I woke up early and my uncle Steven told me that before I go, I needed to have a California omelet. I'm always open to try new foods and so he made me what I will only describe as the most amazing omelet I've ever had. The California variety of omelet is full of real crab meat, mushrooms and avocado. We sat out on his patio and chatted before I left.
It was a shame that traffic would be the way it was through the city. I wanted to see San Fransisco just one more time. Instead and in the interest of economy I went north and took one of the bridges across the bay and ended up just north of Sausilito. And then so it began: I mearged into the famous California 101; the Redwoods Highway.
At first the scenery was less than breath-taking. Small town with banners for pie cook-offs and not a single redwood tree. As I drove further I began seeing redwoods, but they were not the fabled giant redwoods I had seen in books. Soon however, the small towns began to become more sparse and the human presence became less and less. I began noticing larger and larger trees. 
The forest was thick. While the sky was clear, and the sun was bright. At times the canopy was thick enough to block out the sun. in those moments of shade, you would even need to use your headlights.
Ahead of me, I saw many cars pulled over on the shoulder. As I entered the clearing, I noticed what they were looking at, two giant elk. I pulled over for the first time that day and brought my camera. The elk, who seemed to not care about the human presence continued as they were grazing out in the field. After just watching for a while I returned to my car and returned to the task at hand.
Very shortly after the elk, the forest began to become more and more think with trees. As I rounded one corner I saw what would later be verified as the largest tree I would see on this leg of the trip. I quickly pulled into the grove and walked around. While it is not shown in the picture above, their was a tree a little further into the grove that its diameter was equal to the length of Johnny Freedom Car. It was amazing.I felt so small in this patch of giants. These trees had seen so many years and virtually all of human history as we know it. One tree that had fallen on it's side had been marked with al sorts of dates. I could see markers that corresponded to Columbus's arrival to the Americas, The signing of the US constitution, and when man landed on the moon. Some past visitors to the park had also made their mark. On a few rings I found anniversary dates, the death of a loved one, or the birth of a child. On this great tree, many people had left their mark, and yet the tree still remained virtually barren of history.
While I won't be able to compete for as many years in the history competition with the great trees, I began to think about when my time comes and I fall. I began thinking about my own rings, and the markers people would put on them. I have many layers and like the great trees of the redwoods when I'm gone, I wonder what kinds of things I will have seen.
Even further back in the grove I found a river and moreover a swimming hole. This place like everywhere around me had seen little human interaction (relatively speaking). The water here was clearer than any natural body I have ever seen. I could see all the way down to the bottom, which to my best guess was about 25 ft. The water was not warm, but not cold either. I could see that the river ran shallow for a great distance before opening up into this area. I hopped from rock to rock and sat on a large one in the middle of the river. I watched as a young married couple came in from the same trail as me. They had two dogs and the dogs were very excited about playing in the river. The sun was warm, but a cool breeze made this moment very comfortable. I sat their for a while but began to remember how many miles I would need to cever that day to be able to make it to Seattle the next. I returned to shore. 
when I got to shore I realized how long it had been since I skipped stones. I began searching the ground for a nice smooth flat one to throw. after finding several good candidates, I went to where the water was most calm and began tossing the rocks. after about 5 stones, I remembered the Peanuts comic strip and how Linus scolds Charlie Brown for throwing th stone into he ocean saying howlong it took for that stone to make it to the shore. I decided I wouldn't quit until I successfully skipped a stone across the river. After finally making it over to the other side I thought about the history of man and throwing stones. I was inclinded to ask...
"why do we throw stones?"
In my second year English class at my community college we read the famous short story "The Lottery," where a woman is stoned to death by her own village after her name is selected at random from a box. In the story even her toddler child is given a few pebbles to throw. This story of meaningless death for whatever reason overwhelmed my mind, and I began to explore what stones I have thrown in my life, and what stones have been thrown at me. I thought about our culture here in the USA, and how we still throw stones. We throw stones at our homosexuals, our single mothers, our poor. We throw stones at those who don't agree with us. I still can remember Republicans on the news telling America that protesting was "anti-troop" and that it would only make it harder for what they had to do. What is throwing a stone? Throwing a stone is the statement "You are not one of us," and then I thought about Mrs. Hutchenson and the Lottery, I thought about how integral throwing stones had become in our society. I decided to set the remainder of my stones down, but I kept two for myself.
Being as pleased as I was with this grove and the river, I returned to my car. I asked the gentle man above to take my photo, he agreed. We talked shortly after that. He asked if I had seen the river and the swimming hole. I told him yes that I had. He said it was his favorite place to fish. Naturally I asked if he caught much there, but he said no. Instead, he replied, this place is great because every once and a while, a car load of girls will run out of the woods, strip of all o their clothes and dive into the water. It was a shame I didn't bring my fishing equipment I thought, but still I knew I was on a time crunch.
From that point on, I made some really good time. I made it to Eureka, and saw my first Northern California coastline. Seeing the beach without thousands of people on it was very different. Occasionally, I'd see a pod of surfers enjoying the privacy and the yet to be challenged waves. Every cove and beach would have at least one giant rock sticking up out of the water. I imagine each rock to have a name given to it by the locals. 
Just before the 101 would cut back inland, the sun began to set. The clouds, like giant curtains began to close on today's performance. I would not see the ocean again until Seattle.
I made it all the way to Eugene OR that night. I slept in my car for the first time. That day, I drove from 8:30AM to 11:45PM.Well Space Travelers, I promise to get you caught up as fast as I can, so please don't throw any stones. Until the next chapter, ja mata ne.
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Your blurb about throwing stones really moved me.
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