We were picked up from LAX by Chase, my good friend from high school. When we arrived at his apartment in Irvine, his fiancĂ© Miguel was making enchiladas, which we greatfully ate for dinner – we hadn’t received much food on our delayed flight and although I generally lose my appetite while traveling, Travis was famished. That evening we went to bed on an air mattress in their living room.
Chase and Miguel had both taken two days off in the middle of the week to spend time with us – quite a special occurrence since both of them have very demanding full-time jobs. The first morning Travis and I woke up early-ish (jetlag robs you of your sleep) and went for a walk in the adjacent park. That morning after breakfast we drove back to the airport to pick up my parents Rav4 – she was flying out of LA that day and that way we could drive back up to Cambria. We then went to Griffith’s Observatory and got a good view of LA – it’s a city that just goes on and on and on, which is Travis and my nightmare, but Chase and Miguel love the city, with Chase even managing to romanticize traffic jams: “Everyone is in it together!”
We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant – man I had missed good Mexican food – and then went to Santa Monica Pier in the afternoon. Unfortunately it takes forever to get anywhere in LA, so after the sun set around 5 we drove 2 hours back to the apartment.
The next day we spent a bit more locally. I spent the morning applying for a job and doing some online ordering. Later I met Chase and Miguel and Travis, who had been looking at boats in the marina. After lunch we went on a hike in the local state park. Some of us had better footwear than others, which made for an interesting time when the trail got a bit muddy and steep. While Travis and I enjoyed the escape from the city, Chase and Miguel oohed and aahed over the city skyline lit up in the twilight.
The next morning we said goodbye and drove up out of LA and to Santa Barbara. On the drive up Travis said he felt like he was getting sick – never a good sign but not unexpected after a long international flight. We went to Isla Vista, got burritos for lunch, and then walked around UCSB. It felt weird being back – it is a beautiful campus but there are so many memories, both good ones and ones of so much work and exhaustion.
We went up to Lizard’s Mouth above the town for sunset, and then camped up there for the night. Travis, exhausted and sick, was asleep by 6pm, and I was asleep by 7:30. The next morning we went for a hike to the hot springs with my friend Nicole who still lives in Santa Barbara – it was nice to catch up with her and I hope to see her in New Zealand someday.
That afternoon we drove up to Cambria. Travis, still sick and tired from the hike, went to bed around 3, woke up for dinner, and then went straight back to bed. We spent the next 5 days preparing for our road trip (much easier than it was in Italy – it helps when you can borrow things from ypur parents!), going on hikes and walks, and spending time with my parents. I also went to the dentist and the doctor, both things I haven’t done since moving to New Zealand. From a blood test I learned that I am quite Vitamin D defficient – this shouldn’t be a surprise, I guess, it is my second winter after all, but I thought I’d been outside enough. Evidently my nose and cheeks (the only things exposed while skiing) aren’t good enough at Vitamin D production on their own. Another supplement to add to the rotation.
The elephant seals are up for birthing and mating! 
Some very large males who were unconcerned when we walked by 
Day hike with Mama and Travis 
Beautiful winter forest 
Big Sur never disappoints 
Went to visit Papa at his work! 
“Oh no, another beautiful sunset on the west coast!” 
Travis contemplating where to add his gum in bubble gum alley
Finally, we were ready to go, and left on Friday, January 16th. We drove up Highway 1, which had recently been reopened after a catastrophic slip several years ago, and saw some incredible views. We spent the afternoon at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was incredible as always, although they did seem to have removed several of the exhibits which I enjoyed most last time I was there – we couldn’t find the cuttlefish, or the leaping blennies, for example.
We were looking for a roof box to put on the car so we could keep our skis in the box and sleep in the car. After some annoying delays from Facebook Marketplace sellers, we went to see a box on our way up to Oakland. The seller informed us an hour prior to our meeting time that the box had a 5 inch crack… upon arrival we discovered the crack was more like 13 inches along a crucial structural part of the box. Needless to say we politely declined and the search went on.
That evening we went to stay with Noah’s parents in Oakland. Noah is currently in New Zealand, and what makes it twice as funny is that he has taken up residence at Travis’s uncle’s house as an unofficial woofer, doing chores around the house and mountain biking with Travis’s uncle. Noah’s parents were lovely, and on the first night they prepared a meal of grilled salmon that was so delicious Travis and I still talk about it.
The next day we went to see another roof box in Richmond and ended up buying it. It looked good, but in our inspection of it we did not actually put it on the car. It turned out that the holes to fasten it onto the car with were just a bit too narrow. We put it in the car that day and drilled another set of holes that evening, after which it went on easily.
We spent the day in San Francisco, beginning with some views of and a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. In Golden Gate Park we met Lina, another friend from UCSB, and spent the day with her. We went to Chinatown where I spent a sizeable amount of money on a special Oolong tea that I love and we got some lunch. Then we walked to the Ferry Building and along the Embarcadero before walking to Coit Tower and then back to the car in Chinatown. It was so lovely to catch up with Lina and see some of San Francisco, which is quite a nice city (as far as cities go). It does have it’s rough sides, however, and at one point we walked under an elevated walkway near Pier 39 (quite a touristy part of town) when a yellow waterfall came splattering down from above. Someone in front of us yelled “He’s peeing!” Thank goodness we weren’t walking any faster and just barely escaped the stream. When we looked back, the man was clearly under the influence of some drug, staggering along the walkway. Like I said, some rough edges.
The next morning, we set off towards the Sierras, with a detour to Healdsburg to see Jeremy and Alex. It was a short visit but I haven’t seen them in a while so it was very nice. From there we drove to Davis, where we had lunch, walked around downtown, went to see the houses I’d lived in, and went to the high school on our way out of town. We went to Sacramento to have our skis waxed before driving to a trailhead to sleep for the night, our first night in the car.
The next day we went skiing at Sierra-at-Tahoe – it was on the small side and the snow wasn’t amazing so we stopped at lunchtime and did a hike in the afternoon. We spent the night near Carson City, Nevada, and it was cold – welcome to car camping. The next day we went to Palisades Tahoe, a huge ski field on the northwest side of Lake Tahoe. There was no new snow, but it was nice skiing what was there and I started working on my skills for skiing more technical things.
I had reached out to some old friends I had done the Peaks Hike with in 2020 – they lived in that area. Only Jeb was home, but we spent two lovely evenings with him. He told us lots of interesting wildlife and firefighting stories, and we gratefully slept in his guest bed.
On our second day at Palisades, I was exhausted from the start, and after the first run went to take a nap in the car while Travis skied by himself. After a nap things were better and I managed to so some more skiing in the afternoon.
From the Tahoe area we did a big driving day to Mattole Beach, where we had been a couple times when we still lived in Davis. It was a lovely campground and we did a nice walk in the morning and saw seals and a bald eagle. We then drove to Ferndale and walked around there and started our sticker collection. We did another walk in a wildlife refuge and saw lots of birds before going to Planet Fitness.
We had gotten a Planet Fitness gym membership, not with the intent of working out but because it is an easy way to have a shower and there are many, many Planet Fitness gyms sprinkled across the US. It feels a little weird walking in looking a bit homeless and clearly not doing a workout, but on the other hand we have paid for the services.
The next day we did the James Irvine Trail, which Noah’s parents had recommended to us. It took us all day but we were so glad we took the time to do it, the redwoods are always so stunning and that day was no different. It was Travis’s first time seeing them and he was just as impressed as I always am. Part of the trail is along a creek that runs through a canyon with fern-covered walls and out to the beach. It was truly such a beautiful and peaceful day in the redwoods.
From there we drove up to Bend, Oregon, where we stayed 3 nights. Bend and the surrounding area looks so much like Flagstaff, Arizona – it was quite trippy. The same high desert and Ponderosa Pine forest environment, and even the town had a similar vibe. We went skiing on the first day – it was OK, the snow wasn’t amazing but it was still a nice day. On the next day we tried to go on a hike, and found that although the snow was not deep enough to make for good skiing, it was deep enough to make driving and hiking quite challenging.
From Bend we drove up to Seattle, where we went to the Museum of Flight. This was a dream come true for Travis – he got to go inside a Concord (airplane that flew at supersonic speeds) and see many other planes and rocket components. There were bits and pieces of the museum I found quite interesting – like learning about how astronauts pee in space, but overall flying is something that is tied up with a lot of guilt for me because it’s so carbon intensive.
We attempted to go skiing twice at Crystal Mountain near Seattle. On the first day it was raining at the base but snowing at the top, and we were soaking wet in a very short amount of time. On the second day it was simply a slush-fest and there were so many rocks that it was no fun at all and we left early to go on a hike near the river, which was much nicer. After that we gave up skiing near Seattle and got on our way.
This winter is the warmest on record in the western US, and snowfall levels are often less than 50% of what they usually are at this time. It sucks for us this year – we planned a trip around skiing but you can’t ski if there’s not enough snow. Travis and I have similar but different feelings about it. Travis was quite depressed and started wondering if we should have gone to South America instead, there’s no snow there either and at least we would’ve been warm. I have a weird feeling that we almost deserve this – climate change is a direct result from overconsumptive lifestyles that include activities like flying and driving, both of which we’re doing a lot of on this trip. Maybe until we stop doing things that harm the earth, we don’t deserve to enjoy the earth’s gifts like snow.
The other feeling is one of sadness. Here I’ve come to love a way of being outside in winter and becoming an upside-down T-shaped person as a way to be able to move around in the snow, and now winter is just not the same as it used to be. How does one mourn a season? Mourning a lost person is obvious. Mourning an extinct species less so. But a season? Winters that just don’t happen the way they used to? Along with the selfish reasons for mourning winter are the ones of fear for what it means to people and animals and plants who are not me. Less snow means less water availability for people in the summers. It also means dry plants and increased fire risk. And warmer temperatures mean animals can’t hibernate properly, phenology is off, and a whole other cascade lf ecosystem effects. Winter is not over yet, but I’m sure next summer will be interesting in the US.
This is where I’ll leave this blog as we turn east with heavy hearts. There is hope in the weather forecast, and lots of cool things to do that don’t involve skiing, but Seattle was truly a low point.