it will only be worth about $800,000

After showering and getting dressed I headed to the kitchen here at the Redwood Hostel and oh my, there’s more people here than I thought.  It’s a big kitchen, two stoves and fridges and and three big industrial sinks and smaller fourth one, and several tables, and yet, it was packed.  It sure smelled good though.  I eventually made my breaky and sat with Giovanni, Phylicia and Kunio from Japan.

Afterward, I got packed up and headed north to the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and found the Boy Scout Tree trail head and set off.  It’s pretty wet, still raining, I was fairly well bundled though.  About half way in, I slightly twisted my ankle, minor, but I decided to head back out and not risk doing worse damage.  It was still a great hike and good workout.  Off to Crescent City again to the coffee shop and wi-fi.  I’m moving my Europe journal and pictures to WordPress.com and it’s just a little time consuming.  I’m trying to do two entries each day and I’m a little over half way now.

Last night I booked four nights at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel near Pescadero and they have wi-fi so maybe I’ll get a little more done there.  On the way back to the hostel, I made a stop at a lighthouse I saw and walked around a bit.  The wind and rain were pretty brutal though.  I climbed up a perch where a bunch of seagulls were toughing it out, nose to the wind.

So, I got back to the hostel today about 3:00, no one else is here yet except the manager and she’s cleaning so I jumped in and helped for awhile.  Then I sat down to write.

Just when people started arriving, I cooked my supper before the kitchen rush started, a nice cheese tortellini with pesto topped with diced tomatoes.  Mmmm mmmm.  Later in the evening Kunio and a couple of new arrivals joined us in the living room and we chatted swapping travel stories.  Simon is a good looking California surfer guy, only he’s not.  It’s a bit unsettling to hear a British accent coming out of his mouth, it just doesn’t fit.  He’s traveling with his friend Hardy and both are in the U.S. on study abroad program through Ohio State University.  They reside and work in Oregon for a year and just came down for a few days.

Ryan, who is the husband of Kaci, the manager (they and their two year old son live at the hostel), is from Ohio.  So, I mentioned that I’d like to get up a game of euchre, and he was on board right away (it’s a midwest game).  So we got Simon and Kunio and taught them the game and had at it.  Ryan hadn’t played for years and neither had I, but it came back to us quickly; he’s fairly competitive and got riled up a few times, just as it should be.

We learned a little more about the Redwood Hostel.  It’s about 100 years old and is of course in the state parks and also on tribal land.  The building is in need of some work to the tune of about $1.6 million.  The problem is that if and when that work is completed, it will only be worth about $800,000.  A good chunk of the cost would be for an architect to remain on site and observe since it’s a state park and all.  Another chunk goes to the tribe for whatever.  If the work does not get done, it will most likely be condemned.  Most of the building is in pretty good shape, it’s just one corner that is having some problems and, it has to be retrofitted to meet earthquake standards.  Wow.  I hope they make a go of it, it sure is a neat place and Kaci and Ryan do a great job.

3/18/09 – Update – The hostel is still in business for the time being, yea!

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