pismo beach x 2

day 11.
photos say it all...





forest spotted this...







check the guy out on the right..













rexasaurus...



doesn't like.



aaaand this sums up rex and i's ridiculously human like relationship. both pulling.



sweet camping spot right next to the beach...plum bbq sauce marinated shish ka bobs (thanks to forest's sister ANGIE!!!!) thank YOU ang, plum sauce was money...

pismo beach

day 10.
we had been in a northern CA rainstorm for the past two days, so we were eager to see the coastline on a clear blue sunny day.

pismo beach. surfing town.
its coastline is LARGE and super clean. the rolling hills are seductive in their voluptuousness, dressed only in a clean line of colorful homes.



those simple pleasures that we take for granted (indoor heating, a bed, hot shower, etc) beckoned us loud and clear that night...so we stayed in edgewater motel and bypassed camping.

the town is cute.
lotta fish n chips joints.
lotta surfers.
lotta character.

we watched the vikings and packers square off that night in a local pub called hoagies. i had an asian salad, forest had a philly. plump grapes.

we soaked outside in a tub of hot water...turned into california raisens.

golden gate

day 9.
highlights: golden gate bridge...
even tho the weather was all discombobulated.







we drove a long long long way, hugging close to the central califorian coastline.
found a nice camping spot....albeit in the rain...
and slept.

janny bear & co.

day 8.

today was a day i had been anticipating.
my janny bear!
my godmother.

one of my mom's good highschool sacramento friends.
i named my first stuffed animal after this woman for goodness sake.

its strange because since i was a little girl, i have only seen jan 2 times. and each time it feels like we haven't skipped a beat.

the trip that morning had great scenery...
to my left...



and to my right...





and even one of these babies...



with the sun finally peeking out, we found our way to Wilton, which is a little town just south of sacramento.

we pulled up that morning and waited at the gate at the front of her driveway. it was so nice to be here. the sun was out despite the clouds best efforts.

jan has a swagger. she's in her fifties, but has a swagger. long silver and black hair falls just past her mid back. adorned in homeade jewelry. and always a smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

the next 12 or so hours was a buzz... 6 years of catch up. she introduced me to her 7 dogs; fancy, pepper, stormie rose, shane, shasta, cody, and... there was one more... and they all had full names, which i wrote down and apparently misplaced.

she spoke of sour diesel and silver haze.

how she doesn't like feeling 'wangy.'

she spoke of pam mann, the self-righteous, pierced, tattoed, tarot card dealing, human female bull dog, who apparently was debuting as a thorn in her side.

of mary youngblood.

of indian flutes, her jewelry...



dreams of red-tailed hawks, eagles, and white owls.

i was able to see her husband, Jim. Jim and Jan seem to be polar opposites, so their magnetism is right on. :) Jim may be one of the stronger willed people i have ever met, recovering from a long winded battle with cancer. after months of medical treatment (chemo, stem cell transplants, every side effect imagineable), he is recovering so beautifully. putting on weight, growing out his hair, and taking care of himself.

jim and jan


jeremy, jan's son came by for a bit. very much like family to me.

me, jere, jan


jan made us mouthwatering teriyaki chicken and mandarin salad that night...shared a peace pipe and i drank the ever lovin goodness out of several stoli screwdrivers...

oh, jan can talk too. i thought i was a chatty kathy. nope.
so we talked late into the night, which resumed early in the a.m., not skipping a beat.

we were sent off smiling after a pot of coffee, ham and hashbrowns....

Poppy-Ay

day 7.
refreshed from the good night sleep, we threw back and forth the idea of staying in the redwoods for the morning or heading south. we decided to stay in the park and do some hiking.

Ah ~ Pah Interpretive Trail was our first stop, what seemed to be a nice long hike turned out to be overgrown...



so we took 'ossagon trail' to the coast, a nice 4 mile crescendo of a hike.



theres something about a crazy good hike that is completely rejuvenating. we took off down california 101, sippin hot cocoa, takin it all in.

the weather was not what we had hoped for, rainy and overcast. ahead of schedule, we decided to veer of 101 to highway 1, which continued down the coastline. we rode the edges of the pacific ocean for hours, hypothetically talking about what prime pieces of real estate we would buy...

night fell.
just north of sanfransisco, we took the windiest road i've ever been on. 45 miles at 20 miles an hour. we passed through too many wineries to count, the moist air brought out the smells of the thousands upon thousands of vines of grapes. i am pretty sure i daydreamed, or nightdreamed of being a winery heiress for a solid 2 hours.

forest drove the entire day, we were pretty spent. bedtime was upon us.
papier (poppy-ay) was what i called grape juice as a young child...

forests

day 6.
we woke up early, grabbed a handful or so of granola for the road, and kept south on 101.
forest nabbed this one of southern oregon...



forest was SO excited to see the redwood forest, it was the topic of conversation for weeks prior, so the fact that we were getting close was kind of a big deal.

we drove through the forests, dwarfed by sequoias and redwoods, some 2000 years old.
guilty as charged for succumbing to the tourist traps...





we did alot of driving through the park for the next hour or two... and looked for campsites half-heartedly but as the night fell, we decided a motel was the ticket. we stopped, i cooked what was left of our vegetable beef concoction and paired it with fat turkey franks wrapped in grilled bread and topped with grilled onions and cherry tomatoes.

the showers were money. the food was money. but the t-v and half the lights fizzled out within the first hour. which was fine, cuz we were sleepy lil fat-bellied bugs.

oregon

day 5.
before leaving our camp in southern washington, we took one last look at the beach only to find a rescue training session in full force.





we jumped on 101 South, feeling good. cape disappointment turned out to be a cathartic experience. rad.
we stopped in seaside oregon and both fell in love with the town and the beach...



cannon beach, our second favorite



there is those smiles.



next stop...tillamook...



as the sun set, we found ourselves near central oregon, in newport. we stopped and played.














101 is windy. thats so an understatement. it took us a very long time to travel short distances. we decided to drive on after sunset and made it to oregon dunes national recreation area 'ish'.
it was cold.
we were tired.
and so we starfished it. and slept well.