Eureka!

Five months. In one town. For me that is like growing roots :)

I continued my journey from Cloverdale and wound up in Eureka, a smallish town on the coast in northern California. I had intended to stay for a few weeks, but several things kept me there all summer:

1) The weather. It was almost an ideal climate for me. With a few exceptions where the temperature hit a blisteringly hot mid 70's, most days it settled around the mid 60's. And I was a couple of miles inland, so away from the cold blankets of fog.

2) Errands. This was the first app that I wrote for iOS. I am proud of what I did, but it was in need of a major update. I kept putting it off, partly because it needed a lot of refactoring work and partly because I just wasn't motivated. Sometimes being my own boss isn't good for productivity. It is too easy for one part of me to convince the other part of me that procrastination is the best policy. Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow. I decided that staying in one place would eventually lead me to the desperate realization that I had nowhere to hide and might as well do the work. And I did! Errands 3 is out and is doing great and I feel re-energized as far as my work goes.

3) The name of the town. Just being silly, but I started watching the Eureka TV series on Netflix while I was in Eureka, so I had to stay, right?

4) Walking to stores. I often stay in state parks and generally remote areas, sometimes 15 miles from the nearest tiny town. In Eureka, I could walk to grocery stores, the laundromat, etc. It was kinda fun to be in a town for a spell.

It seems like Eureka is burned into my retinas. Seared into my consciousness. But I am back on the road again and it feels very liberating. Here are a few photos from my stay in Eureka...

I stayed in this spot the whole time I was in Eureka. I only drove on a couple of occasions, instead walking everywhere, usually several miles each day.

Shortly after I arrived, the Humboldt County Fair took place. The loop ride behind me was amusing. Hours of cyclic screams. And the folks camped next to me for a few days were true "carnies".

A few weeks after the fair, the Monster Truck show came to town.

I went to the Monster Truck show with this wonderful family that camped next to me for a month or two. The girl with the dog print shawl really loved Buddha and had a great time playing with him.

This bread is from a bakery in nearby Arcata. It was wonderful and delivered daily to a small grocery near where I stayed. I had literally stopped eating bread as I can't stomach the factory stuff, but this summer it became a renewed part of my diet. I miss it already :(

I was right next to a redwood forest that was on private land (complete with no trespassing signs, which I ignored after noticing others do the same). I took some nice walks with Buddha, though occasionally a logging truck would come by and throw up a bunch of dust.

Humboldt County is renowned for both the quality and quantity of herb it produces. It is big business in these parts and I was constantly amused at how openly it was talked about in the local press. There were many other little signs of the business, such as trimming scissors sold in in little country stores, turkey bags sold in bulk packs of 100, organic fertilizers and root hormones sold everywhere, numerous hydroponics stores and so on. However, the overall vibe was that of normal small-town USA.