Too many Americans are falling victim to inertia. It’s so hard to get out of our house when we could be sucked in video games or TV. Unfortunately, this is leading to a nationwide epidemic of obesity, according to the Surgeon General. My solution to this problem is to get out and have more, real-life adventures. A great place to have them is up the coast, around Mendocino and Fort Bragg.
To get there, take Highway 128. The road is windy, but just after you pass Boonville you will find yourself surrounded by monster redwoods. This is an excellent opportunity to get out and stretch at the feet of these ancient giants. They put our tiny little monkey lives in perspective when you consider they live 20 human lifetimes, or 160+ presidencies.
Continuing along 128, you hit the coast. Drive north to Mendocino and Fort Bragg. You might be hungry by then. Fortunately, the food in the area is surprisingly cosmopolitan. There is plenty of organic meat, and other culinary anomalies including gourmet vegetarian and a raw food "cooking", which is at the very least, an adventure.
A great time to go to that part of the state is in November, during the Mendocino Mushroom Festival. If you go during that time, you’ll learn about one of the most misunderstood, yet fascinating, classes of organisms, fungi.
When we were there we took a mushroom tour at Van Damme Beach State Park. Our guide showed us a fungi species that smelled like exactly like bleach, and another that turned bright red when squished. We even found a Laughing Gym (Gymnopilus spectabilis) mushroom, whose east-coast cousin purportedly makes people laugh for hours-- or worse.
