Aug 1 - Redwoods

Steve remembers driving through the Avenue of the Giants as a child on a family vacation.  I drove through redwoods on a drive from Mendicino to Napa, as part of a vacation with my friend, Judy Burbes, in the 1980's.  But now we visited somewhere neither of us had ever been to - Redwoods National Park.  Plus we had the benefit of walking for about four miles through these glorious trees.

Holy Shamoly, are they tall!!!  And big!!!  This is definitely something that photos can only do partial justice.  Our imaginations were having a heyday, with so many Ents, and homes for gnomes, and dwarves.  It's easy to see where an old age forest can get a creative mind spinning and writing (thank you Tolkein).

On another note, sadly for us, it's now obvious that our plans to make it all the way up the coast through Washington were a little ambitious, especially since we need to get home in time to drop off Bodecia III (our trailer) and repack for the Alaska cruise (life is so hard).  So Oregon will be as far north as we will be going.

Aug 2 was a travel day to get us to Florence, OR.  Route 101 between California and Oregon is mostly a small local road with lots of hills.  We were fortunate that we traveled on a week day, since the traffic was rough in spots (still in one piece!)  And lots of curves :-\.  Steve concentrated and did the job while Sherry meditated to keep the gasps and cringing to a minimum, and put that imaginary brake to full use.  Mileage is better at sea level by a couple, so that is good.

Steve says: I'm not happy with the silly highway laws: laws passed by legislators influenced by feel-good voters usually means they're poorly analyzed, resulting in dysfunctional results.  Two speed-limits (65 for cars and 55 for trucks and towed vehicles) in California cause constant traffic congestion, especially on smaller roads. In Oregon, drivers are not allowed to pump their own gas; a minimum wage job creator that results in long lines and additional charges at the pump  (though California has the highest prices of the trip - .60 per gallon over Colorado).

So we are on the Central Coast, Oregon, and have still more exploring to do and it seems that in Oregon we are actually seeing the sun again.  Yay!

HAPPY WEDDING, JENNA AND NORWOOD!  Wish we could be there to help celebrate but we will toast you this evening.