Craters, redwoods, and EUREKA

I left Portland Saturday morning without really seeing too much of the city. But that didn't mean that I didn't see some cool sites in Oregon, 'cause I went to Crater Lake and it was amazing. It was easily the bluest water I've ever seen - looked like a bumper boats pool or a putt-putt waterfall. Once again, the road around the rim of the lake wasn't completely open (apparently they had a LOT of snow in the northwest this winter), but I was able to get close enough to the lake to appreciate it. Another nice thing about Crater Lake park was the drive to and from the park from I-5. Shit was scenic. There are two state forests near the park, so the 80 mile drive to the park was completely lined with tall trees.

But these weren't the only trees I'd see, nope. 'Cause after I left Crater Lake I headed southwest towards Redwood National Park. This was a haul, but the redwood parks are right along Us-101, which runs right down the coast through Eureka, CA. I had a reservation in Eureka, so I figured I might as well check out some tall trees along the way. It was near sunset by the time I got into the park, which I think was the perfect time to have my drive. This was probably the best drive of my trip so far - tall redwoods on either side of the road, little to no traffic, and a temperature of about 65. I was digging it. Paul Bunyan was hanging out in the park too (see the picture above). As soon as I got out of the park, I pulled over at the next beach access and took some pictures of the sunset. So it was a good "nature" day - saw crater lake, redwoods, and the sun set over the pacific.

Then I got to Eureka around 9:00. I checked into my hotel and was like "to hell with it, I'm gonna get a beer". So I went out to see what Eureka had to offer. There was a pool hall called "Raggz Billiards", and I heard some music coming out of it so I went on in. I think live music and PBR signs are like my siren calls, and this place had both. I had a few PBR's, watched people shoot pool, and talked briefly with a few locals. Unfortunately, though, I don't have any good stories. People really didn't want to talk to me in Eureka. So I went back to my hotel room around midnight and went to bed. What a pity. I should come up with some sort of story to tell people next time I'm in that situation, like I'm a freaking astronaut of something.

This morning I left lovely Eureka and headed south to San Francisco. It was another beautiful drive, through more redwoods and vineyards. At one point I stopped to get gas in Garberville (or something like that), and it was like I'd stepped onto another planet. There was only one main street in this town, and there were pot-smokin', dreadlock havin', acoustic guitar strummin' hippies everywhere. Shit was cool. And the most prominent store on the main street was the "Hemp Exchange". Then I remembered I was in Humboldt County, CA, the top pot-exporting county in the country. At least I think I heard that somewhere. So it all made sense. The lady that made my tuna sub was definitely high off of something, 'cause it took her freaking 15 minutes to throw some tuna and provolone on an italian roll.

I got to San Francisco late afternoon and went to my friend Erin's apartment. We had some pizza for dinner then went to the original Swensen's for ice cream. So it's been a good start to my visit. Tomorrow I'll wander around and see what I can see, and try to stay out of trouble. Word.