For my birthday this year my wish was to simply see somewhere new. I was in Redway at the time and asked Bullet and my dad if they wanted to go to Petrolia. Though I am a native of the Southern Humboldt County area I had never been to Petrolia.
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We chose to take the route through Humboldt Redwoods State Park along Mattole Road. I once read somewhere that this route was considered to be made part of California Highway 1. It is a very beautiful drive which leads you through multiple different ecosystems. Though you might be car-sick, you will eventually make it to the coast!
Looking north
Looking south
Looking west
The beach was an experience exactly as I hoped it would be. The air was warm, nobody was around, and the surrounding area appeared generally untouched by human hands. There aren't even houses visible in the surrounding hills.
Someday I would like to hike from Petrolia south to Shelter Cove along the Lost Coast Trail. Below are some pictures from 2005 when Robert and I hiked north from Shelter Cove to Big Flat, but that isn't even half way to Petrolia. We brought regular camping gear which was very heavy, and we both got hit by waves going around a point. The wet boots were probably the worst part of the hike, but waking up to see that mice had eaten a bunch of our bagels was also tragic! Though I seem to remember eating what was left of my bagel in the morning! Another memorable moment was seeing what we thought was a person and their dog far ahead of us. The dog then took off up into the mountains and when we talked to the person she said it was a fox! We were also almost totally screwed when I apparently left Robert's car's trunk open overnight in Shelter Cove. Luckily for us someone noticed and pulled the illuminating light-bulb out of his trunk and taped it to his window so his battery wouldn't die! Thank goodness for nice people.
Looking north from Big Flat
Way too much gear!
A good looking wave at Big Flat
Surfers walking from Shelter Cove to Big Flat, the furthest point visible
A recent picture from Shelter Cove
It is difficult to put into words the sheer relaxation, enjoyment, and satisfaction I am experiencing during my extended stay here in Humboldt County. I was sent here to take care of my dad's house located by the Eel River on a beautiful piece of hillside land. It doesn't take much effort. The most important things are to keep the vegetables and flowers from dying, and keep the old dog and cat happy. Every day I seem to wake up with a clear mind without any concerns, and it lasts through the day. I often take a moment to reflect on how great of a feeling this is.
I sort of think that this relates to the fact that this is the first time in my life that I have not had a plan of any sort. There is no reason for me to be any specific place at any specific time. I have always had school or obligations of some sort that I was forced to mold my life around, but now that I have graduated, that is no longer a factor.
I also think my tranquility here relates to my frustration with Japanese society during my recent stay there. There are so many customs, formalities, and social expectations of people there that seem to make things more difficult than they need to be. I really started to long for "laid-back" Californian ways. Obviously, Humboldt takes this concept to the extreme, and I am not complaining!
I will be back blogging soon with some details and pictures from some of the fun activities I have been up to here. Thanks for reading.
To continue where I left off in Part One, I finally made it to Santa Cruz and almost instantly hit the beach with my friend, Robert, and his dog, Beefcake. The next day, July 3rd, we went bigger and drove north on Highway One for around eleven miles to the beautiful beach seen above.
Looking back south as we started walking north
We basically decided to walk north as far as we could, and it was very rewarding. Within one-hundred yards or so we were the only people around and the terrain was so beautiful!
Flat rocks with occasional red spots
Green moss and red rock
The rocks led to more beach
This rocky ecosystem also had some neat tide pools. We were always near lots of wildlife with all sorts of birds, pools full of sea-life, and occasional seals in the area.
These birds made cool noises
Tide pools
Three starfish
Seal
Passing a "no-pass"
Though we passed a couple "no-passes", we finally got to one that we weren't going to be able to easily get around. As you have seen from my pictures, this was a breathtakingly beautiful spot, and it may be hard to believe, but there was occasional litter to be found so Robert and I decided that as we walked back we would pick up all the trash we found. Robert was taking care of Beefcake so I carried the trash. The first thing we found was a Disney helium balloon that had yet to be popped. I opened it carefully so that I could use it as a bag to carry all the trash we would come across and as I bit into it I could taste the helium as it seeped into my mouth. It turned out that there were at least six of these balloons scattered around the two miles or so we covered on the beach. In all, the trash we gathered was enough to fill up one balloon.
Something that felt really good was almost as soon as we had decided to pick up trash and grabbed that first balloon we were rewarded with good karma in the form of a nice dog-frisbee in perfect condition! It was bright, neon colors, and it seems like there would be no way we could have missed it on the way there, so we figure we were rewarded by the karma police. Check out the video at the end of this post to see Beefcake make a nice catch!
We then went to the beach by the Boardwalk
River meets ocean
The 4th of July
As you can see, Robert stays in a neighborhood very close to the beach, and though his house needs some work, most of the places visible in this picture are worth over one million dollars because of this prime location.
The BBQ was going all day, and through the night
Are old buddy Asha showed up with some delicious bacon-wrapped scallops, but we also cooked sausages, burgers, and corn. Also, In three days Robert and I ate an entire Costco apple pie, and drank many American beers! Yum! I bought the Kirkland microbrews while at Costco. I thought they were pretty good!
Laid-back America
Lots of soccer
Nightfall
All we had to do to see an epic fireworks display was walk down the street to the beach where crazy people were lighting off an incredibly dangerous amount of powerful fireworks! It made for an exhilarating atmosphere, but it was scary at times because it is easy for these types of fireworks to be shot off wrong, which leads to them exploding without leaving the ground. This actually happened right outside of Robert's house, but luckily I was inside, asleep on the couch, at the time. Hey, it was almost 11:30! 
Tons of people on the beach
The moon was nice and bright too!
In all, my time Independence Day weekend in Santa Cruz was a blast, and I can't wait to visit there again. California sure is a wonderful place to be in the summer!
In the first van I was driving
When I wrote this I was almost into my second week here in Carmel, and had been extremely busy during that time. To start, I wanted to mention that I mistakenly said in a previous blog that a PA is a personal assistant. I was wrong about that, because what it actually means is production assistant, and that is what my job is. I am usually driving, which is nice to do here in Carmel. Unfortunately, the headlight switch broke in my van so I had to remove some paneling and physically unplug the switch from the battery to get the lights on and off.
Watching a DVD during down-time
The crew on lunch break
It is weird being constantly surrounded by extremely rich people. I am not really talking about people on the movie crew; I am mainly talking about the people who live in Carmel. I have heard some ludicrous things from people that live around here such as having a pet rat’s uterus removed, to only giving dogs a certain brand of bottled water. Furthermore, in Pebble Beach, where we have been shooting the last few days, many of the houses are the size of hotels, and are also very ugly. On the contrary, the natural beauty of this area is breathtaking. The mansion we are using for some scenes is on incredible coastal property which could easily be a vista point or park. One morning was very cool because the waves were crashing very heavily on the rocks. It has been a beautiful place to be able to eat breakfast the last few mornings.
One of the mansions
Back yard
More back yard
I have seen around six whales while here which keep making themselves visible. I get the feeling that they like being watched, or they like watching us humans. My friend Ryan even saw a pod of dolphins.
Great day at the beach
On my first day off, two Mondays ago, Ryan and I went to the Carmel-By-The-Sea’s beach at the bottom of town. It was seventy degrees, and very sunny. After a little Frisbee, we both got in the water, and I even went for a swim.
Later that day, I got to go to a barbecue at the house being rented out for the star of the movie and his mom. Around twenty people showed up, and we had a great time. His mom was so proud of him, and put on a DVD of an upcoming episode of MTV Cribs that he will appear in.
Relaxing during our one day weekend
The assistant director heat'n meat
