Road Trip: Points North

Sarah-Hope and I just got back from a lovely vacation.

First, we traveled north to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, where we went wild and saw four plays in three days: Macbeth, Equivocation, Much Ado About Nothing, and Henry VIII. They were all very well done, but my favorite was Macbeth, perhaps due in part to the childhood influence of my mother reading us the witches’ scenes as bedtime stories, complete with scary witch cackles. We stayed with my friend Millie, whom I met on the very first day of the Camino de Santiago, where we encouraged each other as we climbed the incredibly long and steep trail over the Pyrenees.

We then traveled south to Fort Bragg, California. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world! A twisting road through old-growth redwood forests led to the rocky windswept California coastline.

While we spent a bit of time wandering around Fort Bragg’s downtown (if you go, you must visit Cowlick’s Ice Cream; it is the best!) we mostly spent the day at the beach. The water was the most incredible mix of blues and greens.

I got a bit wet taking this shot!

The waves left interesting souvenirs on the beach. An interesting twist of kelp:

And the high-water mark outlined by seaweed:

I took a nice walk along the coastal cliffs, while Sarah-Hope enjoyed the sun and sand while knitting on the beach.

The trail goes on for miles, and is actually an established walk, like the Pacific Crest Trail. We discovered a great book that describes the coast walk from Monterey all the way to California’s northern border. We’re talking about possibly walking a week-long section of it next year.

Waves, fresh air, flowers, cliffs; pretty much a perfect day.