Hooch hula-hoops on the edge of the continent

Our last show and last few days in California were spent in the beautiful town/area of Eureka, California. We played a show at a bar called the Little Red Lion, which was a cool dive bar that catered to locals. Everyone we met there was great. In a last minute turn of events, we were joined by 2 locals bands for the night. It turned out their original gig for the night was canceled abruptly.  The bar tender at the Red Lion asked us if they could join and of course we were more than happy to help them out! The addition was a win-win for everyone: more people in attendance for us and a show for them.

The night ended with us heading across the bay to Arcata, which is a town only a few miles from Eureka, but which is more of a college town and has a large population of college-age kids. Arcata was cool because we more or less just showed up at this random house party and were able to get down with the rando kids at the party. With some friends from the show in tow, we hung out, danced out, got a stomp-sesh going on the dancefloor, and met some locals before heading to our friend and host’s house for a night-cap.

That feeling

We spent one more day in Eureka before heading to Oregon. The day was spent driving from one gorgeous beach-forest to the other. Our guide was my friend Timothy, who is an old Echo Hill friend and Texan who has relocated to Eureka– T was also our gracious host. He took us to several cool beaches, many of which were obscured by lush forests containing the famous redwood trees commonly found in northern California. We probably walked around 3 to 5 miles from beach to beach and forest to forest. It was all really amazing.

I always get the feeling when I’m on the coast that I’m at the edge of the continent. That realization, that I am at the farthest point (west in this case) almost always envelopes my psyche as I reflect in the wake of nature’s beauty. I have talked to several locals during the tour in the various coastal towns we have played, wondering if they feel the same way, and I have come to the conclusion that only as a person who has grown up in the interior of a country, does one experience this. I would argue, however, that like anything else, appreciation diminishes over time and with increased frequency. Strangely, I typically do not get this feeling when I visit the Gulf Coast. Perhaps there is a sort of ‘curve’ that relates  distance traveled to the location appreciation.

Eureka was great, and I’m glad we got to explore the wondrous wilderness of the area.

Hiking through the verdure

T, our gracious host

Loving it