October 10 – 19

The next day, Friday, Kristen, Brian, Joanna, and I took off for Muir Woods National Monument.  Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, It protects 554 acres of which 240 acres are old growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests, one of a few such stands remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Located on Mount Tamalpais due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the forest is regularly shrouded in a coastal marine layer fog, contributing to a wet environment that encourages vigorous plant growth.  The fog is also vital for the growth of the redwoods as they use moisture from the fog during drought seasons, particularly during dry summers.

Today, the Sequoia sempervirens can be found only in a narrow, cool coastal belt from Monterey County, California, in the south to Oregon in the north.  Before the logging industry came to California, there were an estimated 2 million acres of old growth forest containing redwoods growing in a narrow strip along the coast.  By the early 20th century, most of these forests had been cut down. Just north of the San Francisco Bay, one valley named Redwood Canyon remained uncut, mainly due to its relative inaccessibility.

The park’s beginnings started when William Kent, a U.S. congressman, along with his wife Elizabeth purchased 611 acres of land from the Tamalpais Land and Water Company for $45,000 with the goal of protecting the redwoods and the mountain above them.  In 1907, the water company planned to dam Redwood Creek, thereby flooding the valley.  Kent sidestepped the water company’s plot by donating 295 acres of the redwood forest to the federal government, thus bypassing the local courts.  Muir Woods became a national monument in 1908 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Followers of the blog know of our deep love of the redwoods based on our many visits in the past and as such, there isn’t much I can add to my narrative, except to say that they never cease to provide awe and a peaceful feeling of insignificance.  We walked the Main Trail Bridge 3 loop which lasts about a mile before returning to the car to head over to the nearby Pelican Inn, built in the 1970s to look like it has been transported out of a Thomas Hardy novel.  We visited here once before with Jessica and Kris and their friends, for a picnic on the lawn.

We were seated inside and after waiting an inordinate amount of time, finally commandeered a waiter and ordered a beer apiece and a Shepherd’s Pie (ground lamb and vegetable stew topped with cheddar and mashed potatoes) to split.  We had fond memories of the pie we’d consumed in Munich earlier that year and along with the cold beers, were not disappointed when it arrived. 

A quiet evening followed after our return to the house knowing that the next day would be an exciting one, as we celebrate Jessica’s milestone birthday at Nido’s Backyard, described as a Margarita Garden at the edge of Jack London Square.  We’d spend the next three hours or so there having a great time in an outdoor area known as Adelina’s Bar along with a large group of Jessica and Kris’ good friends, many of whom we’ve come to know well in the last fifteen years or so. 

Along with pitchers of Margarita’s we enjoyed a robust buffet of various Mexican standards, including an enchilada or two and of course build your own tacos.  As many of their friends are also parents with children Gemma’s age, the kids ran wild in a good way as the adults mingled, drank, and ate, the perfect outcome for a gathering of this type. 

A quiet day of recovery and reflection ensued on Sunday as we prepared to drive to Oregon on Monday for our brief visit to Kamp Angst.  We set out that morning at a time that would land us in Corning for lunch at Bartels Giant Burgers, as we do whenever we go north or south on the I-5.  I’ve extolled the virtues of the burgers here repeatedly but have been remiss in mentioning how good their milkshakes are, with seven flavors to choose from, one is free to combine them in an experiment to discover the best new taste ever.  On the Joanna meter, they rate a solid nine on a scale of ten.

Sated as only a good burger can provide, we hit the road and continued on to Kamp Angst for our three-night stay, much shorter than our visits of earlier years, still richer for the brevity.  Our first day ther,e Tom, Joanna and I went for a short hike on the Waters Creek Trailhead outside of Wilderville.  For the time being, given the nine months out of the last eighteen that I have been forced to sit and recover from three different surgeries (I’ll describe that third one shortly), my days of hiking or walking any kind of distance are reduced.  I’m hoping that the next year will be one of renewed physical activity (bike riding) and perhaps some physical therapy to get me back to a level where I can do some extended walking. 

The next day the four of us drove into Medford for a medical appointment for Kathy and while killing time, the three of us hit up the See’s Candy store, the REI there as well as an expanded Dick’s Sporting Goods, which was immediately adjacent to a Public Lands store, an REI like outlet also owned by Dicks.  Joanna actually found a daypack she liked, on sale, and bought it for future trips over seas. 

We left the store and picked up Kathy and made our way to the small town of Jacksonville for dinner at the Jacksonville Inn, a restaurant they have fond memories of.  But, when we arrived, the restaurant was closed that day and with only a limited wine bar menu available, we so did some scrambling and found the Back Porch Bar and Grill a few blocks away where we were able to get a table. 

We were seated quickly and thus began an interesting and fun series of exchanges with our waitress that started when I asked for an Old Fashioned and she advised that they couldn’t make anything nearly that fancy.  This would lead to banter that would enliven our meal as Joanna and I split a BBQ platter comprised of ribs, brisket, and smoked chicken with sweet potato fries and baked beans as our sides.  A cold local draft beer was just the right beverage to wash down this exceedingly good second choice meal.

And that would conclude yet another enriching visit to Kamp Angst with just the drive home.  We left early enough so that we could it make it in one push, a little over twelve hours.  As we hadn’t done a drive of that length or duration in quite some time, we left open the possibility of stopping mid-route, say at Harris Ranch, to break the drive into two sections.  As it turned out, we were more than ready to hammer it out and with the exception of a couple of stops for gas and one for fast food along the way, we arrived home safe and sound and ready for the next adventure, which as it would turn out would be Thanksgiving in Henderson, surgery on my eye on November 30^th and a quick trip to Kansas to celebrate my sister Beverly’s retirement.  But we will cover that, and our trip to New Zealand and Australia in the next series of posts. 

Links

Muir Woods: https://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm

Pelican Inn: https://www.pelicaninn.com/

Nido’s Backyard: https://www.backyardoakland.com/

Bartels: https://www.bartelsgiantburger.com/

 Public Lands: https://www.publiclands.com/

Back Porch Bar and Grill: https://backporchjacksonville.com/