13 to 17 August 2015

I did make it back into the U.S. It was no questions asked this time. Maybe they figured that I was no harm, now that I have been in the U.S. and Canada for nearly a month. Or maybe they were still tired at the checkpoint at Victoria, Vancouver Island, at 5am, where I boarded the ferry. The sun was just coming up when we left the harbour and at 8am I was already in Port Angeles on the Olympia peninsula.

I managed to do two hikes that day in the Olympic National Forest (Olympic not Olympia – got that wrong in the captions, but don’t know how to change it!), which is a very green lush forest with lots of highrising Douglas fir, western hemlock, Sitka spruce and big leaf maple. Those trees, however, were inevitably topped by the Redwoods, which I visited the past two days in the north California coast. They are enormous: the tallest ones are more than a 100m and so wide that a car can drive though. Knowing normal Tannenbäume from the Black Forest, I had never understood when books mentioned someone living in the trunk of a tree. Now I did! A fire can hollow their trunks out and it is large enough for a human to have a small room in it. It is a humbling experience walking among those redwoods. In the cathedral trail, where I was mostly alone, I did have a feeling of awe similar to stepping into one of the cathedrals back home (like the Freiburger Münster *heart*).

Another special place was the Myrtle Glen Farm 20m inland from the Oregon coast. Dan and Micha are a young couple that have taken over an organic farm coupled with a BnB. It is a little paradise in a remote valley with clear water stream, waterholes, forests, meadows etc. Dan and Micha are such welcoming genuine people that make everyone feel at home and relaxed. They are very enthusiastic about their farm and full of ideas, which they shared over a family dinner and breakfast. It had the same feel as with a remote place my father once had near Vichy: you feel at peace and just want to spend time there to read, write and think. Since I was only there for a night, I am thinking of returning there for a few days on my way back to Seattle.

Yesterday, I had a proper Sunday: I started off with attending the 8:30am service at the Eureka First United Methodist Church. Everyone welcomed me heartily and it was even mentioned during notices that I was visiting from London. The worship and the congregation were very similar to my home church in London, Muswell Hill Methodist Church. There was one faux pas when I drank from the cup during communion instead of merely dipping my bread into it. The communion steward had a slight expression of horror on her face, but being good natured Christians, did not reprimand me.

In the best of moods and praise the Lord, I found a wonderful little café at the sea front that served crab benedict (eggs benedict with crab meat instead of bacon or salmon). Just the glass of sparkling was missing!

I added a good deed by taking a hitchhiking homeless couple 20miles to Fort Bragg. Christel and Kaleb had been thrown of the beach were they had been camping for 37 days. They were in good spirits though, maybe helped by other spirits, and just disappointed that my rudimentary Toyota does not have an outlet to connect a smartphone to play music from. I do have to say that my backseats are now filthy with hair from their dog Roxy.

After this I rewarded myself with a completely over budget three course fine dining meal with a glass of sparkling (finally!) and a glass of local Sauvignon Blanc in Mendocino. You can tell I have not yet understood the concept of backpacking!

There was a bit more trouble with the car on Thursday morning in Ocean Shores, when I discovered I had a flat tire in Thursday morning. Having no idea how to deal with this, I waited for my Air BnB host William to return from his fitness class. He was extremely helpful, changed the tire, called the rental company to check what to do and served me lunch. The Les Schwab tire people then fixed the tire (there was a screw in it) and put it back on without charge. I wanted to tip, but they refused by saying they were paid well. Wow and this in America! Sometimes surprising.