Back inland again

This morning I woke at about 5:15, peeked outside, and saw I was wrapped in thick fog. “So this is the type of day it will be.” 

I tried to go back to sleep but kept thinking about the drive I was going to make. Away from the ocean and over the mountains on a squiggly road I had been dreading. I had driven it in the other direction nine years ago and I remembered it as a stressful route. Oh well, it had to be done. Put on my big boy pants, stop my whining and Just Do It®. (But I don’t have any Nikes.)

By the time I finished breakfast and put on my big boy pants the sun was above the ridge line and the fog had mostly burned off. “So this is the type of day it will be.” Maybe it was a good sign.

This part of the squiggly road wasn’t as squiggly

And, as I should have learned by now, the drive wasn’t as bad as I feared. There was a lengthy delay because of road resurfacing, but I took the opportunity to relax and think good thoughts. The road was in a lush forest. I was living the life I wanted. And the radio was working again. Aaaaaaaaahhhhh…

I’ve had to stop for roadwork in much worse places

Soon I was back on US101 heading north next to the Eel River in the Humboldt Redwoods State Forest. Such nice scenery. I took the exit for the Avenue of the Giants that runs through the redwoods, then pulled into a trailhead to get a closer, slower look. Although there were more people there than I prefer, it was a delightful walk.

More of this, please

Yesterday I thought I might be so mentally worked up and physically worn down by the squiggly road that I would want to stop driving early. But the walk in the forest rejuvenated me. I continued on to my goal of a small Victorian farm town where the locals are just as cool about streetdocking as Mendocino and Point Reyes Station had been. So now I’m parked next to the Masonic lodge, feeling good about the type of day it turned out to be.