Redwoods & Hippies

I've been in California's twilight zone for the last 48 hours. Endless winding roads with umpteen switchbacks have brought me from the crystal meth capital of Arcata up north down to the southerly extremities of Highway 1 just outside of San Francisco.

The enormous redwood forests that spanned much of the distance effectively blocked out all natural light for a good couple of hundred miles. The tree canopies create a perpetually damp, cold, fog shrouded twilight existence leaving visitors feeling as though they've stumbled into the set of Jurassic Park. The giant redwoods were of course incredible, I spent a lot of time looking up getting a stiff neck and generally learning all about how and why they grow so tall.

To my enormous disappointment I didn't see Bigfoot in the flesh. I did however step in what I can only assume was a Bigfoot turd. It was implausibly enormous and it made the car smell for hours. I like the idea of Bigfoot sneakily going around laying massive guano-traps for tourists who get a little too close for comfort.

I also spent a very enjoyable day yesterday relaxing at a natural hot springs resort called Harbin which is a small hippie commune populated by anemic looking naked types who seemingly spend hours in search of the perfect sludge green tie-dye skirt pattern or perfecting the art of wrapping crumpled brown velvet shawls around each other's shoulders. They were a harmless lot and the highlight was undoubtedly getting an hour long Watsu massage session. This basically involved being cradled by a naked 50 year old man who swishes your body about in a mineral pool. Believe it or not it was an incredible feeling!