Gigi on Tour » Pacific Coast USA

California Harmony Project

gerry — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:14:24 +0000

South of Big Sur Highway 1 climbs high, gets windy and gives stunning views of the Calfornia Coast, with kelp beds, big surf, seals, few beaches, and big cliffs. Since STAYCATION (close to home vacation to save money and support the local economy) has become the latest fashion in America, and parks are closing due to the state of California being broke, it is virtually impossible for a tourist to get a camping spot in the summer.

This led us to the magic picnic ground of Mill Creek just South of Lucia and to an inspiring evening and morning with our neighbours Dillon and Mike, who turned out to be the band California Harmony Project. We ate the last filets of the king salmon from La Push, Washington at a sunset dinner and drank enough wine so a ranger could not possibly ask us to leave in the middle of the night as we were above the limit by then.

The next morning they gave us a wonderfully mellow concert in Jack Johnson / Donovan Frankenreiter style. Robinson was introduced to the art Hackey Sack and Sienna was given a harmonica which she loves.

The California Harmony Project live in concert, directly on the ocean at Mill Creek

first hackey sack lesson for Robinson

Dillon and Mike grooving for Robinson and Sienna on the Big Sur ocean

One of the coolest spots on this entire coast has to be sand dollar beach just 10 miles south. A great camp ground, and a secluded half moon beach with great surfing and lots of space for the kids to play all those beach games. It was also the first spot where I could take my booties off and the kids could jump in the water and stay for a while. In the evenings it was true surf community with lots of tents, families, camp fires, surfboards, and a big sense of California community. I love this spot!!

Sand Dollar Beach

Sienna making music with her new toy

Sienna and Robinson with their new toys at the south end of sand dollar beach

perfect marshmallow instructions from the San Diego surf boys

Esalen, California

Gesine — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:32:46 +0000

For me the trip is also about “spiritual places”. Esalen is one of them.
“Esalen – a convergence of mountains and sea, mind and body, meditation and action.
Esalen – a center for alternative education, a forum for transformational practices, a restorative retreat, a worldwide community of seekers. That’s what they say.

It is in a stunning setting directly a the coast surrounded by mountains.

I entered into a world of great people, enjoyed every minute in harmony with this stunning nature, having inspiring talks, enjoyed the hot tub under the stars at full moon, shifted energy during ChiGong classes, got into deep meditation with Peter, let it go while dancing wild, got a crash course session from the loveliest NY lifecoach (thanks Laurie!), was a tree in the Esalen Kindergarden,… Everything was in the flowflowflow.

Beauty and harmony

The most inspiring place for the art of simplicity

An Esalen massage in harmony with the sound of the waves

The magic bowl of harmony filled with water from the hot springs

Point Arena

Gesine — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:23:14 +0000

Life is good here in Point Arena. We met Tim’s friend Andy and Denise and Kalina and Noah. I could go to great yoga classes with Denise, Gerry went surfing with Andy, Noah showed Robinson the horses and Kalina and Sienna were playing with the cats.

It is so wonderful to see, how beautiful life is, if you take time and live your passion surrounded by good friends, that enjoy the pleasures of life. Point Arena is a perfect place with great beaches, great people, organic food and the little Parisienne style bakery :).

THANK YOU TO THE FISHER FAMILY

Gesine, Sienna, Robinson, Kalina, Denise

a house full of soul and happiness

Denise harpooning the chicken

Noah and Robinson doing men's talk

Girls' secrets shared by the fire

Cold but sweet - Gerry at Manhattan Beach / Point Arena

Bandon by the Sea

gerry — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:58:35 +0000

Another gem on the Oregon coast, a little beach town in Southern Oregon, check out the beaches…

the girls at Devil's Punchbowl

hats are a great idea for sunsets in Oregon

my home is my castle

maximum toy transport

Bandon - Gesine's favourite beach (so far)

Pure nature in Oregon

gerry — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 07:13:20 +0000

You need to have your fleece jacket handy all day in Oregon and the water temperature has not changed from 9 degrees C, but you are fully rewarded with grand nature views, great waves and very liberal people. Best campgrounds ever, you can even bring two horses on some of them!!! Important: when the sign says full, come late with sleepy kids and tell the ranger in a thick German accent that the park ranger 100 miles North in another pretty state park told you that this one was the one we have to go to because it is so cool. Now the kids are tired and want their marshmallow and we need a last minute spot. Worked every time in Oregon! Campfires are very calming for the soul (and they warm the marshmallows for the kids!). I LOVE CAMPING! life is so simple in a camp, make food, use your axe to act like a man to make kindling to light a fire, read for five minutes and then go to sleep in your sleeping bag (BTW: the one thing I learned from the Arctic explorer Roald Amuldsen is that the greatest body heat – apart from wild sex – is generated when sleeping naked under seal furs; he of course learned this from the eskimos when he lived with them for a year. Try it: it really works. Women tend to resist relentlessly, but it works for them as well.

So here are some impression from our coastal trip. Our most memorable surf spots, a good day of windsurfing at Hood River (4.2 sail), a drink at the bar of the Timberline Lodge in memory of the Tommi Stürm / Gerry ascent of Mount Hood sulfur bowl with snowboards, a very large whale in Bandon, and lots of beaches and sand and fires…

when we started with our motorhome, we were very scared of its size. We quickly realized that on any given RV park we were lower mid class…

you call that a motorhome? this is a motor home!!!

Fort Stevens in Northern Oregon, the latest hotspot for downwind kitesurfing

The emptiest beach on our trip, and the cutest little beach town, Manzanita

getting refreshment at Mt. Hood, ski resort in back

getting ready for real surf: Robinson riding the Florence sand dunes

lots of sand

all efforts to make Bentley, a two week old leopard, come on our trip failed, instead Robinson plays a Bentley every morning in bed now

Pacific Coast

gerry — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:51:53 +0000

We are now in the Pacific Flow, drifting down the coast from beach to beach, surfing every day. La Push at the Northern end of the Washington coast was our first Pacific open ocean stop. The town hosts the Quileute Indian Nation, and it was their festival the days we were there. To them family and elders play a much more important role than material things. Their houses look like trash but they do not care. They are surrounded by absolute beauty with forests, beaches, waves, eagles, whales. Fortunately, there is a new sense of indigenous pride across the different Indian nations.

Most important purchase: neoprene booties, because it is frigging cold everywhere, 9 degrees Celsius in the water!!!
Best food: 7kg King Salmon bought for 15 $ in La Push at the Wharf
Best beach: you judge for yourself, for us Second Beach in La Push Washington is right up there
Best surf beach: Indian Beach in Ecola State Park near Canon Beach, must be one of the most spectacular settings in the world, with some great waves peeling in, also Short Sands / Oswald West near Manzanita (all Oregon)
Biggest turnoffs: trashy towns, big malls and fat Americans
Daily rhythm: wake up when it gets light, marshmallows on the fire at sunset, fall asleep as darkness settles in (we have now abandoned the concept of hourly time and clocks)
Early realizations: surfing is best in mornings and afternoons, we brought way too much stuff, the kids smiles are the biggest gift, people make towns (they all have a different feel to them)

Sample views from the majestic beauty of this coast:

La Push in the evening, sun dropping in the Pacific

La Push Second Beach West

La Push Second Beach South

La Push First Beach, fog burning off

Quileute Indian Festival, canoe dry run

Port Townsend Fort Warden Beach

Limbo at Kalaloch

dry surf at Pacific Beach

Vancouver is a place where life seems to be good!

gerry — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:20:16 +0000

Leilah and Sami in Kitsilano

best coconut shakes in the world at Sophie's Cafe with the family

Finn taking care of Sienna

Sisley taking care of Robinson

Sienna at Jericho Beach

A happy Sisley

Everything is bigger in America, including the grocery bills

Vancouver – the outdoor city

gerry — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:28:22 +0000

The city feels healthy, a good manifest is the new mayor who is the founder of Happy Planet organic fresh juices. No city brings mountains and beaches this close together, and people live very much in touch with nature. We have arrived and connected with Finn and Sisley, Scott and Basierend auf funf Walzen, dreht sich der Online Casino Slot book of ra deluxe slot Full Moon Fortunes sobald ihr ihn aktiviert habt. Leilah and Lucas and Zazzie and Sami, Joerg and Pascale and Maxime and Bianca. Yesterday we picked up our new home for the next few weeks. It weighs 5 tons and is 9 meters long, you can get lost in it. Heading South tomorrow…