Road Trip Series, Chapter 2

August 26, Day 5

Manchester Beach/Mendocino, CA

Mostly drove today. Met with a friend in SF in the morning, had breakfast and roamed around. I didn’t get to visit Point Reyes though; I left SF late and still had a long drive ahead. But it’s OK. I think one purpose of having a plan, besides following it and preventing chaos, is that it serves to show you what you must be prepared to throw away. If you can accept that, I think you’ll be alright.

Drove along highway 1, along the Pacific coast, from Bodega Bay to where I’m at now, at Manchester Beach/Mendocino. Arrived at 8:30pm here at a KOA campground, pitched my tent in the dark, which is something that I’ll try to avoid next time. But I think I’m getting faster with setting up camp, despite limited visibility.

August 27, Day 6

Redwood National Park, CA

I lost my Java Drip coffee maker.

August 28, Day 7

Crater Lake National Park, OR

After arriving at Redwood National Park yesterday afternoon, I was troubled because I couldn’t remember where I placed my Java Drip coffee maker. But thankfully there’s instant coffee, which I at least got to enjoy this morning.

Today I got to walk through a grove of Redwoods: Sequoia Semperivens AKA Coastal Redwoods, cousin of the Sequoias –Sequoiadendron Giganteum AKA Giant Redwoods. A bit confusing, but it’s just nice to know. And I can now distinguish between those two similar looking trees! Again, it’s just nice to know.

Finally arrived in Oregon!

I left Redwood National Park today just after lunch; I should’ve planned to stay longer there, but at least I got to camp for a night. Was on the road for most of the afternoon and arrived at Crater Lake early evening. A bit troubled that I might have planned this route to be too quick. I hope I did not trap myself into rushing myself. But I know I did a better job at spacing out the intervals between destinations after this stop. And anyway, I was reminded of “Amor Fati,” Love of Fate. I am already in this situation, which I am mostly responsible for, and there is nothing really I can do at this point to change the past few days or alter my next destinations for this week, since I already reserved my accommodations. And since I cannot change it, might as well not worry about it; why worry when you can choose otherwise. Of course, it’s always easier said than done. I’m doing this awesome trip anyway. So now I’m just trying to see through the negative and find the positive, the opportunities to turn things around. Anyway, I’m here now at Crater Lake and I will make the most of my stay here. Tomorrow will be a better day.