Day 3 Pt 2
Alright! So here's the real update about day three. Actually, first, an interlude about day two. So if you looked at my pictures on facebook, you may have noticed that I seemed to have randomly come across a camellia bush in some random person's yard. How did you manage that, you may ask? Well... funny story. I was just about to go over a bridge into some town in Oregon and it was a really nice bridge, so I pulled out my phone to take a picture of it. Also, there was no way I could stop or pull over so I just kept driving. "Hey, Tara. That's not safe." You might say. But I had my hands on the steering wheel as well as on my phone, and I was going the speed limit and all that jazz. So anyways, the picture kept not quite coming out how I wanted so I was taking quite a few when I suddenly noticed a cop driving past me going to opposite direction on the bridge. It seemed pretty safe to say that he had seen me with my phone up, but it was a pretty long bridge and I didn't think he would really come looking for me. But I'm paranoid, so the first chance I got I pulled off onto a side street and voila, camellia bush. I hung around there for a while, took some pictures and started off again about 5 minutes later when I was positive the cop wouldn't find me.
Anywho, the reason I mention this is because it seems that I find the coolest things when I'm escaping being pulled over. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "It happened again???" Well... kinda, but not in the same way. The second time was on day three. I had just crossed the border into California and I was super excited. For some reason I was convinced that California was completely different than Oregon. The smells, the trees, the sky, even the sun seemed brighter and more of what I was looking for. So I was pretty excited and yeah, completely spacing, and at the same time that I happened to notice that I maybe was going just a little too much over the speed limit, a cop drives by. So he was sandwiched between a few cars and at first I didn't think he was going to come after me, but I guess he thought it would be worth it because I saw him turn around in my rear view mirror. So I had a choice, I could pull over like a good little girl and get reprimanded. I could keep driving until he pulled me over and pretend I didn't know what he was talking about. "Was I speeding? I'm so sorry." OR I could turn onto the next side street and hope he didn't see me. I chose option three. I turned off to the right, towards the ocean and went down that road for a bit. It took me to a dead end where a few cars were parked with a beautiful view of the ocean where it came into this sort of bay thing with a protective sand spit. Oh yeah, and there were seals on the sand spit. Yeah that's right seals. Or maybe sea lions, I dunno, they were kinda far away and I'm not a marine life expert. Now you may be wondering what happened to the cop. Well for a few minutes I was kind of afraid that he would pull up behind me and give me an extra ticket for evading the law, but he didn't. I got away apparently, and even if he did get my plate number and I get a ticket in the mail, it'll be totally worth it for the seals. And yeah, I took pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Even a little bit of video.
So, eventually, when I was sure I wasn't going to be caught by the cop I left the seals and got back on the road. Now, I really wanted to make sure that I got the full experience of the redwood forests, so as I was driving through Cresent City, I think, I stopped at the visitor information center. I know, crazy concept. Get the information from the people that know? Who thought up this idea? Well, I didn't at first but there was this sign and I was inspired to follow it. Turns out these people were super helpful. They gave me all sorts of maps and told me where everything was. "You can take this more scenic route" "Here's where you can drive through a tree" " Avenue of the Giants happens after Eureka." Pretty cool stuff. So off I went again, adventuring. Got back on 101 and did my best to find all the things they had mentioned. The first was this road. Requa road. I almost drove right past it, actually I did drive right past it. I had to turn around, but boy was it worth it. I took this tiny road way way up. It was super curvy and right next to a cliff, which was actually a little scary. Eventually I got to a place where I could pull off and take pictures. There was this really nice picnic area with tables and everything and the most beautiful view. I took lots of pictures, viewable on FB. The point of this view rather than all the others I'd had coming down 101, was that this one showed where the ocean came inland to make a river. I don't remember what river, but it's a big one, and the mouth of it is fantastic. Also, on the way back down I saw some goats!
Next thing on the list was the drive through a tree! Again I missed the turn off and had to turn around, but I got there eventually. AND THEN I DROVE THROUGH A TREE! I took pictures~! After that was the scenic route through the redwoods. I said 'wow' about every minute or so. The trees are HUGE! I pulled over once and walked on a trail for a bit. It was a nice walk. After that I started getting super tired. The drive through the trees continued on a little farther until I came out into this field. I looked to my left and there were a couple elk just hanging out, eating some grass. So I pulled over and took moar pictures!
Then I got back on 101 and continued to Arcata, CA where I decided to get a motel. I was super tired and decided that I really didn't want to sleep in my car. The first place I went to was really expensive, so I left and went to a different place. The next place was a Motel 6, which I had stayed in the night before, but when I gave the guy my ID he told me they could only rent rooms to people 21 and over, which is such bullshit. I was really tired and cranky by this point, but I left without telling him off and went to the Super 8 where it was reasonable and they didn't care that I was 19. The internet in the room is really really slow, but it works consistently which is more than I could say for the Motel 6 I'd stayed in the night before. Bringing my stuff up to the room was a total pain though because I had to use my card to get into the building and I was on the second floor at the end of the LONGEST HALLWAY EVAR. I took a picture. It's a really long hallway.
I spent the evening on the internet, watching 5th season Buffy and videos of Shinee that Simone was linking me to. Everything loaded suuuuper slowly, but it was fine. I was content.
Now it is the morning of day 4 and I'm about to get going again. I hope to make it to San Francisco today. Golden Gate, here I come!
Anywho, the reason I mention this is because it seems that I find the coolest things when I'm escaping being pulled over. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "It happened again???" Well... kinda, but not in the same way. The second time was on day three. I had just crossed the border into California and I was super excited. For some reason I was convinced that California was completely different than Oregon. The smells, the trees, the sky, even the sun seemed brighter and more of what I was looking for. So I was pretty excited and yeah, completely spacing, and at the same time that I happened to notice that I maybe was going just a little too much over the speed limit, a cop drives by. So he was sandwiched between a few cars and at first I didn't think he was going to come after me, but I guess he thought it would be worth it because I saw him turn around in my rear view mirror. So I had a choice, I could pull over like a good little girl and get reprimanded. I could keep driving until he pulled me over and pretend I didn't know what he was talking about. "Was I speeding? I'm so sorry." OR I could turn onto the next side street and hope he didn't see me. I chose option three. I turned off to the right, towards the ocean and went down that road for a bit. It took me to a dead end where a few cars were parked with a beautiful view of the ocean where it came into this sort of bay thing with a protective sand spit. Oh yeah, and there were seals on the sand spit. Yeah that's right seals. Or maybe sea lions, I dunno, they were kinda far away and I'm not a marine life expert. Now you may be wondering what happened to the cop. Well for a few minutes I was kind of afraid that he would pull up behind me and give me an extra ticket for evading the law, but he didn't. I got away apparently, and even if he did get my plate number and I get a ticket in the mail, it'll be totally worth it for the seals. And yeah, I took pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Even a little bit of video.
So, eventually, when I was sure I wasn't going to be caught by the cop I left the seals and got back on the road. Now, I really wanted to make sure that I got the full experience of the redwood forests, so as I was driving through Cresent City, I think, I stopped at the visitor information center. I know, crazy concept. Get the information from the people that know? Who thought up this idea? Well, I didn't at first but there was this sign and I was inspired to follow it. Turns out these people were super helpful. They gave me all sorts of maps and told me where everything was. "You can take this more scenic route" "Here's where you can drive through a tree" " Avenue of the Giants happens after Eureka." Pretty cool stuff. So off I went again, adventuring. Got back on 101 and did my best to find all the things they had mentioned. The first was this road. Requa road. I almost drove right past it, actually I did drive right past it. I had to turn around, but boy was it worth it. I took this tiny road way way up. It was super curvy and right next to a cliff, which was actually a little scary. Eventually I got to a place where I could pull off and take pictures. There was this really nice picnic area with tables and everything and the most beautiful view. I took lots of pictures, viewable on FB. The point of this view rather than all the others I'd had coming down 101, was that this one showed where the ocean came inland to make a river. I don't remember what river, but it's a big one, and the mouth of it is fantastic. Also, on the way back down I saw some goats!
Next thing on the list was the drive through a tree! Again I missed the turn off and had to turn around, but I got there eventually. AND THEN I DROVE THROUGH A TREE! I took pictures~! After that was the scenic route through the redwoods. I said 'wow' about every minute or so. The trees are HUGE! I pulled over once and walked on a trail for a bit. It was a nice walk. After that I started getting super tired. The drive through the trees continued on a little farther until I came out into this field. I looked to my left and there were a couple elk just hanging out, eating some grass. So I pulled over and took moar pictures!
Then I got back on 101 and continued to Arcata, CA where I decided to get a motel. I was super tired and decided that I really didn't want to sleep in my car. The first place I went to was really expensive, so I left and went to a different place. The next place was a Motel 6, which I had stayed in the night before, but when I gave the guy my ID he told me they could only rent rooms to people 21 and over, which is such bullshit. I was really tired and cranky by this point, but I left without telling him off and went to the Super 8 where it was reasonable and they didn't care that I was 19. The internet in the room is really really slow, but it works consistently which is more than I could say for the Motel 6 I'd stayed in the night before. Bringing my stuff up to the room was a total pain though because I had to use my card to get into the building and I was on the second floor at the end of the LONGEST HALLWAY EVAR. I took a picture. It's a really long hallway.
I spent the evening on the internet, watching 5th season Buffy and videos of Shinee that Simone was linking me to. Everything loaded suuuuper slowly, but it was fine. I was content.
Now it is the morning of day 4 and I'm about to get going again. I hope to make it to San Francisco today. Golden Gate, here I come!