Gold Beach or Bust

Andre and I stayed at Johan’s apartment last night, which sits atop a gallery right in the middle of downtown Ashland.  We did laundry and caught up on emails and phone calls, then tucked ourselves in for the night and watched documentaries until our eyes hurt.  What a luxury, technology.  This morning we woke up, pressed a cup of coffee, sliced some bread for breakfast, and read the news.  There’s trouble in Israel, nothing new. 

After a lovely walk around town for me, and a visit with a friend for Andre, we loaded up Butter, said goodbye to Ashland and the luxury of his humble abode, and headed up a mountain road towards Gold Beach.  Passing through Medford on the way, I suggested we pop in to Trader Joe’s.  Ordinarily, I’m not an advocate for diving during business hours.  First of all, I don’t want to scare employees who might have to run us off on an otherwise ordinary trip to the dumpster and, second, I don’t want to risk the bins getting locked for those who rely on diving as means to acquire food.  That said, we went anyway, but took extra precautions so as not to be seen. That certainly doesn’t excuse the fact that I violated my only rule—no diving during the daytime.  Sometimes, though, rules are meant to be broken.  Before the dive, as we always do, we made our “grocery list,” wishing for almond butter with flax seeds, yogurt, and eggs.  Everything else we already had, more or less, thanks to our luck in the forest and the bounty of Johan’s garden.  The dumpster granted our first two wishes, no eggs, plus we got pasta, soft baked chocolate chip cookies, a pound of cheddar cheese, peanut and flaxseed butter (in addition to the almond butter), cocoa and almond butter (almond-style nutella), jalapeño and cilantro hummus, and so much.  This waste would not go to waste, not this time anyway.

Fully loaded, we continued on our drive towards beach.  The journey was absolutely spectacular, coasting along the winding road lined with giant redwoods and cedars, then finally reaching a 4,500 ft pass where we took in the view of Mt. Shasta peering out just above the cloud forest.  The snowy peak looked as if it was hovering in mid-air.  We must have stopped 5 times, at least, to take in the beauty and much needed (and well-deserved) sunshine.  Unlike the past few days, the past month actually, the sun was out in full force. Just before sunset, we found a lovely old growth oak forest where we stopped for the night to set up camp.  We built a fire, enjoyed the clear sky filled with twinkling stars, and sipped wine while the vegetable soup I put on the fire finished cooking.  I sat, looking up at the stars, and wondered how I will fair when I return to my normal life in Venice.  I cannot even imagine what it will be like to live with constant access to hot water, an oven that I can use to bake cookies, and all the luxuries I’ve grown to realize and appreciate as true luxuries.  Thankfully, I still have a couple of weeks on the road, and I am still enjoying every moment of the adventure.