Here’s what I did this summer (teacher). I took a nice trip to the little town of Fortuna, California, also known as “The Friendly City.” It’s located on the northeast shore of the Eel River in the redwoods along U.S. Route 101 in western-central Humboldt County. The name “Fortuna” is Spanish for "fortune” – as in good fortune.
The Eel River is about 196 miles long and its tributaries form the third largest watershed in California, draining a rugged area of 3,684 square miles in five counties.
Some of the largest (and tallest) populations of coastal redwood trees can be found in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Humboldt County. Trees over 200 feet tall are common, and many are over 300 feet tall. The current tallest redwood tree measures 379.3 feet.
I confess that I didn’t spend much time in the redwoods, however, because I used to live in Humboldt County and have seen those trees a lot. I spent most of my Friday through Sunday vacation visiting with old high school chums. I drove approximately 540 miles from Lacey to Fortuna on Thursday and Friday to attend a Friday night homecoming football game and a Saturday luncheon of a reunion committee to help decide particulars of a reunion soiree next year.
Unfortunately, our Fortuna Huskies – previously unbeaten - lost to arch-nemesis Del Norte. I wish I could remember the little ditty that my friend Elona sang about Del Norte. It was a bit of a put down, but funny as heck. Also attending the game were Sharon, Sonya, Greg, Darlene, Jeannie and Robert and Valerie. Robert and Valerie surprised us all by announcing their engagement to be married.
Saturday, the aforementioned group (except Greg) was joined by Charlotte, Bob, Chuck and Jeri and Dellie (hope I haven’t forgotten anybody) at the Scotia Inn for lunch. After we decided on a time, place and theme for next year’s reunion party, my classmates bought 10 books from me. Woo-hoo! I hope they actually read them.
Sunday morning I ate brunch with Jeri and Dellie and had a wonderful visit. Monday morning I headed home. I brain-farted (yes, I said brain-farted) and decided to drive across U.S. 299 to Redding where I would turn north on I-5 and continue to Lacey/Olympia. Big mistake! I had forgotten that the route up U.S. 101 then across U.S. 199 to Grants Pass, Oregon was shorter and quicker. What should have been a 10 – 12 hour drive (depending on pee and Starbucks breaks) turned into a 15- hour ordeal. Despite the beautiful vistas of the Trinity River and surrounding area along 299, the incessant construction slowdowns and stoppages had me nearly tearing my hair out by the time I arrived in Redding.
Then, though I didn’t think they had the money for it, the states of California and Oregon had work crews repairing I-5 almost all the way to Washington. Holy Crap! Additionally, because it rained there were the inevitable crashes of people driving HUA (think about it). By the time I arrived home I was a whiney Willie. Thank God Kathleen and Sam were so glad to see me and had saved some dinner for me.
A couple of observations from my drive: there may now be a Starbucks in every town on the West Coast. Also, signs along the way can give food for thought, especially when you’re tired and bored and don’t want to listen to any more of those sports talk radio bonzos. One sign I saw said the name of a road was “Round Prairie Road.” I did not know there were any round prairies in the state of Oregon. Or did the sign mean the road would take you around a prairie? I don’t know. Another sign, several of them actually, in the construction zones, warned of “abrupt shoulders.” I remember when I was younger that state of California had “Soft shoulders.” What happened to those? “Abrupt shoulder” is not very romantic.
I also saw some campaign signs. One I remember promised that the candidate was the guy America needed to turn our country around and make it whole again. But don’t most campaign signs promise something similar? Political candidates won’t have a snowball’s chance of turning this country around with the current Congress - no matter who they are.
The next morning (after I’d arrived back home) Kathleen asked me if I thought I could live in Fortuna again. I’d like to think so, because I love the town and because I have friends there. But could I really? I just don’t know. Can you go back?
It’s hard to get to Fortuna because there isn’t any air service to speak of and Amtrak can’t be trusted, so how would family members I Montana be able to visit us? Also, although I had a great time with my high school chums (I mean GREAT!). How do I know we’d be friends and do things together if I actually lived in Fortuna?
Well, no matter. I’m just going to bask in the glow from my visit as long as I can. The future will take care of itself.
The Eel River is about 196 miles long and its tributaries form the third largest watershed in California, draining a rugged area of 3,684 square miles in five counties.
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| A giant redwood near Fortuna |
Some of the largest (and tallest) populations of coastal redwood trees can be found in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Humboldt County. Trees over 200 feet tall are common, and many are over 300 feet tall. The current tallest redwood tree measures 379.3 feet.
I confess that I didn’t spend much time in the redwoods, however, because I used to live in Humboldt County and have seen those trees a lot. I spent most of my Friday through Sunday vacation visiting with old high school chums. I drove approximately 540 miles from Lacey to Fortuna on Thursday and Friday to attend a Friday night homecoming football game and a Saturday luncheon of a reunion committee to help decide particulars of a reunion soiree next year.
Unfortunately, our Fortuna Huskies – previously unbeaten - lost to arch-nemesis Del Norte. I wish I could remember the little ditty that my friend Elona sang about Del Norte. It was a bit of a put down, but funny as heck. Also attending the game were Sharon, Sonya, Greg, Darlene, Jeannie and Robert and Valerie. Robert and Valerie surprised us all by announcing their engagement to be married.
Saturday, the aforementioned group (except Greg) was joined by Charlotte, Bob, Chuck and Jeri and Dellie (hope I haven’t forgotten anybody) at the Scotia Inn for lunch. After we decided on a time, place and theme for next year’s reunion party, my classmates bought 10 books from me. Woo-hoo! I hope they actually read them.
Sunday morning I ate brunch with Jeri and Dellie and had a wonderful visit. Monday morning I headed home. I brain-farted (yes, I said brain-farted) and decided to drive across U.S. 299 to Redding where I would turn north on I-5 and continue to Lacey/Olympia. Big mistake! I had forgotten that the route up U.S. 101 then across U.S. 199 to Grants Pass, Oregon was shorter and quicker. What should have been a 10 – 12 hour drive (depending on pee and Starbucks breaks) turned into a 15- hour ordeal. Despite the beautiful vistas of the Trinity River and surrounding area along 299, the incessant construction slowdowns and stoppages had me nearly tearing my hair out by the time I arrived in Redding.
Then, though I didn’t think they had the money for it, the states of California and Oregon had work crews repairing I-5 almost all the way to Washington. Holy Crap! Additionally, because it rained there were the inevitable crashes of people driving HUA (think about it). By the time I arrived home I was a whiney Willie. Thank God Kathleen and Sam were so glad to see me and had saved some dinner for me.
A couple of observations from my drive: there may now be a Starbucks in every town on the West Coast. Also, signs along the way can give food for thought, especially when you’re tired and bored and don’t want to listen to any more of those sports talk radio bonzos. One sign I saw said the name of a road was “Round Prairie Road.” I did not know there were any round prairies in the state of Oregon. Or did the sign mean the road would take you around a prairie? I don’t know. Another sign, several of them actually, in the construction zones, warned of “abrupt shoulders.” I remember when I was younger that state of California had “Soft shoulders.” What happened to those? “Abrupt shoulder” is not very romantic.
I also saw some campaign signs. One I remember promised that the candidate was the guy America needed to turn our country around and make it whole again. But don’t most campaign signs promise something similar? Political candidates won’t have a snowball’s chance of turning this country around with the current Congress - no matter who they are.
The next morning (after I’d arrived back home) Kathleen asked me if I thought I could live in Fortuna again. I’d like to think so, because I love the town and because I have friends there. But could I really? I just don’t know. Can you go back?
It’s hard to get to Fortuna because there isn’t any air service to speak of and Amtrak can’t be trusted, so how would family members I Montana be able to visit us? Also, although I had a great time with my high school chums (I mean GREAT!). How do I know we’d be friends and do things together if I actually lived in Fortuna?
Well, no matter. I’m just going to bask in the glow from my visit as long as I can. The future will take care of itself.
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