Day 1-4

Well folks for those of you that wonder where we are, we have left the Roost and are on the road.  Yvonne and I are going to spend the next weeks checking back in with each other and learning how to travel with our new dog Cassie (Cassandra).  When we have internet we will post, which might not be to often but.....

We started our journey on Tuesday  the 11th, and yes David we got out by 8:00 even though we were not ready the night before when you called.   Our first stop was on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge to let Cassie find out what it was like to be in a crowd.  She did great.  She was most interested in seeing what was around the next corner. 

While we were standing there the folks next to us wondered about the  large sailboat out on the water.  One of the America's Cup 70 foot cats were practicing.   They are quite the boat.  I do not think the Cassie was interested but I hung around as long as I could watching this monster take off with almost no wind.

We packed back up and headed out through Petaluma on our way to Humboldt Redwood State Park and the Burlington campground.  This is a blast from the past as Yvonne and I been here early in our marriage.  We were trying to figure out when but you know these old minds.  The road had changed and it was not as we remember it.  It took until the next day for us to figure that they had added a freeway through this area and the road that we had traveled is now called the "Avenue of the Giants." We pulled in and set up.  Big trees everywhere.  We have thousands of shots of just trees.  They are quite amazing.  A simple meal of  chili and sausages to start the trip.

Next door to us was a  dad and two little kids.  He was camping with his kids (6 and 2 years old) because this was his vacation time and his wife was trying to complete her dissertation.   The two little kids immediately came over to play with Cassie and entertained us with their exploits and adventures. .  It turns out that he is an assistant Scout Master and was kind enough to offer dutch over cobbler because his kids were often in our camp. 

The next day (Wed) we slept in and then hung around camp and read.  Eventually, at the urging of Cassie we were off on our own adventures.    One of the problems of traveling with a dog is that you cannot take them on any trails in the National Parks so we went just outside of the park to take her through the forest and then introduced Cassie to a river.  She was besotted.  We are still not comfortable about letting her off the leash but the twenty foot line allowed her to get plenty wet.  One of us will have to get into the water before she will swim but......

We are now working on having her stay in the truck while we take short hikes into the woods to see the really big trees.  Sometimes she just curls up and goes to sleep and sometimes she lets us know that she is not happy.  While we were talking to one of the rangers, she suggested that we park the truck at the opening of some of the drive in sites and then walk Cassie along the road.  The rule is, if it is paved the dog and go there.  So off we went and had more adventures.  The ferns are amazing.  To see the amount of growth that comes out of a downed tree reminds you about how the forest sustains its self.

Back to camp for our first real dinner.  Prior to the trip I found a little Weber gas barbecue so we just had to try it out.  So BBQ chicken and weird sausages and salad.   While that was happening Yvonne decided to take her harp out and practice a little.  Immediately the kids were there to see this weird musical instrument.  We finished dinner and were off to bed.

The next day (Thursday) more sleeping in and reading under the trees.  We then decided to travel the length of the old Redwood Highway (now called the Avenue of the Giants) stopping often to see more big trees and try to find places that we remember from our first visit to the Redwoods almost 35 years ago.   It is hard to appreciate the size of some of these treas until you stand next to them.  This is the largest tree in the park and that little dot next to it is Yvonne.  We visited the two other campgrounds in the park and understood why we had chosen Burlington last time.  It is the nicest of the group and the oldest.  More room between sites.  What a great day of just lazing through he park. Back to the campsite where we grilled salmon  and had an amazing dinner.  A little harp practice and off to bed.

Up at 0-dark- hundred (Friday) as we need to be in Gold Hill Oregon early.  We had tickets to a show in Ashland (The Unfortunates).  Out of camp by 8 and on the road.  We traveled up through Crescent City.  Stopping often to look at the ocean and watching the folks launch their kayaks to go fishing.

Yvonne did make me stop to see the blue ox but I promise you that we did not go inside of this amusement park.  (check out the ox).  With a full day of travel behind us we arrived at the KOA in Gold Hill.  Plugged in and then decided that we had not spent enough time with Cassie so I went to the show and Yvonne stayed with Cassie.

What an wonderful presentation.  It was a little weird to go to the show without Yvonne but as the trip goes along Cassie will get better and when we are back in this area we will try to see another show where we both can go.

Today (Saturday), we will stop and have breakfast with Ron Danko and his wife and then head off to Eugene to be with our friends the Zeller's.

That gets you all caught up.  Will post more later in the week.