North Coast Inn 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!!!

... in our massive bed we went to watch Ian play in a soccer match - they won!! In the afternoon we went back to the cider factory where they were celebrating their 100 year anniversary. There was a folk band playing (called Huckleberry Flint) and free hay rides around the orchards. We saw the biggest apples ever - like the size of my head!!! Drew and his family were so nice and friendly, it's not surprising their business is still running after 100 years!!

Simon: Next ...

... redwood tree measuring 304 feet tall and 21 feet in diameter. A farmer had wanted to cut it down to make a dance floor but it was saved. There is a bigger tree but to protect it the location is only known to a few people.

Onwards we headed up to Klamath and stopped to look over the bay from a scenic viewpoint. At the right time of year you can spot whales. Unfortunately this was from November so we missed out by a couple of months. A brilliant ...

... tolle Ausfluege an die Kueste und einen nahen Fluss unternommen, gleich hinter ihrem Haus war der Wald mit den Redwoods und am Rande der Stadt ist ein Naturschutzgebiet mit seltenen Voegeln. Aber Natur beschreiben ist wie andere Leute zum Ferienfotos anschauen zwingen, wo 20 mal der selbe Berg drauf ist. Also lass ich das mal. Kann nur sagen - wenn man Gruen in irgendeiner Form schaetzt (draussen, drinnen, im Keller und in der Politik), kommt man in Humboldt County auf seine Rechnung.

... The rain couldnt hold out forever though, and started raining right after we made our smores. We failed to read our tent information and the $30.00 target tent isnt exactly waterproof. So we woke up to a little seeping of water into our sleeping bags...oh well, we wanted to rough it. After trying to dry everything off and pack up the car, we continued up the coast to Oregon. Finally we made it out of California....More to come later.....Love ya, Kara and Chris

It has just snowed a few days ago in Arcata. I hurriedly hitch up the cats to my "Cat Sled". The Lead Cat is already tugging at his harness in anxious apprehension of the long fish (mush) south to the land of eternal sunshine. We headed south from Humboldt Bay in the early morning. Making our way to Santa Cruz and then to the San Francisco International Airport.

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 ...

... far. We are talking sideways rain, cold, stormy, nasty weather. Therefore, we quickly went to Plan B "Screw the Outdoors-Lets Drink!" We headed to Town Square/Plaza for some very Spicy Bloody Marys and a little downhome atmosphere. This was just the warm up for the main event during the day of good old fashion bowling. Now I have been known to bowl (At Least one game over 200 ...

From late fall through to early spring warm moist air from the tropics blows ashore across the Pacific seaboard of the U.S. North West and Canada. The phenomenon, which is commonly known as the Pineapple Express, gives rise to the often-violent tempests that entice a steady trickle of (quite possibly certifiable) tourists to small towns along the Oregon coast during the quiet - or 'storm-watching' - season. I arrived in Florence (pop. 7,263) towards the front end of a six-day ...

... OR - never again to call Oregon 'home'. Traveling through the beginning of the beautiful Redwoods was so peaceful. We talked about our expectations for our trip our traveling style. In life, however, talk is cheap... It is one thing to say you like to camp in a tent, it is an entirely different thing to camp by the side of the road in a little tent next to a sign which reads "watch out for bears" and get drenched in torrential rain which ...