The Lost Coast- Surfs Up

Life lately has been real. I have found myself looking back on our journey and talking about the unreal adventure we have been on and how it has went so fast. Well, it's real. We are currently in Eureka California. It is a great little city on the coast with its' sister city of Arcata just across the bay. We have been frequenting both cities and the surrounding areas. When we were up in Crescent City, we got a call from Chuck and Jenny. They were some fellow travelers and took us out for a cup of coffee to see what we are all about. They live here in Eureka and invited us to come and stay with them when we got in the area. It has been a real blessing to have them take us into their home and lives and show us so much hospitality.
To step back in time a little bit, we found ourselves in the redwoods from way north California down here to Eureka. We had a small stint in Crescent City and we spent two nights on the road. One in Walmart, our second home; and the other night we got a RV campsite. A brutal reality revealed it's self when in the redwoods... I have poison oak. Poison oak is poison ivy's terrible and ugly brother. haha I have to say it is more miserable than the all American, all time classic-- poison ivy. I dealt with a bit of poison wood this year, and have had some awesome cases of poison ivy in the past, but this is a first for oak. It got pretty bad, pretty quick. It brought me to the point of going to the hospital at the first opportunity I got. I got a cortisone shot and I have been slowly beating it ever since.
Back to the plot- we spent our following night in Arcata after leaving the Mystic Forest campground. We went to the monthly Surfriders meeting and got the low down on what was going on in the next week in the Humboldt county area. We found two events associated with Surfriders that we would partake in- Ocean Night and the highway cleanup. The following day we met up with Chuck and Jenny and went up to their home in the hills. Northern California has jungle like forests and it always makes for a scenic drive when you travel through them. We got familiar with their house and their pets- Wooly, Daisy, Roxi, and Sam. They are all unique in their own way but my favorite being Wooly and his sillyness. He has proven to be a very fun dog with his retriever driven mindset combined with a playful attitude. We have had an amazing time staying up here with our new Cali parents. They have let us use their car, a cute red VW Beetle. It is a car I never thought I would drive or more so, actually like. They are great little cars!
We went to the Ocean Night event and brought Lisa, our friend from IRC that we met in Big Pine Key. She is here in Eureka for the last few weeks and it was great seeing her again. At Ocean Night we watched a few films on surfing and environmental conservation. We met two people who changed our time in Eureka here at this event. Lou, who we had previously met but actually got to formally know here invited us to help at the 30th Annual Intertribal Elders Gathering on Saturday. We were all about it! Also, we met Mario, the man with the surfin plan. Mario is a local surfer who had asked us if we wanted to go surfing and offered to not only teach us, but get us the whole set up for the day. I was so excited when we made plans for a Sunday surf session. Adding to the excitement of seeing Lisa again, I got to see a great friend from Holland later that night. Ben Harrel is out in this part of the woods and it was great seeing him again. One of the best/ worst things about seeing him was he recently had poison oak far worse than me. We got to share horror stories about it and express how much we dislike the plant and it's existance. Perhaps the best part about it was we had honest true sympathy for each other and it felt good to relate with someone for that time. We hope to see him again and go disc golfing some time early this coming week.
This past Saturday we met up with a group of around 10 people and did the highway clean up. Surfriders does a bi-monthly highway clean up with the alternating beach clean up for the following months. We did a thorough cleaning of the two mile stretch on highway 101 and ensured no trash would go from the highway to the Pacific Ocean. Following the highway cleanup was the Intertribal Elders Gathering. Over 100 tribes are represented by an elder or group of elders for this event. There is a lot that happens on this day including native dances, sale items, and eating. We were part of the food team and were assigned 'bus boys' for the big salmon/ turkey lunch they served (Ironic, I know). I went from bus boy to serving food and drinks when the tables were understaffed. At the end of the food serving we served ourselves. It was a delicious lunch that led us to become spectators at the dance event.
Sunday was a day I looked forward to for the whole week. The morning was church with Chuck and Jenny in Eureka. Following church we met up with Mario in Arcata. He wanted to see the bus and with the bus's appearance, it was only right for us to fill the bus with boards and take it to the surf location. So we loaded down the Bus with surf gear and headed north past Trinidad to Moon Stone beach. Our first attempt failed when we realized we left the wet suites back in Mario's truck. We ran back to Arcata and then came back to the beach. By chance, Halley, one of Mario's friends showed up and decided to take us under her wing as well. She and Mario took on teaching Ben and I how to catch a wave an get up on the board. I was sadly mistaken when originally thinking that standing up on a surf board was not that difficult. There is a lot that goes into the most basic and elemental process of standing up on the board that became apparent after the first wave. Slowly but surely I got the hang of it and learned from my wipe out mistakes. Both Mario and Halley gave me tips and pointers and then the most crucial part of the day happened. I rode a wave for a good ways. Now this wave wasnt huge, it wasn't crazy fast, but the feeling was excellent and I was overwhelmed with joy once the ride was over. Almost before I hit the water after jumping off the board I was beginning my paddle out again. I am intrigued with the sport and hooked on the idea of learning and getting better. Ben and I rode as many waves as we physically could. The surf was brutal and it felt like a battle every time we tried getting back out to catch a wave. But it always made up for the struggle when riding the next wave in. We concluded the day with no injuries or shark attacks and I am grateful for that alone. I can not wait to go again!
This morning I got the opportunity to beat my body up one more time. Matt is the pastor I met at church on Sunday and he called me up last night and invited me on a 5 mile run with him. Him and his dog Jack came and picked me up a little before 8am and when headed south out of Eureka and ended at Table bluff. We did a 5 mile loop through the dunes, on the beach, up a huge hill, and around table bluff. It was a great run and it is always nice having some encouragement from a faster runner. Matt has been running his whole life and has won marathons and qualified for Olympic Try-outs. Crazy to be running with that caliber of athlete but he went easy on me and we had a great run. The rest of the day is wide open and we plan to spend it with Ben Harrel. We hope the weather holds out for a game of disc golf as we plan to weave our way through the redwoods. As for a departure date.. We have none... next stop though- San Fransisco!