Howard Johnson Hotel - Arcata

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!!!

... who's family own a cider factory - not alcholic cider, so just apple juice really, but the best apple juice I have ever tasted! Drew gave us a tour of the cider works which was really cool. After our tour, and some free cider/cookies, we all then went to the only bar in Fortuna called the Playroom, it looked like a barroom brawl would break out any minute and my vodka/orange came with about 5 shots of vodka and a splash of orange!!

The next day after a very good ...

... carefully across the stream by stepping on rocks and logs. Jim loves the challenge of figuring out the best route and I am a great follower!

We loved our introduction to California, but as you know, it’s a very large state and we plan to be here touring for a couple of months. So, more California dreamin’ to come!

... made our way to the motel.

The next morning we were off to Klamath Falls in Oregon. Adrian and I decided that we really wanted to see Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park. With only a short period of time allocated we went directly to the centerpiece of the state park, Stout Memorial Grove. It was our favourite place for viewing the large trees. We wished we had more time to view the area but were looking forward to Crater Lake National Park.

... city we turned south on 101 to complete the final section of the ride down to Artcarta.

The weather hmm extreme to extreme starting off hot around 100 deg in places down to 60 deg at the coast it felt bloody cold as we acclimatised ourselves to the searing heat of the previous day.

Anyway, all for now and say a big hi to Tracey on her anniversary.

... the back pack, but not the money. I'm sure working on it. Believe me. I plan on playing my way through italy, and going from there. I need advice about- Traveling through italy, be it backpacking, or by train Traveling with an instrument Traveling as a musician playing, and where to play. Cheers Jeff

... to getting back there, and I was too. We got to the Redwoods and found the turn to the campground and saw that the road was closed!! We couldn't believe it. There was a barricade and a piece of paper taped to it that said that the road was closed due to 'emergency conditions'. By that time the visitor's center was closed, so we couldn't find out why it was closed or if it was going to be opening back up soon or what was going on. We had no choice but to look for a different ...

... Redwood & Sequoia Forests. Standing in the middle of these forests looking up at the immense size of these trees & knowing how old they were was amazing. Some of them were 2000 years old!!!. They were up to 370 feet ( 112m) weighed 1200 tonnes & had a base ...

... took Scott OUT! After getting wheeled out we drove up to do some hiking to find the road closed because of the storm so we went to our secondary spot for some easy hiking and just amazing views! The day ended with us agreeing Andy was dangerous and like Las Vegas you can only hang out there for a couple of days before the body shuts down. Or simple put...A Fantastic Time!!!!!!

... Wherever I went, be it bar, bicycle store, library, Laundromat or diner, business was slow and the streets were deserted - all but a few were indoors or out of town. One evening I fell in with Doug, a volunteer fire fighter, over a couple of beers. Though wildfires were understandably scarce just then, the fire department had its hands full - clearing up road-accidents and keeping highways open. My companion had landed a plum job for himself: flood-prevention at the low-lying ...