crater lake and CALIFORNIA!

crater lake, known as one of the most beautiful, underplayed places in the entire world (according to the emily guide of great places to go) is absolutely breathtaking. i read in a national park book (aka the bible) that your first look at crater lake on a sunny summer afternoon will literally take your breath away, and it did just that. we must have taken almost 100 pictures (they're coming mom, don't worry :)) on the 45 mile (or so) drive around the lake (at sunset! i know, perfect). (note: there ARE some pictures of the first half of our trip up on facebook, check it out) Surrounded by miles of trees and forest it lies in a volcanic basin complete with two islands. the lake itself is the purest blue i've ever seen any water to be and goes down 1900 ft. the water is surrounded by canyon which lights the edge of the water red when the sun sets. we almost went down for a swim, but realized how steep and long the trail was, switchback after switchback, and decided to punk out. but it was incredible, truly incredible.

that night we found a small state park (with showers! nice), got the last available site, and left early the next morning. we arrived in california that afternoon and stopped just over the border at a state park ON THE BEACH. we laid the tent on the sand and set up camp on the beach. we woke up slowly the next morning and after a walk on the beach, where there was awesome bull kelp and sand dollars, left for fortuna.

fortuna was excellent! my mom hooked us up with a friend of hers from when SHE was 22 who hosted us for an evening of good, easy family time. upon arriving, harriet handed each of us a tupperware container and walked us outside to the blackberry bushes where we picked hundreds of berries for the homemade pie she was preparing for dessert. that night we ate a DELICIOUS homemade meal (lasagna!), played music with her husband, ted, who had lots of instruments for us to play, and entertained their awesome daughters with stories about high school and growing up. the night called for much-needed family time and we all seemed to enjoy our make-shift family quite well. thanks for taking us in you guys! we really enjoyed our day with you!! :)

we moved back north the next day to meet up with em b's dad's friend from math conferences, stuart. ever heard of the redwood tree, Luna, where a young woman named Julia Butterfly Hill spent 2 years living in to protect. TWO YEARS in a tree, wow. Look up the story if you dont know what im talking about. In any case, stuart is the legal guardian of Luna, as well as a math professor at Humbolt state. We met him for a dinner of vegetarian cuisine downtown, and followed him back to his awesome little home! Stuart lives in a little cabin in the redwoods, literally just a kitchen, living space, and loft, but it was cozy and reminded us of lake houses in the New England region. We spent a wonderfully relaxing day reading, doing laundry, and catching up with the world online before having a great dinner of salad, seaweed, oysters, and salmon.

The next day we drove south along the beautiful california coast to mendicino. The awesome pacific ocean waves beating up against the cliffs shouldered us on our west as we drove the breathtaking, curvy, and car sick ride to meet a woman (through Harriet) that we were to stay with. Melinda was an awesome hostess! In a period of less than 24 hours we met 6 beautiful, strong young women who gave us such a good boost of energy that was well needed. We checked out a little community festival up the road on Saturday where we heard this great band called the blushin roulettes (check them out!). Made up of two women and two men, they were folky with witty lyrics and great harmony! great way to spend an afternoon, and week 4 landmark at that.

today, we have arrived in San Francisco!!!! where we are staying with Sara Curtis, an old time Bassarear family friend from back east. We are taking it easy today and watching some planet earth, and tommorrow sara will show us the city and we'll get to check out a bluegrass night! yay!

ps..we'll be at the farm a week from tuesday.....