Julia’s Writing

I know, I have hoards of fans hanging on my every word, so the recent silence of my blog has been horrifying.  It’s made everyone wonder, “Has Julia perhaps been eaten by zombies? Been swallowed by one of her own creations that pulled itself out of the computer to exact vengance upon the one who put it in such a horrible position?”

I have one answer for you, dear readers, and that is 42.

Just kidding… it’s no, I haven’t been eaten by zombies or destroyed by my own creation.  I know, I can hear the sighs of relief from here.

So, what have I been doing, you might ask.  Well, I’ve been preparing for a road trip/move.  I’m relocating from Los Angeles, CA to Portland, OR.  I’m hoping I’ll like the change, but I’m not sure yet.  Compared to LA, Portland is frickin’ freezin’ Mr. Bigglesworth. Seriously.

Anyway, I’ve decided to do this trek in a leisurely fashion.  First of all, I have a ton of crap in my car, not in a Uhaul.  I’m not bringing any furniture up as of yet and I’m not bring *sob* all my books.  Just the ones I haven’t read yet or am incomplete on (I’m talking to you, writers of “No Quarter”).

So far my journey has taken me through the lovely, spring-touched hills and stinky beef farms between Los Angeles and San Francisco, with a quick stop at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.  Then, after a delicious meal with fabulous wine in North Beach and a horrendous night of my dog barking at the dog in the other hotel room, I hit up Russian Hill and the Marina before crossing the Golden Gate to drive out through Napa and Sonoma.

Now, if you’ve seen some vineyards, you think you’ve seen ‘em all. Not so in Napa.  Oh My God. I’ve never seen so many grapevines.  There are literally rolling mountains FULL of them.  It’s actually a bit mind boggling.

Anyway, then I started driving through the Redwoods.  If that was you riding my ass, sorry but it’s windy and freaky driving through there and frankly, exceeding the speed limit by 10 miles with all that crap in my car was all I could do. 

Anyway, besides annoying drivers who I mostly let pass me, I loved the drive through those majestic trees.  They were thoroughly gorgeous.  I have no idea how anyone could chop one down, they seem so sacred it makes you play soft music and drive slowly on the road through them.

So, now I’m in Garberville, CA, where the Redwoods are abundant and apparently there’s a drive through the redwoods out here.  Two other places I should mention before describing Garberville – Confusion Hill and the One Log House.  Confusion Hill is that crazy gravity house where water runs uphill and you can climb a wall of the house. It’s very disorienting, but it’s an experience like none other.  The one log house is a house made out of ONE Redwood tree.  WOW!

Oh! I also saw my first hitchhiker ever in one of the towns up here. He was scruffy and red haired with a kind face.  I still didn’t stop, which made me feel bad, but as he drove by he flashed me a peace sign, which was sweet.  Anyway, being a single woman driving with a small dog to keep her company, I’m sure he understood.

Ok, Garberville.  I have to say something about this town.  I’ve never actually seen a hick-town like this.  Population is something like 2000 people.  Can you imagine?  Living around only 2000 people all the time?  I’m pretty sure I’d go stir crazy.  The main industry here is “Wood Products”.  I’m not sure what that means, but I’ve seen several men who look like they’re homeless walking around and they end up not being homeless as they get into a truck or walk into a restaurant.  And a lot of the kids have this horrible, hopeless look in their eyes while others seem defiant in their punk and skater outfits.  It makes me realize that, while I was relieved to “get out” of LA, these kids would probably die just to go their and get out of here.

Anyway, that’s it for me right now. I’m off to The Avenue of the Giants, then over to a beautiful seaside town in Oregon for a bit.  That’s where I’ve been.  Hope you’ve all been well.  There will be new fiction soon.