Sept 3

Sunny this morning, which is nice because we have plans to go to old town Eureka today.  We did a little laundry and headed out. We planned to take the Humboldt Bay Harbor Cruise today. This is a 75 minute narrated cruise aboard the Motor Vessel Madaket. The vessel is 101 years old and the oldest passenger carrying vessel in continuous use in the USA, owned by the Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum.  It is the last of the many ferries that carried lumberjacks and others up and down the water ways in this area.  We saw a variety of birds, along with Harbor seals and Harbor porpoise. It was really cold going along the water and seeing the sites.  There is a long history of the lumber industry along with the Yurok Indians and early settlers.  They apparently still ship out logs overseas from here but the pulp mill has closed after several tries and will be torn down soon.  We went all over the bay and saw so many things, the last being this memorial to the fisherman lost at sea. 

It was enjoyable to walk around old town and along the seemingly newly developed boardwalk, but again several places are closed, even on this Labor Day weekend, actually out-of-business is more like it.  I’m surprised how few people are in town in the afternoon on a holiday weekend.  We decided to go into a quaint little restaurant and deli, but they deli is out of business and the restaurant doesn’t open until evening. 

From there we took a quick look at the Blues by the Bay and decided we weren’t interested.  It is really just a lot of booths with things for sale, more like a sort of “flea market” – so we just headed back. 

By evening the fog has rolled back in and it is quite cool.     

Sept 2

Okay today we did NOTHING.  Yes, we ate meals (leftovers), played cards, watched TV, and read… relaxing day!

Sept. 1

We were up and out early this morning, headed to Crescent City.  It is clear and sunny and the drive was beautiful.  Our first stop was just south of Orick to see his herd of Elk.  There were so many of them and so close to Hwy. 101, it was a surprising sight. We watched them slowly graze and head north. From there we took Bald Hills Road and drove to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove and Nature Trail, dedicated in 1968.  What a delightful walk!  The only thing that could have been nicer would have been the blooming season for the rhododendrons.  There were so many under the canopy it would be gorgeous if they were blooming. 

As we continued our drive, mile after mile of Redwoods thick and dense in the forest.  It is hard to believe that only 4 percent of the Redwoods are left after all the logging. 

Over the Klamath River (I love those golden bears on the bridge) and into Klamath for a stop at the Trees of Mystery.  After lunch we took the walk through again. They built a tram (in 2001) at one end of the walk.  The actual views when traveling on the tram weren’t so different but once up there they have built a viewing platform, well worth the tram ride up. 

On we went to Crescent City and the scenic drive along the coast.  We missed most of the town but noticed there are a lot of vacant buildings and homes as well.  The visitors center was closed.  We did see the Battery Point Lighthouse but when we drove out to walk to the St. George Reef Lighthouse we decided against that.  The wind and sand was blowing very hard and we decided to take the Prairie Creek scenic drive on the way home instead.  We also did an “Elk Search” but only saw a few this time in a totally different location.  The ones south of Orick were gone on our return trip.  Anyway, we had a great day and we are tired, we’ll sleep well tonight!

Aug 31, 2011

It is sunny, clear, and of course since it is clear and sunny it is windy today.  We decided this would be a good day to head out to Samoa.  It was a pleasant, short drive.  We first stopped at the Cookhouse, which we thought was a tourist place with little shops and such but it was really just a family style restaurant with a little room on to the side with some antiques.  The Humboldt Maritime Museum was in a small building right next door, but it was closed.  From there we headed out to the end of the island or peninsula, not sure which it is.  Anyway the area is a popular ATV area but we had it to ourselves today.  There are bunkers all over from WWII, unfortunately they are all locked and you can’t go inside.  One thing I learned today was that a Japanese submarine torpedoed a Petroleum Tanker off the Mendocino Coast during WWII killing several crew member while the rest abandoned ship. There are unconfirmed stories of subs spotted off the coast being bombed by our seaplanes or blimps equipped with bombs and Japanese paraphernalia being washed ashore afterwards.  Interesting stories, which may be true since the confirmation of the sub attack off Mendocino! We drove further from this point and came to the edge of the South jetty. Walking up the dunes we could see the North jetty and South jetty at the same time.  No wonder it is considered the most dangerous port on the CA coast, the water is fierce for sure.

We drove east from there and into Arcata and back into Eureka along 101 again.  We stopped at Fort Humboldt Historic Park.  Again, the visitor center was closed but we had a nice walk around the area.  There was also an historic logging exhibit.  There was a sign that said they will have a self-guided interpretative tour completed in 2012.  No sign of that happening yet, but there were a few signs around to explain what we were looking at.  I was surprised to see that Ulysses S Grant was stationed at Fort Humboldt.  The purpose of the fort was to ease relations between the Native Indians and the settlers coming to the area.  I guess we all know how that turned out.  This was also a gathering place where the Indians were then sent to the reservations.  A sad time for history in the Americas.

Tomorrow I think we will go to Crescent City.   

Eureka Aug. 30

Fog is the word for today.  The sun did try to peak through around 1pm but it didn’t make it.  We did laundry and some cooking…Well, “we” as in “me we” – LOL.  After that we headed to south to Ferndale, where we did see the sun!  We drove through Ferndale and saw several old Victorian dwellings.  The main street in Ferndale has been designated a National Register Historic District to get there we drove over the Eel River on the Fernbridge, built in 1911.  The bridge is a Civil Engineering Historic Landmark as well.  After driving through the town we headed to Ferndale Beach where we spent most of the afternoon walking along the beach.  It is a very long beach that allows ATVs and horses along with people of course.  We found many lovely little rocks, I am not sure if any of them are agates or not, but I don’t think so.  This is a rough and dangerous beach, of course no one swims here and this was a calm day.  We drove back through Ferndale and took a short drive through the cemetery.  It was one of the most unique old cemeteries we’ve seen.  After we left Ferndale we drove on the back roads to Loleta and made a quick stop at the Cheese Factory.  We were under the impression that there was a restaurant there and we were going to have a snack, but they only make and sell cheese.  The samples were delicious!  We knew there was a Casino nearby so we thought we might go there for a snack.  We stopped but it just didn’t look inviting so we made a few necessary stops and then headed home.  Lots of traffic in downtown Eureka today.  There must be some logging going on as we saw several logging trucks today. 

Eureka Aug 29, 2011

Lovely day today because when we got up the fog was only high and seemed to go back out to sea as the morning progressed. We planned to head North today and we did just that. We were going to go have lunch at the casino in Trinidad because Ann said they had great food and it was overlooking the ocean.  However, when we got there the restaurant was closed.  Maybe they only serve dinner, or maybe they just aren’t open on Monday, we don’t know.  From there we were told there were good fish and chips down by the beach.  We headed down to the beach but never really got to a beach.  We saw some lovely views though and the detour was worth it.  We headed back into Trinidad determined to find lunch and we did.  Oh my, what a wonderful lunch we had!  John had the fish and chips but I had the best mussels I believe I have ever eaten.  YUM!  The broth they were in was highly flavored with garlic and they added a sprinkling of bleu cheese over the top, which I would never have thought of doing.  Besides the wonderful food and service we just has a great time.  From there we knew we had to walk off the lunch so we strolled over to the Memorial Lighthouse and down the 227 steps and additional path to the beach below.  We watched harbor seals and birds and looked for elusive shells but came up empty handed.  Back up the 237 steps (yes, we counted) and northward to Patrick’s Point State Park.  The Redwoods are lovely and my photos do not do them justice.  One portion of the park has a Sumeg Indian village and we walked through that.  It was very interesting.  It is a replication of course, but the Yurok Indians still use this to have cultural events and keep their traditions alive.

Agate Beach:

 

Back to Eureka and time to relax.  Hopefully with the hundreds of channels on TV we will find something we want to watch! 

Here is an interesting tidbit.  It is legal to grow and smoke pot in Arcata. Prop 215, the compassionate use act of 1996.  I suppose it was based on medical marijuana use, but it is far beyond that according to his article.  I really don’t see how that is possible but John read it to me from the Journal.  They passed a law and it is allowed.  So I wonder how many young adults go to Humboldt State just for this reason?  Seems crazy to me that they can pass a law like this that supersedes the laws of the state.  With all the talk of making this legal, if you read this article they are having massive problems due to the passing of this law.  Some of the problems are “Plagues of electrical fires, mold damage, and violent crime.” BUT one of the counsel members states their economy is not as bad as it could be because of the law and another calls it tolerance “run amuck” – so that’s the scoop on that.  Moral to this story, don’t send your kids to Humboldt State.  LOL   

Eureka Aug 28th

We heard Ann leave this morning, not sure what time it was as I kept sleeping!  I love this weather and sleeping long hours like we did in Alaska.  When I did crawl out of be and check my email I was shocked to find out Sam was in the hospital!  So concerned…I called Deb but her phone was off of course.  I texted her and I did eventually get a text back.  They think it is his gallbladder.  I hated to leave the house but we had to get some food we wanted and I figured the cell phone would work in downtown Eureka.  She did call to let me know they came home and he will need to see a surgeon about having the gallbladder removed.  He is okay for now, what a relief!  We ate dinner (at lunch time)) at Applebee’s and then shopped at Costco and headed back.  After putting things away and checking email and such again, we watched a movie and then headed out to Safeway for some smaller items we wanted. A quiet day but we didn’t want to venture too far until we knew about Sam and if he was okay.  Tomorrow we will head north and see what we see.