Road Trip-Orick and Coos Bay

After a conteintal breakfast at the Best Western in Garberville, we continued North. A large amount of the journey was through the redwood forests, which was absolutely beautiful. The trees were crowded right to up the road, and towered above. The river (Eel River perhaps?) wuond along with the road, sometimes disappearing behind the trees, other times coming close enough for me to see large rocks and logs sitting in the river.

We stopped at a Park Station, learned a little about the history of the redwoods, the biology of the trees, the ecology of the forest, and dashed about madly in an attempt to stay dry. We then took a little hike into the woods. Little. Like 10 minutes. Very short. We saw the Founder's Tree, which was, in rough numbers, ginormous. Also saw a few hollows in trees, or as Nick insisted on calling them "caves". Nick and I climbed on the remains of a huge fallen tree, and then jumped off because the car was threatening to leave without us.

'Round 'bout lunch time we started looking at the casinos we were passing, to see if we could find a good deal. We were not fated to dine at a casino this particular day though, and ended up instead, at the Palm Cafe, in the town of Orick, population approximately 500. The Palm Cafe was a diner, perhaps even a greasy-spoon, but I find that classification too harsh. It was iconic. Dining counter, one cook, one waiter/host/cashier, swivel stools at the counter, uncomfortable chairs at the tables, classic American food. I'll admit, there were a few elements that threw things off for me, but if I managed to ignore those, I could just imagine Sam Spade walking in the door, shaking the rain off his coat. Yes, it was raining hard outside, cloudy, that kind of weather that seems to appear entirely in noir works.

The food was amazing. I was pretty hungry, so I ordered the double cheeseburger, expecting something halfway decent. It was outstanding. No frills, no fancy bun, no Dijon mustard. Bun, cheese, patties, tomato, lettuce, onion, and pickles. I added plain yellow mustard. It was delicious! The meat was real beef, freshly cooked, not greasy, but not dry and flavorless either. The fries were perhaps the best fries I have ever had. Long-time readers will remember my raves about the fries at King Burger in Liberia. These gave them a serious run for their money. The meal, considered in its entirity, had a quiet digenity. It knew it was good, and didn't need any fancy culinary doo-dads. Everyone else enjoyed their meals equally, though not quite as intensely as I did. I took pictures. Jerry, the one-man show that equaled half of the Palm Cafe was bemused at my efforts to document the meal. It is a compliment Jerry! I rarely take pictures of food. Most of the time, it is food I made, so taking pictures of food other people made is high praise. Jerry wasn't actually the cook. She remained sequestered by the cooking area. Jerry did provide plenty of interesting mealtime conversation. I learned some about the history of Orick. At one time it was home to a whopping 1500 people. I learned a little about Jerry. He was a foster child, worked at a health food store in Oregon for a time, and then moved back to Orick to work at the Palm. He hardly knows his Native American biological family. He has no kids, but enjoys helping other raise their children. I have to say, Jerry reminded me of a good friend who lives in our apartment complex. Their way of speaking, what they talk about, how they treat us, almost creepily similar. Full disclosure, to make it clear I have nothing against either of these men, the one who lives in our complex is one of my favorite people to talk with.

I have a thing about cake. I don't like it very much. America is a fairly cake-centric culture, causing considerable chaos when I am offered cake. Its not that I hate cake, that's too strong. There are even times when I enjoy the cake I am given. Those are rare occasions. As a result, I have been forced to find an equivalent. I can't be just a cake-disliker, I need an alternative. I have two. Cheesecake and pie. I love both with equal passion. So, when Mom said we could get a slice of pie at the Palm, I was thrilled. (If I didn't show it, Mom, that was probably due to the early onset of the coming food coma.) I love berry pies particularly. Cold, warm, lukewarm, just plain good. Ice cream, by themselves. Marionberry, blueberry, mixed berry, raspberry, huckleberry, blackberry, I'll take them all. I cannot remember at the moment which kind of berry my slice was, but I think it was blackberry, judging from the coloration and flavor. I had it warmed, ala mode. Toppers! Turned out Jerry's mother handmakes the pies, with berries she hires the local children to pick for her. It made sense. The pie was that good. Mandy had the same kind as I did. Alex had butterscotch, Mom and Beth had banana cream, and Nick and Dad had chocolate. Also took pictures of those. The coffee was fair, surprisingly. I throughly enjoyed the experience. I don't think I could eat like that every day though.

Eventually we arrived in Coos Bay, Oregon. There was much excitement for about 10 seconds when we entered Oregon, but then that kind of petered off when the car realized we still had a fair amount of driving to do. Darn. We enjoyed the heated, indoor pool, and hottub. I would like to rant about a TV show I caught the end of as Dad and I returned from getting Taco Bell for dinner. Platinum Weddings. Anyone heard of it? It involves a couple, with an outrageously expensive wedding. In the 5 minutes I saw, the small portion ran dangerously close to a million dollars. The bridegroom rented an ELEPHANT!! A real, live, elephant!! Seriously! I don't have a very high value for ceremony, and this especially disgusted me. That money could have given an entire village in India adequate sanitation infrastrucre, with plenty to spare. It could have innoculated hundreds, thousands of children against an huge array of preventible diseases. They had a thousand guests!! Dad agrees with me.

Here is the link to the pictures from the diner in Orick. http://picasaweb.google.com/Iskid2astop/RoadTripDiner

Anyway, we are now in Seaside, OR, staying at a hostel. We will be here two days.
I'll have a post later on our time here, and what we do.
Chris