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Quiet times in Benicia on Christmas Eve.

In the afternoon, we two and Dave went for a ride up to the town of Napa for a look around.   It’s another nice wine-country town.   We had lunch at a place by the river and walked about a bit.   I bought myself a hat that says, “Napa – General Store”, that I especially liked.

In the evening, Colette and I bought a package of Sushi and Dave come up with something else and after we all ate, we sat down and watched a movie he’d rented on NetFlick called, “A Christmas Story”, about a boy that wanted a BB Gun for Christmas.   It was a fun Christmas movie and we all enjoyed it.

dennis

Santa Rosa to Benicia, California.

Colette went out for a run in the morning and then when she returned, we packed up and went over to the Starbucks across the parking lot for coffee.   But, they were jammed up ten deep so we bailed on that and drove into downtown Santa Rosa and had a second look around and a cup of coffee.   After coffee, we drove up and down in the old section and checked it out.   Beautiful old houses there.

We dropped into the small town of Cotati next where my friend, Gertraude, lives and dropped a card and a note at her door wishing her a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

From there, we went onto Petaluma and again sought out the old downtown area to explore.   That seems to us to be the part of town that best represents the whole.

We stayed and had a sandwich at a deli and then it was time to scoot over to Dave’s place in Benicia.   I took a quick look at the map services on my iPhone while we were in the deli’s WiFi cloud and then we were off.   And, true to previous experiences, having the route planned made it all so easy.   We drove straight to his house.

Dave lives in a beautiful house in a nice town, Benicia.   It was a pleasure to find him extending a warm welcome to us there.  And the prospect of several days of relaxed ‘downtime’ in the same place is very appealing, as well.

Colette had planned a meal to make on Christmas day before we’d arrived.  So, once settled in, we all went down to Dave’s local market and bought the materials for our Christmas afternoon meal.

After that, it was some laying around, some clothes washing and some visiting.   All good fun. 

And the weather?    Clear and dry.   Mount Diablo, which we all went up in November and couldn’t see anything from the summit because of clouds, was visible in the distance clear as a bell.

dennis

Fort Bragg to Santa Rosa, California.

We’re sitting here in Santa Rosa tonight absorbing the news from New Zealand about the latest series of earthquakes there a few hours ago.   What a bummer.   Everyone has been hoping, since it’s been relatively quiet since last June, that it might all be winding down.  But it doesn’t look like it now.

Colette’s sons, who are both in Christchurch just now, are OK and her house is OK as well so that’s all good.

All this is a bit disconcerting for all concerned.  What a bummer for everyone there with respect to Christmas.   I should think this will put a major crimp in all the last minute shopping. given that it happened on the afternoon of December 23rd, New Zealand time.

My wishes and thoughts are with everyone there.

We arose early this AM and had a good look around Fort Bragg before we took off.  I spent some time looking for a friend of mine, Bruce, from my military days.  He was born and raised there in Fort Bragg.   I didn’t manage to contact him but I think I now have the information to track him down by E-Mail later.   Apparently,  he’s living now in a town north of Fort Bragg called ‘McKinleyville’.

We drove down the coast enjoying the beautiful sea views all along the way.   We came to Mendocino and I remembered my friend, Katy’s, advice that we should look in on a place called Cafe Beaujolais.   We found it but it was closed until later in the morning.   I took a fun photo there, however, under their sign which I’ve posted on Facebook.   Mendocino was a very cool town and we strolled and looked at real estate postings in the real estate office windows.   Always fun to dream.

We drove on south from there until we decided to cross over the coastal mountains as we wanted to stay in or near Santa Rosa.   

We chose to cross on a road called, Skaggs Springs Road.   It was a small and lost sort of road.   Just asphalt – not even a center line for a long ways.   But, it eventually got us over to highway 101 and that fine highway took us down to Santa Rosa where we are currently ensconced in a fine establishment near the south end of town.

And that’s my story today – and I’m sticking to it.

Night all.

dennis

Port Orford to Fort Bragg.

A nice clear and bright day for a drive down the coast.   Sea stacks, huge waves and immense vistas interspersed with winding roads through huge forests (Redwoods, sometimes).

We came across Trinidad, California, and I remembered that a friend had grown up here so we stopped and had a nice drive around town and then sat on a bluff overlooking the bay.

I’ve looked at many places on this trip through my ‘what if I lived here glasses’.   It seems to be a traveling hazard with me.   I cannot help but try to see every place we go through in this light.   Trinidad certainly got favorable marks.

But then, so have many, many of the places we’ve passed through or stayed in.   It makes me wonder why so many of us simply stay with what is familiar and known to us.   The world is so huge and the possibilities so many.   To get up in the morning and look out in a city scape from 20 stories up, to wake to the smell of the sea breeze and the look out and see the vast ocean pounding against the continental shore, to walk out and find your house surrounded by deep, mystical woods.    Vancouver, Port Townsend, Santa Barbara, the list is very long and everyone of them contains a new life.

We’ve been keen to see the redwoods and at one point we wandered for 30 minutes on a trail through a deep forest of them and shot some photos that made us look so small.    

Later, just as I was about to switch from highway 101 to coastal highway 1 en route to Fort Bragg, we saw a come-on sign for the ‘drive-through tree’.   Whoop!   We had to go.

What fun.  Colette was like a little girl in her excitement about the ‘drive-through tree’.   She really made me smile.   A couple of fellows on Harley motorcycles were there too taking photos and I shot pictures of them on their camera coming through and they returned the favor for us.  Inside the gift shop, we bought a couple of ice creams and drove off quite happy with our small adventure.

From there, we took the road to the coast and it was a long, twisting, two-lane road through the coastal range that took over an hour to traverse.  As we began, it was deep twilight and long before we emerged to the sea, it was dark.   It was one of those roads you don’t want to make a mistake on.

But, it all worked out and soon we found ourselves in Fort Bragg where we found a nice room for the night and had another of Colette’s evening salads with materials gleaned from Safeway.

dennis

Lincoln City to Port Orford, Oregon today – along the Oregon coast.

After a nice breakfast in our room of granola, yogurt and fruit, which Colette made us, we paid a visit to an expresso stand just beside our motel and then we were off down the highway; coffees in hand for a new day.

And it was a nice leisurely day of driving; no pressure to be any particular place by any certain time.

Along the way, I put in an audio recording of Carolyn Myss’ “Spiritual Madness” talk.   It’s one I’ve listened to several times and I always find it rewarding.   I was hoping Colette would find it interesting.   One never knows if one’s own passions will appeal to others.

I was deeply pleased to see that she listened and  absorbed it with deep attention.  And, it resulted in several keen discussions as we paused it to talk.  

Colette and I have quite different takes on the question of meaning and purpose in life so our discussions are interesting as we each try sincerely to understand the other’s thinking.   

I think that much of what I’ve come to understand through a spiritual lens, she’s come to understand through her own ways of understanding the world.  

Indeed, more than anyone I’ve known in this life, she’s taken all that’s happened to her previously in her life and learned from it.  And she brings all that learning forward with her into her next encounter with great self awareness and the best of intentions.   Admirable.

For me, Carolyn Myss’ talk in “Spiritual Madness” reminds me in words of so much that circulates in me at wordless levels.  Things I’ve understood and forgotten many times in this incarnation.  And, it reminds me that I am doing well.   I have made some progress.  I have understood some of what is to be understood as my life has left its scars on me.  I have learned to say ‘yes’ to so much; I feel deeply blessed.

We stopped at the Devil’s Churn and had a nice walk and a look at this interesting place.   

I found my self wishing I was there, present, when a big winter storm rolled in.   And this thought is not unrelated to the ideas and feeling that Myss’ talk has been arousing in me.   

I want all the experiences this life offers and I’ve said plainly to God in my prayers, to bring it on.  I’ve invited the lighting to strike me rather than to live the quiet life.   

There would, I am sure, be days at the Devil’s Churn, when I would feel and see that power of the sea played out like the raging passion that music can sometimes create in us – and I want it.

From there, we drove further south to Bandon where we stayed on our way north.   A beautiful place and we drove around taking it all in this time.   On our first visit, it was late, dark and stormy when we arrived and finding our accommodations was a hassle.   Today, we were much better able to ‘see’ the place and its beauty.

The place has another significance for Colette.   Her former Husband, Bruce, the father of her two boys, owns a beach house in Bandon.   It was at his place that we stayed on our trip north.   So, there’s that overlay that gives it all another flavor as well.   Her son’s have been here with their father in years past and I think she (and I as well) see it all through their eyes as well. Many lives cross here.

From Bandon, we continued south until Port Orford where we found a nice place just as the sun was setting and now we’re settled in for another evening here out in the wilds of America.

dennis

Portland to Lincoln City, Oregon today. 

We made a point to go and see the Portland Japanese Gardens before we left.   we arrived at 10:40 and discovered that they had a noon opening time.   After a short discussion about bailing on the idea and pressing on, we decided to explore the Portland neighborhoods around the park are until it was noon.    Probably one of the better decisions we’ve made on this trip

Exploring the areas near the park was rewarding.   Lots of cool houses on very hilly dead-end streets.   Each house with its own unique look to it.   What Colette calls “character”.

Then down into the city before we went back up the hill to the park and the Japanese Gardens.   We passed a Safeway and Colette went in while I parked and waited in a loading zone.   Her mission:   To secure two Chocolate Cookies.   “The secretary will disavow any knowledge of your mission if discovered …  good luck ….”. 

Yum, after a long wait (she said several “pokey butts” were clogging things up inside), she and the cookies arrived and all was well.   The ‘mission’ was on track and we were right with the world.

Up the hill to the Japanese Gardens and a wonderful hour and a half.   Thanks again to Katy for the excellent suggestion.  Colette says she shot the most photos here of any place we’ve been.   

I remembered many of the motifs from earlier Japanese Gardens I’ve been involved with.  Subtle, balanced, organic, beautiful, inviting, .. I run out of words to describe what can really only be seen with your eyes and feelings.

I don’t know why, but lots of Japanese stuff really appeals to me.   Their gardens, their houses, their movies and their literature.  Indeed, I’m reading Haruki Murakami’s “Kafka on the Shore” to Colette aloud in the evenings when time permits.  And I plan to run “The Seven Samurai” and other Japanese movie classics by her when we return to New Zealand.

Once we finished at the gardens, we began our exit from Portland.  I don’t know what it is about this town but getting into it and out of it can, at times, be a real trial.    I won’t go into the gory details but it took us an hour and a half to get cleanly out of the city and on our way.  Jeez!  Clogged freeways, shitty signage, etc., etc.

Our ‘way’ was down the 99W to highway 18 to the Oregon coast where we’re going to begin our long trek down the coast to Los Angeles. 

We arrived in Lincoln City around dark and checked into a nice place with a good price – $42 for the night.   

We went out and I exposed Colette to another bit of Americana; the order-at-the-bar with a salad bar Pizza Parlor.   You know the kind; where the coaches bring the baseball team after a game or a practice.   Where they have electronic games in one corner and sports TVs going on every wall.  And where everything’s been left in the hands of 17 year olds?  Yep, that’s the one.

The Pizza was OK but nothing to write home about.

Then it was back to our room where I discovered that I was dog tired and went to bed early.  

I suspect that 40 days on the road shifting from place to place day after day and seeing new sights and people every moment of the day may be something that eventually wears on one.   On the bright side, I have to say that Colette and I have been pressed together without relief for these same 24/7 40 days and we haven’t had a fight or even a squabble.   I think that says something.   She’s a wonderfully sane lady who comes from a world so different from the one I grew up in.

Tomorrow, we’re up and on down the coast.   We plan to be at my friend, Dave’s, place in Benicia by mid-day on the 23rd and a look at the maps and miles convinces me that we can proceed fairly leisurely and make it fine.   I’m quite looking forward to seeing him again and hanging out at his place.

dennis

We had a full day in Portland, today.   

We began the day at a motel in Castle Rock, Washington where we ended up after our adventures with Mt. St. Helens yesterday.

We got up, had some breakfast in the room, filled the car with gas (brrr, it was cold out pumping the gas) and took off down the road.   Today, before we left out for Portland, we planned our route.   It seemed a judicious thing todo after the chaos of our last entry into Portland in the grid-locked traffic, darkness and rain when we spent two hours trying to get to our hotel.

The route planning was good and we entered the city and vectored directly to our accommodations which is/was at the University Place Inn on the campus of Portland State University.   Nice place – recommended.

Once in, we went out (what else?).  We found the trolley system and went riding.   Went to Jake’s in a big hotel downtown for a meal.   Nice ambiance and good Eggs Benedict.  Then it was off to Powell’s books where we both bought a few books (not like we don’t already have plenty!).   Then we walked through the older and seedier part of town to the waterfront and walked along that.

Then back onto the trolleys and we went looking for the big city center shopping mall area. We found it.   It was big and pretty and thronged with shoppers.   I poked my nose into the Apple store looking to see what the newest versions of the iPhone are going for.   Answer: 64 GB for $399 if slaved to the AT&T Network and $699 if free from network linkages.   And, they are constantly sold out.   I decided to give it a ‘bye’ for now.

After that, we decided to sit in a bar where we could watch the crowds go by and we found one and sat there for about an hour watching and talking.   Then we walked home to the Inn which was quite a ways.

I’d sent my friend Joel, who lives in the Portland area, E-Mails earlier in the day hoping to connect with him for lunch or supper.   After we got back to the room he called.   He’d just got my E-Mails and he’d been in Portland dancing Tango all afternoon.   He was home now again across the river in Vancouver, Washington.   We talked about 20 minutes and he decided to come over and see us at the Inn as it was only about 15 minutes.

He came and we had a great time talking.   He makes jewelry and he brought a lot of his stuff to show us.   It was really nice.   He had one set of earrings I really liked and  I asked him about them for Colette and he gave them to us for Christmas!   Nice.

Joel is such a trip.   I call him my ‘pirate’ friend.   He is truly an ‘out there’ artistic personality.   I’ve known him ever since we were both in university together in the 1970’s.

And thus ended another day.   Tomorrow, we’re off to see the Japanese Gardens here in Portland and then we’ll begin working our way down the coast towards San Francisco and my friend, Dave’s, house.

dennis

Today’s Saturday here in the USA and we’ve moved from Port Townsend to Castle Rock, Washington. 

When we left Port Townsend, we drove down the length of the Hood Canal on the western side.   I’m not sure I’ve ever gone that route before.    It was pretty but the fog was heavy at a lot of places along there so visibility came and went.

Our goal was to take a look at Mt. St. Helens today and then press on to Portland for the night.   We didn’t get that far.

When we left Interstate 5 to turn east to Mt. St. Helens, I misread the map and put us on a course for the eastern approach to the mountain from which one cannot get to the main observation point (Johnson Ridge) nor the Visitor’s center.   Colette was very kind about my error but, in the end, it cost us three hours of an already short winter’s day.

When we finally recovered and got on the right track, it was late and we just made it to our destination as the sun was setting. Even so, we still got some excellent photos.

Coming back, we decided to stay at a motel at Castle Rock just off Interstate 5 and to push on into Portland in the daytime tomorrow.

The weather’s finally come right today and we have (other than foggy patches) clear skies which always make things look nice.

dennis

Port Townsend has turned out to be as nice as we’d hoped.   A fun, vibrant and cute town way out on a peninsula of land between Seattle to the east and Port Angeles to the west.  

There was a time, a hundred or more years ago, when this town was the 2nd largest port in The USA.  But, the vagaries of history pulled the rug of growth out from under it then and the population of approximately 7000 dropped to 2000 almost overnight.   

Later, when war was in the offing, several forts were built in the area to protect the inner areas of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound among other areas and a sense of prosperity returned.

But, then the war ended and the forts were abandoned or turned into parks (Like Fort Worden – just beside Port Townsend).   It was quiet again here through the end of the 1980’s but then it started to pick up and today the place is in growth mode and at about 9000 souls.   One third of them are retired folks.  There’s wood pulping, custom wooden boat building, some High Tech and various other things.

One long-term stroke of luck for the town was that after the initial major building boom at the end of the 19th century, the many old and beautiful brick buildings of that period have survived down to today and add to the quaint and attractive nature of the town.   Colette will, I hope, post some of the pictures we’ve shot around town today.

We began, after a breakfast of yogurt, melon and granola in our room, with a walk into town from our motor inn.   We walked up and down the main street an admired the old buildings and then found a good place for coffee.

We walked the main street again and then went up the hill to have a look at the Jefferson County Courthouse (circa 1892?).   Colette wanted to check out the courthouse and one of the ladies there let us in for a look.

Later in the afternoon, we drove back in and had a coffee and a sandwich at another shop and then went walking the street again. 

One place we stopped into was the local museum where the fellow looking after the place gave us an excellent introduction to the it and then turned us loose for a look.   Fascinating stuff.   Loggers, seamen, prostitutes, gamblers and rough types of all sorts made up the lower (by the water) part of town in the early days.   Up on the bluff above, lived the merchants and respectable ladies.

I learned a new word today; ‘crimper’.   A crimper is a fellow who makes sure that the ships in port have all the crewmen they need by whatever means is necessary.  Shanghai’ing is what they were doing.   Life was hard then and if you went drinking in the wrong bar, a couple of knock-out drops might go into your drink and out you’d go and you’d find yourself, when you woke bound, for China as an ordinary seaman and it would not be a good situation.  Jack London came through here.

I also wandered into a new-age bookstore called “The Phoenix” and I think it’s the best shop of its type I’ve ever seen.   www.phoenixrising-pt.com if you are curious.   It had a huge selection of stuff.   I talked to the owner and she’s been there doing this for 25 years.

After those adventures, we got in the car and went riding up and down the residential streets just to get more of a feel for the place.   We also drove over into Fort Worden and had a look around though it was getting to be deep twilight by then.

Back to Safeway where Colette picked out the bits for supper.   And back here in the room, she made us an excellent spinach, crumbled feta cheese, snow peas, toasted almond slices, sliced strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette dressing salad which was very nice.  And, as she said smiling, ‘No cooking was required’.   And, of course, I waded into my 2nd can of Foster’s Premium Ale (had the 1st one last night).

And now we’re having a quiet evening in.   Tomorrow, we’re off to our next adventure – possibly down the Mt. St. Helens area for a look about.

dennis