From the Redwood Forest

This is a dangerous statement to make but today might have been one of my favorite days thus far. After a crazy couple days in LA and San Francisco, we intentionally made our day in the Redwood Forest focused on R@R. Bonnie asked us to describe in painstaking detail a meal that has taught us about America. This morning we woke up in the beautiful Northern coast of California and enjoyed a Denny's grand slam breakfast. It was refreshing to be i



the small town environment especially with the view of coast and mountains right out the window. I had scrambled eggs, an English muffin, granola, fresh seasonal fruit, and some of Ken's pancake puppies. Now, let me explain the pancake puppy to you--its a ball of fried pancake batter that goes great dipped in hot coffee. I think this meal is telling because it highlights the transition that we are going through as a nation with restaurant food. While we still want our traditional greasy and fried Denny's breakfast we are also feeling the pull of the health food craze. The slice apples at McDonald's make us feel better about the double cheese burger we are eating and even Sonic is offering wheat instead of white buns now. On a larger scale, we can learn a lot about the U.S. by the meals we consume in restaurants. Recent studies have shown that obesity is a major health problem in our nation but are we really committed to change or do we want to just feel like we are trying. Apply this to any national problem. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina--do we want to put people back in homes or just help out for a week and feel good about that? Additionally, isn't there a certain comfort in knowing that we can have the same Grand Slam breakfast at literally any town in the U.S. and if we can't have that we can surely find a latte at Starbucks? If we are what we eat then it seems that we are well-intentioned without serious results and obsessed with routine and repetition.

Anyways after breakfast we headed to the Redwood forest to hike, journal, meditate, and enjoy the incredible beauty. I couldn't help but immediately start planning a trip to come back with my family. The trees were of course immense, which I expected, but I didn't expect there to be so many massive trees. None of our camera lens could do justice to this place, its size, or its beauty. I think in a couple weeks I will look back on the Redwoods and think that I just imagined their size. I guess I will have to come back and experience their magic again.
Afterward we got a shower in the park, did laundry, grocery shopped, and cleaned the bus. Emily and I did a little exploring of the semi-dumpy but very charming town of Crescent City and landed in a small Mexican restaurant to have some refried beans and coffee. Thank you to everyone who is reading, its fun to hear that people are following!!! Tomorrow we head to Oregon! I'm taking my clean body, dressed in clean clothes, to clean sheets in my clean bunk in a clean bus!