“If you want  
to go fast,  
go alone.  
If you want  
to go far,  
go together.”  
African Proverb

So many things in life are relative. For example, in San Francisco, any temperature above 85º is officially classified as “extreme heat.” Due to The City’s coastal marine layer, standard summer highs only reach the low 70s. In Palm Springs, however, “hot” weather generally begins when daily temperatures consistently exceed 100º, typically from June through September. “Extreme” conditions are classified as anything above 110º. So what, exactly, is “hot weather”?

Time, too, is relative. A person who flies from San Francisco to Los Angeles on a regular basis, a trip which normally takes only about an hour, might consider the five to six-hour flight from San Francisco to New York City to be quite long — until, that is, they compare it to their once-in-a-lifetime 11-hour flight from The City to Tokyo. Yes, time is relative. So, too, is distance.

Kathy and I embark on what I consider to be a long road trip today. Quite regularly, I drive from our home in San José to The City. I don’t consider that to be a long trip. The 50-mile ride generally takes just about an hour, except during commute times. I can handle that without a problem. Today’s trip, however, begins in San José with our ultimate destination 365 miles away in Eureka, California. This trip is expected to take more than six hours. At my age, that’s a challenge I’m not willing to take on.

For this reason, we’ll only drive as far as Willits, California today. We’ll spend a full day there tomorrow so that we can enjoy a two-hour ride through the redwoods on the Skunk Train. The highlight of the trip will be a visit to the historic Wolf Tree near the town of Crowley Lake (population 980), which sits at an elevation of 6,939 feet above sea level. 

On Sunday morning, we’ll continue on our way to Eureka where we will have the opportunity to visit with Kathy’s older brother, John, and his wife, Linda. John moved to Eureka back in the 70s to attend Humboldt State University. He loved the area so much that he decided to make it his permanent home. We’re looking forward to our visit with him.

So yes, I do consider a drive from San José to Eureka to be far. For this reason, I’m grateful to be taking this trip with Kathy. As the African proverb quoted above states, “If you want to go far, go together.”