Still Going! Aug 26, 2007

We are in Oregon! What a day!!! We left Garberville this morning at 8:30 and headed to the Avenue of the Giants. I have lived around the coastal redwoods all my life but never have I seen such trees. They took our breath away. Lee had been there before and relived many wonderful memories. Judi and I were first timers and we ooohed and aaahed the entire 31 miles. She commented that it was like being in a magnificent cathedral.

Thanks to the suggestion of Alice Lewis, we stopped at the visitor's center which was fabulous. The exhibits were very well done and my favorite was the " Travel Log" designed and built in 1910 and recently lovingly refurbished. It was an early day motor home and was hand hewn from a single tree. The builder, a Mr. Kellogg, used it for travelling on the vaudeville circuit. He was also an acomplished bird caller and we listened to recordings he had made. Quirky but very entertaining.

One of the volunteers at the visitors' center suggested a place in Eureka for lunch and since it was already on one of Lee's lists we headed in that direction. We made a detour into the charming little dairy town of Ferndale. Lots of cows, verdant fields of grass, Victorian houses, and a very old cemetary. Then on to Eureka.

I had decided to bite the bullet and buy a new digital camera. We stoppped at a K-Mart and found Geoff in the camera department. He suggested lithium batteries and IT WORKED!!!!! I offered to adopt him but he declined nervously. Thanks, Geoff!

The restaurant in Eureka was the Samoa Cookhouse. For those of you familiar with the area you probably have heard of this place. It is an old cookhouse used to feed employees of a lumber company. Everything is served family style and we had a wonderful ham dinner with soup, salad, calico beans, corn, baked potatoes, huge slices of soft yummy squishy bread, and tapioca pudding for dessert. All this was washed down with pitchers of iced tea. We left there groaning.

We left Eureka around 3:30 but we were committed to sleeping in Oregon. We pulled in to Brookings, Oregon around 5:30 and proceeded to choose the worst motel in town. We settled for a smoking room downstairs so we wouldn't have to carry all our stuff upstairs since there is no elevator. The room stinks, we only have 2 chairs, and there are few amenities. From our window we can see several other motels that would have been better! Hopefully we have learned to be a bit more discerning. On up the Oregon coast tomorrow eventually getting to Astoria, Washington on Tuesday. Have decided to skip Seattle and spend more time on the coast.

I am having trouble posting pictures so please excuse the higgeldy-piggeldy way they are arranged on the page. I need some practice. For now there is a picture of my hero Geoff, shots from the Samoa Cookhouse, and our "fabulous" motel. More tomorrow. Gerry