our vacation was wonderful. brief but wonderful. i've never spent four days with someone and felt so comfortable and content. we just fit well together. we always have. on our second date, we spent eleven hours together. and it felt like minutes. it's truly hard for me to realize that we've only known each other a few days over two months. yeah, we fit well together.

so, we left early Saturday morning and drove up 101 towards Garberville. the car was packed with camping gear, suitcases, food, music, books ... we were ready for anything. after a brief stop off at cousin Mike's restaurant for coffee (i almost forgot to feed my girl her caffeine fix -- how disastrous!), we were over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and well on our way through Marin. it was a pretty long drive through on-again-off-again heavy rain but i barely noticed. we were so happy to be with each other on a roadtrip adventure that the scenery was secondary. it was a pretty drive, though. all the grape leaves had turned brilliant colors, each varietal with a different hue. we ooh'd and ahh'd at huge fields of yellows, reds and oranges against a still-green evergreen backdrop. traffic was non-existent. no one was traveling in weather like this. Californians play chicken when the sky falls, also known as rain. but we knew better.

we stopped off at Leggett to drive through a giant redwood and snap a few pictures. we pulled over briefly at the Tree of Confusion to marvel at the mother of all bizarre tourist spots. we sneered at one "buy me" redwood tourist trap after another. when we got to Garberville, we ate a delicious lunch at a little cafe that served things like soy margarine on whole wheat english muffins. Garberville is the cross-over point for the Lost Coast, our first destination. cute little town very representative of Humboldt County. it has seemingly contradictory twin influences of loggers and hippies. it has a restaurant named "Nacho Mama". it has a tanning salon.

from there, we drove west over tiny but very well-kept roads until we got to our campsite. the rain had long stopped at this point and we found our campground (excuse me, "tenting ground") beautiful and deserted. we quickly set up the tent and went for a short hike that promised ocean views. the views were not to be but we found ourselves climbing into misty, mysterious forests of evergreens and madrones. it was absolutely silent, adding to the eery nature of the place. we thought we heard the ocean but decided it was just the wind.

back at the campsite, with sunlight still available, we hopped back in the car and took a quick trip over the hill to Shelter Cove. Shelter Cove is an odd little village. it sports several motels and restaurants, an airport, a golf course, a lighthouse, far too many ugly homes, a general store that sells everything from bait to real estate, and a population of under 100. we checked out the lighthouse and watched enormous waves batter the coastline. then we headed back to the campsite to make dinner. it was only 4:30p but the sun had set and we were running out of any semblance of light. by the time we were back, it was pretty close to dark and there's no dark like camping dark. so i dumped one of the Duraflame logs we'd picked up at WalMart on the way up into the fire pit and started to get it lit. some people tried to blame me for extinguishing the Duraflame when in fact some people rolled the log over into the wet ashes. of course, some people's idea of putting the log on rocks ultimately saved the fire.

we next tried to get our borrowed camp stove going but at first only managed to ignite a huge pillar of flame. however, after giving it a break to sip our beers and be cozy in front of the campfire (and briefly consider driving back into Shelter Cove for dinner), we got it working right and whipped up some tasty spaghetti and sauce. after dinner, at say, oh, 7:30p, we struggled to stay awake and finally crashed about an hour later. (we weren't sure of the time since i'd insisted we remove our watches as soon as the trip began.) camping of that sort tends to resets the body's clock back to something primal and primitive. when we went to bed, it felt like after midnight.

during the night it poured but our tent protected us well and by the time we got up, it had stopped and i could see blue sky. pretty great weather. we ate super-gingery granola, took a quick walk and learned absolutely nothing about the Sinkyone indians, including how to pronounce "Sinkyone", then broke camp and headed out.

we took Highway 1 south and stopped off in Fort Bragg for a tasty meal (i was craving and got a bacon cheeseburger) and a well-needed pee (sweet, sweet urinal!) before heading exactly nine miles down the road to our inn, just south of Mendocino. you may wonder why i'm pointing out that it was exactly nine miles. this is my penance for doubting that my girl knew what she was talking about when she said we had nine miles to go.

our inn was BEAUTIFUL. it'd looked beautiful on the website but it's so easy for pictures to be deceiving, i wasn't expecting all of it. but it was all of it plus some. the whole thing was covered in wood, all of it reclaimed from fallen trees with no artificial stains applied. our room was quite large with a big comfy bed, a couple neat leather chairs, a gas fireplace, a private deck looking over the ocean, and a huge jacuzzi tub. at first, i was disappointed that the fireplace was gas but when i figured out that i could turn it on or off at a moment's notice, i pretty quickly got over it. we showered and changed and generally transitioned from camping to sweet fancy inn-ing. made some reservations at Cafe Beaujolais and then headed into Mendocino to walk around and look at stuff. came back for wine tasting and some yummy hors d'oeuvres. enjoyed our back porch a bit. then headed back to Mendocino for dinner.

Cafe Beaujolais was quite nice and, if it hadn't been for our dinner the following night, would have been the best meal of the trip. the inside was painted a very pleasant green that contrasted well with the white tablecloths and wainscoting, and dark hardwood floors and chairs. the service was pleasant and prompt. the sea scallop appetizer was delicious. her entree, sturgeon in some smoked mushroom sauce, was delicious. my chicken left something to be desired but was still tasty. i'm learning that Corinne is quite excellent at picking the best thing on the menu while my success rate is much less consistent. thankfully, she lets me take lots of bites of hers.

we went to bed fairly early that night, though still not as early as camping, and slept quite well.

the next morning, we woke up to the alarm, set so we wouldn't miss breakfast, around nine. showered, dressed and walked the forty-feet to the dining room/lounge. i ordered some spectacular banana-nut pancakes and fresh orange juice. Corinne had an egg white omelet full of mushrooms and spinach, and fresh ruby grapefruit juice. both were excellent. afterwards, we read a little then took a walk on the beach and collected "sea glass" -- pieces of broken bottles that had been rubbed smooth by the ocean and deposited on the beach. we found green, white, clear, blue and pink, but red alluded us. i'd never heard of sea glass before but it was quite fun collecting it and the pieces looked beautiful sparkling in sun in her hand. later, we tromped up to Mendocino to look for a bowl to put them in, expecting to pay something like $20, and found one at the co-op grocery store built in a old church for $7.50. not bad! then it was time for horseback riding.

i hadn't ridden in a few years and was never that experienced to begin with. Corinne had only ridden once before, back when she was 14. so we were both novices and put ourselves down as such. she ended up with a championship endurance racing Arabian, albeit twenty-something years old, and i got a "spirited" mare. they were both well-behaved until we got to the beach and decided to pick up the pace to a trot. hers went and mine insisted upon racing him. i had to reign in hard to get "Sophie" to knock it off. they definitely wanted to be let loose. Cor did great but ultimately we decided it was better we stick to a walk. it was still quite nice being on a horse. plus, our guide was thinking of going into emergency medicine and Corinne gave her what advice she could. i even got her to tell a couple of her grossest stories.

we arrived back at the ranch a couple hours later safe and sound. Sophie gave me a quick nudge of her snout in my crotch after i dismounted, probably telling me how much she didn't like me reigning her in. we paid up, said our goodbyes to the horses and the guide, and headed back to the inn in time for more wine tasting and hors d'oeuvres. we played a little gin, at first mistakenly with a Pinochle deck, and split the games between us. i chatted with the owner who'd been a emergency room physician in the Bay Area and had even worked in Corinne's hospital. unfortunately, she didn't get to talk to him since she was too determined to beat me during a particular lengthy game.

that night, we ate at MacCallum House in Mendocino. oh my. wonderful, wonderful food in a wonderful atmosphere. it's an old Victorian with a big fireplace in the main dining room and the perfect romantic lighting. we had two excellent appetizers: a plate of chard, bacon, mushrooms and cheesy gnocchi, and a cheese plate with pears and covered in a mildly sweet honey sauce. we made happy sounds with each bite. for dinner, she had very delicious risotto cakes and i had venison and boar sausage in a Syrah sauce. both were very tasty and very creative. we finished it off with a souffle that was an absolute perfect finish.

after dinner, we took a quick drive along the coast with the stars and stopped off at a "vista point" to admire the ocean and listen to blues on the radio. then we headed back to the inn and played a crazy game of factoids, charades and impressions until late. i did my best Nixon impression while she tried to convince me that missionaries really do toss out Bibles to heathens like they were throwing frisbees. i was quite sure we were going to wake up the other inn guests with our howling but no one came knocking on our door.

that morning, we enjoyed another delicious breakfast courtesy of the inn then packed up, checked out, and got back on the road for home. we took Highway 1 down a few miles before crossing over on the very beautiful Highway 128. we got back to my house around 2:00p, dropped off my stuff and then headed over to Oakland to get rid of hers. we lounged for a bit then motivated to go see Jackass in Emeryville. given that it was five in the afternoon on a Tuesday, we were two of only four people in the theater. we laughed hysterically, though Corinne occasionally choked out "i can't believe i'm watching this" between guffaws. that just made me laugh harder.

afterwards, we went to her coworker's house for a sushi rolling party. i met a few more of her friends and got a tour of a very pretty house. Cor finally called it a night and we headed back to her house so she could change and get ready for her shift. that's right, after all that, she had to go to work for eight hours. poor girl. i was taking well-needed naps on her bed while she got dressed and caffeinated. i kissed her goodbye and drove home to my bed. i've been missing her ever since.

tonight we're going with Donna and Erik to see Cirque du Soleil at PacBell Park. she'll have to split right after and go to work but it'll be very nice to have her within grabbing distance again. we both have our own lives, our own friends and our own independence, but it was quite good to share some quality space and time. really must do that again soon.