Hello (again) California!

Well, there are 3 wonderfully amazing and momentous events that needed to happen in order for the Heartwood dream to materialize: 1) i needed to get the $1350 that the program costs, which includes tuition, room & board, and a 200-hour certification in Swedish massage; we 6 work/study participants also agree to work 24 hours a week in exchange for this. 2) i needed to arrange cheap (free?) cross-country overland transportation for me and Sandy; and 3) i needed to find a suitable home for my old girl.

My friends, i am quietly elated to report that all 3 of these projects were successfully concluded.

i didn't come close to earning what i needed during my three months in Rochester [i ended up having to rent, and the local economy was moribund], but the love (and financial wherewithal) of an old and trusted friend came through when i simply asked him. He knows who he is and knows already how filled with gratitude (and Relief!) i am.

You might've already read here how the deal i had to drive a Mercedes fell through on a Thursday, just four days before my desired and planned-for date of departure of Monday, Apr. 25. Two days later i saw an ad on Craigslist/NYC from a woman who wanted someone to drive her car -- a 1997 Saturn with 118,000 miles on it -- to California by Apr. 30; it could not have been a more perfect match. I'd planned on hitching down to New York to pick up her car, but a surprise plane-ticket from another old friend and his wife manifested, and i was spared hours waiting with thumb outstretched along miscellaneous roadside. Morones rule!

A Jet-Blue flight Monday morning to LaGuardia via Dulles, a bus to the subway and a short walk and i was at the apartment in Queens of the woman who owned the car. We drove it around the neighborhood, got an oil-change and a wash, she gave me $160 toward the cost of the gas (agreeing to reimburse the rest of the cost on my arrival at her parents' home in Stockton, near Sacramento, about five hours drive south of here) and i hit the road for the Bronx, where i had dinner with BFS1G Martin, Dana, and their seraphim Molly and Lucy, before starting at 9:30 pm the six-hour drive home to Rochester. Spent Tuesday packing, moving out of Jacqui's place, and saying good-bye here and there and Wednesday at 11 am hit the road for California.

It was a serendipitous, fortuitous happenstance that led me to seeing the car-owner's ad, and her choosing me over others who'd also responded to her ad, and i felt like the abundance of the universe had manifested itself on my behalf because i had trusted that it would. Oh, i forgot to mention ... the name of the woman whose car i drove out here was Hinkley. Faith Hinkley!

As wonderful as that development was, the one which i am still more tickled with is Sandy's New Home! Richard, you should by now have received the hard-copy of the April 12 edition of the local newspaper The Redwood Times, with its photo of Sandy featured as pet of the week, and the text accompanying it, which went something like this: New Heartwood student seeks temporary home for his beloved pet, due to no-pets policy at school. i described Sandy and then ended with Weekend visits from heartbroken master ok?

The ONE reply i got was from the people who have provided her the lovely new doggie paradise where Sandy now resides, about ten miles down the road. And believe me, as remote as so many people in Humboldt County are from each other, ten miles is like next-door neighbor out here. Sarah, the woman who emailed me on behalf of her employer Mike, whose decision it was, said he asked her to reply to me because they KNEW no one else would. So many people in Humboldt are (as the county's reputation attests) marijuana growers and as a result are understandably reluctant to get involved with strangers for any reason.

When i finally arrived on the property, far out in the countryside, after passing through five gates (2 with combination locks on them), one of the five dogs Sandy is now running with was standing next to the Saturn as it pulled to a stop, and was looking down at me, the Anatolian shepherd. (Here's another photo of the breed.)

But before I get too far with the story of my arrival in Humboldt, let me back up to relate that cross-country drive!

Day 1: Rochester, NY to Detroit (Livonia), Michigan (376 miles/605 km). Well, Canadian Customs detained me about 40 minutes while they made phone calls to Faith (answering machine) and her parents, suspicious of why I was driving someone else's car. I arrived without further delays at the home of Carl and Marge Savage in Livonia about 5:30, and had a relaxing evening and dinner with them. Carl wanted to take Sandy for a walk in the neighborhood both that night and in the morning, which they both greatly enjoyed. Played the Nepali game of Bagh Chal with Carl, whose tigers slaughtered my goats -- learn how to play here; make your own game here -- and looked at photos of their last vay-kay in Hawai'i with Lance and Norio. Hey Chuck, i saw some photos of you too man! Looo-king goood, brudda! The next morning much to my consternation just as i was getting ready to jump in the car, Marge stuck fifty bucks in my hand and wouldn't hear of my giving it back. What a pair of sweethearts!

Day 2: Livonia, MI to Amherst Junction, Wisconsin (634 miles/1020 km) I arrived about 11:30 pm on the back edge of beyond the beyond [calling where i'd arrived "the sticks" isn't sufficient], and drank a beer or two with Liv and her friend John before collapsing into bed.

Day 3: Amherst Junction. Liv was babysitting the cutest little kid when I woke up the next morning, whose dad came to pick her up about noon-time. Liv and I then went for a walk to check how the Amish boys putting a porch onto her uncle's home were coming along. They were on their lunch break when we walked in, and we were a bit surprised to find them .. listening to a radio! (Obviously members of one of the more modernist Mennonite sects.) We stopped by to visit the gay millionaire on the walk back, but he was on his way somewhere, and so I only got the tour of his fab bach' pad. Walked to Liv's parents' house and got a tour of the house she grew up in, way cool, including readings from her oeuvre from the author herself. Then walking with her dogs to feed carrots to the horses, but Tender Wallace simply could not help himself, and chased the horses to the other end of the field, despite strong protestations from the mistress.

We caught up with them eventually, and a couple of them let us pet them, always a winner for city boys like me). And the highlight -- in a literal way -- of my trip: a climb to the top of their tallest silo, about 85 feet [25.9 meters] high. The view from the top was definitely worth the climb, and served to help me overcome my fear of heights just a little bit more. Closed out the night with a rousing game of Hugger Mugger with Liv and her friend John, but they were both unfairly incapacitated by having drunk too much wine, leaving their butts exposed for a sound thrashing. Um, so to speak.

Day 4: Amherst Jct., WI to Cozad, Nebraska (832 miles/1339 km). Drove down the road from Liv's place early the next morning and had breakfast at the Crystal Garden restaurant, on the main street in Iola, where she and I had had lunch the day before. About 25 guys sat around having breakfast, mostly hunters and farmers near as I could tell, and one or two women. Good food, friendly service. On the road by 9:30; crossed the mighty Mississippi three hours later, the Iowa state capital, Des Moines, at 4; and the Nebraska state line at 6:30. But Nebraska is one LONG state, and by 11 pm I'd only got half-way across, and so stopped to spend the night at a Motel 6 in a place called Cozad.

Day 5: Cozad, NE to Evergreen, Colorado (416 miles/669 km). The Wyoming state line was another 228 miles away, not so bad when you can do 70 mph (the speed limit was actually 75 mph for a while there)! Left Interstate Route 80 for the last time, picking up route 25 to drop down into Colorado, first stop: Ft. Collins, for a quick break at the Bean Cycle, the Brandt family coffee house where I worked for a couple of weeks last December. Leslie was busy behind the counter, Chaz was around but I missed him and Penn had a day off, so after a coffee and a chocolate chip cookie, me and Sandy took off for Denver, another hour and a half down the road, arriving at Crystal's and her brother Chuck's place about 5 pm.

I'd hoped Crystal might continue the tradition of going west with me whenever I leave the east coast to go back to school in California, a fine old tradition dating back to August, 1992, when Crystal jumped into the car I'd driven from DC to Evergreen, a car I'd packed to the gills with stuff (including the oar that I used to paddle down the Oubangui with in 1985!) and finished the drive west to Monterey with me. Grand old times. {Crystal, you'll be pleased to know that I continued another old tradition of ours: stopping to pick sage in the Nevada desert.}

But Crystal started a new job, teaching nursing students, six weeks ago and so was unable to accompany. After dinner, I helped put together a Powerpoint presentation for an upcoming class of hers, but then it was off to bed. Both Crystal and Chuck get up way before dawn, so we said good-bye before crashing, and in the morning it was me and Sandy on the road again. Chaz's dog Kirby had been visiting, and he jumped into the passenger seat just before I was ready to leave! Poor pooch, such a beautiful animal and real friendly, i would've loved to have taken him along, if Sandy wouldn't've been jealous!

Day 6: Evergreen, CO to Ely, Nevada (693 miles/1115 km). On the road by 11 after a big breakfast at Crystal's place and some time online, then gassing up the car after driving around looking for a new Tracfone card to top up my mobile phone. I'd used almost all of the rest of my airtime calling Liv trying to locate exactly where she lived, and the last 3 minutes were used up when my sister-in-law Kathy called to say hello while I was somewhere in Nebraska, i think. i miss you Kathy!

WHAT a drive this was! Interstate 70 through the Rockies, including the famous ski-resort of Vail, and two hours out from Evergreen, Glenwood Canyon, where Ute Indians still live: absolutely gorgeous landscape: rocky canyon with trees all over, a river rushing between two towering cliff faces. We crossed into Utah at 3 pm. A hundred miles later i was in Black Dragon Canyon, part of the San Rafael Swell. A picture says a thousand words, so check out this, and this! This is some of the most impressive landscape i think I've ever seen, and i would highly recommend this stretch of highway to anyone thinking about visiting America, esp. Dutch people. It's a great place for outdoor adventures: camping, hiking, biking, etc. i stopped about 3 times within a half-hour stretch just to gawk in quiet awe at this ancient landscape.

At one point, Sandy and i stood at the edge of a deep canyon, while i hollered into it to hear my voice echo off the rock walls again and again. A little later while taking in another gorgeous view from the roadside, we felt the cold air of an approaching thunderstorm blow over us, and watched lightning bolts dance in the shortening distance.

We left Interstate 70 at Salina, Utah to continue on route 50, and picked up my first and only hitchhiker, a carpenter whose dad's car had broken down and was in the shop, and who was on his way home to Provo. Nice guy, easy on the eyes: tall with brown eyes, brown hair -- a nice break from my mostly one-sided conversations with Sandy. He'd been as far away from home as Indiana, where he'd been offered a 40% share in a contractor's business, but missed his eight-year-old daughter too much to stay, and returned to his native Utah. He got out at Scipio, about 40 miles up the road where 50 meets I-15; he was headed north from there and i had to drop down south a few miles where 50 re-continued its path west, and so i reluctantly dropped this very nice guy off on an entrance-ramp to 15-North. With luck, he'd've been home in a couple of hours.

50 is nicknamed "America's Loneliest Highway." The speed-limit along most of it is 65 mph [104 kph] and it is also a very straight two-lane road. It is indeed short of other people and cars, but not unfortunately of animals, so it's perhaps not surprising that it's where not one but two jackrabbits met their untimely demise. i was quite shaken over the unexpected slaughter and the feeling that i might have not hit them if I'd been going slower, if I'd swerved, if I'd even braked .. it happened that fast. i couldn't bear the thought that the first one might not have been killed and was only wounded, and so i went back to inspect and to confirm that it was indeed dead: it was. i gently removed its carcass from the road and placed it in a little ditch beneath a bush, partly out of respect for the life which i had unintentionally taken, partly out of hope that any creatures coming along to feed on it (fox, crow, buzzard) would not themselves fall victim to oncoming traffic. The second rabbit was struck only about an hour later: same events, fewer tears.

The only other creatures i saw on the road were tiny desert mice, like gerbils, with really long tails. OH! About one hour past Evergreen, i did see two bighorn sheep who'd climbed down from the cliffs to feed on something near the road! That stretch of road reminded me a lot of the Asir region of Saudi Arabia, the drive i did with Falah from Abha to the Red Sea coast, where in the same kind of rocky shrubby cliffs you could see monkeys, singly and in packs, doing their monkey things while you drive past.

The Nevada state line is where Pacific Time begins and i was relieved to see that i was going to have enough gas after all to make it to the next town: Ely (pron. EE-lee), where a Motel 6 awaited us. The odometer read 120,000 as i parked the car for the night. A few minutes later, Sandy and i had each collapsed onto our own queen-sized beds.

Day 7: Ely, NV to Ukiah, California (634 miles/1020 km) i had a nice surprise phone call on my cell phone from my friend, former employer, and ex-classmate Jim Napier while I was sipping coffee in my motel room the next morning. I had to call him back as I'd been describing the trip to my brother Scott (on the room phone) before he went off to work. Nice to be in touch with folk back home as I made my way west.

Had breakfast in a big, glitzy casino and was back on the road by 9:30 after refilling the tank .. gas out here was going for $2.69/gallon [4.79 euros per liter, if my lengthy calculations were correct]. Stopped around 11 am to read a roadside historical marker in the town of Eureka, which was booming in the 1880's as a major center of lead, gold and silver production. I stopped around 3 (not far from Reno) to have lunch and to make phone calls: one to Mike in Humboldt to let him know that I wasn't going to be arriving that night after all, and another to Heartwood just to check in. I was leaving Reno about 5 pm, and 5 minutes later crossed into California, going through the infamous Donner Pass 20 miles later, famous for being the place in the 1840's where about half of the people traveling in 90 wagons perished. They had been trying to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains before winter closed in; some survived only by resorting to cannibalism.

I'd been on Interstate 80 which is 4 to 6 lanes in places, and had wanted to cut across the state on Route 20: ANOTHER NOT-TO-BE-MISSED highway for anyone visiting the USA: WOW! Majestic pine-tree-covered mountains, as far as the eye can see. What a treat to be able to drive through such devastatingly beautiful countryside. Although this was another time when I wished I'd had company: to share the magnificent views, not to mention the driving.

Anyway, I'd come out of this fantastic 2-lane road through woodsy mountain with breathtaking views into "civilization" again and realized after a while that I hadn't seen a route marker in a while. When I finally pulled over to look at the map, I learned that I was in Auburn, a town south of where I'd intended to be. It took a while to remedy that situation, but I picked up 20 again Marysville and drove the rest of the night until I reached the last of the 3 Motel 6's I stayed at, in Ukiah.

Day 8: Ukiah to Garberville (137 miles). More gorgeous scenery: I don't think I have ever been on so many hairpin curves, through such .. [I'm running out of adjectives!] .. PHENOMENALLY stunning scenery: huge pine trees and bushes and mosses and flowers of all kinds on mountains and in valleys, with streams and or waterfalls punctuating the view. Again, California Route 20, don't miss it. It goes to Ft. Bragg, where you then pick up the world-famous Route 1 which hugs this stretch of the California coast, until turning inland and meeting Route 101 at the town of Leggett, where what's left of the redwood forest begins.

I arrived in Garberville at 2 pm, and was relieved to see that it's much prettier than the online photos I'd seen of it. First stop was to introduce myself and Sandy to Annamarie Ahmed at the Redwood Times, and to say thanks to her for running the ad (for free!) that found Sandy her new home. She was tickled to meet us. She returned to me the photos i'd sent, and looking at the envelope i'd sent them in -- marked Urgent and Time-Sensitive on the front, and MATTERS OF GRAVE NATIONAL SECURITY on the back -- i smiled and said, "you must've thought i was some kind of nut, huh!" And she and a co-worker laughed as if to say, "Oh honey, you've got no idea of the loonies who are running around this town!" And i did tell them that one of the first people i'd seen on the sidewalks after i'd gotten out of the car was a guy who was walking along with a few burning pages, i think from a book, in his hand! They smiled and said Mm-hmm.

Further illustration: here's a reprint of my horoscope as it appeared in the Apr. 27 issue of the Humboldt Advocate [written i'm betting with a straight face by a Rob Brezsny]: VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22) If I were going to write a fairy tale about the current state of your life, I would say that your stolen treasure is locked away in a heart-shaped metal box at the top of a glass mountain. You have every right to steal it back, but you haven't been able to get to it. The surface of the mountain is too slippery for you to climb. In the next chapter of the fairy tale, you will encounter an elf OR dwarf OR witch who has a pair of special shoes with suction cups that could allow you to scale the peak. But you will have to give him something in return for those shoes. And here's the tricky part: The elf OR dwarf OR witch may not tell you exactly what he or she wants; you might have to guess.

I located the library next and applied for the card which is now in my wallet, and walked around town to check out what else there was: a coupla restaurants, one "saloon", coupla motels, one cinema, misc. shops. Very pretty.

Well, you've already read about Sandy's and my arrival at her new home. Look for an update next Tuesday of my arrival at MY new home: Heartwood. Hard to believe that i've already been here 9 days. Since everyone else is ahead of California time, i'll try to post Monday night, so that you really can read the next update on Tuesday!