One of the students broke the silence asking, “Will you go to the ocean?
I responded that yes, we surely would.
“Bring some back,” he said.
I laughed. “Bring back the ocean?”
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Wildness
That moment was one of the most special moments we’ve had along this trip. Kids flocked in and surrounded the cart walking away with their ice cream treat. Some held them in the air with smiles on their faces and showered Kian and Shane with thanks. There is no description for that feeling that comes with putting a smile on a child’s face.
As we pulled onto Highway 1 we picked up a hitchhiker named Cory. He was from northern California and was making his way to Mendocino. He had driven the highway probably hundreds of times in his 58 years. Cory was an excellent guide down the coast, giving us some history of the redwood logging of the old days and pointing out sights along the way.
We gave them a couple of stickers and told them about our trip. It’s incredible how many opportunities we throw away to hear what others think and have to say. These guys were no different. We’d usually pay more attention to our food than to the people’s lives behind making it. On this day, however, we didn’t let that conversation slip by us.
At first things were slow. We started some loads of laundry and used their internet to keep you all updated on our whereabouts. A woman came in with a couple of loads and filled up two machines. Nate swept in behind putting two stacks of quarters on the machines. She seemed a little confused. Why were we doing this? After hearing our story, she seemed genuinely appreciative.
She looked desperately at us. “Have you seen a black wallet?”
“No, sorry.” we answered in unison. She’d lost it sometime between using it at the taco truck and entering the next store. We helped her look around the parking lot. Nothing. She searched her car. Still nothing.
The melancholy was short lived as a person came walking out of the woods waving her hands and walking into our path. We came to a stop in the middle of a vacant mountain road and rolled down the window. She was hiking the Oregon portion of the Pacific Crest Trail and had made a wrong turn or two (probably running from the swarms of mosquitos).
As we slowly twisted our way through the forests of Oregon we came across a girl on the side of the road working her tail off spinning, twirling, tossing, and whirling a sign that read CAR WASH in big bold letters.
In Raymond, WA, we fueled up the car at the Chevron station. Nate went in to pick up some of his own fuel in the energy drink cooler and met a man named Ky. Quiet at first, Ky opened up immediately after Nate asked him how he was doing.
Fittingly, the server’s name was Nate. Even more fitting was that he had red hair. The day we left Minnesota, a certain red-headed server in Hawley, MN (also Nate Haugen’s neighbor), gave us $50 to give to a red-headed server.
Today we met a man from New Mexico named Andy while at a beach in Seaside, OR. We were just walking back to the car from the beach when we noticed a man sitting in the back of a mini-van with the side door slid open. He wore a U.S. Marines hat as he looked quietly toward the ocean.
In the market area, we met a man named Mr. Unity. He was 75 years old from Vietnam and performed magic tricks in the street to raise money for his hometown in Vietnam -- magic with a message.
At a rest stop somewhere in Washington we met two young folks selling baked goods to raise money for a mission trip to Yakima, WA, this summer. High schoolers work with kids while they work toward personal and spiritual growth. They shared their story. We shared your support.
There we met a hardworking young gal who helped us in the map department while she answered phones, helped customers, and maintained her positive attitude all the while. She was swamped with work but that never interrupted her personable and approachable manner.
As instructed by some locals, we had breakfast at Pinky's Cafe in Livingston and decided this would be a great opportunity to buy breakfast for everyone in the cafe! We made a deal with everyone that we would cover breakfast if they took a picture with us and to no surprise they all accepted.
The place was beautiful with a perfect taproom atmosphere. Before long a couple of women approached us with the opportunity of a lifetime. We could buy tickets to a split-the-pot that supported Montana Conservation Voters, an organization that supports the preservation of Montana’s clean air and water, open spaces, wildlife, and public health.