The Adventure Continues...
Finally made it out of Oregon on Saturday. Down the coastline on highway 101. We puttered around little coastal towns sampling seafood. Packed some smoked halibut, salmon and cod for lunch stops. Late Saturday afternoon we cruised into a little campground nestled in the redwoods to pitch our tent. I unrolled the air mattress, looking forward to a nice cushy sleep. Was having some problems opening the batteries for the little electric pump, so whipped out my razor sharp Spyderco and sliced through the plastic wrapping like butter. As well as the top layer and bottom layer of the cushy new mattress which the battery pack was resting on. Crap.
No way was I going back to those little plank pads, so I punched in walmart to my android phone and it gave us directions to a store in the nearest town where we were able to pick up a replacement. Whew. The night was awesome after that.
Next morning we took down camp and headed out further along 101 and down the scenic valley where all the really big redwoods hang out. Including famous "Big Tree", which is 1500 years old. Amazing. R even got some pictures of some elk that made a guest appearance after having stood us up in Yellowstone. Then we made a big mistake.
Never, ever, ever, take Highway 299 as a shortcut to get to Redding in order to head up to see Mt. Shasta. It's 100 miles of solid curves following the Trinity river up and down hills. I've never gotten car-sick *driving* before, but I came really close. Just when you rounded one curve, you'd hit another in the other direction; some went almost 290 degrees, and they were relentless. I'm crossing off every road that has a 99 in it from our maps.
Before we hit the highway of doom though, we made a little stop at an area called the "Mystery of Trees" or something like that. Had a giant Paul Bunyan and his blue ox beside it. Every now and then Paul Bunyan would shout "HELLO!", which freaked this little kid out who had been watching the huge statue closely. He bolted as fast as his little legs could go wailing as he went. His parents finally caught him and tried to get him back to the shop, telling him it was just a statue, but no way did he believe them.
R told me they had some pretty good prices on some stones and stuff she liked, but I got pretty bored with it, until I stumbled into a room that had Native American flutes. A sign said you could get a mouthpiece from the shopkeeper if you wanted to try them out. So I got a little rubber tubing thingy so I wouldn't spread swine flu and started trying different makes. A little boy was watching me, and I told him he could get a mouthpiece and try them out himself, but he said "nah, but would you play *that* one." So I played a few for him, and started getting an audience. I finally found one I really liked and it was cheaper than I could buy online from the same company. When I brought it to the counter, the lady said she really enjoyed each and every one of my performances and asked how long I'd been playing, LOL. Some customers also commented, so now I've got a big head and need to really practice so I have something to back it up.
Well, better let R on to do her catch-up. Heading out tomorrow on a less than scenic route home, we're still about 1200 miles away but have seen everything we came for and more. Camping ended on a really high note, so looks like we'll be doing more of that as well. Sorry for all the text and no pictures, will remedy that soon.
No way was I going back to those little plank pads, so I punched in walmart to my android phone and it gave us directions to a store in the nearest town where we were able to pick up a replacement. Whew. The night was awesome after that.
Next morning we took down camp and headed out further along 101 and down the scenic valley where all the really big redwoods hang out. Including famous "Big Tree", which is 1500 years old. Amazing. R even got some pictures of some elk that made a guest appearance after having stood us up in Yellowstone. Then we made a big mistake.
Never, ever, ever, take Highway 299 as a shortcut to get to Redding in order to head up to see Mt. Shasta. It's 100 miles of solid curves following the Trinity river up and down hills. I've never gotten car-sick *driving* before, but I came really close. Just when you rounded one curve, you'd hit another in the other direction; some went almost 290 degrees, and they were relentless. I'm crossing off every road that has a 99 in it from our maps.
Before we hit the highway of doom though, we made a little stop at an area called the "Mystery of Trees" or something like that. Had a giant Paul Bunyan and his blue ox beside it. Every now and then Paul Bunyan would shout "HELLO!", which freaked this little kid out who had been watching the huge statue closely. He bolted as fast as his little legs could go wailing as he went. His parents finally caught him and tried to get him back to the shop, telling him it was just a statue, but no way did he believe them.
R told me they had some pretty good prices on some stones and stuff she liked, but I got pretty bored with it, until I stumbled into a room that had Native American flutes. A sign said you could get a mouthpiece from the shopkeeper if you wanted to try them out. So I got a little rubber tubing thingy so I wouldn't spread swine flu and started trying different makes. A little boy was watching me, and I told him he could get a mouthpiece and try them out himself, but he said "nah, but would you play *that* one." So I played a few for him, and started getting an audience. I finally found one I really liked and it was cheaper than I could buy online from the same company. When I brought it to the counter, the lady said she really enjoyed each and every one of my performances and asked how long I'd been playing, LOL. Some customers also commented, so now I've got a big head and need to really practice so I have something to back it up.
Well, better let R on to do her catch-up. Heading out tomorrow on a less than scenic route home, we're still about 1200 miles away but have seen everything we came for and more. Camping ended on a really high note, so looks like we'll be doing more of that as well. Sorry for all the text and no pictures, will remedy that soon.
Don't apologize, we love the "text" and hearing about your adventures. We also have enjoyed the redwoods and they are indeed awesome! Take care and have fun
ReplyDeleteHey..enjoyed catching up on your journey!! Very awesome ! Was needing bright eyes this weekend to shed some insight into the night sky stars I got to see myself, cause to me it was "those sure are pretty" and "how in the world do they navigate with that!" LOL. That is one vacation long over due, a good reset button to begin retirement with. Thanks for sharing it with us all. Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in the flute shop. LOL.
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