Wert - day 14

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Up at 2:51 a.m.  Showered and repacked the suitcase, trying to make sure it was under 50 pounds this time.  At the last minute, I felt like I should take my hiking boots out.  Left the motel at 3:20 a.m. on very little sleep.  Returned the rental car.  Checked in at the airport. Suitcase weighed 49.6 pounds! The revelation about the hiking boots made the difference.  Made it through security with no blunders.  Arrived at our gate hungry and tired.  With less than half an hour before boarding, for reasons that were never explained, we had to change gates.  Walked to the new gate and boarded the plane.  Then the flight was delayed for some mysterious mechanical reason.  Then there was some maintenance paperwork issue that caused another delay.  The pilot announced that we were leaving, but the plane continued to sit at the gate for another 30 minutes.  Then the pilot said that there was a problem removing the jet bridge so another delay.  We were supposed to have a layover of almost two hours in Dallas, but with all the delays, we were concerned that we wouldn't make the connection.  

I dozed off and slept through the snack/drink service, so no pretzels and water for me.  In a moment of weirdness, the guy in front of me leaned back and out into the aisle at the same time I was leaning forward to get my water bottle and our faces touched.   We both yanked back and returned to our business.  We were careful not to make eye contact the rest of the flight or even in the airport afterwards.  Flying is a strange experience because you sit so close to complete strangers for hours at a time.  

We did make the connection in Dallas (thankfully, the arrival and departure gates weren't too far apart), but Mike's gate-checked bag did not.  It arrived the next day.  It was a great trip, and we learned some things, some of which I'll write about later.  

Wert - day 13

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Waiting in line for a short ferry ride to Alcatraz Island.  Masks are required.  It's the only place on the trip that has strictly enforced masks.  Good thing we brought some.

My preconceived notion was that Alcatraz would be a barren, dismal rock. I was pleasantly surprised.  There's beauty everywhere; you just have to look for it.  Lovely flowers were growing all over the island, and several kinds of birds were nesting there. Check out this adorable baby seagull. Who knew they were spotted?

Beauty and new life blossoming in a place of desolation.

Gorgeous flowers growing out of a concrete wall on Alcatraz.  The symbolism really spoke to me. 

We took a tour of the main prison building. It was way more interesting (and sad) than I had anticipated. One prisoner talked about how he used his imagination to picture himself in the Swiss Alps.  Another prisoner in isolation would throw a button from his jacket and search for it until he found it in the darkness of his tiny cell and repeat this activity all day long to distract himself from his situation.  I go on imaginary trips and make up mental games for myself to escape the boredom of my job on slow days, and these poor guys were doing similar things to escape their horrible reality.  The human spirit is indomitable. Except when it's not.  I stood in front of a picture of a former prisoner, looked into his eyes, read his story, and cried.  He was sent to Alcatraz for stealing $16.38, slipped into a depression at Alcatraz, received no help for his mental health, and was shot at age 40 while trying to scale a wall. He just needed a little help. Heartbreaking. I had to go back outside and look at the flowers and birds. Alcatraz turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.  

Seagull flying over Alcatraz. Freedom and hope.

We were planning to catch the 2:35 ferry off the island and go to our 4:00 paragliding appointment, but the pilot called and said we should come as soon as possible because strong winds were forecast for later.  This was our last chance to do this, and we didn't want to miss it, so we put a rush on it.  While Mike drove, I scurried around in the backseat of the rental car, trying to switch gears on the fly to get ready for what was coming.  I folded down the back of the seat and crawled into the trunk to access the suitcase with the long underwear and gloves.  I changed my clothes in the cramped backseat, licked peanut butter out of a tiny container since we weren't going to have time to eat, and packed a bag.  Stuff was strewn all over, which we would have to deal with later.  

We parked at Mussel Rock and climbed a steep cliff to get to the launch point.  Mike's pilot was Kabib.  He was friendly and talked with Mike during the flight and pointed out whales.  My pilot was Hernan, who barely spoke English.  I thought at one point he may have said "many whale" but I wasn't sure, and I didn't see any whales.  I did see lots of pelicans that I had noticed flying above us when we were still on the ground, and now they were flying below us.  We were way up there high in the sky.  Hernan started doing some crazy maneuvers, dipping and tossing in the wind. My stomach dropped onto the beach and I thought I might hurl.  Hernan said, "You like?" and I smiled apologetically and felt like a wuss as I said, "Not really".  Meanwhile Kabib saw us doing it, so he did it too.  Mike's reaction was the same as mine, which made me feel less wussy.  

When we were on the cliff, about to take off, Hernan strapped himself to me and said, "Run to ocean."  I ran until the ground disappeared and my feet were just kicking in the air, and Hernan laughed and said, "Stop running."  We floated high over the ocean and it was peaceful.  I wanted to lean back against Hernan so I could relax, but I didn't think we had that kind of relationship, so I supported my own body like a big girl.  After about 30 minutes, he said, "Legs up to land" so I shot my legs out. He laughed and said, "Not yet."  A couple minutes later, he said, "Legs up now" and I did and then all the sudden he yelled, "Stand up now!" and I stood up in the air and landed on my feet on the ground. 

Mike's takeoff was not as smooth and his landing was a little harder.  

It was an amazing experience, and I'm glad we did it, but I don't need to do it again.  We were both nauseated for a long time even after we landed.  We checked into the Vagabond Inn and ate a strange mix of leftovers for dinner. Oatmeal, stir fry, banana.  Our only requirements for tonight's hotel were: cheap, close to the airport, and free parking.  It met all those requirements and was actually pretty great!  We had a good view of the planes taking off and landing.  We went to bed and set the alarm for 2:51 a.m.  We didn't sleep much.

Wert - day 12

Tuesday, June 14, 2002

We went to the glass beach on our way out of Fort Bragg.  It's a beautiful beach. 

We met a guy who said he paid $11,000/yr just for fire insurance. A woman nearby said she can't even get fire insurance for any price where she lives (Laguna Beach). How can people afford to live here?  Gas costs about $7/gallon. We got gas at the Sinclair, and they were advertising falafel at the Dino Mart.  It actually looked pretty good, but we didn't get any.

We drove winding, hilly Highway 1 to San Francisco with spectacular views all the way. 

As we approached the Golden Gate Bridge, I started a weird little panic attack thing that lasted until about 15 minutes after we checked into our hotel.  I had a hard time figuring out how to pay the $9 toll online to cross the bridge.  I felt overstimulated as we got into the city.  Everything seemed big and unknown and rather scary.  Mike went to check on a hotel and I was supposed to watch the parking meter and feed it if the authorities came by but I couldn't figure out how to feed it. It didn't take normal money; you had to download an app and pay electronically somehow.  I felt old and incapable.  We got into the hotel and I couldn't even figure out how to turn the lights on in the bathroom because the switch wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before.  I couldn't figure out how to hook up to the wifi.  I just wanted to get out of there and go home.  My blood pressure was high.  Mike saw me looking like a deer in the headlights and talked me down by telling me that I had been in bigger cities than this and done just fine.  He was patient and kind with me.  I put on my big girl pants (literally changed my pants and my shirt too), put my hair up, and started feeling my normal self come back.  

We walked to Pier 39, bought tshirts for the kids at a souvenir stand, and watched sea lions and ate. 

The weather was perfect and we had a good time. Saw lots of interesting looking people.    
 

Wert - day 11

Monday, June 13, 2022

Last night at Bethel was really good.  During worship, songs were coming out of my mouth that I didn't know and had never heard.  They bypassed my brain completely and went right through my spirit.  The melody corresponded with what the worship team was playing, and the words even rhymed. It's so loud in there that you can sing something completely different from what the people around you are singing, and it all blends together like a heavenly chorus.  I've never had music flow through me like that before, and it was powerfully fun!

Then I went to the pool and  played with some super nice kids that were in there too. 

When I went to get out, one of the little girls said, "Thank you so much for playing with us!"  I saw them at breakfast this morning, and they waved and smiled like we were old friends.  

We left Redding and headed south toward The Avenue of the Giants to hike among the redwoods.  

I like to lie down under trees and look up into their branches. 

My view from down there

We continued south on Highway 1, which is an incredibly winding and hilly road.  It would normally have made me carsick, but that healing must have been included with all the rest of my healing, because I had no trouble at all.  I'm thankful for that and also that Mike is such an excellent driver.  

We didn't have reservations for tonight, so we stopped at 3 places and checked them out.  The one we liked best offered us a 50% discount because it was getting late and they wanted to book the room.  So we got a great room with an ocean view for cheap.  Our room was right on a popular walking path, so people walked right in front of our big window and could look in at us, which was a little odd.  We just waved at them. 

We were there in time to see our first sunset of this whole trip.  Today is the first day that it hasn't rained since we left home.  It was cold and very, very windy, but the view was gorgeous. Fort Bragg is the most beautiful place I've ever been.

Wert - day 10

Sunday, June 12, 2022

Raining when we woke up this morning.  I had new pain and made the comment to Mike that something new hurts every day.  I used to be able to scamper on the beach barefoot and climb sand dunes and hike uneven uphill trails for miles with no effect on my body at all.  Not so much anymore.  I hobbled to the bathroom feeling old and sore.  A song entered my head.  I took a shower.  I was reading in First Corinthians, and chapter 12 verse 7 jumped out at me, and I felt the Lord impressing upon me that I should pursue the gifts of the Holy Spirit not just for myself but to benefit the whole body of Christ.  As we were leaving for the 10:30 service at Bethel, I could already feel the Holy Spirit stirring in me and a sense of anticipation that He was going to do something during church, not just Bethel but also my home church of Trinity.  

When we got there, I saw Kris Vallotton, who is a rock star in my mind because he taught a lot of the classes (via video) from the class I took last year.  I approached his bodyguard (yes, he has a bodyguard: a big guy with a secret service earpiece) and asked if I could meet Kris.  He facilitated that for me and even took a picture of us together.

I was in awe of him and the fact that I was actually there at Bethel, which is a pilgrimage I've wanted to make for awhile.  Bill Johnson (an even bigger rock star to me) was scheduled to preach, which is what I had hoped for when we planned this trip, but his wife was sick so Kris was going to preach (which would have been a close second for me) but he felt like Chris Cruz had a message, so he turned it over to him.  I was disappointed but still happy to be there.

(This whole paragraph is about my awesome experience at Bethel Church.  Skip it if you're not into it.  The travel adventures continue after this paragraph.) During worship, I closed my eyes and saw a white light in the middle of my field of vision and a bunch of smaller different-colored lights encircling it.  The white light stayed stationary but the colored lights twirled all around it.  The more they moved, the bigger and brighter the white light got.  God told me that He was the white light, and we were the colored lights, and our worship was magnifying and glorifying Him.  Then Jesus said, "Do you want to come up here?" and I said, "Yes!" and He said, "Lift your arms up to me like a little kid who wants to be picked up."  I raised my arms as high as I could, and Jesus reached down and picked me up and I was among the colored lights, moving with them.  Jesus was moving among us.  After several minutes, He caught my eye from across the expanse, and we started walking towards each other.  When we got close, we wrapped our arms around each other in a tight embrace and he came into me as if by osmosis, but I could feel the substance of Him in me.  My whole body was vibrating on the inside, and I felt His healing power flowing through me.  I felt like a brand new creation, energized by His power and love. Nothing hurt in my body.  I became vaguely aware of the worship song being sung at Bethel and it seemed far away from me.  I realized it was the same song that had been in my head early this morning, and I went back down to join in singing it.  I felt like I had one foot in heaven and the other in the sanctuary.  Eventually I came all the way back down and realized I was all wet.  I thought maybe it was from swimming in the glory, but probably it was from tears and sweat.  Mike said that he saw me with my arms up high and tears streaming down my face.  Chris Cruz preached a message right to me about things I have been pondering and praying about for over a year.  It was inspiring.  And it reminded me of the verse that had been highlighted to me in my reading this morning.  I got words for a couple people from Trinity and I saw a vision/word for a lady in front of me.  I started the service in awe of Kris Vallotton and ended it in awe of Jesus. 

Last night we talked to the couple next to us at a restaurant.  They recommended visiting Sundial Bridge and Turtle Bay.  So we did that today after church.  The rain had stopped and it was a perfectly beautiful day to walk across the bridge and tell the time by the giant sundial's shadow.

 Next to the bridge, there's a wonderful walking path along the Sacramento River.

We saw hummingbirds, butterflies, and all kinds of plants.

Those look like tasty California grapes, don't they?  They are not.  They are evil, nasty horrible tasting things that probably aren't even edible.  

Torch lily

And there was a parrot aviary with beautiful birds.  You could buy food to feed them, but of course we don't have cash, so we just watched other people feed them. But then this happened:

This bird hung out on my head for a long time, even though I wasn't feeding it.  It was great!  It didn't even poop on me.  

Mike had a close encounter with some birds too, and an even closer one with a fish.

It's been an amazingly awesome day, and we're going back for the 6:00 service at Bethel tonight. 

Wert - day 9

Saturday, June 11, 2022

It was a chilly rainy morning in Crescent City.  We packed up and started driving south down the 101, which would normally be full of great views, but today all we saw was fog and rain (and Big Foot).

I tried to dry my hiking boots, clothes, and camera that were still wet from yesterday's fiasco. 

Constant rain until we headed east on 299, inland toward Redding.  Then the sun came out and it got hot.  Every time we stopped, I put my hiking boots out in the sun, because I need them to be dry so I can hike the redwood forest. 

Staying at a hotel near Bethel, where we were going to go to healing rooms tonight, but they're canceled.  Looking forward to the regular worship service in the morning. 

Wert - day 8

Friday, June 10, 2022

Back to the Little Brown Hen for breakfast. We were sitting by a mom and her two little kids. She went to use the atm when she realized they only take cash. She couldn’t remember her PIN. I gave Mike a nudge to pay their bill. We had a nice chat with them and her little boy said, “Thank you, Mr. Mike and Janel” in such a sweet way that it made me cry. When they left, the kids gave us these little origami birds.

Went in search of Phil's magical trail and found it in Siuslaw National Forest, Siltcoos Lake Trailhead.  

They update the bear signs with markers when one is sighted, but the marker was mostly washed away, so we were on the lookout for bears the whole time.  

It was indeed a magical forest, full of mist and fog, trees dripping with moss.  My imagination conjured up scenes of fairies and unicorns.  We were the only ones on the trail. 

The trail was a little muddy.  We got a little filthy.

It was raining and/or misting and/or dripping the whole way.  It was humid like a rainforest, so we shed our layers.  Mike tied his sweatshirt around his waist, but it came loose.  I was behind him, so I picked it up and carried it for a couple miles before he realized it was missing.  He tied it back on and took off down the trail (which was somehow uphill both ways).  A little while later, I saw his sweatshirt on the ground again, so I picked it up again.  Turns out he had dropped it on purpose this time and was waiting around the bend to see my reaction.  

We drove to Crescent City, California, and stayed at the Oceanfront Lodge.  When we were checking in, the guy said something about the original room we booked being unavailable so they gave us a free upgrade.  The upgrade was wonderful!  We had reserved just a regular room with a queen sized bed.  They put us in a suite with a jacuzzi in the room, a huge bathroom, a balcony with a fantastic view of the ocean, a kitchen, and a king sized bed.  Everything was old and dirty, and the toilet leaked, and the computer in the business center didn't work, and there was no water in the pool, but it was still a great place.  

I scampered across some rocks to go to this lighthouse, but when I got to it, the lighthouse keeper told me I had to hurry back because the tide was rising and I would soon be stuck on the lighthouse rock all night.  So I ran back and the water level was already higher and the rocks were underwater.  I fell into the water with my good camera and my phone.  

My phone was unscathed, but my camera has still not recovered.  I had just captured a picture of Big Foot, so my theory is he pushed me into the water in an effort to hide the evidence, but it didn't work.  I was able to recover the picture from the memory card.

I'm starting to believe this whole Sasquatch nonsense, because I saw him again while we were driving and I went to grab my phone to take his picture, and I could not find my phone.  In the car. Where could it be? After he disappeared into the mist, I found my phone right where it should be.  Then I tried to google Sasquatch, and guess what? Suddenly no internet connection.  Hmm....

Wert - day 7

Thursday, June 9, 2022

Went to the Little Brown Hen for breakfast.  Good food, nice people, homemade marionberry jam.  I'm not familiar with the marionberry, but it seems to be popular around here, and the jam was delicious.  The Hen only takes cash, and we didn't have any.  We also didn't bring an atm card.  Thankfully one of the employees agreed to let us PayPal him.  

Cute little dog in the van next to us.  He was needlessly scared of me.

We stopped at a grocery store on the way home to get food for later, and there was a mini Pacman game there.

From the parking lot, you can walk right out onto some sand dunes.  That was a fun adventure we weren't expecting!

Mike found a kildeer nest 

Random quote from Mike: "If you get hungry on vacation, you're doing it wrong."

This brings us to The Case of the Missing Swimsuit.  Skip this whole paragraph if you're not into it.  Several days ago, I hung my wet swimsuit in the car while we were driving.  That night, I wanted to wear it to swim in the hotel pool but I couldn't find it.  We both searched the luggage and the car, and it was nowhere to be found.  I wore my backup suit, and we had much discussion over several days about where the other one could be.  I moved everything, looked under the seats in the car, rummaged through all my clothes, looked in strange places.  Where could it be?  I thought maybe it somehow fell out of the car and was gone forever.  This morning we were going through the usual "what do we wear in this kind of weather" routine and I decided on my lighter coat.  As I took it off the hanger, I said to Mike, "Why does this coat feel so heavy?" and as I attempted to put my arm through the sleeve, I was blocked.  There was my missing swimsuit, stuffed into the sleeve of my coat.  The odd thing is, neither of us remembers putting it there.  

My cousin Phil told me about a "magical trail" that led to a lake that he remembered doing when he was here.  His directions were a little vague (just south of town, trail on the east side of the road), but I wanted to go search for it.  We found something that looked promising.  It did end in a lake, but it was not magical.  Watched a bird diving for a fish and then moved on.  I saw several places that matched the description, but Mike didn't pull over every time I said, "I think that looks like a magical trail!  No wait, it's a driveway."  When we got back to the hotel, Phil sent more detailed information, so maybe we'll try again on the way out of town tomorrow.  

Mike took a nap while I walked the beach searching for treasures.  It was chilly, spitting rain, and very windy, and the sand was stinging my legs, but I do love the beach. 

I saw a seagull with a gimpy leg, and I was eating a banana, so I sat near him and offered him some.  He eventually came over and ate it.  We went to the pool and were going to walk to a house that was being constructed, but it started raining harder, so we're staying in tonight.