transplant successful

I made a pitstop in Redding, but there was literally nothing to report there. Literally just there to sleep. By the time I got to that Airbnb, I was over it all and ready to have a 8-5 schedule and bed to call my own. The windy roads went through more forest-y mountains, but all I could think about was how freaking annoying the roads were. I get anxiously frustrated when cars get on my ass, as I'm sure we all do. But it was just excessive on this leg.

I left Redding early enough that I could explore one more national park before people get off work. In my resistance to accept that gas will just be over $2.50/gallon now, I ended up at the entrance to an air force base to try to chase down that $2.27/gallon when I was down to 20 miles... Classic. And I had been so good about making sure Sunny had 50 miles left before making it to a gas station! Well, as I drove away from this deserted middle of nowhere land (which should've been my first cue, but hey NC had some serious middle of nowhere gas stations, too), I just thought about what a hilarious story I would be for the people at the base.

Made it to Point Reyes with the intention of driving as close to the water as I could get and eating an apple with peanut butter on the beach. But somehow I found myself walking the Bear Valley Trail 8+ mi round trip from visitor center to Kelham beach after googling this picture. For the four miles there from the visitors center, I'm pretty sure I teleported into a rainforest. Every so often, a couple of horses would come trotting by me. And then at around mile 2, there were the sounds of streams and little waterfalls. Birds or rodents were rustling in the bushes. I was a little freaked at some points. Being isolated in nature is soothing and serene... unless you're skittish and weak and paranoid. But no, it was wonderful. I turned to the soothing sounds of my podcasts again. There was only one person I passed who sorta gave me the heebie jeebies, and this happened when I left the rainforest and entered the grasslands with about a mile to go to the ocean. And I almost turned back. But for the sake of climbing a bunch of steps and the sound of crashing waves, I'm so glad I didn't. The beach smelled like oysters. I didn't have time to find the rock formation that inspired the hike... actually, I didn't make it very far at all. Took some pictures of the sight to my left, the sight to my right, and power walked my way back to the visitor center. My dusty feet were pretty damn gross as I drove towards temporary home in Moraga.

Hit the traffic on the way to my temporary home until the lease starts. I sighed to myself. And so it begins.

Hooray for making it to the Bay intact (me and Sunny and all my things). And now we'll be backtracking from here on out. Scandinavia, Minny, and some Chicago in no particular order.