Home Again

Sunday: (10/12) We were up early and back on the road. We stopped in Ukiah at Friedman Brothers Hardware and the TSC (Tractor Supply Company). These stores always require our attention when we're nearby.

Next stop, the Solar Living Center in Hopland. Always an interesting place to visit.

Back on the road. We ran into stop and barely go between Santa Rosa and Petaluma then again through San Francisco. Certainly reduced our fuel mileage.

We stopped in Redwood City to fuel up then went by Harry's Hofbrau for dinner. It's October fest time so we all shared Weinershcnitzel dinners. Finally home about 8pm.

Monday: (10/13)Lou and Dawn went down to San Jose. When I did get up, I emptied the car and washed it. I also washed the RV then completed washing the sheets and making the beds for the next trip. I delivered the toad to the shop for a scheduled service visit tomorrow. I stopped by our local China Mei restaurant for dinner.

Tuesday: (10/14) Since I'm without car today, I mainly goofed off today until Lou returned home late in the afternoon. We had left overs for dinner.

Wednesday: (10/15) I spent the morning designing my storage sheds and making material lists. I decided not to put a shed back up where the old shop was against the house. We really are enjoying the light that comes in the windows that were covered all these years. I'll build two sheds against the side fence about 15 feet from the house.


I started to work on moving the junk from where I'll be building our new yard sheds, two 10'x10' sheds. One will serve as a shop, the other for storage.


Lou attacked the living room wall. She removed the damaged drywall from the living room side of the shared bathroom wall. The shower leaked and damaged much of the wall previously. The bathroom was repaired years ago but the living room side repair was deferred. No need to have the whole house unlivable all at once. Why not a little unlivable all the time? Lou removed the drywall and cleaned up the debris placing it in the car.

Lou and I went to a new Chinese buffet in Sunnyvale, the Sunny Buffet on Matilda Avenue at Ross. The food was very good and Lou didn't have a reaction so I may get to visit the place again. If a restaurant uses cottonseed oil or MSG then Lou breaks out and we don't return. All went well!


Thursday: (10/16) Lou and I moved the canopy that was by the old shop to it's new home under the oak tree. I lowered it back down to the normal height and installed the walls. Previously I had raised it up 3 feet to just provide shade for the shop and to provide lots of headroom when moving around plywood sheets and the like. It will provide a home for the rest of the "stuff" from the old shop, the stuff that has collected under it and a home for all the bicycles. While I'm building the new permanent storage sheds where the old canopy was, the temp shelter will protect the "stuff" form the rain and winter weather, hopefully.

Lou washed down the framing to kill any mold and treated the carpet an padding as well. One reason for replacing the wall is her concern for a moldy smell she notices when we return home after having been away. I don't notice it but she does and she's dong the repair so I'm quite agreeable.


Lou and I went to dinner at her favorite Chinese restaurant, the New Tung Kee in San Antonio Square in Mountain View. We then did some grocery shopping before returning home.

Friday: (10/17) Began with a run to the dump. Then we stopped by the IKEA store for breakfast. It's next door to the dump.

I then took some time to get the pictures uploaded and onto the blog. Lou replaced the rollup plastic door material for her pottery shed. I finally got outside late in the afternoon. Those darn pictures took quite a while to get posted. Enjoy! I started moving stuff into the relocated tent shed. The wood pile will have to wait until Sunday.

Lou fixed some a stir fry meal of tomatoes, onions peppers and spam. Quite good.

Saturday: (10/18) We had breakfast from Jack-in-the-box this morning. I had one of their new bowl breakfasts. Lou ordered a croissant but got a burrito. Breakfast was adequate and fast. We had to get going early.

Lou and our neighbor Meilie went to a rummage sale. I went to the doctor again. Seems like a habit recently. I called yesterday afternoon, at Lou's insistence, to have them check on my chest pain which I've pretty much determined is a recurrence of shingles. Fortunately, no rash yet but the same pain and sensitivity as was experienced 23 years ago when I first had an outbreak. Since the pain is over the heart, Kaiser is interested enough to see me again. A couple of weeks ago, in Eureka, when I went to the hospital, they cleared my heart with an EKG. The doctor did another EKG today and compared it to one I had in August for my pre-op then. No change or problem with the heart. So now, the determination by Kaiser here is the same as at St Josephs Hospital in Eureka. The heart is OK and I have a pain in the chest. So,  find a way to enjoy it? There's not much they can do for shingles. I'm starting to feel like a hypochondriac with all these doctor visits over the past few months. It's a good thing we've been hanging around home so much.

About 0930 Lou and I drove up to San Bruno and caught the BART train to San Francisco. Red Bull was having a soapbox race today at Delores Park in the Mission District. It was an interesting event. We sat on the grass in the park and watched the race on a Jumbotron TV. I forgot to bring my camera so I took some pictures with my phone. Someday they may end up here on the blog. Until then look at the Red Bull website for pictures. We could also look over at the end of the track but it was easier to see it on the big screen. The big screen died just before the end of the race so we headed down to Mission Street for a late lunch at El Herradero Restaurant 2224 Mission St. The place was crowded but we got right in before the big rush and our order was taken right away. Unfortunately, everyone in the restaurant was having a long wait for their orders to come out of the kitchen. Obviously prepared to order. Our order took about 50 minutes. Fortunately they had really good salsa and fresh chips. We then looked around a few shops then headed toward home.

Sunday: (10/19) I baked up a batch of Italian sausage and some pork rids and then fried some home fried potatoes for breakfast. Lou fixed the eggs and we had our breakfast. Most of the meat was then frozen for later use.

I went outside after updating the blog. I moved the wood pile into the relocated tent and also moved almost everything else from the patio so that the concrete can be broken out.

Lou was busy with crafts, her wall replacement project and ? Lou cooked a corned beef brisket and made sandwiches for dinner.

Prairie Creek Redwoods SP, Orick, Ca

Tuesday: (10/07) We headed North after filling up the gas tanks. We stopped for breakfast in Trinidad at the Trinidad bay Cafe, one of our must stops when we pass. We started breakfast sharing one of their berry cobblers then topped it off with an omlette that lou and i shared and Dawn had oatmeal.

We then headed on to the park about 20 miles further North arriving about 11am.


The park is half shut down and the kiosk is closed and almost nobody here so we found a nice spot on the prairie easily. It's overcast and threatening drizzle but quite nice.

The sun finally came out later inthe afternoon. We relaxed in camp then Lou got energetic and barbecued some chicken and steaks for dinner. Lots of leftovers for later.


About 6pm we took a hike around the prairie on the Elk Prairie Trail.


Always interesting things to see along the trail. A wet spider web. A pod on what we determined was a wild rose bush.


Above left is the view of Elk Prairie. On the right are Lou and Dawn hiking the trail.


From across the prairie on the Elk Prairie Trail we got a nice view of our campsite from a rise on the trail. We also came upon the main elk herd.

When we arrived back at camp we had several new neighbors. The mist was rising from the prairie and the overcast returned. We stayed inside and watched TV, really ruffing it.

Wednesday: (10/08) The low foggy mist over the prairie burnt off really early and the sun was out. We enjoyed watching a fellow camper break camp and pack up. He was on a motorcycle touring the Northern route. He had all the comforts and seemed to be very organized putting it away and back on the bike. He retired a couple of years ago and takes a couple of the trips a year. Evidently his wife still works nd he uses a GPS device called a Scout to allow her to follow his location. He can also sent an OK message back through the satellite. When he camps for the night, he sends an OK message. It can also send a 911 call via satellite so it works in the boonies when he takes a hike. Sounds like something I really should get since i usually hake alone.

We broke out our planes for a little flying time until a little breeze came upo and we decided to quit rather than loose a plane iin the trees.


Around noon, I packed a lunch and we drove out to Fern Canyon. It's about 4.5 miles by trail 12 miles by road to the canyon. There are several streams to forward on the beach road but today wasn't a hiking day.


We found some critters along the trail, a caterpillar and a beetle.


From Fern Canyon, we hiked along and by the beach.


It was a bit cool on the beach but the views are nice. The textured sand on the beach looks like the moon?



We passed a small elk herd and some bachelor elk on the way back to the car. Crossing the stream from the beach to the parking area was exciting.

From the end of the road it's about .1 mile to the mouth of the canyon, a narrow steep fern covered walled canyon. The trail is a bit wetter and muddier than usual due to the ecent rains. But it was as green and ferny as usual.

Of course we started with lunch overlooking the ocean then the hike.

When we returned to the mouth of the canyon we turned right instead of left toward to car. We decided to go see a waterfall that is about . mile further up the trail. Wee didn't find the waterfall probably due to several detours on the trail due to mud holes. e hailed up about a mile and then out to the beach then back the beach to the car. As we were hiking from the beach we saw a couple of old bachelor elk grazing in a pond right by the parking lot.

On our way home we went out to the Redwood National Park visitor center about a mile sout of the town of Orick. We also stopped at a couple of the craft vendors in Orick. There are only about 6 ventors left o the 15 that used to be here. Either a sign of the bad economy or that people really don't need redwood sculptures from China?

We stopped at the Palms Cafe for dinner.We started with a piece of homemade peach pie. Then I had an excellent chicken fried teak and Lou and Dawn shared a steak. Everything I homemade good.

The evening was topped of with a campfire. The weather was very nice today.

Thursday: (10/09) A nice clear morning. Breakfast was spaghetti. We relaxed around camp all morning and flew our planes. Lunch was leftovers, of course.

Lou and I took a hike a little ways out the james Irvine trail and back. It wasn't as much fun as planned. Fro some inexplicable reason thwy have eliminated to best part of the trail by rerouting it. It now totally bypasses the center of the best redwood forest to be found and is routed far away on the side of a hill a half mile away. Brilliant! Of course, it was still a good hike. How could it be anything else here, just not as good as it could have been.


When we returned we had a new neighbor that had a friendly cat. The cat was interesting because it looked like a leopard. Acording to the owner, that's because it was. Evidently a cross between a cat and a small type of leopard cat found somewhere?

For dinner I fixed a bi batch of spaghetti. Enough to last the rest of our trip.

When we took our evening walk around camp to see who arrived, we met another cat. Seems like more and more people are camping with their cats.

Friday: (10/10) Breakfast was simple, spaghetti. After breakfast we flew the planes a while until the wind picked up.

Lunch was leftover saurkraught, potatoes, and pork.


After lunch Lou and I took a hike up the West Ridge Trail to the Zig Zag #1 Trail over to the Prairie Creek Trail and back to camp, about 7 miles.



On our hikes we saw lots of fungi all quite interesting. We also saw this unusual deer with two bodies?


Lou loves to look in the ponds and streams for living things.


I wanted a picture of both of us on the trail so I used the timer feature. unfortunately I didn't have a tripod. I snapped a couple and couldn't decide on the best because they both show the wonderful forest.

It was a very nice hike.

For dinner, Lou fixed rotini and sausage soup.

Saturday: (10/11) There was a heavy frost on everything this morning. It must have been cool last night. The sky is clear this morning and it looks like another good day to be. We're leaving here today, heading back home. But first, another hike, this time with Dawn on the Prairie Creek Trail. It's a nice level trail along the river. After the hike, we returned to camp and departed just before noon.

We headed back down to Mackinleyille. Dawn wanted to pick up some plants at a nursury there. We then headed on down to Freshwater near Eureka to a native plant nursery to look for plants.

And, of course, since we were near, we stopped by the cookhouse for a late lunch (4pm). A little more shopping before heading on South out of town toward home. We stopped for the night just North of Willits at a rest stop.

Redwood Acres, Eureka, Ca

Saturday: (10/04) We left our campsite at the reststop North of Willits about 0630 before the sunrise but light enough to see the road. It was still raining but almost no traffic. We stopped in Scotia for breakfast at the market.


Then we made our way on up to the Redwood Acres Fairgrounds. There's only three other units here today at 1000 but there is a big rummage sale filling all the buildings at the fairground. This is the real reason we came, I'm sure!

When Lou and Dawn were through with the sale we headed over to the Cookhouse restaurant on the Samoan Peninsula, the other side of the bay for lunch. It's an old lumber mill cookhouse. It's served cookhouse style. You eat what they cook. Today.s lunch was pork steak. Very good. They have an interesting museum there as well.


This was probably the first cat we saw on arriving and it was our favorite.



There are lots of cats at the horse barns here at Redwood Acres. There are also other visitors to the barns like these raccoons. (right)

After lunch, we were headed back down to Fortuna to the Apple Harvest Festival. It was kind of an odd festival held at four different locations in town with free hay rides between the locations. One location was an apple farm.

When we returned to the fairgrounds,we went over to the horse stables which are all full of horses being boarded. We don't really care too much for the horses but there are just about as many friendly cats there too. We like the cats.

Dinner was left overs brought from the home refrigerator.

Sunday: (10/05) After breakfast we headed North through Myrtle Town, Bayside, and Sunny Brea then on to MacKinleyville. We tried to stop at some craft shops and book stores but they were all either not open or not in business any longer.

We did enjoy looking around the North Coast Horticulture Supply. We've never seen so many types of grow lights and hydroponic supplies. It's easy to see that the primary crop grown here in the Northwest is grown never seeing the sun due to illegality.

Next stop was Arcata. Dawn likes the book stores downtown and Lou and I just looked around.

Lunch was at Los Bagels (http://www.losbagels.com/). Lou had a Potato Knish, Dawn had a Thai bagel with peanut butter, cucumbers, carrots and jalapeño jelly. I had a jalapeño bagel with cream cheese and albacore tuna. And for desert we had shared a local berry danish and a Apricot Rugelah. And we all had tea

They had a sidewalk art contest yesterday on the sidewalk around the town square. Somehow, the heavy rains last night didn't wash it away?

Tonight we stopped by the the market for more groceries before we leave civilization tomorrow. We also made it home just in time to visit the cats again before dark. Dinner was salad and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Monday: (10/06) Change of plans. I've been having chest pain for the past few days and it got to be strong enough often enough that Lou took me to the hospital to be checked out. After an EKG, a blood test and an xray I was pronounced alive and fit, just in pain. Even though my heavy work at home was done a couple of weeks ago, it must be catching up?

We returned home for breakfast and decided to stay another day since it was now after noon.

We then headed down to the Headwaters State Preserve South and East of Eureka. This is a huge new park to be on land that was purchased in 1999. We hiked in about 2 miles then back.


Dawn found a snake right away. There weren't too many flowers but enough. This blue daisy was nice.


These flowers are interesting. they start with a big green knot and unfold into a large delicate lacy flower.


Purple flower bundle and some blackberry blossoms.


A thistle and a white puff.


Nice place. Mossy trees and more. We'll have to return when we have more time and energy.

We went over to our favorite hardware store, Pierson's for a browse around.

We made it home in time for a walk to visit the cats at the horse barns after dinner of pork saurkraught and potatoes from the crock pot.

Now, we do hope to head on North tomorrow.

Eureka Or Bust

Friday: (10/03) Final packing and prep for the trip. Lou fixed some delicious biscuits and grave for breakfast. We pulled out at 09:30 heading North on Highway 280 through San Francisco. The morning traffic had died down and we sailed up 19th Avenue. Of course that couldn't last so we spent the next 30 minutes inching along on Park Prisidio Avenue approaching the Golden Gate Bridge due to a traffic signal being in flash and too many incompetent drivers that couldn't deal with it. Once past the errant signal all was smooth sailing again.

Dawn needed to stop in Petaluma to examine the military store and museum. I filled our drinking water and made this post while waiting.

We are headed toward Eureka, California. It's been more than 4 months since our last road trip. We're in for a few days of rain, probably heavy rain for the weekend starting this afternoon. Actually we had some yesterday morning as we boarded the train in San Bruno. Most of next week should be sunny. With a return to rain the next weekend as we return home.

Dawn needed to stop at a books tor in Willits where we also had dinner at La Mexicanna next door. Different than our norm but excellent food. We left town about 7:30 but didn't go far. I pulled in to the first rest stop North of town for the night. Too dark and rainy.

We enjoyed our stay in the rest area. Very few visitors tonight.