to go in five minutes, and now the only consequence was bumping my head on the ceiling a few times. I’ve since adapted to the fewer six inches; now getting out of bed is a slither, a slide, a scooch. (I just wanted to write the word scooch..) I felt regret for abandoning my full mattress at the Walmart, but such are the constrictions of van life. I bought a new tri-fold futon, and I think this will be the final iteration of the sleep/studio arrangement.
That night I did another free camp; just pulled off the road down to a vista and made dinner to the sound of the roaring surf.
The next day I did a small hike at Vista Point and saw a woman with a backpack. We started talking. AK Mimi Allin is a poet and performance artist, and is on a 17,000 mile walk (correct number of zeros!) to spell the word “love” in lower-case script (so it’s an unbroken line). It is a “Love Letter to Gaza”. We talked a long time about the conflict and the history. I was moved by her creative vision and personal conviction. Rather than me trying to summarize her story, please take a moment to learn more.
That evening I arrived at Jeff And Jody Morgan's place. Jeff is my “for a period of time” step-brother. (Sharon used to have fun calling him her ex-step-brother-in-law…) My dad was married to his mom for twelve years, but he's still very much family in my book. They own Covenant Winery, and make delicious, high-end kosher wine. They sent me off with quite a care package of their wine and brandy, and their cookbook, "The Covenant Kitchen".
After a night with them, I am now with Sandra Harris and her husband Thinh for a few days. Sharon and Sandra were both in the plastic-free business space; her company is Eco Lunch Boxes. They often shared ideas and strategies, and Sandra came all the way across the country to be at Sharon's Celebration of Life last May. We had never met, but my daughter Eva had, and caught her just in time to come to the small gathering back at the house after the memorial. I was so glad to spend time with her, and we've kept in touch since. Check out Sandra's book, “Say Goodbye to Plastic”.