SoHum

During a typical week, the kids get in the car two, maybe three times, for an hour total of vehicle time. We more than make up for this, however, in our semi-monthly trips to visit Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Denis in Southern Humboldt County. Every two months or so, we pack two kids, all their gear and all our gear into a two-door Honda Accord and make the journey north. If everything aligns, we make it in five hours with one or two stops. Last night, the return home took nearly nine hours with four stops.

Grandma snuggles with Kai in the shade of the house.

Grandma and Grandpa live a forty-five minute drive from town, down narrow winding roads. The terrain is hilly, rugged, even. Valleys are cool and wet, shaded by giant redwoods. The hilltops are hot and dry, with red-barked manzanita and bay laurel trees.  The climate is drier and hotter in the summer than the Bay Area - reached eighties this weekend - and colder in the winter than the Bay Area--we've had white Christ-mukkah's there.


We stayed in the "guest shed," which was perfect for us - enough room for our bed, Xander's bed, Kai's borrowed peapod tent (an amazing baby-containment unit-every parent should have one) and a play space for Xander. A nest of birds kept us entertained.

One of the parents sits on the nest they built in the shed window.

This past weekend, we squeezed in a lot of fun activities.

Saturday

Micah and I had date night at the Garberville Theater. (Wow, I just checked ticket prices--when was the last time you could see a movie for $7?) We watched the Bada Bling Burlesque Troup/fundraiser for the theater. It was packed. It was fun to run into a lot of Micah's former high school classmates.

Sunday

Micah started the day with a mountain bike ride on the newly opened single track section of the Paradise Royale Trail.

Paradise Royale single track.
(Image from Bicycling Magazine article)

That evening, we visited Micah's childhood friend, Justin, and his family: Henry just turned three, and Jen is pregnant with another boy, due later this fall. We planned our visit to coincide with their visit from Chicago. Justin took some great photos of the boys.

Xander and Henry play in Humboldt.
Photo: Justin Brown

Monday

Monday we started the day applying daga - a mixture of sand, local dirt, and concrete - to the front wall of Micah's parents' rammed-earth house.

Micah mixing the sand, concrete, and dirt
for the daga mixture.

Ellen and Micah apply daga while Denis sprays the wall
with water to keep it moist.

Ellen demonstrating her daga application technique.

The wall is nearly finished. We did the square section
just to the right of the front door.

So while all this was going on, I was mostly watching the kids. I did get a little daga application in. Later that afternoon, Micah, Xander, Kai and I traveled to the Mattole River to meet Justin and his family for swimming. The river warrants an extra-large photo, it is so beautiful:

Mattole River, Micah's childhood swimming hole.
Photo: Justin Brown

Micah and Kai at the river.
Photo: Justin Brown

Jen and Henry coo at Kai while Justin's dad, Gary, relaxes in the shade.
Photo: Justin Brown

That night, we had the Browns over for dinner.

Dinner Monday night. From left to right, Henry, Gary, Denis,
Jen, Lauren, Kai, Ellen, Xander.
Photo: Justin Brown

Tuesday

Urgh, back in the car. Good thing these kids are so cute and (mostly) well-behaved. Tip for parents wanting their children to be good travelers: start them young - like two months old - on crazy-long, eight-hour car rides. Then a three-hour ride will be a piece of cake. Oh, and get the Frog and Toad anthology on audiobook.

Xander and Kai. The lookalikes.