Blogs from Eureka, California, United States, North America

Back on the road again with a fixed air pressure guage and, a new problem, a repaired front shade holding bracket. We stop at Oregon Caves National Monument and, after reading NPS guidance on the internet, park at a very welcome Illinois Valley Information Center and take the car for the 19 mile curvy ride. The cave is interesting but my sore back could only tolerate the bending while taking the “sneak peak” the NPS offered, but that was enough. The drive itself was amazing. Back on the highway we enjoy the wonderful forest scenes and river gorge views. Redwood National and State Parks Visitors Center gave us another stamp and overview of the park to aid our later viewing. Passport America offers ½ price parks and we proceed up US 101 to a very nice ... read more

Day 3 started early again as we had one of our longer drives up part of Highway 1- the coastal Highway- to Eureka. We decided to have breakfast in the extremely charming town of Yountville (Best croissant of the trip so far goes to the Bouchon Bakery). This was another recommended place to stay in the Winelands and given the amount of restaurants (The French Laundry, Bottega, Bouchon, Redd and Bistro Jeanty to name-drop those that were recommended to us), the closeness of some great vineyards and the general cuteness of the place, we would come back here if staying for a longer period of time. From Yountville, we decided to travel to Eureka via the Silverado Trail; passing a good chunk of the Napa wineries. This trail was formerly one of the most important trade ... read more

Yesterday we pulled out of our ocean-front campsite and parked the rig at the marina. We took the car to Stout Grove in the heart of the redwoods. It was about 7 miles, but winds amid the forest, so took about an hour to get there. Then we walked around the trail...awesome and somewhat prehistoric!! It was really quiet there...didn't really even hear the birds chirping...amazing how the foliage dampens the sounds... Back in the coach and headed for Eureka. Had to stop at the beach along the way and take in the ocean!! We arrived at the Blue Lake Casino just outside Eureka and parked for the night. Starving, so headed into town to find dinner. We stopped in Acata, but on Sunday evening there wasn't much going on. That, and while I consider myself ... read more

Egentlig skulle vi køre til San Francisco i dag, men her var så spænende at vi var blevet enige om prøve at se om vi kunne udskyde det en dag, så jeg ringede til pladsen i SF, de sagde at det var i orden, så vi fik en dag mere her oppe. Vi havde fundet et sted længere syd hvor vi kunne overnatte, så vi kunne bide de 540 km til SF i to stykker.Det bedste ved det var at det stadig lå i Redwood nationalpark. Efter alle arrangementer var på plads pakkede vi bilen sammen og tog af sted, vi nåede kun lige ud af Cresent City før vi langt om længe kunne se Stillehavet, der er en eller andet ordsprog der siger at hvis man vil gense Stillehavet, så skal man som minimum ud ... read more

Thursday, October 16, 2008 From Tuesday morning to Wednesday evening we travelled west 600 miles from Eureka, Nevada to Eureka, California: from sage brush desert to redwood rain forest, from clear blue sky to dense sea fog, from 6000 feet to sea level, from night frost to warm moist air, from Casino land to Enviro land. Susanville, CA to Hydesville, CA on Highway 36 is a route to enjoy. Lassen Volcano dominates the rock formations as far as Interstate 5 at Red Bluffs. Huge Ponderosa Pine forests all along the road and virtually no traffic, again. A Highway 36 road sign warns of 140 miles of narrow winding road west of Red Bluffs. These winds started immediately and kept on coming until we reached the sea. Added to that was a gradual climb through the Shasta ... read more

Hi Folks! I'm in Eureka California taking a rest day. Had a nice week long stay with my daughter and spent a lot of time planning and making arrangements for the next phase of the trip. I have a reservation to fly to Adelaide Austarlia on the 12th! It's been a beautiful ride down the coast so far! The Oregon coast is breathtaking and the California redwoods are awesome! Oregon has been about the best for camping so far with Hiker/Biker sites in the national parks at $4.00 a night with free hot showers and some of the parks having laundry facilities. I met another rider from Australia who's also on his way to San Francisco so we're riding together. I've uploaded more pictures to my Kodak Gallery, but I haven't had time to arrange them ... read more

What's hot: Redwood Forests What's also hot: Scott gets a 392-point Scrabble play What's not: The temperatures--56 degrees at Eureka, CA The road: 101 miles of intense high mountain curves--Paul gets the driving prize. Travel lesson of the day: In search of beauty, you get some truth. from Kathy: The journey is the destination ... Advertising has ruined so many good phrases. This daily pursuit of new landscapes is a destination in itself, now at the halfway point for us. Inside our little bubble of four people, we carry out the rituals of lazy-rising, diner breakfasts, looking at the signs and people, noticing the little stuff, laughing or shaking our heads, or disagreeing, or putting up with each other, or agreeing, or just driving quietly ... read more