As we went walking that ribbon of highway...

 

Peering over the cliffs in front of a decommissioned WWII observation bunker on Route 1, we looked upon the spectacular Pacific coast south of San Francisco.   And, the view proudly reminded us of the song written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 called "This Land Is Your Land."

We have now been on the road for over six months, making our way across the Great Plains from Chicago to Seattle and then down the west coast from Olympic National Park to  the Santa Monica Pier (end of the line for Route 66 which originates in Chicago on Michigan Ave).

During that time we have been blessed with the opportunity to soak in the richness of a portion of this country's varied landscapes and traditions, and there's still three-fourth's of this incredible country we hope to cover in the next couple of years.  N. Scott Momaday, a Native American novelist, once said that ."The landscape of the American West has to be seen to believed and has to be believed to be seen." Very true!

We are beginning to realize that the "believed to be seen" aspect of journeying across our country requires an open mind to accept things as they are, instead of how we expect them to be. For example, the graffitied bunker adjacent to the "Devil's Slide" portion of Route 1 has it's own vibe and way of staying current to a new generation of observers. In the past, the blemishes and marking would have created more judgement - now we see it evolving along with the coastline itself.

And then there's Methuselah, an ancient being that we met by accident.   Making our way back to San Mateo from Half Moon Bay, we decided to take a detour on Skyline Blvd which runs along the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is a lovely drive. We stopped at a lookout, and must have had a puzzled look our faces because a man sitting alone spoke up and told us that we should make our way a 1/4 mile south and visit one of the hidden treasures of the mountain.  In the spirit of exploration, we drove down the road a bit, pulled into another rest stop and still didn't see the treasure. Serendipitously (there are no accidents!), a  passing bicyclist recommended that we cross the road and follow a short trail. Off we went!

The sign at the head of the trail would have been easily missed in a passing car... clearly one had to visit the spot with a clear intention (and guides along the way)... 

METHUSALA 
AGE ESTIMATED - 1860 YEARS
HEIGHT:
BEFORE TOP BROKE 225 FT
IN 1954 137 FT
DIAMETER AT BASE 14 FT

Though not visible from the road, there was no missing this ancient elder of the forest as we approached him.  We were stunned by the colossal girth and presence of this "tree." The technical Latin term of this species is Sequoia Sempervirens... Sempervirens translating as "always living."   And Methuselah is bigger than life in many ways as we began to realize then and later when we researched this character. 

He took root in this forest around 200 AD... we could see from the char marks that he survived more than one forest fire along with a great storm that broke almost a hundred feet off his crown in the 1950's. Most importantly, he was spared the loggers' saws which took down most of the other first growth redwoods that once inhabited this area. Conjecture has it that Methuselah was spared the axe because of his extensive burls and knobs - how's that for leveraging your "beauty marks!"  

For us, his presence and persistence to thrive regardless of the challenges, made for another pause of appreciation for what our country has to offer us when we take time to stop and listen.  We looked at each under the enveloping branches and briefly smiled as we recalled the last line of Guthrie's hymn...

"This land was made for you and me!" 

We are blessed!