Friday, May 23rd, 2008
The motel room was good to me. I slept very well in the big, cozy double bed. The room was huge, and so packing up was a bit of a task. I had spread my stuff out all over the place, which at the time felt really great, and even as I gathered it all up I couldn’t help but smile; just like that, the Gold Beach Inn was my new favourite hideout.The complementary breakfast got me going on the right foot. It reminded me of my European adventure. It became apparent to Neil (my brother and EuroTrip partner in crime) and I that these FREE breakfasts were gold mines and needed to be taken advantage of. Now, in Europe I was traveling ‘On a Budget’, which meant spend as little as possible while still surviving the elements. My Great American Adventure has a touch more room for flexibility, however… I am still the same backpacker who lost 15 pounds while touring in Western Europe simply by cutting costs on things that I could ‘live’ without (which ended up usually being lunch). It wasn’t the same doing the free breakfast thing without Neil, I snagged a couple single serving jam packages, but had no one to celebrate with. Lonely? Noooo… I haven’t yet resorted to talking to myself (all the time) so I’m still in good shape.
When I hit the road it was with the hopes that California would bring brighter skylines. I hadn’t seen the sun in three full days and was finding that all my pictures looked to have just a smidge of ‘Ooooo, that’s a little depressing’ to them. As I crossed into my third state there was no rain and the idea that the sun was trying to break through the low-level clouds that were crowding the valleys between the coastal hills. My first stop was just north and east of Crescent City at the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. I wandered the campground and Day-Use area for a while marveling at the big Reds that pushed their way right up to the river’s edge. There was a half mile hike that took me deep into the woods. In the same way that mother nature gradually introduced me to the Redwoods as I drove down the 101 from Oregon, the narrow nature trail began with a modest opening act before bringing out the big guns and hitting me with Gigantic Redwoods that looked as though they could have been major players in the battle over Middle Earth. I explored the area for a good part of the morning, having fun trying to fit any significant part of these giants into a photograph. It was great exposure to the massive Redwood wilderness in a concentrated area.
I continued down US 101 South stopping every once and a while to get out from behind the windshield and see the monstrous trees with my own eyes. The highway drove itself through the forested coast with the Redwood forest creeping on to the road around every turn. In fact at times there were reflectors placed at the base of the trees to indicate to drivers that not only was there no shoulder, but there was a massive tree truck ready to take you out. Part way through the day, after emptying my bank account for a tank of gas (California has significantly higher prices at the pumps then it’s northern neighbours), I looked ahead and tried to map out my destination for the day. Oddly enough, even though I had been doddeling for most of the morning, I still had the day light to make it far enough south to consider reaching San Francisco. A few text messages later, I had a potential candidate for lodging, as my recon-member back at base camp (Momma Webb) had tracked down a nice motel located directly in down town San Fran. Once I had booked the room for the night, I had a firm goal in mind: I would reach San Francisco before the sun set.
It was around this time that I burst out of the trees and watched as the big Redwoods began to fade into a new landscape sculpted by a drier climate. It was the western edge of wine country. I decided to continue following the 101 which took me inland, as oppose to drift off onto highway 1 South which cruised the coast. It was great to see what a couple miles off the ocean front could do to a place. Again, I couldn’t help but pull out the camera every chance I got.
Fast forward to the final leg of the day. This part of the story involves my love of tunnels. Almost every day of my trip has taken me through these mysterious passageways. It’s not even the impressive engineering that needs to go into drilling a highway through a freakin mountain that gets me going, it’s the beauty of event. I enter the tunnel, escaping the day for a brief moment, before exploding out the other side into the unknown. In Washington it was along the 97 South Alternate route where I exited a tunnel and was riding the edge of a cliff, hundreds of feet above the winding river below. Oregon’s tunnels would have amazing views of the rocky and jagged coast line waiting for me upon my return to the day light. And my love for the great long tunnels along highway 1 going over Roger’s Pass will never be matched; you are basically driving under settled avalanches. Well, today’s tunnel opened up to the towering structure of the Golden Gate Bridge, up close and personal. Like the Coliseum or the Eiffel Tower or Jerry Seinfeld, this was a figure I knew extremely well, a familiar image I was used to, an icon that was burned into the back of my mind, but when it was presented to me in person… I couldn’t take it all in fast enough. I actually laughed out loud. What a moment! What a site! I love San Fran already.
I’m in the Surf Motel, on Lombard street planning my attack on Frisco tomorrow. I feel like I should be searching for Sal and Dean, they always knew where the action was. And I could share my own stories with them of being ‘On the Road’.5 Days, 3225km, 3 States, 2 Provinces, and more memories to forget than I deserve… and My Great American Adventure has just begun: I am Jackson MiniTramp.
Day 5: Where the Road meets the Redwoods.
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