New Years Eve!

New Years Eve

What an exciting day

Drove the North half of the Avenue of the Giants

Was really slow, but again those big Redwoods mesmerized us.

Little towns along the road threw in a unique perspective

Life styles here are different than we are used to.

Off the North end we continued to Eureka, CA

Did some grocery shopping, although we forgot our list

And only managed to get about half of the list.

Went to Lost Coast Brewery and Café

Sampled several good beers and shared a Halibut Sandwich with fries, mmm good.

Then proceeded to the RAM Dealership for an oil change

Got home just before dark and ready for …………..

The Big New Years Eve Party?

Oh yeah, just the 5 of us and maybe midnight in NY

(that will be 9 PM our time)

Have a happy and safe New Year!

Hugs to all

Tom and MIllie

Moved

Hello

Today was sunny and almost warm.

No wind and a great day for travel.

Busy packing up this morning

Driving for a few hours

Then setting up for a 4 night stay.

Did not take any photos today

I know, really I am feeling OK.

All went well

Now we are in Meyers Flat, CA

About the middle of the Avenue of The Giants

Still the redwoods.

Plan on leaving Sunday and heading towards Napa.

So to all a Good Night.

Oh yeah, for those of you who looked

Now you know where Tom’s hat landed.

Hugs to all

Tom and MIllie

Another beautiful day

Sun came up bright and shiny.
We got up much slower but coffee and toast got us moving
Headed out for a drive on the Newton Drury Scenic highway
More hills and trees.

Mostly trees and the sun and mist rising made for a magical trip

I didn't put this in to show off the dirty truck
only to give you and idea how big the trees are
Look to the right and you can see Millie walking
Kind of gives a perspective of the tree size.

Another remains of a fallen giant
A path goes right through the middle
The fallen tree may have been 20 feet or more in diameter.

Millie and Pancho in the middle of the fallen tree on the path.

Pancho being Pancho

This is a root ball of a fallen tree

It is about 15 feet high and supporting lots of ferns.

And further along we found a..............

 Who'd a thought we would find one here?

And it really is a "Big Tree"

Tom straining his neck and back to look up at the "Big Tree"

And Believe it or Not this is the whole tree.

Had to stitch together photos to capture this.

After having enough of searching out big trees.

We headed for the beach 

Did find how Christmas presents all get delivered so quickly

Frosty the Boatman helps Santa, with the loan of a few Reindeer.

(Thought you might enjoy this)

And the beach with the waves still rolling ashore.

Millie with the fur kids sitting and taking a break.

so much work barking and chasing waves and other dogs.

The sand on this beach was loose and was some exercise to walk far.

But good for us!

The above are some of Mother Nature's Art work.

On our way back we stopped and shopped at a local wood artisan

Spent an hour looking at all the raw cuts of wood, roots and burls.

Even bought a few for possible Cribbage boards, 

if I can get Carissa to help design the peg path.

Wanted this for the lake, but it would cost more to ship it than to buy it.

After all the excitement we headed back to camp

Time to get things ready to move.

We did not see it all and we did enjoy what we did see.

So tomorrow we head a little further south on our slow quest for warm and DRY!

Yes it is raining again.

Make tomorrow great like you made today, only different

Hugs

Tom and Millie

Monday, Monday!

Sound like the beginning of a song?

Hi all and welcome new followers.
Today was bright and sunny
just wonderful for the Redwoods and the beach.

Started the day with a trip to the Trees of Mystery
Right on highway 101 so you can't miss it.
The huge statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe kind of give it away.
First glance is "tourist trap"
Big souvenir shop and American Indian museum.
And for a few bucks you can walk the trail through the trees
to the gondola ride to the ridge.
First the walk, nice path and even some educational signs

This slice of a tree indicates it was over 800 years old when felled. Imagine, it stated growing during the Crusades.

No this isn't a fire, it is the mist rising off the damp log and ground in the bright sunlight.

Walking among the trees was awesome!
Further down the path some of the odd things Ma Nature does with growing things.

This one is called the Elephant Tree
Not really sure but who am I to argue.
See Millie?

This one you could crawl under.

What the worms see.

OK, the bottom of the trunk a couple of hundred years after it fell.

More trees........

The Cathedral Trees.

Yes, people get married here. 

On a nice day it would be a great spot for a wedding.

 19 feet in diameter and 297 feet tall. This likely is around 1000 years old.

Pretty amazing.

Then the gondola ride to the ridge.

The view from the top looking inland. When you looked Westward you could see the ocean.

This one is called the Chimney Tree. It is one tree that was struck by lightning and with the rotted center acting as a chimney the resulting fire burned for many hours leaving just pieces of the main trunk still standing. The tree may have been more than 20 feet in diameter.

The tree is still alive as a couple of the pieces standing have growth near the top.

Yup, pretty amazing.

Always said Millie was a little squirrely.
But this is one big squirrel she found.

On the way back down came across this stump of a felled tree. It was supporting about 6 new trees. Apparently the new trees tap into the roots of the downed or cut tree and then feed the roots as they grow and consume the dead part of the old tree.

This is as close to a bear as I care to get.

Me!

On the way to the beach found this winter flower 

blooming with a bunch of it's buddies.

Klamath Beach

Then on to the beach. This is at the mouth of the Klamath River looking Northward.

She makes it look cold

it was about 50°, but with a good stiff wind.

BUT THE SUN WAS SHINING!

Pretty drift wood and lots of it on this beach.

One last shot looking Southward.

Was a great day, got home and grilled hamburger steaks with potatoes and carrots. Millie worked on sewing projects and me on photos. Helped the neighbor get a fire going, gave him my charcoal when done grilling. Walked the dogs and looked at the stars. Hard to beat.

Decided to insert "Millie's 2 Cents".

Will try to post hints and tips if you are ever going to try full time RVing.

Millie's 2 Cents:

       "If you collect rocks and shells, wash in soapy water – just do it – don’t ask."

Y'all make your day great, especially tomorrow.

One more from me to my 3 favorite girls.

Good night

Tom and Millie

Played Tourist

Hello all!
Some of you may have noticed I did not post on Saturday
Well, tough!
It was a nice day, except for the frost on the pickup,

we did lots of stuff
and by the time we got home, I was exhausted.
Went South to explore ahead of ourselves.

Finally it's not a butt shot.

Visited Redwood Creek State Park and watched people watch the waves

Looked in the Visitor Center

and walked on their beach.

When done with the ocean for a while we took a drive up to a viewpoint

Yes, yes, this is Millie
And you thought we left ND to get away from the snow Maybe it was just to get away?
















A few trees on the way back down.

Stopped in Orick and looked at Redwood art.
You guessed it, stuff made from Redwood.
Pretty neat, most too big for us to transport
So went looking for Ma Natures Redwood Art

Hard to beat this!
Found these pieces of drift wood
on the beach.
These are photos of a small portion of a tree trunk and roots.
Neither would fit in the back of the pickup even if it was empty.

Then went to Dry Lagoon State Park and played on the beach there

Walked the dogs and just sat and watched the surf












Went into McKinleyville, CA and had beer and eats
at Six Rivers Brewery and Pub
Great beer and good food.
Sunset from the Pub.

Then we stopped and did laundry
Tried to buy gas, but had trouble with cards at 2 places
so we went home and decided to fill on Sunday

Sunday brought some rain again.
Late start and went into Klamath
Filled the truck, no card problems today
Enjoyed the local Visitor Center/Indian Museum
Then headed to Crescent City again!
Stopped at the Trees of Mystery a few miles north did the gift shop
and checked about the tour of the trees.
Will go back when weather cooperates as most is outdoors.
On into Crescent City and Walmart.
Picked up some needed essentials and headed home
Soup and sandwich for supper with pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert.
Got a new neighbor at the camp
Now there are 3 of us!
Raining still tonight so working on the blog was much easier

One more photo
and it is a Where's Waldo challenge.

Find Tom's hat!

Hint: I put it as high as I could reach.

Make your day great, it really is easy.
Hugs to all
Tom and Millie