1776

I finished reading '1776' this past weekend. What a great read! David McCollough is an insanely good writer and researcher. The book follows the campaigning of George Washington and his rag-tag band of rebels during the first year of the American Revolution. The book reads like a narrative and has solid research to back it up. The story is intensely personal and human, I really felt the drama and conviction with which Washington, Knox, and Greene led the fight against King and Country.

I would suggest that anyone interested in history and the founding of our country read this book. It's a quick read and packed with good information. I mean, how ballsy was what those guys did? At one point during the summer of 1776, George Washington and the Continental Army was trying to hold onto Long Island and New York with a few thousand ill-equipped farmers when over 10,000 Hessians and Redcoats arrived in a well supplied armada. At certain points during the year's campaign there was only enough powder and shot for each man to fire 3 rounds.

It really put things into perspective for me. I mean, how easy do we have it right now? I really feel guilty of taking the gift of freedom and liberty for granted. Those men held the belief that they were fighting for something true and good, and they acted upon their beliefs. They suffered insane amounts of hardships. Can you imagine walking 20 miles in snow, at midnight, on Christmas, with little clothing and possibly nothing but rags on your feet, with the knowledge that the next morning you were going to attack a fortified position guarded by thousands of well supplied mercenaries? I can't really imagine how intense that would be, but our founders did that and they did it willingly. The American colonies were wealthy and many of the men that fought left relatively comfortable farms and family. For instance, Joseph Plumb Martin left a fairly comfortable life of farming to fight for the duration of the war. He kept a journal throughout his adventures. I remember reading through his writings during college. They are very good. You can find copies of it online for cheap.

What were these guys fighting for? Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness/Property...What can I do to further the goals they fought for and restore this country back to what it once was? I really think we need to embrace the ideals of limited government and put a stop to the ever expanding powers the government has over us. Do you fear the government? I heard a recent poll that said that over 80% of Americans fear their own government! That is such a crock of crap that we are fearful over an enity which (in theory) we have complete control. People, we need to take back control, maybe raise a bit of ruckus for the cause of liberty! George Washington wouldn't have it any other way...

Just Some Filler...Post in Progress

Well, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving Week! I don't want to rub it in to anybody, but the weather around here has been absolutely wonderful. It's been in the mid 60's and sunny almost everyday for the past couple weeks. The surf has been pumping and the beaches have been beautiful. Justine and I have been keeping ourselves busy playing tennis, hiking, surfing, camping, cooking up gourmet turkey, and all around reveling in the beauty that is the Creation. We're looking forward to the upcoming month, as we have several rounds of friends visiting and we're planning trips to Bend, Oregon, Crater Lake, San Fransisco, and Santa Cruz...not to mention our usual day-trips to our favorite local beaches, coves and up into the redwoods to walk amongst giants.



Thanksgiving Day was great. It was our second Thanksgiving away from family, so it wasn't quite the shock as last year. We were able to celebrate the holiday with a couple of local friends, some house cats, and several tasty beers. Last year's turkey was good, but definitely the first turkey Justine and I had ever baked. This year, we did some research and I think we nailed a recipe down. Brining a turkey is certainly the way to go. We brined our turkey overnight in a crazy concoction we derived from a couple different recipes.

Turkey Brine

1 gallon veggie stock

3/4 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

allspice berries

aromatics (sage, basil, parley, any spices that smell good)



Boil all those ingredients down and cool them down. Put your turkey into a bucket. Pour the brine over the turkey, and then cover with super-icey water.



We brined our turkey and baked it with bacon on top for the first 40 minutes or so. It ended up delicious. I made all of the Caywood family standards; stuffing, mashed taters, corn casserole, and cranberries. Justine made some delicious broccoli casserole and some very tasty pies.



I'm enjoying establishing our own Turkey Day traditions, but I'm looking forward to next year. Hopefully we'll be back at home for the holidays and be able to enjoy a Hoosier style Thanksgiving.



On Friday, we spent the morning playing tennis and then went to the beach to surf off some turkey. Justine and I spent two or three hours surfing really good waves at Camel Rock, until the crowd took over and we moved down the beach. It's always annoying surfing with a crowd, especially a crowd of beginners/kooks. The waves were good, but not huge...which always brings out the crowds. Justine caught some really great waves early in the session and my last three waves of the day, were the best I've caught in months.

We managed to spend the rest of the holiday weekend going to the beach, playing tennis, and putting up Christmas lights. I have almost 25 strands adorning our old Victorian by now. My main problem is a lack of extension cords and outlets at this point. I am currently accepting donations...

More to come later, many adventures await us this week...

Happenings from the Past Few Days!

Look at that crowd! When the waves start rolling through at Camel Rock, the crowd really starts to pack the lineup. Luckily I arrived a couple hours before the crowd and was able to surf with only a couple of other guys.

Plenty of good waves to the south at Moonstone Beach. It takes a solid bit of paddling and duck-diving to make it past the shorebreak. People tend to avoid Moonstone on bigger swells. I'd surf it more often if I could find a couple guys to brave the paddle with me.

Posing for a picture in Fern Canyon. On Tuesday, we decided we needed to get out into the backcountry a bit and work of a bit of laziness. We're really blessed with great hiking option within an hour or so. We hiked about 6 miles Tuesday afternoon through some wonderful redwood forests to get to Fern Canyon. Fern Canyon is absolutely amazing. A couple of creeks converge at Fern Canyon and empty out to the Pacific Ocean. The canyon is 200 ft deep and around 100 yards wide. The walls of the canyon are just dripping with ferns and foliage, with the random waterfall emptying into the creek. There are some fun scrambles over fallen logs and down little pools to be had. It's a great way to end the day's hike.

Justine is soaking up the sun during a break in the hike down the beach to our campsite for the night. The last mile of our hike follows the coastline through dunes and beach grasses. It's great to hike down the beach with surf cracking to the right and mountains meeting the coast on the left. The coastline is just so rugged. Part of our trail followed the path of early gold miners, it'd be a tough hike to make loaded down with provisions and mining gear.

Lighting the fire at Gold's Bluff Beach. The beach gets cold at night. The sun set around 4:30, so that means the temps drop quickly and there isn't much left to do besides rehydrate some food, huddle around the fire, and contemplate the meaning of it all.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed the pictures and the comments. Happy Holidays and God Bless!

A Couple Surfs, A Hike, And Few Beers...It's All I'm Asking For!

I had a great weekend, most three day weekends are though. I surfed a couple times, hiked in some Redwoods, had some beers, and contemplated some deep thoughts. Now let me ramble a bit about those topics and some recents news...

The Surfs (Part 1)

Saturdays are great. I get to wake up after the sunrises, drink coffee at my leisure, skateboard to Happy Donut (good doughnuts, but nothing compared to Tom's Donuts), and look for surf. Justine usually has a couple massage clients during the AM, so I am left to my own devices. Last Saturday was no different. I woke up, had some coffee, got my doughnuts (2 glazed, 2 cruellers), and started my search for surf.

The first place to check is always 'Power Lines', it's a punchy little beach break that's about 5 minutes from my house. Unfortunately for me, the tides were high and the surf was pumping. I like to surf wedgie beach breaks, but it was just too out of control. I checked a couple of other spots along the Samoa and consigned myself to wait for the afternoon low tide.

That's the thing about the surf prospects around here. The tides are extreme and the swell rarely drops below 6 feet. The water is cold and it's either crowded or nobody out. I finished my coffee on the dunes, watching the powerful 6-8 ft surf roll in with nobody out, and then drove home.

After my lady finished her work for the day, we went to a little cafe we'd been eyeing for a week or two. Let me just say that the 'Opera Alley Bistro' is delicious. We spent the afternoon, waiting for the tide to drop, strolling around Eureka's old town. We finally made it into the local historical museum. Crazy stuff has happened in Humboldt County.

We finally made it up to Camel Rock for the evening glass off session. The drive up to Camel Rock is only 14 miles or so, but it always seems to take forever. The entire drive I'm trying to catch glimpses of the ocean from the highway, so I can start psyching up for big surf or consign myself to catch smaller, more playful waves. The surf on Saturday ended up being a fun session. Justine and I both got in and caught some great waves. Justine is starting to get used to the cold water and the challenges posed by larger swells and rocky beaches. I'm getting used to surfing with a crowd and hassling with a dozen other guys for the waves rolling through. We stayed in the water until well after the sun had set. After we had caught our final waves of the session we stood at the water's edge and watched the fog start to roll in. It started to rain and the darkness set in. We stood there, in the fog and rain, and just took everything in. The noisy sounds of the tide coming in and rain falling on the sand, the salty/fishy smell of the ocean mixing with the sweet/earthy smell of the rain, the beauty of the beach and the cliffs, everything combined into a very real moment. We could feel the magic of the area. It was a very Pacific Northwest moment.

The Hike

Sunday morning dawned clear and bright, something of an anomaly for November in Humboldt County. Justine and I knew that we needed to get out into the woods and find ourselves a hike. An hour or so in any direction (besides west, because then we'd be an hour out to sea) takes us into fairly remote wilderness areas and some spectacular scenery. Today we felt like walking among giants, so we headed north to Redwood National Park. The trails in the park are amazing. They are well kept, but rarely ever crowded. We decided on a hike in the northern end of the park, the Ten Taypo/Indian Creek trail. The hike is a four mile loop which takes you through lush lowland redwood forests into higher elevation upland forest environments. The elevation changes and the variation in environments make this an interesting hike.

Yesterday's rain had caused a ton of mushrooms to sprout up. I've never seen so many different types of mushrooms. Justine and I stopped every few minutes to admire a different mushroom. There were bright colored mushrooms that looked like coral and brown ones that looked like piles of crap. The rain had the effect of greening up the woods overnight also. It's just great to walk through huge old growth trees and smell the moist, pungent aroma that permeates the redwood forest.

The Surf (Part 2)

After our hike through the redwoods, we drove back towards Eureka. We brought our boards and wetsuits along, just in case we happened to come along a wave or two. We ended up back at Camel Rock, along with a hundred other people. Overnight the surf had picked up and it was close to epic. The surf was 12 foot plus and just reeling. The set waves would break for over 400 yards. The waves were as good as waves get. Unfortunately for me, every other person who owned a board or a wetsuit was out there too and most of them had attitudes. I went out for about 30 minutes and caught a couple waves and several dirty looks. I'd rather surf 2ft junk waves with a few friends than battle 60 assholes for a great wave.

It's funny, yesterday when the waves were good but not great, people somewhat shared the waves and there was a great vibe in the water. Today it was completely different. Maybe I've just been spoiled by East Coast waves and attitudes, but I'm looking forward to having a surf at Cape Hatteras soon.

Deep Thoughts and Beers

One of my favorite ways to kill a rainy, surfless afternoon is to read the newspaper at The Shanty. The Shanty is this tiny, dingy, stinky pub close to the waterfront, here in Eureka. There is always a variety of folk at The Shanty. Dockworkers, fishermen, students, and all types of enlightened folks seem to flock towards the bar. It's a nice quiet place to read the paper during late afternoons.

The best part of beers at The Shanty is the conversations with random other people that happen to wander in. Reading the paper seems to invite conversations and they often turn towards politics and religion. I think we could take society in a good direction if more people went to pubs, town squares, pretty much anywhere and had good soild debates in person. Too often in our society, people simply voice their opinions in chat-rooms or message boards, and aren't forced to argue out their point face to face. It's a very refreshing thing to do, I like being told to my face that I'm an idiot for rooting for Ron Paul and supporting the Fair Tax. That way a discussion happens and you can use powers of persuasion to bring people around...

I intended to add some deep thoughts and mind blowing statements, but California has seemed to taken its toll on my logical abilities...Lucky for me The Wall Street Journal, a copy of the Federalist Papers, and Unamuno await me for my reading pleasure this weekend...

More pictures and stories to come...

Jack-o-Lanterns

Halloween 2007

Camel Rock on Saturday 11/3/2007