Lady Bird Johnson, Redwood Grove, Eureka, California

[West Coast USA]

Lady Bird Johnson, Redwood Grove, Eureka, California

June, 2003: I took a couple weeks and drove to Northern California.

By the time I got to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove, I realized that for the first time in my life I was bored with natural beauty. I just whipped through that Grove, unable to connect with it. I knew intellectually of its beauty, but not much more.

Earlier on that trip, I had day-hiked my way through Lava Beds National Monument in the east, into Shasta and the Crags, and then on to the Trinity Alps. I hit the coast at Patrick’s Point State Park thought by some to be one of this country’s most beautiful camping parks.

I used my campsite and time there to become intoxicated in different ways. I practiced a lot of guitar while sitting at the picnic table.

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So by the time I stood looking into this redwood mist, I found myself bored. I drove home and slept in Medford, Oregon on the grass in a trailer park 50 feet from I-5.

I didn’t feel like hiking much for the rest of the summer, and was content to fool around inside my house on nice sunny days.