Shake, Rattle and Roll!

First time I've ever been in the area of a big earthquake and not felt a thing!  We were actually down in California, near Crescent City, when it hit, but we were in the car and never knew it happened.  Somehow, I feel left out.  Not that I like feeling earthquakes, because I don't, but having experienced several on the large size and countless smaller ones over the almost 60 years I've lived on the west coast, I also no longer live in terror of them.  Oh, well.

My buddy from Eugene visited this weekend -- opted to drive to Brookings rather than meet halfway and that was fine with me.  I wanted to have a look at the Smith River, see if it was full and raging yet, so we drove south and, as I drove, I thought that since we'd be near the access road we might as well take a drive through the redwoods.  The river was flowing, but it certainly was not as full and exciting as it was last Easter when I first saw it.

We drove Howland Hill Road, which is a narrow dirt road full of potholes that goes deeper into our local redwood forests than any other road, and travels 6 or 7 miles through a deep, peaceful forest.  Every pothole was full of muddy water, of course, and my car now looks like it's been christened.  It's probably also why we didn't feel the earthquake -- the car was rockin' and rollin' pretty well all by itself because for the most part, the potholes were unavoidable.  I'm not sure we were still on this road when the quake hit, or if we'd already emerged onto pavement, really.  We stopped once, walked down a trail towards a pretty stream that was pumping whitewater.  A sign told us that a bridge was out 1/2 mile down the trail and that was fine because we didn't need to go any further than that.  We both thought it didn't feel anything like 1/2 mile -- more like 1/4 mile, maybe.  Not enough, really, but it felt great in the cool foggy mists.  The above photo was taken at the point where we needed to stop.

As we headed back north, including an obligatory stop at our favorite liquor store (presumably because of differences in state taxes on alcohol, liquor costs much less in California and this store gets a LOT of business from Oregonians). This is where we first learned about the earthquake. We also couldn't help but watch the spectacular show that nature was giving us as the sun lowered on the horizon.  When we got into Brookings, I took an impromptu turn down to Chetco Point and when we walked out, this is what greeted us. We were just in time. It was so spectacular -- no photo could do it justice because the entire sky was filled with clouds of different textures and designs, all different colors.  Quite a lovely ending to a lovely afternoon.

And yes, the lower the sun traveled, the more spectacular the colors.  Hard as it is to believe, this is only the second sunset I have actually watched in the 9 months I have lived on this coast.  What a waste!  Most of the time, we don't have clouds to enhance the sight so it's not this spectacular.

As always, it was hard to say goodbye, to let him go again for what most likely will be the last time, or the last time for a good while.  I know, I said this last time he was here, but assuming all goes well my time here is getting very short.  Still, I am immensely grateful for his presence in my life, and for the incredibly wonderful, beautiful friendship we have, for the rocky roads we've traveled together these last 6 years to reach this point, even as I will miss the personal visits and hugs.  Email and telephone still reach Georgia, and I have to believe he will visit at least once.  And yes, since you asked, I DID get my Tequila Sunrise!