Pacific Coast Mission rattles Redwood Earthquake
“It’s in all the newspapers,” the mail informed. “Are you safe?”
I scanned the skies for alien spacecraft before dispatching a query to Amsterdam. (“I am safe. From what?&rdquo
I got an immediate reply: “Did you survive the 6.0 earthquake in California?”
“I’m pretty sure I did, but California is very big,” I thought as I consulted the internet. “Hmm. There was a large earthquake in Napa that was felt here in San Francisco. I must be a sound sleeper.”
While I was contemplating, Darius walked in.
“Did you feel the earthquake?” I asked.
“Of course! The whole house was shaking in the middle of the night. Then it stopped.”
“Really?” I replied. “I’d be more convinced if he had mentioned it before I asked him,” I thought.
“I’m all shook up!” Darius continued.
We immediately tuned to the local TV news for the latest information. Unfortunately, the A-team had the weekend off and the B-Team backups were struggling. The video shifted to a Napa Wine Store showing thousands of broken wine bottles and extensive exterior damage. The reporter needed an interview and he needed a quote.
“You’ve been cleaning up here for several hours,” the reporter began. “But how did it look when you first arrived?”
“It looked like an earthquake hit.” The owner solemnly announced.
“Stating the obvious,” I thought as the news anchor struggled to keep a straight face.
There was no discernible damage at Shahriar’s house.
The next day, Shahriar took us for a hike through the Muir Woods - a redwood forest in the Bay Area. As Darius reminded us, we (The Martin Family) had been to the Muir woods in 1997.
Accuracy Alert: Initially I thought that Darius was wrong because I misremembered a trip to Sequoia National Park (with Nazy). I have subsequently learned that Sequoias are the world’s largest tree; Redwoods are the world’s tallest tree. Moreover, according to the Internet (which has never reported a factual inaccuracy) the Sequoia is ‘red’ and the Redwood is “chocolate brown”.
“The same people who named Iceland and Greenland were involved in the California tree naming debacle,” I thought.
In addition to the trees, we saw a salmon spawning stream. (It would have been more impressive if it had a little more water. “Droughts,” I thought, “are dry.&rdquo
I also had time to take a photograph of a natural wonder: The Bump on a Log:
Our drive home was delayed by heavy traffic in the bay area. In the end, we decided to take the scenic route - California Route 1 via Monterrey. (Nazy wanted to go to Carmel, but she was outvoted.)
Monterrey sports a great aquarium - with a giant octopus, three hammerhead sharks and a jellyfish exhibit as well as large schools of anchovies and mackerel. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed walking through the city. And, on the way out, I decided to ‘check-off’ another California Mission - the one in Monterrey.
We drove to 500 Church Street and walked through a beautiful Mission. And then:
“This is not a California Mission.” Darius pronounced.
“I looked up Monterrey Mission on the Internet, Darius. It is a Mission.”
“Nope! There was a mission in Monterrey, but it moved to Carmel.”
“You are raining on my parade, Darius.”
“We can go to Carmel.”
“You have popped my balloon. You have dropped my popsicle in the mud. You have eaten the last sugar cookie. You have squashed a butterfly. You have..”
“We can still go to Carmel to see Mission San Carlos Borroméo del río Carmelo.”
“I told you we should have had lunch in Carmel.” Nazy interjected.
We made brief excursion to Carmel when Darius discovered that Father Serra (Padre Serra) had been buried there. (We live on Alameda Padre Serra in Santa Barbara.)
The Carmel Mission
Then we embarked on the famously scenic part of the drive: California Route 1 by the Big Sur. Serendipitously, we would be driving along the Pacific Ocean at sunset.
We stopped at the Lucia Lodge for both dinner and for views of the sunset. The rest of the drive followed Martin Family precedent ..
“It is a dark and winding road,” I said as I accelerated out of a turn. (And into another turn.)
“Don’t go so fast.” Nazy shouted from the backseat. “There is a car around every corner. You should slow down.”
“Nazy.” I replied cogently.
“We need to stop at the Elephant Seal Beach, Dad.” Darius interjected.
“It is dark, Dar. The moon has not risen. We won’t be able to see the elephant seals.”
“But we will be able to hear them, Dad.”
“Darius is so spontaneous, Dan.” Nazy interrupted. “Isn’t it great.”
“It’s dark,” I thought.
We found ‘seal beach’ and pulled into the empty parking lot. We stumbled across through the vegetation to the ocean lookout. It was.
“Pitch black, Darius.” I noted. “And silent.”
“Do you have a flash on the camera, Dad?”
“Do you have a synapse in your head?” I thought. For reader edification, I include images of the seal beach (as it would appear in the daylight) and as it did appear at night.
Daylight Seal Beach
Night Time Seal Beach
And, here in Santa Barbara, the grandestson ever continues to amaze and astound. He is now about 9 weeks old. He’s gained 50% body weight and is very alert and active. Melika, his Mom, is..
“.. almost back to target weight, Dad. 118 pounds now.”
“You were a real behemoth during pregnancy. Is 118 the target?”
“No, the target is 110.”
“You look great Mel!”
