Great Day along the CA Coast!

We had an awesome day along the coast(we took over 350 pictures today)!

The day didn't start out very good as we woke to rain, sleet and some snow. Then, when we went out to the Suburban, the battery was dead (don't leave your electric cooler plugged in over night - oops!). We couldn't get to our battery cables that were packed under several layers of stuff and the rear hatch only opens electrically. Luckily we opened a Triple A account just for this trip and they were over in about 5 minutes to give us a jump. By the time we left Crescent City, the rain had almost quit, and for the rest of the day it only rained occasionally and we actually saw quite a bit of sun. The low temp. was about 32 and the high was mid 40s (sure beats the heck out of minus 20s, that I hear the temp. is back home). We made it to Fortuna, CA today and have driven about 2850 miles so far. Gas prices have been about $2.90 to $3.00 until we reached California where we paid $3.40.

P.S. We have been keeping an eye out for Bigfoot, but so far he (and she) has eluded us.

Cookhouse

We ate supper tonight at the Samoa Cookhouse. It is the same building that has served breakfast, lunch and dinner since 1894. It started as a cookhouse for the lumberjacks and sawmill workers and was converted to a restaurant in the 1960's. They have no menus, you eat whatever they cook (just like the lumberjacks) and you eat as much as you want (just like the lumberjacks). They serve the food in bowls and platters for the family to share(lumber camp style). Tonight the main courses were Roast Beef and Fried Chicken. They also serve you salad, potato, corn and bread pudding for dessert. It was a very neat dining experience.

Wildlife Photographers

Alex and Karen were our elk photographers today(I was the photographer photographer). The first picture was taken by Alex (he had to sneak up to a picnic table) and the third picture was taken by Karen (she was happy to stay in the Suburban). These are Roosevelt elk and they didn't seem to mind having their pictures taken in the least. Karen was a little worried about having her first born approaching the wildlife!

Beachcombing!

It is great fun walking along the beach picking up shells, rocks and driftwood. It is definitely time for us to trim our shell and rock collection, but how do you say no when Sophie thinks the next shell is the best ever, and just has to keep it!

Neat waves

Dry, then Wet

Alex came down to the beach with me to get this picture. In the first picture, his jeans are dry. In the second one they are wet. I was supposed to tell him if the waves were getting too close, but I wasn't quick enough (neither in warning him, nor in taking a picture of him getting wet, as when I noticed the water almost up to his knees, I was running away from the water myself). This beach warned of "Sneaker Waves" that unexpectedly come higher up on the sand, and we definitely encountered one. This is the second pair of Alex's jeans to get soaked today (see next post).

COLD WATER

The kids tell me the water was very cold.

Sea Lions

We enjoyed watching (and listening to) these Sea Lions in Crescent City this morning. Alex just had to go down on the dock to get a closer look. One of the sea lions is just diving off the dock, so I told him to come back and not bother them anymore. Then, of course, Emily wanted to go down also. Thankfully, Sam and Sophie were fine with watching from a distance. There were about 60 sea lions on the two docks.

Paul Bunyan

We saw this familiar figure standing alongside the road and just had to get a picture. This Paul Bunyan claims to be the world's tallest.

Snow at the Beach?

I guess the snow fell to welcome us to California. We spoke with the owner of the motel we stayed in this morning, and he has seen it snow in Crescent City four times (and he has lived here for over 50 years).

Bend to Crescent City

We travelled from Bend, OR to Crescent City, CA today. We had hoped to see Crater Lake but they received 17 inches of snow yesterday and they predicted another 12 inches today. The drive around the lake was very pretty even though we couldn't see the lake. We arrived in Crescent City a little before sunset so we did a little beach combing. They are predicting rain for the rest of the week. I guess we screw up the weather wherever we go. It's supposed to rain in Seattle and we saw nothing but sun. We arrive in sunny California, and they predict nothing but rain. Oh well.

Snow Fun

Nathan and Julie (and Colby and Clark) took us sledding today.

Mountain Sledding.

We had great time sledding today(except Sophie)! The top picture is of the climb up, the next two are of Karen and Sophie, then two of Alex and Sam, and the last one is Em and I. Goggles were definitely a good thing. The climb up was tough. It was a lot steeper than this looks like. The deep snow, steep climb and an out of shape old man might explain some of the huffing and puffing!

Karen Colby Collision

Karen and Colby had a head-on collision on the mountain. Karen was coming down, and Colby going up, and they met in the middle. Double click on the last picture it is hilarious!

Sophie's Fun

Sophie's favorite thing to do (after the first sled run and a facefull of snow) was eat snow.

Sam jumping off snowbank

Mule Deer

Alex and Colby

Alex had a lot of fun playing with Colby (Nathan and Julie's dog). You can make a pistol with your hand and say bang and he will play dead. He is also a very good jumper and Alex would hold a toy as high as he could and Colby could grab it.