Forest Knolls

The area I live and work in is sort of strange, in that it's very rural yet less than 10 minutes from a very urban area.

This is as big as I could get it... that tiny green arrow is
Forest Knolls. Fairfax is the nearest urban area. You
might want to google map it yourself to see better.

By rural, I mean there are cows, turkeys, and horses along the main road going through. Mitch & Julie's neighbors have chickens. Woodacre, the town my mom stayed the night in, is very residential but there are horses right smack dab in the middle and a goose that honks constantly across the street from a cottage I might live in.

Horses, in the middle of the residential area!

So it's sort of like the edge of the Chicago suburbs, except it's a lot closer to the city.

I feel compelled to make a list of differences:
-Each town seems more tightly packed. Tight streets, tight houses, few big fancy yards and long driveways to get to the garage are rare.
-Few chains! No big strip a la Randall Road or North Prospect or Roosevelt Road. I haven't seen a McDonalds, Target, Burger King, or Taco Bell in days. Granted, I have seen A subway and A Jack in the box, and beyond that I probably wouldn't recognize a California Chain.
-It's hilly (majorly hilly), so there's no grid system. I constantly have no idea which way is North and it's a little uncomfortable.
-Gas prices are different when paid by cash versus credit/debit and are advertised as such:

I take terrible pictures.

Other pictures from the road and from the area:

Quail! In the driveway!

Mitch and Julie's - where I'm currently staying

A young redwood - 2 years old I think

Roadtrip!

I should start with a little introduction.

The purpose of this blog is to convey to my friends and family what I'm doing here. As an AmeriCorps member, a very poor person in a very wealthy area, a non-profit intern, a community member, a housing-searcher, a cat- or baby-sitter, the list goes on. You know, updates on my life. Basically, I've moved across the country to work for SPAWN as an AmeriCorps intern. I've never lived outside of Illinois so this is an adventure and a completely new experience for me.

Let's get on with the story:

Saturday, September 23rd. My mom and I set out from our home in Paw Paw, Illinois and drive for 2 and a half days to Forest Knolls, California, stopping in Cheyenne and Reno on the way. My mom had a cold and wasn't feeling well, so I didn't make her drive much and let her sleep, a lot. So I was a good daughter. On the other hand, I wouldn't stop to eat except for breakfast and late late lunches/early dinners, so I don't think that helped her...

2066 miles - could it be any farther?

Monday, September 25th. We've arrived! Since we have done no sight-seeing on the road, we drive off to highway 1 (the pacific coast highway), stopping at Stinson Beach and Muir Woods. Redwoods, Pelicans, and I try an oyster. Adventure-ific.

Mom likes SPAWN's watershed biologist's
bumper so much she takes a picture

Tuesday, September 26th. Mom leaves.

For the first week (and a little bit of the 3rd), I'm living with a family of 7 - a modern day Brady Bunch! Dad Mitch is on a business trip, so I haven't met him yet, Mom Julie is home, his kids are with their mom and her kids are here, with her. Though I've met only half the family and the dog always thinks I'm an intruder, they're very nice. The native plant nursery that I'll be doing a lot with is on their property.

Next week I'll be adventure-ing in Fortuna and Mendocino, north of here, for AmeriCorps orientation. Drug testing, paperwork, camping, CPR, "swiftwater safety", and so on. There I will meet Heidi, who is the other AmeriCorps member assigned to SPAWN and whom I have been in contact with via email. After that it's back to Mitch & Julie's, then to Candace's until October 30th.

Candace is one of SPAWN's volunteer naturalists. She has a couple cats and is going on vacation to visit relatives and her sweetheart in October. Rather than hire someone to come in and look after the cats and plants, she's allowing me to stay at her place while she's gone, which is amazingly nice. I've gone to her home and met her (the cats did not show their faces) and she is incredibly helpful and welcoming.

Most the time I've been here thus far has been spent looking for housing post-Candace. I might continue to live with Mitch & Julie's family (though in addition to the dog they also have an indoor/outdoor cat, which usually is just fine but occasionally I'm more effected that I want to be - allergies) or with another family in the next town over. I've also seen two studios which I could share with Heidi (AmeriCorps doesn't pay enough to get my own studio). Having a low paying job and living in this area is difficult.

All in all, the people I've met are really friendly. Interested in chatting and knowing who I am, where I'm from, how they can help. And they're tea drinkers, which is great, my kind of people! Today I went to see a studio that probably wouldn't work and ended up staying an hour with the woman chatting. People here are great, not that people from the midwest aren't nice enough. But the lack of snobbery is refreshing. That or I haven't hit upon it yet - it's probably a city thing. I remember Chicago snobs and if I were in SF, I'd probably get SF snobs.

I'll try to keep future posts shorter and more to the point. I will also get batteries for my camera and add any more pictures that my mom sends me (except the really ugly one from the Salt Lake). Unfortunately my cell phone is basically useless out here, so you're welcome to email me!

Oh, and NPR out here is great.