May 2005 – Page 2

Jutta On The Road – Day 6

May 25, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Disclaimer: This blog entry wasn’t written until 15 years after the trip. It should be noted that it was a huge mistake to have not written it way back when. Sometimes, after writing so much about other days, it happens that at the time directly after the trip (or even during), I convince myself that the details are not that important. Years later, these details are that important, and pulling them out of foggy memories is difficult. The photos help and often leave clues, and then Caroline’s memories are usually far clearer than mine. With that said, here goes.

As I look back at these photos and consider how it sufficed so many years ago to have a single photo representing an entire day, I cannot believe how far we’ve come regarding bandwidth and storage. Pages were slow to load when overloaded with images, and so in light of that, it seemed perfectly fine to choose a favorite and go with it. Those days were pre-Instagram and social media, even photography had not caught back up in popularity as it had been in the decades before. Now, here I am in 2021, filling in some blanks, and I find it difficult to only choose the 15 images that will now accompany this day spent visiting the Oregon Coast. This was Jutta’s first night sleeping in a yurt, and it wasn’t going to be her last. She loved her “camping experience.” When she needed to visit the loo at night, she nudged Caroline to help her find the facilities, and on the way, they enjoyed the starlit sky.

By the way, it’s been fortunate that I kept nearly all the itineraries I made for these trips. So, in this instance, we were staying at Sunset Bay State Park in Charleston for the bargain price of only $33.

Waking up next to the ocean, it was obligatory that we went for some sightseeing before continuing our trek north.

Our first encounter with the bridges of Oregon had us falling in love with these beautiful structures that add so much character to the coastal drive. This particular one is the McCullough Memorial Bridge in North Bend.

Just this past November 2020, Caroline and I took a tour of this lighthouse once more. We are at the Umpqua River Lighthouse, where we have stopped on every trip we’ve made over the years, and on more than a few occasions, we also stayed in the state park just around the corner.

We’ll never tire of looking through Fresnel lenses, ever. This particular lens has an intriguing pattern of white and red flashes in the dark, a spectacle we are drawn to on every visit.

We finally gave in and visited the Sea Lion Caves, though we had a bit of trepidation that it might be more hype than an amazing spectacle.

Well, two sea lions down in the cave qualified the place as living up to its name, but still, it was just two.

The view from down in the cave, though, is spectacular, even offering a great view of Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Yeah, I know another lighthouse today would have been off the chart, but we had places to be with limited amounts of time. This is the Alsea Bay Bridge in Waldport.

There was no way we’d skip out on a stop at the Blue Heron Cheese Factory in Tillamook for some smoked brie sandwiches, followed by ice cream cones at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I’d guess by now, you can recognize that we’re having a perfect day.

Did some backtracking so we could take Jutta up the hill to another lighthouse. By the way, this view of Bayocean Peninsula Park from the road is now gone as a landslide stopped vehicle traffic. As of 2021, the word is that the road will once again be open.

Cape Meares Lighthouse near Tillamook, Oregon

One lighthouse a day isn’t enough when it’s possible to visit a second. This is the Cape Meares Lighthouse near Tillamook, which is no longer in service. This photo became very special to us this past year as we’d learned that some drunk young men decided to shoot at the Fresnel lens and damage it forever. This image is of the formerly complete and intact lens that had been standing sentry here for more than 120 years.

Three Arch Rocks in Oceanside.

This is my likely very tired and in need of a nap mother-in-law, Jutta. Time is precious to spend with our families, and there will be plenty of time to sleep when she returns to Germany, so my motto was, “Shake a leg, Jutta, we’ve got places to be.”

Our second night in a yurt was at the Cape Lookout State Park for only $33. Over the years, they’ve become more popular and were $57 a night in the off-season last time we stayed in one back in 2019. Tomorrow, we’ll head up to Washington as we continue on this crazy 5,000-mile road trip into the entirety of the western United States.

Jutta On The Road – Day 5

May 24, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

As often as we can, we’ll stop for animals and greet them. On occasion, they’ll come over to show their interest in us, too, and while we cannot judge their level of appreciation, I can say that we are always delighted.

Of course, we feel the same about stopping for trees, and like horses at fence lines, who wouldn’t love a forest of giants that are encroaching on the road?

The ghostly memory of my mother-in-law will forever be present with Caroline and me across America in all the places she visited with us and expressed her awe, even when she’s no longer in the picture.

I’ve written many words about these two women, but not one of them compares to what these smiles say.

Maybe with enough searching, we might one day find this old bleached-out tree trunk, but will it ever again look so captivating?

This was the color of May 2005; it was exquisite.

The goal for this leg of the trip was to bring Jutta out to Fern Canyon so she, too, could see something very few people will ever have the opportunity to see with their own eyes.

We were not going to leave Fern Canyon, right next to the beach, without Caroline and her mom dipping their toes in the water of the Pacific Ocean.

While the cheese factor is high with Paul Bunyan and Babe standing roadside for Trees Of Mystery, we’ll always find this worthy of some cheap entertainment. As for Jutta and her sense of it? She is German and sometimes a bit too pragmatic for such silliness.

The first-ever kiss I planted on my mother-in-law’s cheek. Hopefully, I never forget how sweet she thought that was.

One of the very few times outside of November that Caroline and I have visited the Oregon Coast. While it’s certainly beautiful, it’s easy enough to reach the northern coast of the western United States even in winter, and so when springtime rolls around, we typically opt to visit the places where heavy cold weather hampers our ease of getting there and exploring.

Looking back at these, I’m inclined to consider the idea that we should make an effort to visit every month of the year to properly decide which is the absolute best time to be here.

This is Face Rock in Bandon, but our destination is a little further north at Sunset Bay State Park near Charleston, as we are introducing Jutta to sleeping in a yurt.

Jutta On The Road – Day 4

May 23, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Pigeon Point Lighthouse in California

South of San Francisco stands the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, which is part of the Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park. The weather following us up the coast couldn’t be better. This was our first visit to this particular lighthouse, one of the tallest in America. A youth hostel is on the grounds right next to the lighthouse. but the lighthouse itself is closed with a chain-link fence around its base.

The name Pigeon Point comes from the fact that in 1853, the clipper ship Carrier Pigeon ran aground here.

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California

Like the air over San Francisco on the left, my memories are hazy. Even with the image of the Golden Gate and those that follow, they don’t work to bridge a path to digging out details of the day. I’ve been paused in updating this old entry and moving on to the subsequent days as I searched for inspiration that hasn’t arrived. Somehow, the first few days were written with a lot more ease. Caroline, on the other hand, just reminded me how much she is looking forward to my continuation, so even if I come up flat, we’ll still have something posted with these images. And who knows, maybe Caroline will add a little something herself?

Muir Woods National Monument in California

Maybe it was because it was Monday, or maybe the Muir Woods wasn’t run over by the masses yet, but here we are without an issue finding parking or getting in. As I write this in July 2020, after four months of self-isolation due to COVID-19, I am asking myself if we were far luckier than we realized at the time. The trail was quiet, there was no fear of contagion, no second thoughts about where we’d eat, no worry about my mother-in-law flying halfway around the Earth. It’s difficult when doing something that feels so normal to always be cognizant of the good fortune we are experiencing, but looking back right now, I can’t help but wonder if this will come back in my lifetime.

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt in the Muir Woods National Monument in California

Of course, Caroline and her mother discovering somewhere new together is something now lost, too, as Jutta is about to turn 85 in just a week, and she’s no longer able to travel. Even on our last visits to Germany, her stamina was such that we couldn’t go far with her. But back on May 23rd, 2005, Jutta was in awe and reveling in how sagenhaft everything was when she was traveling with us. Sagenhaft is German for awesome. The truth is that sometimes things weren’t so sagenhaft as a stubborn lady at 70 years old and her even more stubborn 42-year-old son-in-law could butt heads. I don’t mean to diminish the incredible nature of our journeys into America, as the ratio of friction to amazement was easily 99 to 1, but I feel a tinge of guilt that I wasn’t more patient and understanding of someone who’d made it to 70 and was already suffering from the effects of being inactive while at home in Germany in large part due to loneliness. Sadly, we cannot stand in someone else’s shoes while we walk together when our gender, cultural background, and age difference don’t allow us to be aware of the truths of the other.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Pt. Reyes National Seashore in California

So we put on smiles for the camera as we know we’ll get over the tensions and will want to look back with eyes that remember with fondness the good times. Today was one of those days where impatience and the tour guide’s unreasonable demands for perfection interrupted an otherwise beautiful day. While I certainly can own my share of the guilt, and those darker moments are likely long gone from Jutta’s memories, I do wish I could rewind the clock and show my wife a more compassionate and understanding friend and husband. Our frictions never lasted more than an hour or two, but they hurt my wife more than they bothered Jutta or me. Still, Caroline put on the smile in her effort to diffuse the grumpy, hot-headed guy on her side, and while I’d certainly like to forget these dumb moments where my emotions arising out of impatience got the better of me with those around me paying the price, I cannot forget, but I am happy that I believe I’ve been forgiven.

Pt Reyes Lighthouse in Northern California

Caroline bolted down the stairs to Point Reyes Lighthouse while I remained with Jutta. Her lack of stamina wasn’t allowing her to be fully with us. Hence, my disappointment spilled into misguided anger. But let’s leave all of this behind us and get on with the day.

Pt. Reyes area in Northern California

Our drive up the Mendocino coast was just beautiful, and for that spectacle, everyone in the car was happy.

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt on the Mendocino Coast in California

There are always breaks to stretch the legs, even if the basic premise is first to find a bathroom for the ladies. Then, the side effect of that stop is to hopefully take in some grandeur of our location or, if we’re at a gas station, to indulge our taste buds with ice cream.

Mendocino Coast in Northern California

I no longer remember exactly where this was, but obviously, we couldn’t have wished for a better day to have been here.

God Rays on the California Coast

There’s some kind of magic in the god rays that fall on the road, or maybe they are sunbeams and are distinct from god rays, but whatever you want to call this type of light sliced by trees, casting shadows within the illuminated moisture along the coast, this phenomenon always elicits our oohs and aahs. That must be magic, then.

Sea Ranch Chapel in Sonoma County, California

Approaching the Sea Ranch Chapel in Sonoma County. If you are not intrigued enough to stop, you must be a little dead inside. This whimsical bit of architecture out in the middle of nowhere was a surprise I hope we are so fortunate to stumble upon again in our lifetimes.

Point Arena Lighthouse in Northern California

We are running out of daylight as we stop at a distance from the Point Arena Lighthouse. With dogged determination, though, we still have a long drive ahead before reaching Eureka, California, 175 miles north of us. Somehow, we took all day just to drive the first 80 miles before reaching the lighthouse. This has often been an issue with our road trips where, during the planning stages, I think that 255 miles is nothing and we’ll be arriving at our motel early, but I’m almost always wrong.

Jutta On The Road – Day 3

May 22, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

North of San Simeon (home to Hearst Castle) on the Central California Coast are a number of beaches that are home to colonies of cows. Depending on the time of year, you can see adult bulls battling for harems, newborn calves squawking next to mothers, juveniles lounging about, and gobs of tourists. Oops, that description was meant for the elephant seals.

If you want to avoid the throngs of tourists, visit early in the day or late in the afternoon – or visit on weekdays for the best viewing. Motels are relatively inexpensive; we paid $75 last night for three of us on a Saturday. Oh yeah, depending on the season, you won’t just see a few seals; there are hundreds of them soaking up the sun.

There are also squirrels that we were feeding bits of our granola bars apparently…this is obviously before we learned better and stopped feeding wild animals.

Maybe you are thinking that this picture looks a lot like the photo from the day before. Well, the seals definitely lay around a lot; they also scratch themselves and fart a lot.

The views along the coast never grow old.

We delight in every perspective and only wish we could move slower on our treks up or down the Central Coast of California.

Here at Gorda By The Sea, my mother-in-law walked out of the shop with this flower (after she paid for it, obviously); it turned out that this was a gift for Katharina back in Germany. Our niece was five years old back then; I wonder if she still has this.

We can linger at the sea all day.

What are those on the rocks? They are California condors and, just like with a bison jam in Yellowstone, the traffic jam of cars and people gawking as if a whale had just beached was the giveaway that something was going on. This is just as rare a sight in some ways as these birds of prey were almost extinct before California made a huge effort to save the species.

After pulling over, we were bowled over to see this condor couple not more than 20 feet (7 meters) away from us. I was certain that raising my camera would scare them off; instead, they bored us off. Like wax figures, they sat there, no stretching the wings, no swooping down on some hapless bird for a wee bite, not even a giant condor poop. We waited, waited patiently, then impatiently. The people noises did not interest or disturb them, and barking from the stupid bearded fat man didn’t do much either, besides annoying his wife – uh, sorry, Caroline! And so, without an action shot, we got back into the car and continued driving north. I bet they really were wax figures meant to fool us tourists and that they are still sitting there.

The coast is about more than the sea as contrasts stack up along the way.

Lunch had to be taken at our favorite cafe in California, right here at the Big Sur Bakery. Can you tell that I’m still working on getting Jutta to make nice for the camera?

Over the years prior to this visit and in all the visits since, we never tire of the sound, the smell, the colors, the weather, or the way it all comes together to strike us with how profoundly lucky we’ve been to witness this grandeur with our own eyes.

A simple thorny thistle that is as wondrous as any of the other sights we’ve seen today or are yet to come across.

Adding something new to this coastal visit with a stop at the Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo.

Things look tranquil, but I can guarantee you that just an hour earlier, I was working hard to keep my mother-in-law awake, and she was working hard to catch a nap.

We try to go slow to allow Jutta to read every marker and examine every plant and detail.

But before we know it, we’re in Monterey, shaking hands with monkeys.

So our stop in Monterey, more specifically, our stop at the wharf to introduce Jutta to clam chowder in a bread bowl, didn’t go as planned. Oh, she ate it even though she said it wasn’t her favorite. Turns out it was so not her favorite that she’s in the bathroom vomiting it out while I’m over here taking photos of the boats.

Good thing we didn’t have any more driving scheduled for the day, so we headed over to Pacific Grove for a short walk in some surprisingly strong winds to let Jutta’s stomach settle.

And soon afterward, she’s fit again and ready to enjoy the rest of the day.

Nothing left to do but chill out by the ocean, watching the glistening water catch sunrays, hypnotizing us into wanting to live right here. Our room for a mere $69 was at the Thunderbird Motel in Seaside, as we’re too cheap to splurge for those $120-a-night rooms in Monterey.

Jutta On The Road – Day 2

May 21, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt in Death Valley National Park California 2005

Little did we know just how exotic and meaningful a stop in Death Valley National Park would be to Jutta, but we learned on approach that this was a dream come true. She couldn’t believe that she would ever experience this iconic out-of-the-way spot on earth in person. Had we known this fact, I would have planned more time for us to be here, though a cooler time of year might have worked out better for her.