Monday, 9/1 - Northern California, Oregon, Washington

Day 7

Lisa and I woke up first to find what a beautiful spot we'd stumbled upon to spend the night. We were at the bottom of a hill, surrounded by mountains behind, the ocean ahead, and a lagoon to the left. I walked out on the beach to take pictures and found the rotting corpse of some animal - probably a deer - partially buried in the sand. There were some uncovered bones, some of the hide still visible, but it was spread out in an odd way as though it had been mauled by a bear or something. Lisa joked that maybe it was her spirit animal.
As we returned to the car to change and freshen up, some people started to arrive for surfing and kayaking. Seemed a bit chilly out for that but they seemed pretty hardcore. A large bird - possibly a sea hawk - started circling around us several times, seemingly putting on a show. Perhaps this was Lisa's spirit animal?

We continued up toward Crescent City and stopped on a reservation called Klamath for breakfast. The food was so-so, but the atmosphere was entertaining. Everyone but us looked like they belonged there - mostly older, husky fisherman/hunter-types with facial hair. The guys at table behind us were almost too stereotypical, having a lengthy conversation just about fishing. It felt more like being in Alaska, or at least Oregon or Washington, rather than California. Before we left Lisa took it upon herself to release a butterfly trapped between the window glass and screen, and thought maybe this could be her spirit animal until deciding that a tattoo of it would be lame.

We picked up some salmon jerky from a roadside stand and continued on the beautiful drive up the Oregon coast, passing by the redwood forest and the dunes. It was gorgeous. I wish we had more time to stick around there.
We did stop in the cute harbor town of Florence at Jina's request to eat at Mo's, which she claimed had the best clam chowder and mushroom/swiss burgers ever. Despite me being nauseous from the car ride, Lisa not wanting to eat much, and Kyle having a toothache, we all ate anyway. I wouldn't say the clam chowder blew me away, but it was good. We stopped at an ice cream shop across from the restaurant for dessert and continued on. By now it was starting to get dark out, which made the drive through the redwoods pretty creepy. It was pretty desolate - just forest and mountains, houses few and far between. It looked like something out of a Stephen King movie. There were probably bears and crazy mountain men with rifles buried amongst the trees.

Assuming we were getting short on time, we had to skip over Portland, which was also disappointing since I've always wanted to go there. But I was happy to at least see the scenic parts of Oregon in the daytime.

We arrived in Seattle around 1 am. Kyle's aunt and uncle were expecting us, but though he didn't have directions to the house or know the city well, he somehow managed to find it in the middle of the night based entirely on photographic memories from when he visited more than 10 years earlier. Most impressive navigational skills I've ever seen.
His aunt and 13-year-old cousin Emily were up when we arrived, and they were extremely welcoming. Their beautiful home, beds, and showers were a godsend after a week of camping, car sleeping, and gas station bathrooms.