Avenue of the Giants

I've been driving every day since leaving Vancouver. It's been great, but pretty soon I want to find a campground that I like enough to stay at for a few days. The drive to Mendocino from the north was quite challenging, as was the drive out, back to 101. Probably the most challenging driving yet, and I suspect it'll have been some of the most challenging driving this whole trip. Lots and lots of switchbacks and sub-30 mph driving. Yesterday was terribly rainy, too, which added to the challenge. The Brave was all fogged up, so I had to drive with the window open to try and get the windows to defog. All in all it was a somewhat exhausting day of driving and I didn't stop at any of the wineries in Napa valley because the thought of getting out in the rain was just completely unappealing. I think today I'm going to stop at a winery in Sonoma so I can check "go to a winery" off my list. I mean, I have to go to one, right? I'm here in wine country, USA, aren't I?

People have started gawking at my Alaska license plates. I had a guy at a gas station ask me if I drove all the way from Alaska, and the lady at the campground office last night was taken aback as well. It's kind of funny. To me California isn't really that far away from Alaska. I remember when we were camped over in Cape Cod in 2007 people were really amazed. We had probably driven the furthest of almost any traveler! The different reactions from people are interesting. Some people are amazed, others are concerned, and most people ask me why I'm traveling. I guess most people under the age of 55 have some sort of reason for traveling.

dress/thrifted :: shoes/market publique

The last few days I've looked in my closet and wanted to put on absolutely none of my clothes. Nothing in my closet looks like how I feel. I really just want to pack it all up, send it home and start over. Of course, that's not going to happen because then I really will have nothing to wear. I think it's just that everything I have is so colorful, and I'm really just in a dark, muted colors type of mood these days. It's probably just autumn finally taking hold. It's rained the past few days and the dull colors and cozy vibes of my environment are seeping into my aesthetic. I just want all the stuff I have in my brain to suddenly exist and be in my closet.

I decided to take the Avenue of the Giants instead of 101 on my way from Arcata to Mendocino. It runs parallel to 101, but is like 1,000 times more amazing. I love driving through the enormous trees, you feel like this tiny mouse scurrying through the forest. I could seriously walk through the woods for days. Everything is soft and mossy, and all the fallen trees are a natural playground. Someday I'm just going to walk into the woods and never come back.