Finally, I leave San Francisco, on route to Redwood National Park having picked up another rental car from the airport. I go to Mendocino Lake, a beautiful spot off the more frequented tourist trail. It seems to be mostly Californians visiting here, with families swimming in the lake and boats trailing water skiers speeding around it.
I camp at Chekaka, a basic campground near the lake. The place will be packed at the weekend with campers celebrating the 4th of July, but there is space for me to stay tonight. In the plot opposite me there is a family of two middle aged women, possibly sisters though one looks notably older than the other, accompanied by a pod of kids who come and go from their pitch. They are a loud but friendly group, who are visibly curious about my accent, though they don’t say anything. They offer me some of their spare firewood, with the eldest boy helping me to carry it.
The boy who helped me with the firewood leaves to go to bed saying to the older looking lady ‘sorry I was mean to you earlier, I love you’. ‘I know you do’ she replies. I remember this only because of what occurs the next morning.
I go to have dinner in nearby Ukiah at what is called here a ‘brew pub’, i.e. one with its own micro-brewery. I drink some wine and have a passable burger while listening to an easy listening jazz band in the background playing for tips. I am not sure what emotions this sort of music is supposed to evoke, but it makes me feel like a lonely loser sitting at the bar for the company of alcohol. Looking into the mirror at the back of the bar, I can’t help feeling that life on the road over the past year has aged me noticeably.
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| lighting fire in California summer is easy |
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