Best Western Country Inn Fortuna

so the drive down 101 was beautiful, we drove through the heart of the national park and took a hike to what used to be the tallest tree in America, now just a 26 ft in diameter stump.
Fortuna had the same air crescent city had, but we needed to stop after a long day of driving up and down the forest, with all of it's twists and turns. We bolted out of this one asap!!!

... reversing his monster 'super-duty' truck into his parking space. And here is the rub with Trip Advisor – every single accommodation listed on there has people reporting experiences that range from the 9th circle of hell right through to the Elysian fields and as such I can’t say that I find the site a whole lotta good. So if you find yourself in Fort Bragg in northern Ca you could find worse place to stay.

Anyways back ...

... cut down the trees in the area, and also Ferndale, where they used to live.

We went to downtown Fortuna the next day, and it took us al of 5 minutes to see everything! It's quite a small town, but it's in such a lovely location. Their house overlooks the town and the valley beyond, with the ocean in the distance, and their street looks just like it's straight out of Desperate Housewives! We did go back to the cider factory to watch them make cider and for some more ...

... Road (one hundred yards from Highway 101) and Elk Prairie along Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. We saw them at both spots.

The sunset caught our eye as we headed down the coast so we stopped off on a beach overlooking the ocean. A ranger then approached us to let us know a Tsunami warning had been issued for the Califonian coast as the aftermath of the Samoan disaster. It was predicted to only be 20 inches though. The sunset was stunning and we ...

... archaic times. Enormous trees loomed over the car on both sides and left everything shrouded in shadows and mystery. When they finally parked the car to get a closer look they felt humbled to be standing next to such an ancient creation. They explored many of the old trees- both on the outside and the inside- in awe from the enormity before them.

After their initial exploration and a quick stop to the visitor center to purchase a "maparooni" with ...

Apparently I should've been updating this travel blog while I was actually on my trip.. Being in the middle of nowhere by Fortuna it wouldn't have been possible anyway. I left Thursday morning to drive by myself up HWY 101 into the gorgeous and well-known for all of the greenery Humboldt county has to offer. Driving there was gorgeous... Beautiful trees all over along with an abundance of people with RV's and other giant gas-wasting vehicles. I met up with my old high school ...

... sprang from lumber camp tales, bawdy to put it mildly. In one such tale, extreme cold forced bears to look for food; one wandered into a lumber camp. It chased the lumberjacks up a tree on which they had a ladder. To keep the bear from climbing after them (despite the fact that bears do not need ladders to climb trees), they kicked down the ladder. This saved them from the bear, but trapped them in the tree. To escape ...

... to know everything in general. The little girl, Avima, 5, was adorable, and talkative and sweet. She was more of a mini version of me. These two beautiful children intrigued both my brother and me. Aside from me really not enjoying being stuck in Fortuna, the site itself was nice, and it was all worth it only because of the few great people we met. That's it for now, we now move to Reno, Nevada. Check out the next entry for stories about that.

The scenery remained stunning but was less rugged & more majestic in its bigness of the road hugging huge headlands & sweeping across big gorges with snow capped mountains in the background.







Soon after crossing the border we came into ...

Coos Bay to Klamath Another long boring drive through fog and rain. Stopped off at a quayside restaurant at some lousy little hick town or another. Food was quite nice for a change. Their version of roast beef lacked the trimmings of the far-superior British version, but it was good value and a noble effort. Got a free view of a couple of sea lions that had climbed onto the jetty outside and had started ...