Music and Merriment! August 26, 2008

After strolling through the historic town of Calistoga ( famous for its mineral springs) we hopped back into the car en route to Kelseyville which appeared as a small dot on the edge of Clear Lake, California.

Dan in the studio

Marco’s online friend Dan had invited us to stay with he & Carolyn for a couple of days. Friends in the online way, they had met through a Recording forum several years before and they were both excited to finally meet in person and especially to talk studio stuff and music!

Beautiful views from Dan & Carolyns place

We pulled into Kelseyville mid afternoon. Sleepy, dusty, hot..the town looked like it had been left behind in another time. Marco rang Dan and we realised we had come about 15 minutes too far. Their house was actually back in the other direction and not in town at all but on the side of a hill overlooking the most beautiful lake landscape.

Marco in the studio

hiking in Clear Lake- Sienna and I

After welcome hugs all round we settled into our guest quarters and spent an enjoyable evening getting to know Dan & Carolyn. Friends for many years and co-owners of their Recording Studio and Publishing house, their affectionate banter made us feel right at home.

Watching the girls canoeing in Clear lake

Summer fun!

Santana walking Sonny

Our intitial stay of 2 days stretched into 4 and even then we felt we could have stayed longer sharing happy times with this incredible pair. Together we worked on and recorded our new song Rivulets which you can listen to on our My Space page at www.myspace.com/theloooooooonggoodbyes . What an amazing experience…coming together with beautiful people; Dan, Carolyn and guitarist extraordaire Pete, sharing life stories, both funny and tragic, we left with a sack full of groceries(thank you Carolyn!), signed copies of Carolyn’s books, various natural health remedies, wonderful memories and a promise from them that they would come to visit us in Australia in 2010.

Carolyn & Pete in the studio

We hit the road again with a target of getting to the Avenue of the Giants to stand amongst the ancient redwoods once again (first time for the girls), and then push onto our destination for that night, a caboose in Eureka overlooking the ocean.

In the redwoods

Looking up in the redwoods

Sienna- sunset in the redwoods

We tend not to travel with a too organised schedule, preferring instead to allow the openings necessary for serendipity to pop in and surprise us now and then. Staying in the caboose was our first welcome visit from land of Happy Coincidences. A chance meeting in Southern California had led to a third party invitation to stay on a remarkable property in a caboose on top of a hill overlooking the ocean….sounds perfect we thought! Right up our alley! By the time we were able to connect with the owners (The Jackson 4) we found that unfortunately they would be away when we were passing through but that we were more than welcome to stay anyway and they would have the caboose set up for us.

A caboose AND a trampoline!

Family at the caboose

Sunset from the caboose

What an amazing property and easy to tell…amazing family as well. Nestled amongst the pines with extraordinary views and the kind of loving and arty touches everywhere that made us feel right at home. We are really grateful for the kindness and generosity from people we have never even met. We spent a wonderful two days exploring Eureka and hope to be able to stop in again on the way South to actually meet The Jacksons in person. I’ve got a feeling we have a lot in common.

People often asked if we have kangaroos in our yards in Australia and we can honestly answer that in our area, yes, we do! On the road out of Eureka the next day we were amazed to see that in this part of the world people actually have Elk in their yards! A magnificent male had set himself up under the shade of a tree in someones front yard and caused quite a sensation. Like intrusive paparazzi people were lined up with their cameras along the fence. Some (no names mentioned!) even went so far as to trespass onto private property with their video cameras…well, its not every day you get to see an elk up close and personal!

View from Jackson 4-house

Northwards once again we pushed towards Portland still another 12 hours or so away we decided to drive as far as we could and spent a long day carbound ending up in the nondescript town of Florence, famous for its miles and miles of sand dunes enjoyed by recreational enthusiasts. Feeling too tired to set up camp for one night we opted for the ever so charming Econolodge, unpacked and headed off to find dinner. We gave in to the girls pleas for McDonalds but decided on investigating the busy looking taqueria we had passed on our way into town for Marco and I. I enjoyed a scrumptious margarita while we waited for our take away order of chile rellenos and enchiladas and then we headed back to the motel for a delicious dinner and bed.

paparazzi elk

Last stop before Portland was to see the Sea Lion caves just outside of Florence. The brochure had promised the worlds largest known Sea Cave accesible by an elevator shaft which shot you down 200 feet to the underground abyss. Not being much of a fan of enclosed spaces or caves I was understandably trepidous. My last venture to overcome myself of such silly fears was inside a submarine in Darling Harbour and resulted in a massive and highly unpleasant panic attack.

Sea Lion Caves

As we headed down the path towards the elevator I passed a skeletal woman on her way back from the caves, perhaps ticking off the things she wanted to see before the end of her life, her head bald, every vein showing through translucent skin. Suddenly my ridiculous fears seemed petty and I entered the elevator without any anxiety at all. The stink of the caves was overpowering and the noise of the Sea Lions bombarded our ears. Like the Elephant seals we had seen earlier in the week, life for these creatures seemed to consist of swimming, eating, hunting, fighting, mating and sleeping. What an amazing opportunity to actually be inside the home environment of such fantastic wild creatures.

Later in the day, bored from the drive we decided to play one of our favourite games “Lets embarass Santana!” We drove through Newport which advertised itself as the worlds friendliest town. We decided to test that theory by waving and smiling wildly to people on the street. Santana slunk down in her seat..” Do you have to?” she moaned. Outside of the town and into the country there was nothing to do but flick the radio stations and sing along loudly to old hits from the 70’s and 80’s. Is there anything more fun than making a 14 year old cringe!

San Simeon onwards August 15, 2008

We spent the afternoon of the 23rd July exploring the decadent opulence of Hearst Castle. The Castle and surrounding buildings were built on a 40000 acre ranch purchased by wealthy miner George Hearst in 1865. The ranchland has grown over the years and now encompasses around 250000 acres.

In 1919 William Randolph Hearst inherited the land and commissioned architect Julia Morgan to help him build a little something.. she was to spend 28 years of her life working on the project!

Sienna and Marco at Hearst Castle

Tourists are herded onto half hourly buses all day long at around $25.00 a person. The drive to the castle is around 15 minutes up a narrow winding road. Our tourguide tells us that William Randolph Hearst, former owner of this grand estate once had his own private zoo and that certain animals still roam the land including elk, deer and zebras..alas the kangaroos are long gone! We arrive at the top of the hill and spend the next hour and a half being guided around the estate. There are four separate tours to take should you wish to see the whole thing..we are treated to one of the guest wings, the outdoor and indoor pools, the predinner mingling room and the grand dining room..our guide takes us back to the Hearst heyday by having us imagine being invited for the weekend by the host…”over here in this chair sits Clark Gable enjoying a pre-dinner aperatif with Charlie Chaplin “..its easy to slide yourself back in time and imagine the ambience.

Santana at Hearst Castle- indoor pool

Hearst loved interesting people, people with stories and he encouraged all of his guests to get to know each other. In fact none of the guest houses have kitchens as it was a requirement for all guests to attend the evenings formal dinner.

in front of the main building

Marco & Sienna-Sunset San Simeon

We leave the castle awestruck and make our way back down the hillside, heading back to the campsite for an early night and ready to make our way the next day towards Monterey.

24th July

Driving out of San Simeon we pass thirsty fields. Cattle graze on the undulating landscape beneath scattered Monterey Pines. We stop at the Elephant Seal viewing platform and are amazed to see more than 5o of the giant, blubbery creatures lounging on the beach below us.

Sunset San Simeon by Santana

Two gigantic males put on a show for dominance, rising up and body slamming each other over and over. I am surprised at the violence. Others just want to sleep and stay our of the way of trouble… a baby comes in from a swim, entering the beach slowly and warily, well away from the main crowd. Knowing your place seems to be very important in this community!

Elephant seal warriors

Elephant seal pacifists

We drive onwards and the road begins to climb. Suddenly we are on the edge of a series of craggy cliffs. Monterey Pines are everywhere shrouded in coastal fog. Highway 1 clings to the cliffsides from Ragged Point to Monterey and the scenery is beyond spectacular!

We reach Monterey in the afternoon and take a walk along Cannery Row. We still havent been able to contact our friend Danielles brother Kevin who works at the Monterey Bay Aquarium so we call into the Aquarium to see if we can find him but he has left for the day. We had met Kevin in Australia a few months earlier and he had invited us to come for a backstage tour of the Aquarium.

Sage and the girls at Carmel

We had left multiple messages but hadn’t heard anything back…by 5.30 we began looking for a motel for the night..the girls and I traipsed in and out of front offices trying to find a deal but most were around $150 which was more than we wanted to spend. In the middle of our search the phone rings…its Kevin! Seems he had returned our call a couple of weeks before but somehow we hadn’t received the message…he was wondering what had happened to us…apolegetically he explained that they would love to have us stay the night but his wife Kristen was working from home and was particularly busy for the evening and the following day. We were actually somewhat relieved..after two days of camping and no showers we were feeling slightly antisocial and in need of nothing more than an anonymous motel, take away food, a beer, a shower and a TV. After an hour of looking we finally found a place for $89.00 a night..comfy and clean with everything we needed the only drawback was the sound of planes flying in to land at the nearby airport. We were too tired too worry about them!

We agreed to meet at Kevins house the next morning. It was his day off and he would be happy to show us around.

25th July…arriving at Kevins place on a gorgeous day to watch him pushing 3 year old Sage on the tree swing in the front yard. Sage immediately adopted Santana as her big sister and after a cuppa and a chat with Kristen who we hope to get to know better in the future we were off with Kevin and Sage to see the sights.

Us at the Lone Cypress

Arriving in the seaside village of Carmel we walked the pretty streets, lined with upmarket boutiques and galleries, downhill towards the beach. The sand was hot and warmed us a little from the chilly wind. We dipped our toes in the water and just as quickly out again. It was the middle of Summer but felt more like a Winters Day in Jervis bay…warm enough if you could find a place out of the wind but brisk and windswept when exposed to the elements…well used to the local climate Sage ran around the beach in her little Summer dress while the girls and I all pulled our sweaters on.

Jellyfish exhibit Monterey Bay Aquarium

Monterey Bay Aquarium

We drove along 17 mile Drive past extravagant mansions, overpriced Golf Courses ($500.00 a game!) and incredible scenery and on towards Monterey where Kevin took us through the backdoor of the Aquarium and graciously showed us around. A wealth of information and with a heart of gold we were glad we had the chance to connect with this wonderful man. After a while he left us to wander alone as Sage had a playdate. We thanked him effusively for the morning with promises to try and get together again sometime during our trip.

We left the aquarium around 4pm en route to Santa Rosa..we had left it a little late and knew we would be dealing with rush hour traffic around San Francisco so Kevin had given us an alternative route around the outskirts of San Francisco in an attempt to avoid the worst of the congestion. We filmed Kevin while he was giving us directions so there could be no confusion and set off up the Coast. Marco and I have a very tenuous navigator/driver relationship so I made sure I looked at the map well ahead…San Francisco appeared as a maze of freeways on the map but its seemed that if we followed the 880 it would eventually merge into the 580 and on to the 101..easy!! Through the mountains and past the San Jose turn off the traffic started to build. We stopped on the outskirts of Oakland for a bathroom visit at a giant Mall but didnt stay long as Oakland doesnt have the best reputation and most of our belongings were stored under a tarp on top of the car. Back on the freeway and just up ahead I saw a sign for the 580 …”to the right” I exclaimed….”its the 580!” My stomach sunk as the offramp veered sharply to the right. Even with my impaired sense of direction I knew we were heading East..the opposite direction to where we wanted to go!

“&*(&^&*(!..we should have gone straight!” Now you might not think a wrong turn is such a big deal but when you’re heading into a major city in rush hour traffic with not much knowledge of the surrounding areas it can be a very big deal…heading east we took the very first offramp we could in an endeavour to find a way to get back onto the 580 heading west…as we descended from the freeway to the streets my stomach sunk even further and Marco was suddenly very quiet…”We’ve gotta get out of here” he whispered to me…”Just have to find a way back onto the freeway” I said cheerily to the girls as we drove along Oakland most notorious gangland streets. With one of the highest murder rates in the state we had stumbled into an area where white was a very dangerous colour to be. A couple of deep breaths and a lucky left hand turn later we heaved a sigh of relief as we drove up the ramp to 580W.

Unfortunately I have to confess to more navigating sins as we pulled into Santa Rosa around 9.30pm, tired, hungry and slightly crabby. I had booked into the Motel 6 online the previous night but hadnt thought to write the address down…another half an hour of driving around and stopping for directions and finally we were there. We lugged our luggage upstairs and headed back to the car to go and find some food…Round Table Pizza looked appealing and by 10.30 pm we were back in the room gorging ourselves…while we ate we watched a strange show on Discovery Channel about an adventurer who likes to take himself off into the wilderness and find ways to survive in worst case scenarios..after watching him suck the water out of a hunk of elephant dung and rip into the remains of a zebra carcass with his bare teeth I felt very lucky indeed for our budget motel room and delicious pizza!

Old Faithful Geyser..near Calistoga

Our heads hit the pillows around 11am and we all slept soundly in preparation for our excursion to the Petrified Forest and Old Faithful geyser the next day.

Bearhugs-Petrified Forest

Navigating the California Coast August 4, 2008

I know, i know…I promised a blog a week but somehow its not that easy when you’re on the road so now i have a lot of catching up to do. Maybe I’ll do it in linear fashion or maybe I’ll meander all over the place. Sometimes I might even backtrack and fill in the details on an experience that deserves more than a fleeting mention. Lets see what happens.

After a wonderful two weeks in Carlsbad with Marcos younger brother Marcel, his wife Julie and their cutest of cute almost 2 year old Mikela, we packed our things once again. Marcel and Julie had generously given us the use of one of their cars, a Subaru Outback which Marco and I named Minerva. The girls disagreed emphatically and decided they would call her Betty.

Marco blowing bubbles for Mikela

July 20th, 2008

Heading up the coast on the I5 once again we stopped in for the first evening at San Clemente to spend the night with our close friends Mark & Christine who we had spent the first few days with on arrival. Arriving around 3pm we jumped in the car to head down to the pier and catch the last events of the weekend’s Ocean festival.

"Going Green"-the winning entry

We joined the thousands who had also come for the celebration and I thought about solitary walks on the beach back home in Jervis Bay. The sandcastle competition had just been judged and the proud family who had created the winning entry “Going Green”posed for photos for the local newspaper. Up on the Pier a line of old woodies, the quintessential California surf car stretched down towards the end of the Pier and we wandered amongst them, breathing in the nostalgia, the sunshine and the buzz of summer.

"Under the Pier" photo by Sienna

Sienna wanted to take photos underneath the pier so we headed down for some arty shots and shadetime and left the boys in the sweltering heat. After a quick snack of onion rings we headed back up to the Pier to watch the tandem surfing competition. A beautiful Hawaiian surfer and his 11 year old daughter stole the show with their graceful & eloquent style.

Grace on water

We dined on delicious curries back at Mark & Christines and organised the car for the 12 day trip up the coast. They loaded us up with camping gear and we were ready for adventure.
Marco and Mark built a box to sit on top of Minerva/Betty so that we could fit all of our luggage and we headed off to Ventura County to stay with The Farrys, longtime friends of Marcos from his skiing days in Mammoth.

July 21st

Paul had called us earlier to let us know he might not be there when we arrived. His cat had attacked his arm and a slight bite had led to ominous swelling and a nasty redness which stretched from wrist to elbow. He was off to the Doctors for a tetanus shot and told us to let ourselves in if noone was around.

We pulled up outside their house mid afternoon. They had moved since our last visit 9 years ago and also welcomed a new addition to their family, Devon, now aged 6.

The girls and I chilling on the back deck at the Farrys

They had warned us their house was in the middle of renovations to which we replied ” Great, we’ll feel right at home then”.

Their middle son Mark ( 16) greeted us warmly and Devon who is the ultimate livewire gave us an animated tour of the house. He was giving up his room for Marco and I for the night and the girls were to bunk in with Brinsley (13) who was off at volleyball training and scheduled for 2 basketball games that evening. Weston now 18 made a brief appearance.

Brinsley & Dara- on the electric boat

Captain Paul & Marco

Dara arrived shortly after, still gorgeous at 49, not looking a day older than 35, she had been an international model for years and her inner glow more than matched her outer appearance. We chatted till Paul arrived, always the gracious host, witty and welcoming, but obviously not feeling one hundred percent, and in the next few hours managed to squeeze in a tasty salmon dinner, 2 basketball games, a trip along the canals by their house in an electric boat and a couple of bottles of red.

Spa time!

The girls ( and Devon) finished up the night with a soak in the spa and were still up making s’mores (sticky, sweet concoctions made with Graham Crackers, marshmallows and chocolate and toasted over a fire) with Mark when when the adults went to bed around midnight.

22nd July

I awoke on my 43rd birthday feeling like I had slipped into a time warp, snuggled into a single bed, surrounded by toys,games and kids books and felt grateful for the journey so far, not just this trip but the whole journey that had bought me to this point in my life.

Paul whipped us up a feast of bagels, cream cheese, sourdough and scrambled eggs and we spent the morning chatting, relaxing and watching the kids have fun in the water. We hit the road around two with promises to come back in Sept and stay for a week. Santana & Brinsley had hit it off bigtime and we all felt like the time to say goodbye had come way too quickly.

Dara loaded us up with snacks and parting gifts; a game of Apples to Apples for the girls and some yummy, sweet smelling vanilla body lotion for me.

The landscape changed dramatically as we headed up the coast. Passing through Santa Barbara the arid brown hills gave way to a lush, verdant landscape. The homes were built close to the coast with no sign of the tract home developments further South.

We missed the turn off at San Luis Obispo and detoured through the nondescript inland town, filling up with gas and heading off on the 1back to the Coast through Morro Bay and Cambria. These tiny towns clung to the Coast in a more desolate and wild landscape. Rocky outcrops dotted the ocean; covered with pelicans and other seabirds and a white dusting of excrement, the girls affectionately named them “poop rocks”.

The girls at a rest stop en route to San Simeon

Marco at a rest stop en route to San Simeon

The temperature dropped from a balmy 79 deg down to 63 deg as we reached our camping destination at San Simeon State park. Surrounded by giant RV’s we pitched our 4 man tent and sent the girls off to search for firewood.

camping at San Simeon

We watched the sun slip behind the fog bank which hung above the cold Central Californian ocean, warmed ourselves by the fire and whipped up a meal of tortillas stuffed with frijoles, cheese and salsa verde before heading to the tent for a family game of scrabble…4 sleeping bags in a row, the hard earth beneath us, we slept.

Santana-Sunset at San Simeon

I slept soundly but woke at first light, every bone aching and an urgent need to pee. Emerging from the tent into the cool, foggy morning I breathed in the silence around me.

At breakfast the squirrels appeared and these cute little creatures we had oohed and aahed over for the past 2 weeks quickly lost their charm.

Sienna had kindly thrown a morsel to one of them so we could watch him pick it up with his cute little hands and eat it with his cute little mouth. Unbeknownst to us a silent signal went out to the rest of the clan and our site was soon overrun by the tiny terrors. Guard the left and a cheeky sprite would jump onto the table to my right to steal some crumbs. We quickly packed up the food and put it into the tent hoping to divert the squirrel troops but 5 minutes later a strange sound alerted Marco to investigate. Around the back of the tent a tough little hoodlum was attempting to chew his way through the fabric of the tent. (Mark & Christine-if you’re reading this…its only a small hole!)

We moved the food to the car and sat down to relax. A strange clunking noise from under the car interrupted my writing and I knelt down to see the hind legs of a squirrel, his upper body lost somewhere in Minerva/Betty’s undercarriage. I can only assume he was trying to chomp his way into the car!

Marco and I spent the morning working on a new song and around midday we left for our excursion to Hearst Castle. From the wilderness of our natural surroundings into the wilderness of touristlandia USA!!