California Trip Day Two: Trees!

I need to get cranking out these posts so I don't start forgetting what all I did. Truly I have a terrible memory. I could watch a movie three times and still not remember who was in it and how it ended. Makes it more interesting that way.

Here we go...

Saturday
When we finally rolled out of bed on Saturday (ok, I don't really remember if it was late or not...) we decided to go out for breakfast. We went to this little local cafe that was chalk full of character and characters. It was full of all kinds of interesting locals, the kind you only find in really small towns. I found it really entertaining. It was the kind of place I would totally avoid if it were in Stockton, because surely I'd see someone I didn't want to see. I had the "weenie" size blueberry pancake, and it was really good. I really don't know what Adrian ate. Something egglike, so it wasn't very interesting to me.

After breakfast we packed up and headed out to explore the rest of Crescent City. I don't know much about the town, and it seems there isn't much to know, but its surroundings are fabulous. (Adrian thinks it's really strange that I use the word fabulous. I can't remember where I picked it up, but I use it a lot). The place he grew up it was absolutely amazing. I'm very jealous of all the nature that he was surrounded with. I really like where I grew up, but seriously, redwoods, the river, AND the ocean? That's just plain greedy.

We started by exploring the redwoods. You know, those really really big trees? When I was in 3rd grade I wrote a paper about the redwoods. Before Adrian invited me to California, there was nothing I really wanted to see in California but the redwoods. (I had no idea what else I was missing). We stopped and hiked this little trail through the big trees. I seriously need to expand my vocabulary beyond "big." It was a good time and I did a bit of tree hugging, though I must admit, the architect in me did have passing thoughts of what huge things I could build out of those trees.

After the redwoods, we went up and saw the house Adrian grew up in. We couldn't get close, because the new owners have gated the driveway. He had a pretty sweet treehouse/fort thing. We went into the woods behind his house where there are more big trees. We went to see "the church tree" which has a hollow that is almost bigger than my bedroom. Definitely bigger than my bathroom.

Next, we went and walked along the ocean and checked out some tidal pools. I saw all kinds of creatures I've never seen outside of an aquarium. Before heading to another spot along the ocean, we stopped to try to get Adrian clam chowder in breadbowl at this bakery that is always closed when he comes through town. Just his luck, the entire staff was on vacation. Go figure.

We found some food at Safeway and then went off exploring again. It started raining some, but it was that perfect amount of rain where you never actually get your clothes wet. It added to the experience. We walked down to the beach where Adrian wanted to dam up this stream. It was probably one of the most entertaining things I've seen him do. He found a big log and totally stopped the water from flowing. Adrian gave me lots of shit for not helping him, but the pictures were coming out way too good to put the camera down. It was cute... I mean, um, ruggedly manly.

The best part of the whole day was listening to the ocean. Normally, I'm not really an auditory person. I'd much rather lose my hearing than my sight. The sound the waves make as they roll up the shore is just amazing. Actually, the most amazing part is when the waves recede back into the water and you can here the water gushing out of the rocks. The noise is completely different depending on the size of rocks. The sound weirdly reminded me of eating pop rocks. The noise of the water sounds a little like that. It's such a great sound that I just wanted to turn off all my other senses and sit and enjoy it.

After the ocean, it was time to leave for Santa Rosa. Lucky me, I got to drive! Adrian has a little black Subaru WRX and the best part is that it has a manual transmission. He's only the 2nd boy I've dated that can drive a stick (the first one is now a professional dancer). The car is pretty fun to drive, though he has way more fun with it than I do. I had some issues figuring out exactly the spot on the clutch where I needed to hit the gas, but I never killed the thing. We drove down Highway 101 which follows the coast. It's a really beautiful road. No, strike that. The road is just a road, you know all black and striped, but the scenery is beautiful.

We arrived in Santa Rosa fairly late. We were greeted by one really funny looking bulldog, Bogey. I'm pretty sure the dog was scared of us. Rob (one of Adrian's good friends), his wife Nicole, and their baby Sydney showed up just after us. They were exhausted from spending the day at a wedding. We were exhausted from exploring and driving. So, thus, here ends day two.