A few pictures of Christmas from picking out a tree, the school concert, the Christmas Eve Crab Fest, and of course Christmas Morning.

Christmas 2009

Just a few pictures of the Halloween search for goodies.

Haloween 09

Today was the day to visit the Pumpkin Patch and explore the Corn Maze ("The Maze Maze" hee hee).  Julia led me through the maze and we found the entrance 4 times!  Never did find the exit.  Then back to the house for a little pumpkin carving.

Pumpkin Patch

There was a Medieval Festival this weekend.  Be sure to look for the "low cost" Helmut and the broken lances from the jousting.  Also note that "tie-dyed" is still alive on the North Coast.

Medieval Festival

Today was part of the "Pastels in the Park" in Arcata.  Businesses sponsor artists who each get a section of sidewalk to do chalk drawings on.  There were also vendors with local plants, fruits and vegetables for sale a band and even jugglers.  A local bee keeper brought honey and had a piece of honeycomb on display.  There were bee's all over the place!

Pastels

I took a trip down the 101 to spend some time with the "big trees".  I ended up near the town of Redcrest and followed a trail through the woods.  It is hard to tell but the "root balls" of some of the fallen trees are 8-10 feet high.  I think you could have stood in the same place all day and seen different pictures as the light changed.

Big Trees

I took a short trip to Eureka and Fort Humboldt this morning.  The old fort is now a display of early logging in the area.  Lots of old equipment and a few big trees along with a few buildings such as a "foreman's cabin.

Ft Humboldt

My granddaughter, Elisabeth, was part of a clown show in Arcata this morning.  The show was outdoors at the local school.  The kids looked great with their big noses and colorful hair.

Clown Show

I joined the "Humboldt Tea Party Patriots" on one of their floats to honor Veterans.  This was part of the Fortuna Rodeo Days Parade.  It was a great parade with about 100 entries and we took second place!

Fortuna Parade

I went to Eureka this morning and joined about 100 people for an anti-tax Tea Party.  It was a good turn out as we walked several blocks with flags and signs.

Tea Party

June 10:  I packed up the trailer and set off for Las Vegas to meet my brother, Bob, and his wife, Bev, for our tour.  I didn't even get out of the RV Park and heard that there was a traffic pile up in the Cajon Pass and I-15 was closed!  My GPS gave me an alternate route through Indio, Desert Center, Vidal Junction, Needles and Searchlight to Las Vegas.  The simple four and a half hour trip turned into a six and a half hour tour sage brush and rocks.  I arrived in Vegas and unhooked the trailer then a quick trip into town to gather up the clan.

June 11:  We hit the road around 9:30 - destination Carson City and a visit with our cousin Cathy.  I'm trying to remember the highlights of the drive along US-95 over the next 9 hours but there aren't any.  Bob and I traded the driving duties every couple of hours and rested our eyes the rest of the time.  I think Bob cheated as every time I opened my eyes the landscape hadn't changed much!

June 12:  Today was a day of rest and chores - laundry - a little maintenance on the RV and a new battery.  Bob spotted a restaurant with "The Best Margaritas In Town".  Cathy came over to the RV Park and we went to dinner (the Margaritas were good).  We had a good time catching up with Cathy and made plans to all go to Virginia City on Sunday.

June 13:  Bob, Bev and I went to IHOP for breakfast then to the Carson City Rendezvous.  There were people in costumes including Trappers, Gunfighters, Settlers and Civil War Uniforms.  Take a look at the pictures.

Carson Rendevous

June 14:  Bob, Bev and I picked up cousin Cathy for a trip to Virginia City this morning.  After breakfast at a casino and a short trip into the hills we arrived at the old gold/silver mining town.  It is Knotts Berry Farm without the rides!  We wandered through the shops and took a 20 minute tour of the town.

Virgina City

June 16:  We completed our trip to Salt Lake today after spending the night in Elko.  The following pictures start at the Nevada/Utah border with the Bonneville Salt Flats and continue to Salt Lake City.

Into Salt Lake

June 17-18:  We rode the shuttle bus into "Temple Square" and spent some time like tourists.  The buildings are impressive and the genealogy building had computer work stations to look up your family.  Everywhere you look there are Mormon guides to keep you going in the right direction.

Salt Lake Temple

June 20:  We got up this morning and had breakfast in Ashton.  I know that it is Idaho but thought that the extra large helping of hash browns was over done!  We took off for Yellowstone about an hour east of here.  We did the "South Loop" which included Bald Eagles, Bison, Elk, Geysers, Lakes and Rivers.  Old Faithful lived up to it's reputation.  The clouds began to form then the lighting and thunder soon followed.  We stayed ahead of most of the rain but did find a little on the way out of the park including a little hail.

Yellowstone

June 21:  This morning it was off to a wild animal park south of Ashton.  Bev wanted to see bears and moose.  We were successful.

Bear Park

June 22:  Ashton to Boise.  We pulled out of Ashton after breakfast and crossed Idaho on US 20.  There is a lot of empty space in Idaho!  We set up camp just west of Boise and ordered pizza for dinner.

Ashton-Boise

June 23-24:  The 23rd was a long day on the road across Oregon, along the Columbia Gorge, to The Dalles.  Bob found the "Lone Pine" campground on his GPS.  We followed the directions to a construction area with no RV Park!  Back on the road another 30 miles to a KOA.  We decided to spend a couple of nights as the last two days we covered 711 miles and need a rest.   After a sleep in the next morning we took off on the "Fruit Loop" through the Hood area of fruit stands, wineries and an Alpaca ranch.  My guests are clamoring for dinner so I will close for today.

Fruit Loop

June 25-26:  We drove through Portland and over to Hammond which is near Astoria Oregon.  A little rain along the way but it stopped before we had to set up camp.  Bob and Bev took off in the truck to explore and found themselves in Washington!  They did discover a great seafood place that we went to for dinner.  I forced myself to have a little lemon pie after a great Ahi Tuna steak for dinner.

On the 26th we visited two Forts on either side of the mouth of the Columbia River.  Both forts were active through the end of WWII.  We also stopped by the "premier" Victorian house in Astoria before heading to the city of Seaside for a little shopping and hot fudge sundays.

Astoria

June 27-28:  The goal was to get to Lincoln City, Oregon for a kite festival.  On the way we stopped at the Tillamuck Cheese Factory and picked up some snacks and had ice cream.  While in Lincoln City we went to the kite festival and were surprised that we weren't asked to participate!  After watching the pro's, Bob and I went looking for a place to fly my kite but the only place we found was behind a hill and the wind couldn't make up it's mind which way to blow.  Bob and Bev went to the casino to try their luck and got far enough ahead to pay for dinner.

Lincoln City Kites

June 29-30:  A nice drive along the Oregon coast from Lincoln City to Reedsport.  We are staying in Winchester Cove along side the marina.  The second day we explored Reedsport with a short drive to an elk viewing area.  The elk were in hiding as there was a "controlled burn" in the area.  Next stop the Discovery Center then the Light House and an Oyster Shucking facility.

Lincoln City to Reedsport

Reedsport

July 1:  On the way to Gold Beach we stopped at the West Coast Game Park to feed the animals.  This is a good park with a lot of animals.  We stopped along the coast at a couple of lookouts for pictures.  The RV Park is 6 miles inland along the Rogue River and there are several pictures of the park.

Reedsport to Gold Beach

July 2:  An early start this morning got us to the boat dock for the "Jet Boat" ride up the Rogue River.  It started out foggy and cool but warmed up a few miles up the river.  They hadn't sold out the 80 mile trip and put us on the 104 mile trip.   A few more rapids and an extra hour on the river.  A great day and lots of "critters".

Mail Boat Ride

July 5:  Shortly after arriving in Arcata Bob and Bev and I went to the city of Ferndale.  It is famous for it's "Victorian" buildings and for it's role in the movie Outbreak.  The next day we took to girls to town for Bev's long awaited Banana Split.

Ferndale

Lyn Palmer