In my July 8th post I wrote about visiting the Our Lady of Lourdes church in Oakland and attending a special prayer service. I also posted the 2nd stanza of a special song which the musical part was written by Beethoven. I tried to merge the song which I had downloaded; however the blog did not allow me the function.

Enter my friend Martha, who sent me the following link today. I think you will recognize the tune as well as agree with me that the staging was unique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=GBaHPND2QJg&feature=youtu.be

Note! You may have to copy and paste the link as the limitations of my blog does not allow you to just click on it. You may also want to revisit the July 8 post.

Enjoy! and Martha thanks again.

I owe lots of gratitude to a number of individuals for making it possible to take this 5 week long trip. First, my wife Carol who stayed behind and took care of all my chores at home and also submitted those encouraging comments. To, Elaine and Fresenius supporting me all the way. I could never have taken this trip if it had not been for their support at all hours.
My thanks to Lori for allowing me to stay in her place. As a result of meeting her I had to change my mindset regarding Oakland. She also found my old Army Buddy Dan at Palo Cedro, one of my highlights. Thank you to my daughters Hillary and Margaret for planning the days at Bolinas and Pt. Reyes. Thank you also Nina, without your suggestion I would never have experienced FtBragg and Mendocino. Thank you also my readers and your special comments. Every comment on your part encouraged me even more.

Finally, does technology matters on a trip such this one?

It is amazing that a little sliver like this I-touch provides you with all the tools you need to keep a blog. It was amazing to me that I would not have a cell signal for my phone, but encounter a WiFi network almost anywhere. I could keep up with was going on in the world, except in Oregon where they blocked access to my German daily newspaper, because someone had detected a top less woman on it. I was also thankful to the brilliance of daughter Hillary. She remembered that she could revive her I-Phone, which had all our Bolinas driving instructions, by plugging it into her laptop. At close to midnight surrounded by pitch black terrain we were considering spending the first night in the car. Technology was very important as we would not step into a restaurant, unless the girls consulted with "yelp" an I-Phone application.

Finally, Carol and I have to work on our airport pick-up routine do we can shorten a 6 hour wait on my part. Like two ships passing in the middle if the night we were missing each other. I thought she would meet me at curb lane, she looked for me at the carrousel inside. Her cell phone was safely back home in the other car. Many thanks to my good friend Charlie who picked me up at after one a.m. and took me to emergency. Good friends are priceless.

I am still awaiting results on a Catscan regarding my internal bleeding and I do hope they will find the root cause soon.

Regarding this blog. I am not sure if I want to continue it. It had been a lot of fun. The people I have met on this trip have been special and I do hope you have enjoyed reading about them. There was Sharon who upgraded my room in the Redwoods along with Steve and Thor, there was Theresa who made the week in Ft Bragg possible. I do hope that I get to the Pacific Coastline again, except Santa Cruz. If you have been to Panama City Fl you'll know.

God Bless!

Peter

The above pix was taken in Athens two days ago. What is the mystery?

...Point Royal.

It is a good bet that when Sir Francis Drake landed on Pt. Royal in 1579 it was several yards further south from where it is today. This little peninsula was located even further south near where Monterey is about 60 Million years ago and is moving about 2 inches per year. Shaped like what I would describe like a "sliding T-bevel" tool, it is joined to the San Andeas fault line on the edge of the Pacific Plate. It was here where the epicenter of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was centered. While SF was destroyed by fire and explosions the plates here simply just moved 16 yards and caused huge fissures along with flipping the morning train on its side.

See the gap in the fence line.

When Sir Francis claimed the Point for England the queen was aware that this land belonged to New Spain and confiscated the captain's log and under threat of treason commanded Drake and his crew to keep silence and refer to the land as New Albion. It was nine years later that the Spanish Armada was destroyed and the British accepted Drake's story as official.

Today the drive from Reyes Station about 20 miles in distance takes you on Sir Francis Drake's Highway to the very point of the peninsula where a lighthouse equipped with the most modern equipment issues warnings to ships coming too close to the coastline. The drive takes you through lush agricultural terrain and fields with grazing black and white cattle. It is not unusual in the summer months what we experienced about half way to the point. While at Reyes Station just 10 miles back we bathed in 85 degree sunshine, suddenly we were in the middle of dense fog and icy winds.

Unfortunately, access to the lighthouse was closed. It is noteworthy, that Pt. Reyes provides a spawning environment to a host of sealife, including elephant seals. An estuary shaped like a human hand was named Drake's Estero. Why the Spanish name Estero was given, puzzled us.

The fog people

The picture above gives you a feel of the summer fog experienced by us. It also shows clearly how the trees are coping with the foggy conditions and the ever present wind. On this day walking underneath the tree umbrella it actually was raining and at least 5 degrees colder. You could see these human figures wrapped in a hooded sweater in these foggy conditions and not just on Pt Reyes, but also on Bolinas. Apparently, the Indians had a belief these were sacred grounds, but you should not stay too long, lest you go insane. We could understand that!

Back under a cloudless sky we took the Earthquake trail a .6 mile loop. It gave us a chance to walk on either side of the continental plates, westerly on the path we stood on the Pacific Plates and taking a step to the East we bounded onto the North American Plate. Walking the educational path, I had the feeling that below us was that sleeping beast and at any minute it could wake up and swallow us up. Kind of walking the edge. In a sense it was exhilarating.

In closing, the three if us had a great time. I was so lucky to have both my grown daughters for these three days. It was a bit colder than we expected, but the sauna and hot tub warmed the girls and it wasn't too cold to use the BBQ grill on two occasions. At the same time we had a roaring fire going as well. Mid-July in the northern Hemisphere this is crazy!

I have tried to capture what I thought the highlights for me where. If Hillary and Margaret want to add their thoughts, please comment. Once again, the wildflowers were everywhere and a poster said Pt. Reyes was home to at least 90 different kinds of wildflowers. Remember, that strange cauliflower looking plant in Ft. Bragg? I ran across it again at Pt. Reyes and apparently it is a Coastal Buckwheat. Another mystery solved.

We hated to say Good-bye to this natural wilderness. I do hope you were able to copy and paste the address I provided in the earlier message. If not, just Google or Bing Pt. Reyes, it gives you an idea if the beauty of this special little place.

Having received a lot of encouragement to complete my blog, I am submitting the following teaser:

When looking on the map and viewing the mystery peninsula just 30 miles (but 90 minutes by car) what shape in term of tools comes to your mind?

a. Sliding T-bevel
b. Carpenter Square
c. Half of a caliper
d. Likeness of all the above

I have included a web link of the area in question as the fog was very heavy along the coastline when we visited.

I will include my personal impressions of the beautiful, rugged terrain tomorrow, but I wanted to give you a chance to get familiar first.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=point+reyes&id=07EA5BE0281BAAD356208FBBC39BEDD9D8B55D7A&FORM=IQFRBA
 
 

Thanks for the encouragement you all. I will assemble my notes and post my impressions on one of the most beautiful and rugged places just 30 miles north of San Francisco. Can you guess the place?

Stay tuned. I had started to post my material when I left the blog and consequently lost what I had posted.

Then yesterday and today one examination and bloodletting after another.

Don't worry I am OK. You are keeping me invigorated.

It seems that there was payment due for my 5 weeks of travel, as I discovered blood in my urine on the flight home. I am in the process of having it checked further.

I have some extensive material from our last day to close my blog. Anyone interested in that material?

Needless to say that the days with both daughters were fantastic and we wound up seeing special places.

Cycler crapped out. Awaiting 5th unit tomorrow.
Time spent with technical support ate into my blog time. Frustrating!

Had a great time with girls. We experienced a day with two faces.

Sneak preview: (more tomorrow)

Sunny side up with temps in mid-80's

A couple of hours later at Point Reyes. The readings you see on the chalkboard are real as the other side of the day turned into a fog day.

More on Pt. Reyes later. What a unique place, despite the fog and icy conditions in July.

I don't recall ever being at a place where 20 feet could produce a perfectly calm setting or be the difference of 20 degrees in temperature or 40+ mph wind pinching back your ears. Surreal! If we wanted to experience the famous San Francisco fog, we had come to the right place.

We had come to Sausolito - very cute village on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge - to pick up Margaret at the ferry terminal. It was sunny and there was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was almost too warm. Then driving approximately 2 miles we almost encountered arctic conditions. Quite an experience.

The fog would never lift enough to catch the bridge post in the background.

It is great to be together with Hillary and Margaret. The girls cooked a great dinner and we managed to grill fresh salmon. Our place is just perfect.

Like the Eveready Bunny, Bob Oertel, a great friend and neighbor, motor just keeps running. Bob also an ex-Aqua Buddy still has some ladies at the Y ask about him. Happy Birthday, good buddy and keep on rock'and rolling!

Remember that thing? It got me good! Trying to outwit it and get Lori to handle it tonight I pushed it to its limits. What should have been easy turned into a mess. There was only so much that apparatus could hold. I leave the rest to your imagination. Yet, as Sofie and Bud watched me rectifying the mess I seemed to detect some secret exchanges between the two. Their message? Look at that human idiot!

Today the vacationing Bachelorettes return, meaning Rennie and I have to clear this lovely flat for the past 10 days. That means packing and cleaning, especially the latter. Gotta make sure I check the coach for discarded chips.

I will miss the flat, the cats, the wonderful bedroom with the natural breezes keeping everything pleasantly cool, the walks with Rennie around Lake Merritt, the Trader Joe's within walking distance, the architecture of the buildings, the multi-cultured people teeming in the parks just to work out or having an endless picnic.

Lori, that was a tremendous leap of faith on your part, turning over your home and cats to a stranger you had not even met. I do hope that I can repay you for your gracious offer staying in your flat in the future. Your cats were delighful and despite the mischief they can cause they are sweethearts. I will miss Bud bringing me the long feather in his mouth do I can play with him or Sofie diving into a Trader Joe's paper shopping bag in full force. Thanks a bunch!

Now it is on to Bolinas a small village north of SF where Hillary has found a craftsman style cabin for us for the next 4 nights to stay. Hillary is flying in from Austin tonight and Margaret will join us via the Sausolito ferry tomorrow. Bolinas has a certain aura akin to Key West with supposedly a bunch of free spirits running around. I wonder if we will find it? Apparently, the city gave up replacing the road signs as they kept disappearing.

More on that as the week unfolds.

Good-by Oakland, you'll be missed.

Yesterday morning when Rennie and I walked around Lake Merritt I had left my I-Touch behind and missed this spectacle. However, this morning we left the flat at 6:30 and the mettle had added another member. Although I must say the 4 yesterday were in more of a rhythm and I think they could have been choreographed with some African drums they were so good. I think if you watch closely they three in the center show you what I mean.

CATCHING UP ON COMMITMENT AND PRAYERS

Apologies for the "shook up" picture. I almost did not post it, but I wanted to make a point and they had locked the doors when I wanted a retry.

I had been behind in my prayers for people I love and have had surgery or will face one soon. So if you have to let lose and do some serious pleading with god, where do you go? If you are really bad off, I am told that Lourdes located in Southern France would be the only place you have a chance. Well what do you know, right around the corner there is this church called Our Lady of Lourdes. That said, you enter it and instead the usual small dish with holy water to greet you, there is that flowing fountain. I think you could jump into the pool if the spirit would move you. The front of the church has that crucifix hanging over the altar; however you can see the altar is arranged in a circle with chairs to the side and in back. Of course, the main ship still has the majority of the pews.

Music consisted of an organ player and a tenor with a Guitarre. I was taken with his clear voice leading the congregation in song. The readings and gospel were explained by the presiding priest and my mind had drifted off a bit (which it does often during the sermons). The reason was that he mentioned that Jesus was taken aback by the people from his own town, who questioned his roots and did not heed the substance of his message. He then after letting them know what he thought of their lack of faith, proceeded to teach in neighboring villages. That put a different twist to the way I always viewed the goodness of his teachings. A little human, "take it or leave it" message, there?

Anyway, another music rendition of the Lord's Prayer took us the Holy Euchorist and with glad heart to the recessional hymn, Joyful, Joyful, we adore you. Like always I love this song, I guess I am partial to Beethoven and I am admitting it. We had completed the first stanza and were halfway to the second, when it happened!

I suddenly was struck by the personal discovery that this particular part was my sort of "leitmotiv" of my current journey out here. Here are the words:

All your works with joy surround you,
Earth and heav'n reflect your rays,
Stars and angels sing around you,
Center of unbroken praise;

Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain,
Praising you eternally!

Yes, the tall Redwoods, the endless fields of wildflowers, the raging waterfalls, the great Pacific, the magnificent birds, the helpful people, what a great supporting cast.

I was by then not able to hold a tune (what else I'd new?) and I could not read the letters any longer soaked up in emotion over how wonderful life and love of god is. There was applause at the end of the song. Hey, wait a minute applause in a catholic church, when will the miracles end?

Here Julie, Dee and Sally and anybody I have not listed and are in need of supporting prayer, I am offering you this uplifting song of joy. There is so much beauty around us all created for our enjoyment. Consequently, as you recover from your surgery and each step or motion seems to be unbearably difficult, know in your heart that better days are ahead and that god is on your side. Julie, I was sorry that I could not light the promised candle, it seems that this church does not provide this service, but I was requesting special care for your difficult journey.

I wish each off you the joy of the remaining Sunday. God Bless!