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PAGE FOUR
Saturday 28th June We leave Washington State with a clearer understanding of how it got its nickname "The Evergreen State". It is still raining as we head south on interstate 5 into Oregon and as we pass fruit and nut orchards the weather gets even worse. Crossing over the Yacinta Bay historic bridge brings us to the tsunami hazard zone! Gradually the weather brightens and a bit of blue sky is visible, travelling down the coast road we stop and have a paddle in the Pacific Ocean which is quite rough, there is lots of mist around but it is quite warm. Our hotel is the Sleep Inn and Suites in Eugene where we have another very nice suite. When we first started coming to the USA coffee making facilities were never provided in the rooms although coffee was always available in the lobby. Now even the most modest motel rooms are equipped with not only a coffee maker and fresh coffee but also a microwave and fridge. We have noticed lots of pop-up firework shops today, just marquees really, obviously keeping up with demand for all the fireworks that will be lit next week on 4th
July. Tipping is always an issue for Brits in America and 20%!n(MISSING)ow seems to be about standard in restaurants and to be honest the waitresses do work hard for their tips often writing nice little notes on the receipts but some shops also have a dish for tips. Today when George gives the garage guy a dollar he hands it back saying it is not store policy to accept tips - it's a difficult one to get right!
Sunday 29th June We head for California and the clouds gradually disperse, we climb mount Ashland 4310 feet and there is a clear blue sky as we cross into California at 11am. Mount Shasta looks stunning in the sunshine, it is covered in snow and we have a picnic lunch in the foothills; it is very hot now 90f. We cross over the Sacramento River and the temperature hits 102f we drive past vineyards, olive, walnut and peach trees, through Wilbur Springs into Clearlake. Arrive at the Quality Inn in Ukiah and spend a short time around the outdoor pool, then we look for somewhere nearby to eat. We go into an Applebee's and order a bottle of wine,
there are no prices on the drinks menu and the waitress checks and tells us a bottle of Californian Cabernet Sauvignon will be $15 so we order it. Then she returns and says they only have a large bottle but we can have it at the same price, we ask her to bring it to show us and it turns out to be one and a half litre or equivalent to two bottles so we say we will have it but will take what we don't drink home and that's what we do! When we leave Applebee's at around 9pm the temperature is 94f
Monday 30th June It is our younger granddaughter's birthday so Happy 11th Birthday Izzy.
Beautiful blue skies this morning and after breakfast and an interesting chat with a Californian called Roy we head for the coast. We have a very scary 27 mile drive along a mountain ridge, I keep closing my eyes and hoping George is keeping his wide open! We pass through a forest of giant redwoods, this is the national tree of California, we see a young deer running along the road towards us and then it just skips up
Ukiah CA
George trying out a new truck for size the almost vertical hillside, how do they do that? When we get to the coast it is quite misty and the temperature has dropped about 30degrees, the sea is quite rough.
We are in a wine region, hundreds of acres of vines and also wild fennel growing along the roadside. When we get back to the hotel the temperature is 107f and they have moved us to another room due to a plumbing problem. We spend some time at the pool before preparing our own supper of lasagne and salad and the rest of the huge bottle of wine! We have spoken to my brother Andrew today and have made plans to meet up with him and his girlfriend in Chicago on 4th July, we are really looking forward to seeing the celebrations
Today the price of a GALLON of petrol is around $3.70 (£2.16) when we first came here in 1988 it was $1.08 (63p).
Driving down to San Francisco tomorrow, over the Golden Gate Bridge and we'll hand the car in and have a couple of days exploring the Bay Area using the BART public transport system.
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Jonathan Robinson
non-member comment
Wine
I would have drunk all the wine! Glad you are having a great time.