Yes this is Oregon

The second night we were in Crescent City, California. It was a nice little town on the coast. We stayed at the Curly Redwood Lodge. It was a nice place made from one curly redwood tree.
The room was nice but I was not able to get on to the wireless connection. It has a password and I could never get to the point it would ask for it. So I processed pictures and watch TV. The other interesting part of staying a this motel was the breakfast was at a Casino about 4 miles away. It was a nice breakfast but an interesting way to provide the meal.
As were left town and crossed into Oregon the rain started and we were in and out of rain the whole day. It was a nice drive up the coast as far as Florence but one of those cloudy, rainy days you can get along the coast. The whales were out there but difficult to see so we just drove along and stopped a few times to enjoy the ocean.
We got home in good time to turn on the heat, water and reset all the clocks and TiVo. Today was spent pulling weeds to make the yard look nicer and fill the yard cart. After all Monday is yard cart day. It is good to be home and the end of three months at RCB that were not the best three months of my life. I had really looked forward to the year and putting together a show but it doesn’t always work like you plan. I really think I would have had as much fun in the rain and cold. At least I would have had room to life. I still have not adjusted to the 400 sq. ft. of living space we have.

The Journey not the Destination

Well we are home and I will cover the first two days of the trip home. Usually we only take two days to come home but decided to detour through the wine and redwood country of northern California. I had hoped to make a relaxing trip out of the journey home and for the most part we were successful.
The first day was the normal long day of fast driving. The only real problem we had was the rest stop we have always used to eat lunch and take a break was closed. That meant we had to backtrack about ten miles to the four corners truck stop that we have also used in the past. Since I had cooked up some of the leftover chicken breast for our lunch that day we ended up eating in the parking lot and not the Subway in the truck stop. It was a nice day so wasn’t too bad.
We didn’t know the area we planed to stop so were just guessing of a good place. Fairfield seemed like a large city on the map and was just before Napa and so we thought that would be a good place. We got off the freeway and tried to find a motel all we found was a Motel 6. It didn’t look too bad so we stopped for the night. As we drove on the next morning through Napa and Sonoma both looked like better places to stop. I will file that away for next time. It would only be about an hour more driving.
The next day it was slow down, stop to take pictures and enjoy the journey. It was early in the day as we drove through the wine country so no stops to taste the wine but did enjoy the wineries along the way. We did stop at one small shop and ended up buying a tablecloth that I am assured is just what we need for the deck. And it was 50% off, so you couldn’t go wrong.
The focus for the day was the redwoods. I had never been though them so wanted to enjoy it all. We started on the drive called Avenue of the Giants and got as far as the Visitor Center. Just past the Visitor Center there had been a slide and the road was closed. So we made a stop and the center and one other selected grove for a half-mile loop walk. It was great the large trees both standing and others that had fallen. The size was such that a picture does not really show what the eye can see. On the walk we also saw a number of blooming wildflowers, including the trillium.
We made the stop at Crescent City in northern California for the night. Better that the night before but still some bad choices. More on that to follow.