We left Ashland with a goal of arriving in Eureka to visit a cousin. First we were waylaid by a wonderful farmer’s market. We bought succulent fresh organic tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, goat cheese -- and two pieces of pizza. The tomatoes were gone down our gullets before our first hour of driving. The woman who we were buying the pizza from was got very confused. Medjula said “I want the French pizza”. The woman pointed at a completely different one and said “this one”? “No, this one”! Medjula replied. The lady still didn’t believe Medjula, so she (Medjula), had to reach out and grab the slice. The lady was very confused and I would have hated to see her dealing with someone who didn’t speak English!
Somewhere in the middle of the Siskiyou mountains we stopped to indulge in a need of ours to cool down. We stopped by a little river, or a very large stream, to get wet. My parents stripped immediately, while Medjula and I only took off our pants. I promptly slipped and got my underwear and shirt soaked. After that I figured, “why not?” and stripped the rest so I could paddle around a relatively deep pool. The reason I had slipped was that the rocks were coated in algae, sitting and skidding on these same rocks coated my underwear with brown green scum. I hope it doesn’t stain!.
California is on fire. The road we were going to take to Eureka was closed because of a fire that had become active as the winds blew up. We ended up having to drive an extra three hours and come out past Eureka. We phoned my cousins to notify them we wouldn’t be coming. Luckily for us, some friendly rednecks took us under their wing. They, in their jacked up 4x4s, and us, a little Volkswagen, traversed the back mountain roads. The roads they took us on were steep, cliffs on one side gravel roads. They curved around the burned area and ended with us back on our original highway. Since we were curving around previously burned areas the ground was covered in ash. In some places, there was no understory and the ground was covered in a fine layer of white-gray dust. It was just a brush fire, so the trees were unharmed. I found it amazing to see a place that had so recently suffered a fire.
That night, we were meeting our friend Erica in the redwoods, where we were all going to camp. It was there that I met Poison Oak. For those of you who don’t know, Poison Oak is a deceptively beautiful plant that causes you to break out into a painful and itchy rash three days after you touch it. And it is impossible not to touch it. Poison Oak is all over, as vines, understory and tall bushes. As soon as we could, we washed off all parts of us that could have come in contact with the evil plant. So far, the rash hasn’t appeared.
That night, we were meeting our friend Erica in the redwoods, where we were all going to camp. It was there that I met Poison Oak. For those of you who don’t know, Poison Oak is a deceptively beautiful plant that causes you to break out into a painful and itchy rash three days after you touch it. And it is impossible not to touch it. Poison Oak is all over, as vines, understory and tall bushes. As soon as we could, we washed off all parts of us that could have come in contact with the evil plant. So far, the rash hasn’t appeared.
