Monday, October 4, 2010
Crescent City to Eureka, Ca
Beautiful sunny skies this morning in Crescent City, small puffy clouds here and there, cool temperature.
Breakfast, then a long walk around Crescent City. We went to the local tourist bureau, got maps and directions and advice about what to see, and set off on foot to see the place. Lovely light-house, old and scenic, out on a point of land as is the way with light-houses. But the tide was in, so the buildings themselves were cut off as the access is by a foot path that is usable only at low tide. No matter, it looked pretty.
Then around the town via a long pier into the bay, used by the locals for crabbing as Dungeness Crabs are a big item here for the local fishery. Interesting in that the crab pots are dropped down off the pier, left for a couple of days, then hauled up leaving rope-burns that have turned into a long series of grooves in the railing of the pier. Many are very deep, attesting to a long and heavy history of pier crabbing in this town.
Then onto a local wild life park, caring for sick and injured sea mammals. We saw harbor seal pups there, and California Sea Lions, on the way to recovery and basking in the sunshine by their little pools, cared for by a girl who was very friendly and chatty with us. There was a person who really and truly loved her job, and told us so. We wandered on, along the beach walk, finally back to our car. Then we sat, in the car by the water, had lunch, put the top down, and set off on the day's driving adventure.
First, on the advice of the tourist bureau, we headed for Stout Grove. This bunch of redwood trees were located just out of town on Indian land, just past a large casino. We got to within about four miles of the Grove, then turned back in a small parking area. The road was getting worse, large potholes in a dirt road, and a steep road that meant I couldn't see the holes in the mix of sun and shade. After a couple of bad jolts from bottoming out, Jan and I looked at each other, stopped the car, took pictures, and headed back. Tearing the muffler off the car was not worth the effort when the main redwood concentration is further south anyway. Down we went, slowly, first gear, picking our way. Then, a left turn onto 101 South.
A gorgeous, spectacular road, in the sun, much of the road shaded by the giant trees with splashes of sunlight every 50 yards or so. Up, up the road went, then great viewpoints of the coast and open water and beach far below, then down, down to the inlets again. Then up, and down, up and down. Spectacular sunny day, everything you would think California would be and more. We stopped several times at view points, each different and spectacular. I took pictures of the scenery, of Jan, and of the car. Which is prettier? Always, it is Jan. But the view is nice too, and the car always gets its share of stares from passers-by.
The overdrive worked today, as I have found a work-around for it. Going along in 5th gear (ie 4th with overdrive) I can also shift down to 3rd and overdrive which effectively puts me in 4th gear. Each gear is about 600 rmp, so going from 4th OD to 3rd OD on a hill changes me from, say, 1800 rpm up to just over 2400 rpm, nicely back in the power curve again. Changing out of OD would do the same, but the ##%@@! thing won't do that. However, when I come to a town, or we stop by the side of the road, I move the electric OD lever up out of OD (I know, up should be on, but the Brits are backward) and then clutch down, shift into neutral, clutch up, clutch down, shift back into 4th, et voila, OD is off and I'm back into 4th gear without OverDrive. Aaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!! But, its British, so that explains it (no offence Jonathan or David, its not your fault). Enough of all that garbage.
Jan must love me, she puts up with so much. We have a new car in the garage at home, but we take this mean-spirited beast on such a long trip. But Jan comes anyway, though she looks at me with barely simmering exasperation a number of times each day. But today, in the sun, top down, I think even she caught the sense of the experience I was seeking. At one point, we were tearing along, up hill and down dale, when suddenly we spotted a herd (yes, a herd, about 20 or more animals) of Roosevelt Elk grazing in a meadow beside US 101 South. We saw them in time (great visibility with the top down) and stopped, and took about a thousand pictures, then on the road again. Priceless.
We passed through McKinleyville this afternoon. Notable because Bob and Celine, whom we will visit in Los Angeles, have provided us with Bob's daughter's phone number at her home here in case we run into car trouble nearby. Happily we do not need help, just now at least, but knowing there was a number to call was reassuring. We exited the highway at McKinleyville, drove around a bit, went to the shopping center, had a coffee at Ramone's (and bought the mug), posed in front of the Post Office, and mailed postcards to the girls in London. As it turned out we didn't call as she was at work, and didn't drop in as we arrived in early afternoon and she also was not really expecting to hear from us by unless we were in dire straits. So, back on the road again in the California sunshine. Such a pretty place here.
Stopped for the night in Eureka, went for a hike, salad for dinner, a bit of TV, then down and out. Tomorrow, south again into the Redwood Forest.
