March 16, 2017

We set out for Ft. Bragg, CA to see what we could see. A few supplies were needed at a drug store, we stopped at Starbuck's (YAY!!) and had a great lunch at an organic restaurant.  There was a sign shop called Braggadoon.  Love that!

Signs and magazines advised us to go to the famous Glass Beach which is widely advertised as having lots of colorful beach glass.  Alas, it USED to have lots of colorful beach glass but now it seems, it has lots of colorful beach sand.  The larger pieces are long gone.  Thankfully, we found out about that before we walked down there to be disappointed.

We went to the Ft. Bragg Arboretum for a few minutes but we needed to get back on the road to see to the pups.  Jazzy and Baby do pretty well for about 4 hours, but then they need a walk. 

Chowder House for dinner, again.  Salmon is the best dish here, by far.

March 17, 2017

I happened to have a green sweater with me so I wore it for St. Patrick's Day. 

Today we visited the Point Arena lighthouse.  It was built about 30 years before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake when it was cracked so badly that it had to be torn down and rebuilt.

Here is what its lens looks like.

This is the Fog House and Museum. 

We saw a few whale plumes in the water off the point.  On the grounds of the fog house they had the bones of a whale which the groundskeepers "helped" with the natural bleaching process by painting them white once a year.

Lunch was at a local cafe with this statue of a fisherman and his dog out front.

Then we headed about 10 miles south to see the town of Gualala, which is pronounced Wa la la.  There wasn't much there.

We ate in tonight.  Hooray for the microwave.

March 18, 2017
Today we drove for seven hours from Manchester (so happy to leave) back to Fortuna.  We took CA 128 which was supposed to be less twisty and, although a longer ride, an easier one.  As it turns out, Bob and Sue picked up a drill bit in one of their tires so we had to find a tire center that was open on Saturday.  Not easy.  There was a Les Schwab in Ukiah, so they were able to get repairs. 

We had a 6:30 reservation at Double D Steakhouse in Fortuna and we arrived in plenty of time.  This must be the hot spot in Fortuna.  It was packed.  There were many choices of entrees but the surprising thing was that every diner gets soup, salad, bread, ravioli and antipasto.  You barely need the main dish and side dish you ordered!  I brought half of my dinner back to the TrailBayser to have for lunch on Sunday.

Sue and I made it our business to send protest postcards to the White House today to celebrate Ides of Trump.  The post office in Manchester is so small that they don't sell pre-stamped postcards.  The postmistress said the last time she ordered a hundred of them it took her five years to sell them.

Today we drove to Mendocino and toured the town.  We went into an art store and I resisted a fired dish with sneakers on it.  I'm still thinking about it, though.  We ate lunch at a seafood restaurant called Flow.

Then we took a driving tour of the town and saw some interesting homes and other buildings.

That evening we had dinner at Chowder House in Point Arena.  The scenery was gorgeous.  First we saw this tree overhanging a cliff with half of its roots exposed.

On the point was a monument commemorating the arrival of 15 Japanese men who had braved the Pacific for two months in a 30 foot boat to make a new start in America.  The town still has a sister city relationship with their hometown. 

Outside the restaurant was a signpost telling how far it was to other places.

The 5 hour ride to Manchester, CA, which is about 20 miles south of Mendocino, was very twisty on US 101, then CA-20 and CA-1.  I am not exaggerating when I say we saw over a dozen landslides or rock slides being worked on by crews.  In each of these places the lanes were narrowed to one, with flaggers, or as Gary calls them, sign-twiddlers.  Very frustrating and slow-going.  Not to mention that Jazzy gets carsick and has had an accident every day we have changed locations.  We called the vet and will try her on some kid's Dramamine tomorrow.

We arrived at the Manchester Beach/Mendocino KOA RV park, which is in the middle of nowhere.  This was where we lost our ability to use the internet.  I never realized how addicted I am and how terrible I feel when I want to know something and can't look it up.  I will have to work on that.

This is a sculptured tree with the silhouette of a woman sitting underneath.  It is in Point Arena, which is just south of Manchester.  We saw it on our way to dinner at the Garcia River Casino, which is a tiny, one room casino with a grill in the corner.

After dark Gary took Jazzy for a walk and heard some kind of animal screaming in the woods.  Since this is Bigfoot territory, we had to wonder.

After several miserable days of no internet connectivity, I am finally getting a chance to catch up on my writing.

In Fortuna, CA we tried to visit the Clendenen Cider Works.  The reviews were amazing and we couldn't wait to try the cider that was supposed to be like "drinking an apple".  When we arrived there was a big sign on the door that they would see us in August!!  Bummer!!

We went to Eureka to the Blue Ox Millworks where we took a tour of the facility given by the head of the place Eric Hollenbeck.  It is a specialized mill that produces detailed pieces for the restorations of old homes and other buildings all over the country.  It is nearly the last of its kind.  He said that it was the last place that produces wooden gutters.

 The picture below shows a part of one of the workrooms.  The best thing about this mill is the work they do with at-risk youth.  The kids come into the program by order of the court, in many cases.  They have to agree to go to school in the mornings and if they do, then they get to come to the mill in the afternoons and learn a trade.  They have been doing this for sixteen years with many successes.  Eric had many of the same philosophies that I had when teaching the at-risk program at Canby High School years ago.

 The Blue Ox Mill fabricated a replica of Abraham Lincoln's hearse for a re-enactment of his funeral at its 150th anniversary.  They were able to reproduce it from one photograph and one note from a builder that gave the dimensions of the back wheels.  They donated their work and the materials were donated by a supporting family.  Below are two other items on display at the mill.

 This was a tree slice on display.

Sunshine!!  Fortuna, California is gloriously sunny!  We are enjoying our stay at Riverwalk RV Park. 

Yesterday we drove the 20 miles to Eureka to see what we could see.  We headed for the Romano Gabriel Wooden Sculpture Garden, which was not at all what we expected.  Evidently, when he lived here he sculpted hundreds of art pieces from wooden vegetable crates and displayed them in the front yard of his home.  It was meant for passersby to enjoy.  When he passed away the city displayed them in a building where they can still be seen.

The boardwalk in Eureka is on Humboldt Bay.  There are marinas, art pieces and beautiful views.  We had lunch outside.  Next to us was a kinetic sculpture of waves and seagulls.  It circled on a motor and there was a big sign about not climbing on it.  Nevertheless, some parents there let their kids stop it with their hands.  Sigh!

Another art piece was nautical.  We were impressed that the city had flags along the boardwalk with pictures of local military personnel.  It was a nice tribute.

Across the bay is a large statue of a fisherman.  It is next to a restaurant and a lighthouse.

The harbor is a relaxing, pretty place.  While we were there, our friend Bob flew his drone over the boats in the marina.  The drone can go up to four miles away and projects a video of what is below to a hand held screen.  These videos can be saved to the cloud.  The remote control has a button that, when pushed, signals the drone to return.  It was fun to see.

After the harbor we drove to an amazing Victorian home, the Carson Mansion.  It is used today as a private club.

Here is a picture of a flag we saw in the window of a Eureka store. Enough said.

We left home on Thursday, March 9, 2017 for a two-week change of scenery.  Bob and Sue Cowan are with us in their new Lance trailer.  They are accompanied by their little dachshund, Gracie.

On the way to the Oregon coast we drove by a an elk viewing area with benches and a pavilion for people to watch the elk herds.  We also saw two landslides and a rock slide being cleaned up by road crews.  These have been happening all over because of all the rain we have had.  February was the rainiest one on record in Oregon.

Our first stop was the RV park at The Mill Casino in North Bend, OR on Coos Bay.  We stayed there two nights and it rained nearly the whole time.  We had a nice meal in the casino restaurant the first night and also had breakfast there in the morning.  We went exploring in Charleston, OR during the day.  We had all been there before but the ocean views there are spectacular, as they are the whole length of the Oregon coastline, so the ride was very relaxing and enjoyable.  The second night we had dinner at Cafe Mediterranean, which was excellent.

One exciting sight was a large cargo ship being towed into Coos Bay to load up with wood chips to be made into paper.  I have never seen such a big ship in those waters before.  The area is known for logging and there are enormous piles of chips and sawdust lining the bay side.

This morning we left Oregon for Fortuna, CA.  On the way we saw a large field of daffodils where many horses were grazing.  I wish I had been able to get a picture of that beautiful sight.

The Riverwalk RV Park is the closest decent one to Eureka that I could find.  Since we drove over 5 hours we decided to eat in tonight.  We all had leftovers from the last two nights.  Tonight begins Daylight Savings Time, so we will get to bed a little earlier if we are smart.