This last weekend was our last BIG-trip hooray!! Mark claimed it as‘training’ for the kids and the big trip home…they REALLY rock with these car rides. In fact this trip was their idea. We told them what we’d found but totally left it up to them on whether or not we went. Ella only had to ask one question, “Will we get to stay in a hotel room?” Then Keegan piped in with, “Those rooms are the ones with the little snacks in them? Oh, yeah…I’m in!” and that was that…now to plan our route.
About a week prior Mark was talking to a few of the new guys who have joined the 3 boys here (Mike, Mark, and Greg) to help with the work. These guys came up from L.A. and on their way up they passed a black sand beach. So Mark became interested in where these were and he wanted to go exploring. These guys said it was south on Highway 1. I wasn’t super excited to get back on the road Grissom lost his cookies on just to find some sand that’s black…but I looked into it anyway. I found that California actually has 2-3 of the most incredible beaches in the world. They not only have Black sands, but purple, white, and glass sand beaches! I found that if we went north about 6 hours we’ll find the black sands on what's called The Lost Coast of Shelter Cove as well as what’s called the glass sands (after years of dumping glass into the ocean (which is where it was tossed from the dump) it now gets washed up onto the beach in this same place…so this beach was full of it! I also learned that Carmel was a white sands beach and Ft. Ord was considered a rock sand beach, AND south just past Big Sir they have a purple sand beach!! So we decided to collect little bits of these beaches and take them home as a forever memory of California and our travels out here.
This also gave us a reason to explore the Northern shore! We were just south of Eureka, which means “I found it!” and this city was the city that started it all back in 1849 when gold was first discovered here which led to a mad dash for gold! This also put us about 2-3 hours south of Oregon.
We decided to take the slug bug cause we could get away with a very cheap long travel. Mark set up the DVD player and I packed VERY lightly for an over-night stay somewhere. As we were driving we saw a huge herd of Elk just hanging out in the fields. We wish now that we would have stopped to take pictures but we didn’t, but they were neat to see!!
We saw towns that looked as if time had stopped. No wonder California is full of hippys…there’s really no serious civilization in these towns. We went miles and miles without seeing a single gas station or a restaurant we were familiar with. I know that sounds funny but stop and think…when was the last time you drove somewhere and didn’t see a restaurant you didn’t recognize or even a gas station? We stayed in a nice Best Western in a town called Humboldt which was just north of Garberville. Garberville wasn’t much of a town, but Humboldt was a cute little town. Besides the Best Western Plus Humboldt House Inn and a Subway there was nothing else that was well known outside of this town.
And from the exit off the interstate up until we left and got back onto the interstate there were hippyies EVERYWHERE! I don’t mean to offend anyone by calling them hippies I just don’t know of any other way to refer to people dressed in tie dye and skirts with backpacks and very long dreads sitting along the side of the road or in circles in the grass playing their guitars while their dogs play around them while they sport the peace sign as you drive past! So for now I shall refer to these folks as hippies. They truly were everywhere we counted 23 in this small town.
We also learned that anything with ‘Skunk’ in its name REALLY means marijuana, and that too seemed to be the thing around here as well. We check into the hotel and the guy confirmed our plans to the Black sand beach. He said it was very curvy and would take us an hour. So we gathered the best dinner we could find (lunchables) and took off for a little fun in the sun and then a beautiful sunset. We started off by missing our first big turn…starting off strong, you know the Wortley Way! But as we did we passed BIGFOOT!! Not the real one but the same place that is seen in a few movies that refer to the Bigfoot! – here’s our pic!!
We got onto the road we really wanted and low and behold there were a few more hippy’s hanging by the road. They loved seeing our entire family stuffed into the Bug! They gave us peace signs, smiles with head nods obviously approving of our fuel efficient vehicle and carpooling! Then just minutes after passing them we noticed a sign up in the hills with a woman HUGGING a tree and the sign said, “Save the Redwoods!” We got to laughing SO hard!
Next we almost literally ran into a small herd of wild turkeys hanging out around the fire station which was just a little house. We had about 25 miles until we reached the beach but it took us a nice hour to navigate through this super 'out in the middle of nowhere' road. This road would have made even my father-in-law’s stomach turn! We decided to play it safe and roll down the windows and enjoy the cooler wind as we drove 20-25 miles an hour. The funny thing was as SOON as our windows came down Archie Bunker made an appearance from both Mark and I at the same time saying, “Smells like the great outdoors!!” Then we laughed and thought of MY dad!
Mark did a great job with this road…there were several “U-turns” I’m talking 180* or more turns with a grade of like 15% (at least that was Mark’s guess) he seriously stayed in first gear and still had problems keeping us slowed enough to get through the turns at the edge. But it was a very successful and gorgeous drive. I love driving through the trees and seeing the fog glisten in the rays of sun light that escape through the leaves! It made me think of heaven.
We made it to the parking lot and crazy as it seems there were two cars that made it obvious that the 2 gals and 2 guys driving them were also living out of them…and there they were again…hippies just hanging out reading and playing ball with their dog. But these guys weren’t as nice as the others we’d come into contact with. We grabbed our beach bag and dinner and headed down the trail to this black sands beach. It was breathtakingly beautiful. But the thing was it wasn’t true sand, it was mostly super soft rocks…big small and tiny. We did find an area with sand like dirt and collected some of that but it was just cool.
Keegan picked our dinner spot right on top of this huge rock in the midst of the beach! It was easy to climb up one side and pretty much cliffed on the other…it was a nice 40 feet high so Grissom had to have a hold of either Mark or I the entire time. We inhaled our huge dinner of lunchables and chips and were ready to explore. We didn’t have much time until sunset.
The waves were violent so of course there was no swimming. But it was super cool to hear the waves pop against the rocks. It sounded like a bomb going off, crazy! We walked along the beach and just had a great time exploring and finding new things. The rocks had many caves in them…some of which had human “left-over’s.” It got to the point that we couldn’t let the kids go into any of them for fear they’d come out with human #2…SICK!!
We had a photo shoot compliments of Ella, and Daddy had some fun as well. Then we watched the sun set…We thanked God for such beautifulness!! We started heading back to the car and passed a hippy couple. As I walked up the gal said hi then asked if we knew the date for today. I told her it was the 18th, then her friend, the guy looking and sounding very dazed and confused asked, “Do you happen to know what day it is?” I gave him a funny look and said, it’s Saturday…I sure wish I could go through life not knowing the day!” He smiled and we headed on to our car while they headed to the beach to find a place to sleep. Mark said that before we got up there they were trying to figure out what month we were in! I do have a bit (a tiny piece) inside envious that they seriously go through life one day at a time without a plan and just go with the flow, but then I think about ALL the things I wouldn’t have if I lived that way…aka my kids and I’m good with the choices we’ve made in life!
We made it back to the car just using the flashlight app cause it got too dark to see anything.
As we headed back the way we came we were more prepared to handle these curves but now we’ve added the dark! And mist here and there! At least we were hoping that most of it was mist…cause it sure didn’t smell like it. I have to think it’s just us and the places we happen to go at the times we tend to go through…it’s truly hard for me to think THAT many folks smoke marijuana THAT much…we smelled it at least ½ of our hour drive back if not more. We got to the point where we HAD to roll up our windows because it got so bad in places. But we got to see a beautiful deer eating on the side of the road…then out of nowhere we see this raccoon run out, Mark swerved and missed it until that stupid thing did a zigzag move RIGHT under the car! STINK!! It seriously was a suicidal raccoon…I think he’d been high and had NO clue what he was doing…poor little guy! I had to be proud of Mark cause he DID try not to hit the thing (unlike on our 2nd date when I swear he swerved TO hit the cat in which he killed! To this day we still “discuss” this date night challenge!).
We were also celebrating the fact that I actually let him get a steel or metal skid plate to replace the silly plastic one under his bug. This was something I think Scott recommended (which is prolly why I said ok to it?!?) And because we had JUST gotten it installed on Friday this little raccoon didn’t hurt the oil thing or any other low riding part in the bug…after all it only sits like 5 inches off the ground!
We got back to the hotel room and got the kids in their jammies as fast as possible. We were super tired and ready for peace and quiet. I laid Grissom down on their bed and pulled from his pant legs to pull his pants off…can you say holy beach came falling out of everywhere! His folded pant legs and all 4 pockets…that little stinker was stuffing his pockets with the beach! Then I took off his sweatshirt and more come pouring out of his pockets along with a hot wheel he’d found on the floor of the car! It was SO funny!! I kid you not there was a nice 2-3 inch tall pile of these tiny rocks! We all again got to laughing so hard that mommy wet her pants! SO…after the kids were tucked in mommy took one HOT shower!
But before I did Mark and I got to talking and I totally admitted to him that my stomach was seriously about to EAT the child being formed inside of me unless we find some REAL food! I wasn’t interested in chips or candy or even chocolate. I had heartburn enough from the fast food we’d shoved into our bodies all day…I needed REAL food! I think Mark was feeling the same way he just wouldn’t admit it, but he was super willing to find me something good to eat. He called room service but they’d JUST closed…so he completely (almost too willingly) volunteered to ‘go out there’ and get me something good! So I got into the shower and he went scavenging for food! He didn’t have to go very far but he did almost come home empty handed cause he snuck in as they were closing! He went across the street to the town Market…seriously it was called, The Town Market and came home with some food.
Now I got out of the shower JUST in time for him to come back. Now YOU tell ME who the hungry one was: He puts the brown paper bag on the table and pulls out a whole rack of RIBS (I don’t like ribs…and he knows this LOUD and clear cause my mom’s favorite thing to make when Mark’s around is ribs cause no one else really will eat them with her and dad!) ok…he then pulls out what I thought was beer…I about lost it thinking I can’t touch this! But it turned out to be an Indian’s natural and purest Ginger Ale (which ROCKED), then he pulls out humus and carrots. Now, let me explain: I’ve had humus twice, both times with crackers and I have to tell you they aren’t my favorite. But I didn’t want to hurt his feelings…so we ate RIBS and carrots with a little humus on them drinking Ginger Ale! What a dinner!! It tasted SO good just because I knew he went out of his way to jump into the town Market JUST as they were closing to grab me some REAL food! How sweet!! What I won’t tell you is that I had to use 4 pillows and practically sleep sitting straight up all night because this didn’t help my heartburn any! Note to self: don’t forget your PRILOSEC when going on an over-night trip while being pregnant!!
On our way north...in San Fran...
This was the bridge that was crushed in the earthquake about like 20 years ago...they work on this constantly!! Kind of crazy!
I just thought this was cool...this is a pile of Redwood trees in a lumberyard...
Just a cool pic...
THE FAMOUS BIGFOOT STOP!!
This is just 1 of the millions of curves we ventrue on to get to the black sands...serious U-turn!
If you look to the lower right you can see the white line from the road ahead!!
A peak at the black sands!
Mark's glad to be done driving...
the kids are SO ready to play...
Mommy shoot...
Eating dinner on the ROCK!
this is the BIG picture of where we ate our dinner...
Beautiful!!
From our walk...
Just after the sunset...
AND...they are out!! But where's Keegan?
HAHAHA!! Poor kid got kicked to the ground!
don't worry...he made it back to the bed!!
We pegged this first day, Saturday a HUGE success…after all we made it to the beautiful black sands beach…and we had some really good times today as a family!
More to come tomorrow…
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