If only one day on each trip could be like this one, the entire trip would be worth it. What a nice day it was.
We left our pleasant stay in the yurt at Tugram State Park about 10:30 and got on the road. As usual, the day's drive started with Pete Seger's This Land is Your Land, and that always sets the pace for the drive.
For just about the entire 180 mile drive, we had to navigate between the Scylla of the haze from the forest fires and the Charybdis of the fog rolling in from the ocean. But these things only added to the drama of the day instead of detracting from it.
There are far too many scenic views to stop at along the way, especially if you are trying to make time on the road, but we stopped more than our share. Fortunately, the fog kept us from stopping at some spots, which was consistent with my top priority, to get the San Franciso by Thursday.
As i was leaving one stop, a kindly gentleman named Owen McGovern from Medford stopped me and handed me Donner's leash, which i had left behind. That's the first time - of 365 days on the road on my nine trips, perhaps over 190 stops- i did that. I think i know how that happened and it was just one of those things. But where was Owen when i needed him yesterday?
We left our pleasant stay in the yurt at Tugram State Park about 10:30 and got on the road. As usual, the day's drive started with Pete Seger's This Land is Your Land, and that always sets the pace for the drive.
For just about the entire 180 mile drive, we had to navigate between the Scylla of the haze from the forest fires and the Charybdis of the fog rolling in from the ocean. But these things only added to the drama of the day instead of detracting from it.
There are far too many scenic views to stop at along the way, especially if you are trying to make time on the road, but we stopped more than our share. Fortunately, the fog kept us from stopping at some spots, which was consistent with my top priority, to get the San Franciso by Thursday.
As i was leaving one stop, a kindly gentleman named Owen McGovern from Medford stopped me and handed me Donner's leash, which i had left behind. That's the first time - of 365 days on the road on my nine trips, perhaps over 190 stops- i did that. I think i know how that happened and it was just one of those things. But where was Owen when i needed him yesterday?
I wanted to stop at the New River Nature Sanctuary, which i have always done on these trips, but it came up so quickly that i could not stop with someone tailgating me. For the next few miles i looked for a place to pull over, but found none, so i pressed on down the road. Then, when i came to a sign for Cape Blanco, I slammed on the breaks and drove the six miles to the shore. One point three miles down the road i came to the only structure on the entire road, and as good kuck would have it, the sign out front read, PAMPERED POOCHES GROOMINB. I drove on, planning to inquire about a bath for Donner on the return to hiway 101
We made it to Cape Blanco and were thrilled with out impromptu decision.What a magnificent setting, situated high on a bluff overlooking the ocean. We were not only alone, but for a while i thought i was the last person on earth. Then, as we headed back to the Defender, i saw a gentleman approaching us, a civilian. The first thing i noticed as he came close was thst he was packing a holstered pistol. So this is how it ends, i thought to myself. I started drafting the headlines in the newspaper, just pages before my obituary. As it turns out, he was just a nice fellow who has been traveling on the road for five years with his own beloved dog, a chuiahua (i can never spell that), i think he said. i was quite relieved to hear about his dog because no serial killer i ever met owned a chuiahua.). We exchanged pleasantries and i dared not engage in any heated debates about Trump for reasons that should be intuitively obvious.
Just before the pistol-toting gentleman and i moved on our separate ways, i spotted a young couple waking their handsome yellow labrador by the Defender, and used Donner's wanting to meet him as my excuse for getting out of harm's way. When i approached them, Ryan and Sharina (sp), i asked them their dog's name. Get this - his name is Pistol. Shat are the odds of that happening?
On the return back to 101, i stopped outside Pampered Pooches and Jessica, the proprietor, said she could take Donner right away for a grooming. While he went through the ritual cleansing, i wandered the wonderful peaceable kingdom Jessica and Shawn own, replete with a sweet pony named Little Bit, chickens, ducks, goats, dogs, etc. i hope they know how good they have it. After Donner was returned to me, looking once again his handsome self, Jessica tried to charge me $20, but i balked and told her i was not going to pay her $20 because that was not a $20 grooming, it was a $40 grooming, i said, and handed her two twenties,
With a clean dog as my travel partner once again, i drove on at 2:30. My hope was to reach Jediah Smith camp no later than five, and if i could not make it, camp at the first opportunity somewhere else, to avoid driving down dark, empty narrow roads. But I really wanted to camp at Jefiah. As it turns out, we pulled onto the 6.6 mile access road to the park at 5:04, so i forgave myself, bent my rule, and moved on into the park.
I have nothing bad to say about thus camp, set in a grove of redwoods. It t is specular. Imagine pitching your tent in -take your pick- st Peter's Basilica, and that's how inspirational this place is. Thank God i bent my rules.
No sooner had i picked my site and started to unload the Defender when I spotted two young men in the campsite across from me whispering to each other and looking in my direction. Then one of them broke away and rapidly approached me. I silently prayed he wasn't carrying a pistol, too. I could handle another dog named Pistol, but not a pistol-toter. My whistle can tame bears but not pistol-toters. As it turns out, Jacob (how many serial killers are named Jacob?) had neither a pistol or a dog so named. In fact he has neither a pistol nor a dog. But he wanted to stop by my site to shoot me, with his camera, he was so smitten with my setup. After giving him permission, he proceeded to shoot photo after photo at a pace i saw only once before when Richard Olsenius of the National Geographic accompanied me on my first road trip in Alaska to shoot me there. Jacob returned to my site later when my evening chores were done and Donner was sacked out to invite me to his group's site for some monkey bread they had just made in a Dutch oven.
I hiked over to Jacob's group site by 8:30 (all of 30 feet away) and met his entire group of 12, six men and six women. They are classmates from the College of Idaho on a school break adventure. Let me just say this - what a bunch of good people they all are. I responded to their few questions about my trips with what would have passed as a 90-minute lecture on my adventures, which they all told me was as enjoyable for them as it was me. To top it all off, the monkey bread was the most delicious foodstuff i hsve had in a very long time. Even better, the group doted over Donner, and one of the girls lulled him into a deep sleep as she stroked him gently while i lectured on. I can just imagine what was going through his mind...this sure beats being chained in those backyards in Los Angeles for four years, perhaps.
Needless to say, each of the 12 was awarded a On The Road patch for their patience and attention during my lecture.i invited them to come to DC some day as my guest, and secretly hoped that the person who made the monkey bread and dog whisperer who tamed Donner would be among those who accept.
Tomorrow, our goal is Russian Gulch, 170 miles south, where i can practice my Russian.
One final word. Before i joined Jacob's group tonight, i sat outside in the cool air alone with Donner in the dark, with the only light coming from my headlamp. As i looked around at the setting i was in, i was invigorated. Moments like this have a major affect on your soul. Would that every day in our lives have the same impact on us.
Ed and Donner, from Jediah Smith State Park, California.
