Adventures with Capes

Hellllo Wonderfuls,

I am writing this posting still stuffed into my sleeping bag, lounging on a double stuffed air mattress. After 5 nights of “tenting it” by rivers and trees, this is a nice treat! I’ve been gone for less than a week and already there is so much to share, reflect and process.

My city slicker friend has been my partner in crime since city departure on July 2nd. We supported each other through the pealing away from cell phones and dance parties, and the introduction of bug bites and car life. I dropped her off at the airport in Eugene, OR this morning, and now I will attempt to verbally sum up our adventure…

Kendra and I had two main goals on our journey, three if you count “getting along” as the third. The first (and successful) goal was daily FBS (full body submergence) into rivers or other fun bodies of water. The second, less successful, yet fun, goal was to consume ice cream each day. I will describe our story based around these experiences.

We arrived on Laguna Farms on Thursday evening to find our wonderful farm friends hanging out in the Yurt, after a tasty dinner, some good conversation and a fun visit to the free box (pictures to come of course) we enjoyed a comfy futon, knowing tent life was on its way. The next morning we had breakfast with a bundle of beautiful women, some of my heart family from Ohio who has also migrated to the west coast. We grazed my friend Graham’s farm for fresh veggies for our journey, and visited with some kids on farm camp. From there we made our way north, enjoying the sights, the towns, and the people of the west coast. We stopped at few places along the way, once of which being Ukiah. It was super hot as we walked by a desolate Economy Inn with a pool. I thought our luck was better to ask, so we asked the check in guy if we could swim. He said sure. Our first mission of the day was complete, now on to ice cream. We picked up some delicious coconut bliss ice cream and continued north to the campground of Standish Hicky. Where Kendra conveniently ran into some friends who were bike touring the coast. They serendipitously had made reservations for a car camping spot that evening, but their friend with a car was unable to attend. We lucked out hard core.

After camping with some friends, having pancakes with the neighbors and a photo shoot with our new costume from the free box, we headed to Eel River where we would check off our FBS goal of the day. It was pristine and magical, and gave us energy for the drive a head. Our next destination was a beautiful farm a few minutes south of Arcata. A friend was hosting a large house warming party on his new property (conveniently on a river!). We enjoyed friends, played camp games, and ate delicious, local delicacies. The potluck was amazing, and we accomplished our second goal by indulging in goat milk ice cream made with duck eggs. Of man I wanted to melt right there.



The next day we swam and ate more deliciousness, including the goat milk ice cream, just to keep things rolling, and continued north through the red woods.

We drove through beautiful landscapes and found an amazing camp spot, in the national forest, so it was free and secluded, on the Smith River! We set up shop, cooked dinner, had a nice fire, and played music. The next morning we enjoyed a dip and headed north and east to Crater Lake. Still acclimating to life in the “wild,” the bugs were pretty bad there, I was still nursing itchies from Standish Hicky, and now am double scratching, but it was worth it. The lake is beautiful, pristine, and massive!

We contemplated a swim, but it was pretty cold outside, so we committed to finding a swimming hole along the way to Eugene. We found a random lake along our drive, jumped in and carried on our way. We arrived in Eugene, showered, hung out with some friends we would be staying with for the night, and then hit the town by bike. Oh it felt good to be back on my bike! We enjoyed a tasty dinner and explored the beautiful streets lined with cute bungalows and trees and day dreamed about what its like to live with space around you.

As I said earlier I dropped Kendra off this morning. It’s not clear where I will be going from here. Many things are calling my name. At first I said I was going to skip Seattle and headed east immediately, but now that I have gotten this far, I’m getting pretty curious about what I might find up there, but am not sure how to manage my time. I am committed to arrive in Minnesota on the 24th, so that leaves me with 16 days and a lot of dreams: Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Rushmore, and Badlands, Ashland, Oregon Country Fair, Seattle, Bozeman, Missoula, bike trips in Iowa. I just don’t know how to do it all, and I am becoming unattached to my original goal for a relaxed trip across the country.