Another year older and hopefully wiser

Last weekend I celebrated my birthday by taking a road trip with J. We had mapped out a trip up the Washington state coast. J wanted to go to the Olympic National Forest and I wanted to go to the beach. We found a place near both. It was a considerable drive but we looked forward to discovering new things.

About an hour into our drive it began to rain. We didn't mind too much at first. However, we drove through one depressed town after another noting the sad living conditions of the people. This was not so bad either until we then drove through countless clear cuts of forest land. The rain, meanwhile, came down harder and harder. Finally we made it to our hotel. It had a kitchen and J is an excellent cook. So, we decided to drop off our bags and head in to town to get groceries.

The town absolutely frightened us. Everyone inside the grocery store stopped and stared at us. Just for the record, we were wearing jeans and t-shirts, nothing exotic or foreign looking but we stood out like sore thumbs. There was no organic produce any where around and not much non organic produce either. It was the kind of place where everyone eats 99% of their food from the freezer or from a can.

We found a seafood stand and bought some fresh crab we cooked with pasta. J had brought a bottle of champagne and we had that with dinner. It was fantastic. I think he could cook up a kitchen sponge and make it fantastic though. Normally we would have gone for a walk on the beach or driven around town after dinner but the rain had turned into an all out storm.

J walked down to the hotel office to rent a VCR and we tried to watch a movie but the video wouldn't track properly. It was a bust. We decided to leave the next morning and drive further North in hopes of better weather, a better location and a fresh start for the trip.

The drive the next day was worse. We drove through hurricane like winds and not only did we see endless clear cuts and near ghost towns, we saw wild dogs eating roadkill. That about tore my heart out. But, we kept our hope and kept driving Northward. J navigated us to Quinalt Lodge for lunch and it was an oasis in the desert. We wanted to stay but they were all booked up for the night. So we enjoyed lunch and drove on, our faith in beauty restored.

Finally we reached Kalaloch Lodge where we stayed for the next two nights. We had a nice little cabin with a wood stove, a kitchen, living room, bedroom and spacious bathroom. We had the office bring us a bottle of champagne (we love us some champagne).

We ate at the lodge the first night, thinking we would grocery shop the next day and then do our cooking. However, when the next day dawned dark dreary and raining we drove to the closest store 35 miles away and found it wasn't much better than the one we had encountered the day before. We bought breakfast fixings and decided to just eat in the lodge restaurant. Oh and we bought lots more alcohol.

One of our main interests was hiking in the rain forest but the rain made this impossible. It rained 6 inches in 24 hours. There was standing water all over the roads and trees were fallen in many places. We decided to brave it and drive to the Ho rain forest. J is an amazing photographer but he gave up his desire to photograph the rain forest due to the rain, figuring we could still hike a bit. We drove about 35 miles to the forest with the last 12 being incredibly rough winding terrain and finally when we got within a mile we found out the road to the entrance was was closed. we parked where we were and took off to hike but the mud was so thick that we sand in up to our ankles in spots and the rain was still pounding.

We turned around went back to the cabin and started a game of yahtzee. We drank, a lot. We got silly. Once we were completely drunk we went for a walk on the beach in the dark. We got drenched with rain. The wind made it impossible for us to keep our hoods up. My hair was plastered to my face. Our shoes were caked in sand. It was magnificent. The best part was that we got to return to the warm cabin and strip our clothes off in front of the wood stove.

The next day, the day we were leaving to drive back home, the sun rose glorious and bright. It was sunny and warm. Oh the irony. We drove to Ruby Beach and spent an hour exploring the beach. J finally got to take some photos and the light was amazing.

We drove the long drive home and it was good to be going home. I missed Foxly and while I hate to admit this, I missed my TV and radio since we had neither in the cabin. But, I've missed J every night since then. Who knew we could have so much fun being pent up in either a car or a cabin for 3 days?

Some people spend their birthdays sad about being a year older. I feel a bit sad that my youth is slipping further and further away but I seem to be getting better adjusted and hopefully wiser each year. I had a truly happy birthday.