Is this on Earth? If so, I want to go there!

My older sister and I had been hiking down a well worn path through the forest. The scenery reminded me of the Northwestern US. Most likely Oregon since that is where I'm from, but the rest of the dream is unlike any place I’ve ever heard of or seen. I can understand why it was such a tourist attraction… I’m getting ahead of the storyline so back to me and my sister.

We were following the well worn path. To either side the brush was thick with grasses, ferns, stinging nettle, probably some ivy… anyway it was pretty much impenetrable to the average hiker. The trees were a ways back and the path seemed quite open. We continued on down the trail. I seem to remember the feeling of being followed but it was just in the back of my mind and didn’t really come to the surface. I just didn’t have any desire to return the way we had come. Eventually we came to a fork in the road. Down one branch we could see that the patch had been washed out by a stream that was still flowing briskly. Down the other were several smaller trickles where the other stream had at one point crested and began to flow down that direction too. We weren’t about to try crossing the larger stream and turned to follow down the trail with the couple smaller flows. They were easy enough to stay out of.

As we headed down our chosen lane we ran into more little streams merging with the ones we had followed. In the distance we could hear a low roar. We both assumed it must be a waterfall and continued onwards being careful to stay on the high ground. The sound of thunderous water came clearer as we went on. The bushes, shrubs and trees gave way to open sky and we enter a magical valley of vast waterfalls. Not just one or two but hundreds as far as I could see. The walls of the cliffs were broken and layered giving the water cascades of iridescent drops that sparkled away into the mist. I saw where the stream we had avoided sprang into the open air and fell hundreds of feet to the river below.

I thought there could be nothing more amazing, but little did I know, but the waterfalls were just a small part of this magical place. We continued down the trail that now was joined by others. There we people in groups being led to certain areas among the cliffs where the stopped and one person, the one obviously leading them, began to explain what they were seeing at that area. There we amazing beautiful crystals and colored rocks in strange formations. Some looked as if they just sprung from the ground. Others were as intricate as lace. My sister and I avoided the groups. We had been here before and had our destination in mind. We took a shortcut through what must have been an ancient lava tube that was perfectly smooth as if someone had carved the passage through the stone.

There began to more and more people and we knew we were near our destination. We found an empty stair case leading upwards and began our ascent. We came out in a large cavern that opened to the sky at the far end and overlooked the waterfalls. The end of the cavern we were in had dozen of tables and display cases filled with hundreds of different colors of rocks and crystals and probably some gemstones as well. Peopled milled around looking at the many varieties excited at what they could do with their purchases. We made our way through them to the open area which contained the rock pools. This was a site to see. Thousands of varieties were each in their own pool. The pools were used to refine the rocks and smooth them in a more natural way. Jets of air would sift the rocks against each other occasionally spitting one a foot or so into the air. It made quite a racket but with the waterfalls nearby it just added to mystical nature of the area, but this still wasn’t our final destination. As we snaked our way through the people we ran into our Mom who was enjoying one of other treats found here. Some of the pools were made so you could walk out into them and you would sink half way past your knees in the rocks. The rocks were constantly being shifted by the air from underneath which created just enough movement to allow someone to walk through them. It is slow going but you can slowly work your way out and sit with all these little rocks bouncing against each other and against the person sitting there. It can be quite an incredible and relaxing massage. Mom was in line for her turn.

As we circled around the rock pools we caught our first glimpse of the area the "younger” crowd generally comes to see, the water slides. The ancient lava flows have been carved out and smooth by thousands of years or running water. There were people everywhere, but we had our own little known place that we had found and that was our destination.

My Steampunk Adventure

There was more to the beginning of my dream, but it escaped me shortly after I woke. The first I remember now is that I had need to go visit my friend who was quite an eccentric builder of strange instruments, well beyond my understanding. I seemed to know that the time period was closer to that of the late 19^th century rather than my current one of the early 21^st.

As I made my way through the swamp, for I remember having to walk on a strange sort of wooden trail, somewhat rickety so even the surest footed man would need something to keep him upright as he followed it amongst the buildings. Luckily someone had thought of that and had developed a system that you held onto as you made your way down the path. I only remember it being a board that hung down and I held onto it. The trail wobbled quite often and I lost my footing many times but as long as I held onto the board I remained upright and could re-balance myself and continue onward. The wooden path was not nearly as tall as the swamp grass but easily followed. As I made my way down the trail at night, I seemed to be able to tell that there were a multitude of creatures hidden in the swamp grass below me. A majority were snakes.

I arrived at my destination and I called out to my friend. I somehow knew he would be in this certain workshop of his and as I opened the entryway upward I was surprised to see the wall of a wooden device staring back at me. It was varnished to a high shine and seemed to almost glow. I made my way around it and was greeted by my friend. I noticed the contraption then in its whole entirety. It was a boat with strange metal boxes and pipes. I knew it must be some sort of engine. How I knew it was an engine seemed to come from the fact it was built on the back end of this curious looking boat. Rather than a propeller it had two large enclosed fans that were extended to either side of the back of the boat. They could be controlled in a way that they could be tilted forward and backward. Thus I knew that they were what steered the boat.

My friend greeted me and began to tell me about his newest invention. I only heard half of what he said as I continued to examine this wonderful craft. The first thing that sunk in was him telling me he had wanted to do some more fine tuning on the boat over the next couple days but that she was more than ready for a trial run and he asked if I wanted to take it out with him. I whole heartedly agreed and was as excited as I could ever remember being.

The next I remember was sitting inside the boat as he released the controls and the floor the boat rested on began to lower. It was a wooden floor made of multiple sections that as they lowered the boat began to tilt forward and slide. In seconds we escaped the confines of his workshop and he started the engine. It was extremely quiet compared to the revving of the fans. Somehow I knew the engine ran on the power of steam rather than the modern day fuel of combustion.

It was still night out but the sky was clear and the stars were bright. I don’t remember seeing the moon. I felt the wind on my face as we accelerated into the night. The swamp grass did nothing to impede us as we sped out into open water. For several minutes we zoomed around and around testing the maneuvering of the boat. I was thoroughly enjoying the night air rushing around us, but sooner than I wanted we were heading back to the shop. He mentioned something over the roar of the fans about it building up too much pressure in the engine and needed to get it checked out and something about it possibly exploding if it wasn’t released. I was all for it not exploding. I left him to it and made my way out of the workshop.

I next remember being in his study. It was a cozy corner of the room I headed towards that had a high backed brown leather chair that looked very comfortable and which I quickly learned was as comfortable as I imagined when I sat down. Books and papers and designs were piled on nearly every table and desk. He began telling me of his pressure problem in the boat’s engine and I interrupted and joking said that it sounded like it needed to fart. He got this faraway look and I knew our conversation would be short now that he was back in design mode. I guess my joke was somewhat of an answer after all.

The next part of the story ended when I awoke from my dream and could have been quite an adventure but as we all know, a dream must end sometime. Sometimes our lives are like dreams and we always hope for that happily ever after. I’m still looking and dreaming of mine.

I went to meet my friend out near the river. He and his wife were there as well as another young lady I unfortunately don’t remember much of, just that I knew she was a friend of his wife. Built on this spit of land was sort of a park and my friend was there working on another wooden contraption. This new construct suspended a rather large kite looking object. I knew it to be some kind of glider that you could be strapped below and float on cushions of air, but it was more streamlined and angular, closer to a large paper airplane. We were nowhere near any cliffs that this could be launched from. As I approached I saw that his wife was harnessing herself beneath the glider. I knew her to be quite an adventuring sort and new she was very excited to be part of whatever her husband had created. As I came closer I saw that he had in his hands a long tube open on one end and a pointed cap at the top. He was attaching it to the glider. His back was too me as I approached and before I could get there he ignited what I then saw to be a rocket and shortly afterwards the propulsion launched the glider up his wooden supports. His wife’s feet left the ground as she was propelled into the air. I could hear the excitement in her voice as she soared out above the river. Suddenly there was a shift in the wind and I knew a storm had come. I looked towards the glider and saw that it had been sharply turned from its previous course. It looks like she had wanted to turn and return to the park but the strong winds instead took her further out over open water and towards the large lake that the river emptied into. I could already see that the water was becoming rough because of the wind. Instantly I thought of my friend’s boat. I knew he was thinking the same thing as we both ran in that direction. His workshop was not far, but I also knew that his wife was not wearing any floatation device, so she was in quite a bit of danger. I somehow knew my friend had fixed the pressure problem so that was no need for worry. The thing we worried about was getting to her in time hopefully before she was forced to land in the lake.

It was there that I woke up. Danger is often one of things to wake me from dreams. I think that is why I have never really sought much adventure or extreme sports in my younger days. I have always had plenty adventure in my dreams. I would always find away to escape the danger in my dream or wake from it. I found this dream fascinating enough to want to put words to it. Maybe this is something I will do more of as I seem to be having more of these dreams and can remember much of them as I awake. I’ll post this one on my blog and see what the response is, not that I get many visits. Especially since it has been more than a year, since my last post.

Until my next adventure...