Sailing on Humboldt Bay

Taking Control of the Tiller

Prepare to Tack

Cruising the Marina

It's always tough to re-adjust to life here in Humboldt County, but healthy doses of surfing and sailing are keeping me sane.

Ten Days into a Month of Vacation

Getting set for a swing on the rope

Roughing up Ol' Lucky 

A juicy little Sunfish

Three Kings and a Cat

Ten days down, 20 more days to go. Vacations always seem to take forever to happen and seem to last but brief moments once they start. Days tick by like minutes and weeks just melt away. I guess most people in America take less than 10 days of vacation each year. How do most people survive? I'm taking a solid month off and I still feel rushed in my relaxation. My wife and I are currently staying at her parent's house which is perched on the shores of a pristine lake in Northern Indiana. I wake up each morning to the sounds of birds chirping and fall asleep each night to frogs croaking. Generally my day consists of a leisurely read of the news over coffee, a morning swim, more leisure time during which I fish or read, then an afternoon swim and bake in the sun or perhaps a drive through the countryside, and then once the late afternoon begins-the beers begin to flow and the fish start to bite. It's really a rough way to spend a couple of weeks...

Indiana is a beautiful place. My parents and my wife's parents live a dozen miles apart, both in rural Hoosier farm country, and driving between the two houses affords spectacular scenery. The country side is rolling farmland planted with corn, soybeans, and alfalfa. Everything is green and alive. Cows laze about the pastures during the midday heat and everything smells fresh and clean. Life is good in Indiana, especially during the summer, when you're living on a lake and don't have anything to do.

 

Enjoy the pictures. If I can pry myself off the dock, I might write more later...But don't hold your breath.

A Number of Thoughts

Ahhh, I finally have some breathing room and a little more leisurely schedule. I'm done with substitute  teaching and coaching the local high school swim team. I've moved on to bar-tending the day shift at the local watering hole and surfing/fishing as much as possible. I was pretty much done dealing with the local school system here, I was getting thoroughly disrespected money-wise. I mean, it's absurd that I make more bar-tending than I did teaching and coaching for 50 hours a week. What kind of horse crap is it when a guy makes more money pouring beers than shaping minds? I guess it helps when people are constantly sliding $1's and $5's your way for stiff drinks and good pours. Teaching would be more lucrative if kids were sliding you dough after a solid lecture on the finer points of realism in Sherman Alexie's writings on the plight of Native cultures of the Pacific Northwest. But then again, most jobs aren't rewarded monetarily equal to the value they give to society. Think about it...teachers, social workers, cops, firemen, etc...make so little money compared to the guy that warms the bench for any pro sports team. I guess it's just a reflection of priorities within society. But the beauty of the free market is that it's technically possible for anyone to make that jump into the 'filthy rich' tax bracket, but until that point I'll make sure to watch my budget. 

Bartending has its perks, mainly cheap beers and no early mornings. I've  been lucky enough to enjoy a number of good morning surf sessions lately. There is just something amazing about hitting the water before your day starts. It's so pleasant to cruise the coast with coffee in hand and AM talk shows on the radio. Our coast here is so rural, it's almost absurd that I'm able to take in all of this beauty in one morning drive. A five minute drive takes me through the donut shop, over the bridge and to the crazily fickle beach break in front of Eureka. I'll stop there, for a quick check, and then 90% of the time I'll head north to Camel Rock and reliable waves. The 15 minute drive north through cow pastures gives me a chance to catch up on NPR and Neil Boortz, two polar opposite opinions on the radio waves. I don't know if you guys ever listen to Neil Boortz, but you probably should (www.boortz.com). He's a staunch Libertarian and Constitutional law expert. He gets pretty heated about stuff these days. He is all about personal responsibility and personal freedom. It's interesting to compare him to Amy Goodman, who is a host for NPR. Amy Goodman has a show called "Democracy Now" and it is the pinnacle of bleeding heart liberalism. Most of the shows revolve around the mantra of "Bush lied, people died" and other topics which involve expanding the government's influence in our daily lives. I don't know if it is my Hoosier up-bringing or my distaste for government involvement in my daily life, but I really don't want Uncle Sam's hand guiding my life any more than it is. In the essay 'Civil Disobedience', Thoreau states that "Government is at best but an expedient". He further states the government that is best, governs least. I heartily accept that statement. I would much prefer that free market principles shape our society, rather that the heavy hand of Uncle Sam. 

Sorry to go from surfing to politics, but that's the way it goes sometimes. It's just about two weeks until the Lady and I are able to enjoy a solid month of vacation time. Nothing but lazing about in the Hoosier sun for a couple weeks and then some more beach time on the Outer Banks. I know it sounds funny, but it seems like life is one long vacation right now. Don't get me wrong-we work all the time, but after growing up in Indiana, there is just something about looking out the back to mountains and being a few minutes from the ocean. It just seems unreal, even after a year or two. Last Monday, for example, I spent the morning catching waist high peelers with views of cliffs, coves, and the best Northern Pacific wildlife everywhere around me and then in the afternoon I went sailing with a good buddy (also a former Hoosier) for the better part of 5 hours. I mean, it's no wonder that I walk around with a permanent grin. 

Because of the Times...

Sorry it has been quite sometime since my last posting. Life has been busy. I've been travelling and working, burning my candle at both ends...as the saying goes. In the past few weeks, I've been down to Santa Cruz, San Fransisco, Chicago, over the river and through the woods, to the Lost Coast, and dozens of day trips in between. Meanwhile I've also been teaching full time, coaching, and bartending. Life has been busy, to say the least, but it has been good. Stay tuned for more insane pictures, descriptions, and biting sarcasm about life and politics...

Pictures from a Weekend Warrior

Weekends are beautiful, glorious things. They happen on a fairly regular basis, but they're never long enough or close enough together. My wife and I try to stuff absolutely as much fun into ours' as possible. Here are some pictures from our past few...

College Cove is a good beach to go to when the north winds of spring are blowing and the surf elsewhere is huge. After a winter of rain and wind it's nice to kick back on the beach with a Hunter S. Thompson book and soak in some sun and salt spray.


Nothing beats a beachfront campsite with a backdrop of Sitka spruce and redwoods. How much would you pay at a hotel with a view so good? There's a pretty nice little beach break wave just out front.

The van does kick serious ass, but to quote a friend 'it takes an oil field to move that thing". Justine and I clearly needed a small, fuel efficient car. Here's the beauty we picked out. It's a 2008 Honda Fit and it's get triple the MPG's as the van.

We went for a drive along a rural stretch of coastline last weekend. The whole drive was through pasturelands with views of the Pacific Ocean, farms, and distant snow capped peaks. It's reassuring to see undeveloped stretches of coastline. This cow has to have one of the best views of any bovines. I don't feel bad about eating him, he's had it pretty easy.

Exploring tidepools pretty much kicks ass. It's part science lesson and part bouldering. It's always interesting to play around on exposed rocks with an incoming high tide. I wouldn't recommend it to people with agility issues though.

What can I say? I love building driftwood fires. There's just something about the smell of cedar mingling with the salt breeze that makes a day at the beach complete.

Weekends...

There is nothing quite so satisfying as leaving the Monday through Friday grind behind for a weekend of fun and relaxation on the beautiful North Coast. Justine and I each put in very full work weeks last week, so we needed to get out of town, breath some fresh sea air, soak in some sun, catch some tasty waves, and generally revel in nature. Saturday morning we woke up, threw some gear and beer in the van, grabbed some bagels, and pointed the van north. Just over an hour later, we were weaving around lagoons and past redwoods, trying to decide if we'd rather hike and then camp on the beach or if we'd rather surf and then camp in the redwoods...I know it sounds rough, but those are the toughest decisions we try to make during the weekends.



We decided our best bet was to catch some waves before we made any more decisions. so we headed towards Crescent City CA and the friendly waves at South Beach. South Beach is a wonderful little anomaly of our coastline. The beach is south facing, so the north winds which clear our skies up during the winter and spring also groom the surf into classic offshore conditions. The beach is protected from the massive swells which reel down the coast from the Gulf of Alaska, so it makes for a pleasant surf spot. The wave itself is generally a gently rolling beach break, a very beginner friendly wave and fun spot for longboarding. The beach is a very scenic, to the south lie several large cliffs which fall into the water and are covered in a number of hardy trees which thrive in the temperate, moist, salty climate which defines our region. To the north, lies the harbor of Crescent City and beyond is the Coastal Range.

Justine and I both quickly struggled into our wetsuits and booties. I don't know if you've ever put on a wetsuit, but it's a rather touchy enterprise...more so for ladies who don't want to bare skin for other beach-goers. I take a rather indifferent approach to it, if someone driving by happens to catch a glimpse of my nether region...well I apologize. Justine on the other hand, thankfully, is very methodical about suiting up.


The surf was allright, it was decent size, but the shape just wasn't there. The waves were breaking in sections, instead of peeling down the line. It was a beautiful day though, with the sun shining and the smells of the forest and ocean mixing together. After a couple of hours spent splashing around in the brine, we paddled in, got out of our wetsuits (an ordeal...), and plotted our next move.


We decided to drive a bit down the road to camp on the beach and have a bonfire. Lucky for us, South Beach has one of the best selections of driftwood ever, so we filled the back of the van with as much wood as we could squeeze in between the surfboards and sleeping bags. After a much needed pee stop, we were off through the redwoods and to another almost deserted beach. Since I mentioned it, a pee break that is, I'll digress about the importance of not peeing in your wetsuit or while surfing. Now I'm all about peeing in the water most of the time, I'll pee in the pool, the lake, just about anywhere without a cop or a lady within site, but never in the Northern Pacific. There are a number of accounts from people who have been bitten by Ol' Whitey that the last thing they did was take a leak while surfing. It doesn't seem to bright for a mammal to pee in the water when the main predator hunts by scent. Anyway...

We camped Saturday night at Gold Bluff Beach, just north of Orick and within the boundaries of Redwood National Park. The campground has maybe 20 campsites and I bet it gets busy during the summer, but it's March and we scored a great campsite and only had to share the sunset with a few other people. There is something spectacular about camping on the beach. Bonfires seem larger, beer tastes better, and the stars shine brighter. We were hungry after our long day of surfing, frolicking about the beach, and walking through redwoods. Luckily we planned ahead and brought some steaks, veggies, and artisan bread to enjoy with our local microbrews. I felt like something different, so I brought along a thick slab of lamb to roast over the fire. Lamb roast over a driftwood fire is just about the most delicious thing I've ever had to eat. The smells of sizzling lamb mingling with the cedar smoke and salty sea air, well you'll have to try it for yourself to understand. After dinner we stoked up the fire and lounged back in our lawn chairs, trying to take it all in. Stars came out, the ocean roared, the fire crackled at our feet and all of the crap that we went through in order to make it to the point in our current lives where we can have experiences like this became worth it.

Late that night, we decided to walk to the edge of the world and peer into the vast nothingness which is the Northern Pacific at night. Now I know you are thinking that you've been down to the beach hundreds of times at night and it isn't anything incredibly mind blowing, but come out here for a visit sometime. I'll take you out to that desolate stretch of beach which is close to nothing besides mountains and trees and wilderness, we'll walk down to the edge of the ocean, and I'd be willing to bet that you're heart may skip a beat or two as you strain your eyes to see out past the rolling white breakers that constantly thunder towards you. There is something incredible about the way the beach feels at night. The sand is cold, the wind blowing off the ocean is cold, and the water is absolutely freezing. It's just a completely inhospitable environment for something as frail as us humans. I remember going for frequent night swims when I was living on the Outer Banks, a few of us would just kind of walk down to the beach and take a dip, or maybe body surf. The thought of going for a swim that night made me shudder. I guess 45 degree water and 15 foot surf changes the equation a bit.

The next morning, we woke up early and boogeyed out of there. The park charges 15 bucks per night for each campsite, which I feel is a bit steep. The ranger didn't come around the night before to collect the cash, so that meant he'd come around early the next morning to ticket those who didn't pay. After a couple summers of frequenting campgrounds pretty constantly we knew the drill pretty well, so we woke up early and scrammed before he came around. We used the money for a delicious breakfast at our favorite little diner in Orick.

After breakfast we headed towards a redwood grove we had yet to explore, the 'Lady Bird Johnson Memorial Grove'. Good ol' Lady Bird Johnson visited the area in the 60's and felt the majesty of the redwoods firsthand. After her visit, she became a vocal supporter of protecting the remaining old growth redwoods. The trail is short and has an interesting self guided tour pamphlet available at the start of the trail. It's a good trail to take your time on and really take it all in. It's one of the few trails through redwoods which offers ocean views. We made quick work of the trail and headed back south towards our home. It was another glorious, beautiful, sunny Spring day in Humboldt County...and it is only March.

On the way home I stopped to surf in Trinidad. The surf was mediocre at best, but it's always good to get wet on a sunny day. Just south of Orick we had checked the surf at a long stretch of beach along the highway, it was spectacular there...but I wussed out and decided to wait and surf a more familiar break. I figured if it was that good there, how great will it be farther south. I'm still kicking myself over all of those barrels which went unridden, but there is always another wave. That's the thing about waves, as soon as one passes by, there's always another one starting to roll in...right behind it. Kind of like weekends...You just got to have the patience to make it through the lull of the work week.

Uhhh Ohhh...The Government is Taking Over...

Your kids belong to the government apparently. Here's a very recent article concerning a person's right to educate their own kids versus the state's right to educate your kids...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/MNJDVF0F1.DTL

Here's a quote from the California Supreme Court decision...See if reeks of communism to anybody else...

"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote, quoting from a 1961 case on a similar issue.

I would think that kids should be taught things such math, science, reading, perhaps some art classes, and maybe even a gym class or two...but apparently the educational system exists for a more Orwellian purpose (George Orwell, 1984).

It may be time to start looking for a decent sail boat, save some travel cash, and get the hell outta dodge before proverbial shit hits the fan.

Politics, Surfing, and Beer Slinging

On Woeful Underfunding

I'm back at work subbing today after a week without work, due to Eureka City Schools celebrating President's Day for an entire week. An entire week off for President's Day?...If it seems a bit overboard to you, then we're in agreement. It's funny how different the school environment is out this way. I would postulate that the attitude of the students is directly correlated to the amount of money spent on the schools here. For example, the physical buildings are falling apart and teachers out here get paid crap (I suppose the state of affairs is pretty similar in a majority of places). Just to throw a number out there...I get paid a meager $75 per day to substitute. It's funny because there are never enough subs to fill all of the absences (so I cover two classes a day, but get paid the same), yet the powers that be refuse to bite the bullet and raise the pay level.
I also started coaching the local high school swim team and who would have guessed, but the pool sucks. It's a relic from the 1950's which has been kept alive purely on the janitor's ingenuity. I have swum in more pools than I can remember and I shudder to think that someday I may have to hop into this pool to demonstrate proper butterfly technique or lay down the law in games of water polo. This pool is bad. The paint (lead paint with my luck) constantly flakes off into the pool and on especially humid days I keep my rain coat on in order to avoid the indoor precipitation. The water clarity usually hovers around that of skim milk. And I especially love it when I arrive at the pool to find a thin layer of bubbles on top of the pool...maybe it doubles as a bubble bath for the basketball team. I remember my early days of high school swimming. Our practice pool sucked, it was a nasty cesspool of hairballs and snot. And guess how we treated it...Like a nasty, nasty pool and it affected our work ethic. But what happened when we got to swim in a nice clean, well-lit pool...We hammered out hard practices and we felt like achieving great things. The same thing goes for schools...When kids are herded into windowless leaky trailers for English classes, how does that affect their work ethic? I'd venture a guess that it doesn't make a lecture about prepositions and dangling modifiers any easier...

With the previous rant in mind...Why/How do teachers put up with people constantly pissing and moaning about how our youth are falling behind the rest of the world? On the news it's always "American youth are now ranked somewhere in between Estonia and Honduras in math and science"...I mean, what do you think is going to happen when you don't spend money on education. I was reading last week about the way in which other countries treat their education systems. European countries like Sweden and Norway (consistently ranked in the top few countries education wise) spend serious cash on their schools. Once a teacher enters an education program, the government funds their education. I'm not really in favor of that happening. Strong government/public schools is the 10th plank of the Communist Manifesto...
The bottom line...The public needs to put up the cash to make schools work or shut up and let the free market take care of things...i.e. private schools.

On the Surf
My wife was gone last week taking a massage class in the Sierra Nevada's, so was l left on my own for about a week. I spent my time searching for solid waves, reading, and slinging beers. The surf around here has been big and burly for the past week. Often it wasn't the problem of finding the surf (there was way too much), but the issue was finding a wave that wouldn't result in me getting my ass kicked by good ol' mother nature. Last weekend we had a run of classic conditions. It was sunny, mild, offshore winds, and a long period 6-8ft swell. It was about as good as it gets around here. For three days straight I would wake up, go to the beach and surf the entire day...and I mean all day at the beach. After hours and hours splashing around in the brine I would go into the bar and sling beers to the wonderful variety of folk who frequent the dingy little establishment that is Jo's Little Red Lion. The state of mind that results from surfing until your arms are noodles and then working until 2am, all to do it over again the next day, is interesting to say the least...
I remember my the last wave I caught on Sunday rather vividly, I've resurfed that wave in my mind countless times this past week. It was the last wave of a big set that had rolled through and cleaned up the line-up. The line-up refers to the big group of surfers massed in the same general area, waiting for pretty much the same waves. In pictures and from a distance it looks like we're all good buddies out there, having a blast, and stoked to see each other...In reality though, it's 40 individuals all trying to catch those 8 waves that roll through every 4 or 5 minutes. On this particular set I got rather lucky, the 3rd and 4th wave that rolled through was way bigger than usual and caught most everyone off guard, except for me. I barely made it through those waves, but I was in perfect position for the last wave of the set and nobody was around the challenge me for the wave. Several hard strokes and I was in, after a huge bottom turn I was right in the pocket and hauling ass down the line. It's hard to describe the feeling of going really fast on a wave...There is all of this energy around you. Underneath your board you can feel the water slipping by, beside you is a wall of water, behind you is the barrel...Slow down just a bit, slide your back foot back just a bit, just enough to slow you down, tuck your head, crouch down a bit, and SILENCE...Look up, look over your shoulder, just take it all in, you're in the wave...I couldn't tell you whether I was in the barrel for 2 seconds or an hour, but judging from the fact that I made it to work on time I'd say the two second guess was closer to reality. But the fact remains that when you're surfing that's all you're doing...On the wave you aren't wondering about dinner, or taxes, or if Hilary is gonna beat Obama...all of that crap doesn't matter...all that matters is the wave, your board, and the energy that is pushing you forward...Oh and watch out for that big rock just under the water...

On Slinging Beers
Justine and I were talking about what we want to do this summer and we came to the conclusion that we needed more money, so I picked up a couple nights of bartending to supplement my meager income from teaching and coaching full time. It's funny how entertaining it is to bartend. People tend to pour out their life stories and problems to the guy behind the bar, especially after a couple pints...But it's not just people needing someone to listen to their problems, it's old guys who just need someone to hear them ramble about their past adventures. The bar is somewhat seedy and it seems to attract a lot of commercial fishermen, so that gives you some idea about some of the stories I hear...I'm gonna put some effort into this listening thing and get some good stories, this stuff needs written down. Everybody always says history is written from the perspective of the winner. Some of these guys have done some crazy stuff and the only place it's recorded is in the memory of some sunspotted, wrinkled old salt of a fisherman.

Solid Surf Ramble...

I was surfing at Patrick's Point/Agate Beach a couple Sundays ago and I experienced the worst beating/hold down of my surfing career. It's funny how crazy it is to paddle out in such big and powerful surf. The waves were in the 15-18 foot range and were solidly breaking. Patrick's Point is a point break and can handle big and powerful surf, while Agate Beach is a beach break. Both spots can handle a solid swell without turning into a washing machine, but they both get challenging when the swell gets above the 10-12 foot range. I was surfing with my best friend Adam, who recently moved out this way from the Outer Banks, NC.

We checked Patrick's Point as a last resort, all of the other spots we checked were maxed out and simply too churned up to facilitate good, clean waves. We decided to check the point as a final chance at surfing on a day in which the ocean was going crazy. There was a storm up off of the Alaska coast which was sending powerful swells our way. The Humboldt coastline sticks out like a sore thumb off the California coast, so we get the brunt of most swells. It can be 12-15 feet here, but 4-6 feet at points south during the same swell. The fact that most spots require a bit of a hike to get to, the water is way too cold (45-52 degrees year around), and old Whitey is constantly patrolling help to thin the crowds out a bit.

Every other spot was way too rough and we wanted to surf, so we decided that we could paddle out at Patrick's Point. Waves look deceptively rolling, glassy, and inviting from far away and on top of a cliff; so we decided to paddle out. We were both riding fun shaped short boards, so the overhead shorebreak was easy to duck-dive through. Once we made it out to the actual mackers we discovered that it was actually freaking-huge.

Maybe you don't surf, but you can at least appreciate that mental anguish that comes from paddling out in way overhead surf, in cold water and realizing that you are supremely out of your element. I grew up surfing the warm and small waves of the East Coast, so I'm still getting used to the powerful, large surf of the Northern California coast. I've surfed big swells since I moved here, but they are mostly point waves. Point waves break in a predictable fashion in mostly uniform lines, beach breaks are anything but predictable. At a beach break, you'll be sitting there...watching the swells come in and suddenly you'll realize that you are right in the impact zone (I call it the 'bone-yard'), so you immediately begin a sprint-paddle to a safe area outside of where the wave is going to break.

Now, let me let you in on a little secret...Surfers choose boards depending on the waves they want to surf. A longboard works great in small, rolling waves; short boards work great in head high surf; but in serious surf, most surfers will bring out their 'guns' for surf which requires serious paddle speed and solid 'cajones' to ride. Adam and I are poor, so we have limited boards to choose from. I was riding a short board and Adam was riding a semi-longboard. The point being that we were riding the wrong boards for the conditions and fully relying on our swimming ability and guts to ride the large waves which were rolling our way.

The first wave I caught was solid. There is something about paddling into very overhead surf. The energy that is present in the ocean on big swells is something everyone should experience. Just think about everything that goes into that wave...Storms which are thousands of miles away generate untold amounts of energy which is translated into open ocean swells, the last bit of that energy goes into the wave, and I'm all about catching that last bit of energy as it unloads onto a random sandbar on a bit of isolated stretch of Northern California coastline...

In two hours of battling the ocean swells and currents I caught three waves and took a couple of solid beating during which I was held under for minutes and resigned myself to the noble death which comes from following dreams which few dream. I grew as a person and as a surfer. During one particularly heavy hold-down I thought thoughts which come only to those which put their ass on the line and accept what may come. I attained a level of thought during those minutes held down, under the roaring surf, under the slate grey sky, under the murky blue water, far away from where I am comfortable, which I couldn't find all throughout college...I felt alive, I felt the need to be alive, the desire to live and pursue life...

I am alive. I will pursue life. I will follow my dreams. I will overcome. People always talk about limitation and things preventing them from taking that next step. I was underwater in 45 degree water, in 15 foot surf, undergunned and just trying to breath...and I realized that I can do anything. If I can survive this...Can't I survive the 9-5? Can't I survive taxes and budgets and deadlines?....

A Few Pictures...

Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz. I was lucky enough to visit the area on a really good swell. A couple hundred other guys were also as fortunate...

The Monterey Bay Aquarium had a ton of fish. This handsome fellow is a Sun Fish. He weighs in around a ton...

A couple places along the pier in Santa Cruz were completely taken over by big old sea lions. I could stand there for hours, just watching them nap and occasionally fight with each other.

Justine and Ben posing in Monterey...

Santa Cruz and Points South...

Our second holiday trip was an excursion to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Francisco. Santa Cruz is one of those towns that holds a certain place in surfing lore and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. While we were that far south, we checked out the Monterey Bay Aquarium and downtown San Fran.

A couple of summers ago my wife and I were having a pizza at a bar in Yosemite Valley, we were rather undecided about where we would settle down and we were discussing possible towns to live in. "Fort Bragg? Nah, too small. Brookings? Nope, too small and the surf is fickle. Santa Cruz or San Francisco? No way, way too many people." At the point we said, "Santa Cruz?", the bartender said, "Check out Arcata, in Humboldt County...It's Santa Cruz, but thirty years ago". That pretty much sealed it for us. After we spent almost a month in and around Yosemite, we drove north to Humboldt and the rest is history. But we never forgot about Santa Cruz, so we put it on our list of roadtrips and places to visit.

Fast forward a year and a half, and here we are in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz sits about an hour south of San Francisco and at a little bend in the coastline that means well groomed waves year around and offshore winds all winter. Surfing here is a part of life. I saw more cars with board racks than without. The place definitely has some solid waves, but also solid crowds on the waves. I was lucky enough to see the famous surf spot 'Steamer Lane' on one of the best days of the year. It was glassy, offshore, and absolutely reeling. The right wave would break for almost a half-mile. Can you imagine surfing a wave for that long? I'd probably go insane. I watched the wave for a bit and then got on with exploring the town.

We were lucky enough to arrive in Santa Cruz during the end of the Monarch migration. They follow the coast to warmer weather in the winter and back up the coast to cooler weather during the summer. We found a Eucalyptus grove which had around 20,000 monarchs flitting about the treetops and we just laid on the ground and took it all in. There really aren't words to describe how amazing it is to see so many butterflies in such a small area or the sounds that so many butterflies flying about in one place makes.

After soaking in the majesty of the monarchs, I needed a surf. I was able to surf a couple blocks away from 'Steamer Lane' at a solid little point break with around two dozen other people. Two dozen is a crowd in Humboldt, but I managed to snipe a solid number of waves in my hour long session. The wave was great. There is something inviting about a chest-high, glassy wave in front of million dollar homes. For a few minutes out there I imagined that this was my homebreak and I was surfing in front of my sweet, oceanfront house...and then a clean-up set rolled through...I managed to avoid the macker of the set, pulled my head out of my ass, and caught the last solid set wave. I rode it in, changed, and then found a pub with Justine. We shopped for a bit in the downtown area, which is well put together. It's absolutely chock full of "surf-shops", I put it in parenthesis only because they had more hoodies than surfboards...but I digress. While I'm on the digression, let me just say something about the state of "surf-culture"...it's become a commodity and an image to be sold. Just look around you next time you're around a crowd of high school kids. How many of them are wearing surf brand hoodies? Then ask yourself if they looked like they've ever woken up before dawn, called the bouy reports, scraped their car windows, went out, and charged the surf in the cold, gray morning...

We spent a couple days in Santa Cruz and then we drove south to Monteray Bay. Our mission was to check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We had heard it was spectacular, but we had no idea how spectacular it was. We spent the entire day wandering around the exhibits, but I could have spent another week there. They have so many huge tanks it's insane. I'm talking 30-40 foot high tanks with actual wave machines to help the fishies feel at home. It's certainly one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I'd love to just spend days there, just sitting on the benches and watching the fish swim. There is something quite mesmerizing about the entire scene.

After spending as much time as possible in Monterey and Santa Cruz we headed back North towards our little slice of Northern California paradise. On the way through San Fran we stopped in Union Square to experience the madness that the City is. It's fun in small doses, but I like it quiet and uncrowded.

Stay tuned for more adventures. Sorry about taking so long in between postings. Hang in there and check in every now and then for more pictures, stories, and words of wisdom.

Road Tripping to Bend

Vacation is over and I'm back in kindergarten again...well basically. Since the end of Christmas break, I've been subbing in a kindergarten class and I'm starting to feel like Billy Madison. All I do all day is arts, crafts, ABC's, 123's, and recess. It doesn't sound too bad on the surface, but it makes for long mornings after a month of goofing off in Northern California and Oregon. I noticed my last entry was almost a month ago, tons of fun has happened since then. Justine and I gave each other trips, instead of expensive gifts this year for Christmas. In the past month we've been able to travel up the Cascade Range to Bend OR, most of the Oregon Coast, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Monteray. There have been insane waves and great hikes. I won't bore you guys with a bland run through of city names and adjectives and I'll get down to the nitty-gritty.

The Trip to Bend, Oregon

Justine and I went up to Bend in early December. The main purpose of the trip was to see The John Butler Trio play at an awesome venue and to explore Oregon a bit. Bend is about 6 hours north of Eureka and in the heart of Oregon. The town straddles the mountains and the high desert of Eastern Oregon. It's pretty much of haven of backpackers, mountains bikers, endurance athletes, and other outdoorsy folk who have their priorities straight. We'd been wanting to visit it for quite some time, the fact that our favorite band was playing there was the last straw.

The drive from Eureka to Bend is spectacular. We followed the coast to the Oregon border and then headed NE towards Medford, OR along the Smith River and the Rogue River. The coastal mountains along the California/Oregon border are absolutely dripping with foliage. Every little ravine has a stream which drains into a creek, then a bigger creek, then a river and eventually the coast. The drive is littered with waterfalls and scenic overlooks. The road to Bend goes right through Crater Lake National Park and along the edge of the Cascade Range and the Oregon desert. We attempted to get to Crater Lake, but the side roads had 4-6 feet of snow...not exactly choice driving conditions for the Chevy G20 (a formidable van, but not an off-roader). We're planning an excursion to Crater Lake for a later, less snowy date.

Once we got into Bend, we went looking for our hotel. We decided to somewhat spoil ourselves and we booked a room at McMenamin's Old St. Francis School(link at bottom). These guys from Portland buy old buildings and restore them into amazing hotels, breweries, and whatnot. Our hotel featured a Turkish Soaking Pool, Brewery, and an array of great art work. It was formerly a catholic school complete with nuns and friars. It was a nice change of pace from camping out in the woods.

At the hotel we enjoyed spectacular food and drink. For dinner, before the show, we feasted on the best pub-fare ever. We feasted on cheese fondue, deep fried won ton wrapped shrimp, and burgers. They brew a variety of beers on site, in the basement. Their signature handcrafted brew is the Hammerhead Ale; it's a hoppy, flavorful beer with citrusy overtones...Delicious!!!!

The John Butler Trip concert was amazing. The venue was an old roller rink within a few blocks of our hotel. After dinner we walked to the concert venue and waited in line. It payed off, for the show we were front row center. The opening band, Brett Dennon, absolutely rocked. They had a groovy, rocking, reggae sound to them. John Butler played pretty much every song I would have wanted to hear. Google them and check out their website. You can listen to most of the new album and some live concerts for free on-line. After the concert I had to check to see if I still had eyebrows they rocked so hard. Justine and I have really dug their music for a couple of years, so it was really rewarding to see them at such a small venue. We were literally feet away from the band.

The next day, after a soak in the Turkish Pool, we decided to have a day walking around Bend. The town is great. It just feels like people have their lives together. It's clean, the buildings are well maintained, and everyone in town seems to have a purpose. People are walking around decked out in kick-ass outdoor gear, people are riding sweet bikes, and everyone seems happy. It's a nice change of pace from Eureka, which at times seems overrun with vagrants and other mal-contents (but not as bad as the rest of California). I could really see living in Bend eventually, it's chock full of outdoor adventure opportunities. Speaking of very nice people...We actually spent a night in Bend in the spare room of a really great couple we met at the Patagonia store. I mean talk about great people, they heard we were gonna camp out in the van on a night which snow was forecast and they opened up their home to us. People like that kind of restore faith in humanity and help me realize that some people still see the bigger picture.

The road from Bend to the Oregon coast is pretty gnarly, especially after a snowstorm and in a camper van. The mountains surrounding Bend are spectacular. A number of 10,000 foot peaks surround the area, unfortunately visibility was limited due to a massive storm on the coast. The coastal storm meant rain on the coast and snow in the mountains. We decided to brave the drive before the brunt of the storm hit. Next time we visit Bend, we staying longer and bringing mountains bikes and snowboarding gear. The more places we visit out here, the more we want to visit more places out here. It's starting to become a vicious cycle of travel resulting in more travel, it could be the start of a never-ending cycle of travel.

We made it through the Cascades and to the Oregon coast. There were several 'Oh Shit' moments where we were sliding down icy mountains roads, brakes applied but not working, hoping that we would hit a bit of pavement that wasn't pure ice before we careened over a nasty precipice.

The rest of the drive was great. We made it to the Oregon coast and then home. The Oregon Coast is amazing. It's rugged and rocky. The towns are still small and have a rural feel. There are waves, tons of waves. They just take some work to paddle to and a thick wetsuit.

http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=98

Stay tuned for more adventures...Judging from our band account statement from last month, we had a great time!

Justine finally developed the random disposable camera that's been floating around the house for the past 6 months and there were some beauties on it. It's funny how many afternoons are forgotten until you see a glossy 3x5 that reminds you of lazy days in the sun gone by. Oh the glorious days of summer...Days when it was in the 70's, blues skies, fun playful waves, and warm ocean breezes.

My apologies for a lack of posts lately. We've had a constant flow of houseguests and weekend trips. I am trying to balance the guests, roadtripping (and the requisite beer drinking that goes along with guests and roadtripping) with a heavy work schedule...

Upcoming essays I am working on include...

1. Trip report about Bend, Oregon and the crazy adventures we had there and on the drive

2. Review of breweries I've been to in the past month (or at least those I can remember)

3. Anything interesting that happens this next week on our trip to Santa Cruz, Monteray, and San Francisco

Drop Everything And Visit Bend Oregon

Justine and I just got back from a mid-week jaunt up to Bend, Oregon and I must say, Bend kicks ass! The city is clean, vibrant, and very well put together. There are tons of great restaurants and pubs. The night life is happening. but not out of control. There are so many breweries, distilleries, and pubs. My liver needs a vacation after our trip. The area surrounding Bend is insanely spectacular. Bend sits on the edge of the Cascade Range. To the west is 10,000 ft peaks and to the east is scrub desert. Options abound for outdoor activities, pretty much anything a person could want is in your backyard...except for surfing...

We went to catch a John Butler Trio concert. The show rocked my socks off. We were front row center. The band was three feet away, I've never been to a better show.

We spent a couple of days in Bend, then drove through Eugene, and then down the Oregon coast.

Expect a full trip report in the next couple of days complete with pictures and stories...

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

Three Days Down...Two to Go!!!

Thank goodness it's finally Wednesday. The week is halfway over and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Two more days until we can throw some gear in the van and head into the mountains for some much needed peace and quiet. I really would like to go up into the hills and catch a couple Steelhead trout.

I've been subbing for an English teacher these past few days who was kind enough to have my lesson plans consist purely of showing movies. Needless to say, I've been doing a lot of internet surfing. I've been digging a little deeper than the CNN headlines and the pop-culture news that we are constantly spoon fed by a media whose sole goal seems to be dumbing down the American public.

Here is some stuff I found interesting/alarming...

http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html
This group from UNH has come up with some good ideas about creating bio-diesel from giant algae ponds. It's pretty interesting.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=153721&version=1&template_id=48&parent_id=28
With all the alarmists raising a ruckus about global warming and greenhouse gases, it seems like people in an already hot place would be stoked about all the research into bio-fuels. Nope, that would be too logical...This article is about how OPEC is going to stop investing money into finding oil and further developing oil fields if people continue investing money into alternative fuels. Sounds to me like a bunch of Arab sheiks are worried that people might wise up, figure out that we are getting screwed by the oil producing countries, and lose their cash cow...

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/
Ron Paul is basically the man. In an era most politicians are corrupt or at least very unproductive, Ron Paul stands out as one of the last legit guys in Washington. I've read through his writings a couple times this week and I still get a little misty when I read the logic in his reasoning. He's running on the Republican ticket and he's just about the only guy on the ticket that is legitimately a Republican. Go and read about his positions, be ready to debate with people, and don't be afraid to argue against the socialist agenda that is drowning this country.

http://www.junkscience.com/
Just some interesting stuff about how people use science (falsely) to promote their own agenda.

A Short Book Review-Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

Well I just finished "Mayflower" by Nathaniel Philbrick and I must say it was a good read. The book covers the story of the Pilgrims from the planning stages of their exodus from Europe until the end of King Phillip's War. The book really portrays the gritty reality that the Pilgrims existed in and puts to rest quite of few of the romanticized ideas we have about our beloved Pilgrims. I won't go into an in-depth history of the Pilgrims, but I will pass along some of the more interesting facts and theories I gleaned from the roughly 400 pages of entertaining history.

You guys all know why the pilgrims decided to sail for the shores of America-they wanted to set up a community in which they could worship freely and in a way they choose. I really respect their take on Christianity. They were definitely in the Calvinist school of thought. They really had faith in God and believed they were God's chosen people. Several times, they compare their struggle to that of Israel and I got the impression that they believed they were voyaging to their own 'Promised Land'. They really had a bare-bones take on Christianity. If it wasn't specifically stated in the Bible, then it was not doctrine. For example, they didn't celebrate Christmas because they holiday wasn't biblically based. They really were a community of believers, that's probably the main reason they made it work in America and for-profit colonies like Jamestown didn't really prosper.

Before they left Europe, they went through quite a few hardships. They were forced to move from their native England to Holland to avoid persecution. They were pretty much constantly taken advantage of by people who they had enlisted to help them plan for their journey. I mean just imagine the confidence and balls it took for the pilgrims to actually think they could sail to an almost completely unknown continent and just set up shop. Most of the pilgrims were artisans and farmers, few had ventured beyond their small villages in the English country side. The closest thing to wilderness around them was Nottingham Woods.

Those Pilgrims were tough people. They had intended to make the 10 week voyage during the warm summer months, but due to set backs, they didn't start the voyage until early fall and didn't make it to the coast of America until mid-November. They were short on water, running low on food, and had little beer left. They were most alarmed by the shortage of beer, which would alarm me too. The book talks about how one of the first crops they planted was barley, in order to refill all of those empty beer casks.

They arrived at Cape Cod in mid-November during what would be an unseasonably cold winter. Did you guys know that we were at the end of a "Little Ice Age" in the 1620's? They had intended to arrive at the southwest corner of Long Island at the mouth of the Hudson River, which would have provided them with a river large enough to handle large merchant ships and they might have made some money from the whole operation. Instead they arrived of the shallow, shoal ridden shores of Cape Cod. If they would have arrived 10 years prior, they would have found a huge native population. They would have seen shelters and villages dotting the shoreline and a rather well developed culture. Instead they arrived along the shores of Cape Cod and found a desolate landscape. The past decade had been a decade of disease and the native population had been decimated. People think that as many as 75% of the natives had been wiped out by disease. And within 60 years, over half of the remained natives would be wiped out in King Phillip's War.

I remember as a kid reading a book about Squanto and his impact on the whole Pilgrim situation. The book I read as a kid was somewhat romanticized, come to find out. I had come to believe that Squanto had been loved by all and was a benevolent figure during his time. This book painted him in a somewhat different light. First off, did you know Squanto had named himself after his religions devil figure? Pretty crazy, eh! He did teach the pilgrims how to plant corn, beans, and squash the native way, which I am going to try someday. But he also used his relationship with the pilgrims and his ability to speak with the three major groups to attempt to seize power for himself. For example, fresh in the memories of Wampanoags and the Narragansetts was the horrible devastation disease had wreaked on the local populations during the past decade. Squanto used that fresh memory to extort goods from the local Indians. He claimed the pilgrims stored barrels of the plaque underneath their houses and they would unleash it at his request. He pretty much was up to mischief like that from the time the pilgrims came, until he was poisoned.

Did you know that Abe Lincoln was responsible for the creation of Thanksgiving? He did it in 1863. The pilgrims recognized three holidays; the Sabbath, days of thanksgiving, and days of fasting. They definitely celebrated their first harvest at 'Plymouth Plantation', but it probably didn't look anything like pop culture portrays it. We usually picture them sitting around a long table, forks in hand, and wearing those drab black and white outfits. First off, they celebrated with hundreds of local Indians around multiple bonfires. Second, they didn't have actual silverware for another year of so (they had knives and rough hewn spoons). Thirdly, the Puritans were the ones wearing the drab clothing. Many of the pilgrims had been weavers and textile workers back in Europe, so they had colorful clothing that probably was simple, yet fashionable for the times. They feasted on waterfowl, deer, and the bounty the land provided.

The Pilgrims existed in peace with the surrounding tribes for 50-60 years before King Phillip's War broke out. After England heard that the Pilgrims were making out well in the new world, it started a whole string of colonizing in the New England area. Puritans showed up, as well as a whole slew of other people. These new people were decidedly less open to the natives and pretty much treated them like crap. The up swing in population started a whole chain reaction of land grabbing and general mistreatment of the indigenous peoples. And thus emerges Phillip, son of Massasoit (the friendly, wise leader of Pokanoket tribe). Phillip wasn't as positive towards the English and figured the only way to get all of his land back was to kill all of the newcomers. At the same time, the English needed more land and they figured they needed to kill the Indians. And that brings us to King Phillip's War, the deadliest per capita war ever fought by Americans. 8% of the male population of New England was killed or wounded in the fighting and like 2 or 3 times that many natives were killed or sent into slavery.

I don't want to dumb down the book and I couldn't do it justice in just a few paragraphs, so you guys should go get it from the library. You'll find out all about awesome people from OUR history like Benjamin Church, Miles Standish, Massasoit, Edward Winslow, John Bradford, King Phillip, and a whole host of people who are the embodiment of GRIZZLED (meaning they accomplished great things in a very rugged and unknown environment). People need to read about our history, maybe it would help us pull our heads out of our asses and get some positive stuff done around here.