WATER TOWERS AND REDWOODS

Sportster and I hit the road early Sunday morning with my friend, Julie April and her three dogs trailing behind in their fifth wheel. Light traffic allowed us to arrive at the Coalinga Elks on schedule where we spent our first night on the road. Three digit temperatures motivated us to rise early the next day for the second leg of our journey.

My friend, Vickie Andreotti, who I traveled to Wyoming with once and to Florida a couple of years ago invited us to stay at her ten acre ranch in Sacramento, Ca. Perhaps you remember, Vicki travels with her little dog, Tika who frustrated Sportster and two birds, Tweetie Bird and Birdy Bird, which infatuated him.

The picturesque vistas from her ranch on the hill, the cool evening breeze, and the great steaks grilled by Vicki’s husband made our overnight stay serene.

We pulled out of Vicki’s place Tuesday morning with a mission to escape the hustle of commuter traffic and find cooler weather on the coast.  My motorhome hummed a sweet song along with the clack-clack of the tires over the rough, heavily traveled truck route on Interstate 5. When I exited the interstate for the slower pace through the country side, I inhaled the hint of coastal air, leaned back in the driver’s seat and realized my long anticipated adventure up the Washington and Oregon coast was truly happening.   Tomorrow promised cool, marine air, ocean vistas, and redwoods.

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To experience Mendocino, Ca. and all of the little town’s charm, Julie met the challenge of the dips and switchbacks through the enchanted redwoods that made a short, forestry distance turn into an hour journey.  

 

 

 We parked at the first beach we came to,  crawled out of Julie’s truck, stiff and stretching, wondering if the meandering road’s destination had been worth the drive. A slow  walk to the waves sifting the  sand  onto the beach convinced us. Yes.

Visiting my very talented artist friend, Suzi Marques Long, surely made Mendocino a glowing jewel on the coast’s necklace of towns that strung up the coast to Washington. Her home and gallery was a water tower.

 

 

Suzi led me from the ground floor gallery where her pastels and water colors hung like captured vistas from a coastal safari. We climbed the spiral staircase up into the depths of her studio and then up even higher each level with a window of inspiration gazing out upon the surf. I imagined the feel of reading a good book in one of those cozy, small rooms on a stormy winter’s day.

But not this summer day. Next we ride the Skunk Train.

 

 

 

 

 Don't forget to read MASADA'S MARINE, The Story Of A Service Dog and Her Wounded Marine Warrior.

Every hour a veteran commits suicide because of PTSD.