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HOME FROM SACRAMENTO 2006

I had driven myself down to my Mom’s house around October 25^th taking just a little over 14 hours driving time to get there. I didn’t make any special notes along the way. It was clear and warm all of the way, with no problems in traffic or weather. Katie and I had spent the first night in Ashland at a very nice hotel and I went out for dinner across the way. Nothing special just a stop along the way.

My Mom had somehow fallen down and hurt her left leg very badly. So badly, in fact, that she really couldn’t walk or get around much at all. It was black and blue from her knee to the bottom of her foot and all the way around it. The knee was swollen up about an inch or better. It looked terrible and was very painful. She of course was taking pain pills which only made things worse. First of all she couldn’t walk, then with the pills making her so drowsy, she couldn’t think things through or get anything finished. It was a mess for about a month. Really, all in all, she did a lot better then any of us thought she might!

I stayed approximately two weeks with her at her home in Stockton and tried to make sure that she took good care of herself and got the things done that she needed to get done while I was there. It was a nice visit even though she wasn’t feeling good at all.

The last night I was there it was pretty funny as she wanted to go out for dinner. So we (Walt, Kathie, my Mom and of course me) took her out to the Italian restaurant that she likes so much. I ordered a glass of red wine and she decided that she would have one as well, which was Ok as she hadn’t had any pain pills all day long. But she drank that wine down like water (it tasted so good) and got a little tipsy. But she was having a good time, so it really was a delight to see. Took her home and put her to bed. I think she got the first real good sleep in a month. Smile.

Monty had wanted to fly down and drive back with me, as he didn’t want me driving home alone. Which was really very sweet and we finally agreed to go ahead with arrangements so that I could pick him up on Friday afternoon at the Sacramento Airport.

Friday, November 10, 2006

I picked up Monty at about 3PM and I understand that he had a pretty good flight. They were giving out free glasses of red wine, so he had several drinks along the way. Plus what he had prior to getting on the plane. Coming off he looked a little like Santa Claus from Hawaii with bright red shorts, beard and a great big smile.

We headed north up I-5 toward Ukiah. We had planned on turning off westward a little sooner but missed our turn so we took HWY 20 over to Ukiah and drove around Clear lake. This is a really nice area and I would love to go back and spend a few days there. Lot’s of lakes to explore in the area. The drive was beautiful through waving hills of gold. Just as it was turning dark a white owl spread her wings to take off in flight and clipped the top of the car. It appeared that it was alright and flew on. We just hoped that it didn’t get hurt.

Once we got to Ukiah we found a place to stay for the night. You have to remember that Ukiah is not much of a town and usually not a place that one stays at all if they can help it. But it was dark and time to stop when we got there. We decided to go to the local pub for a drink and find out where to eat that evening. The tavern was an interesting place and had a bartender just like you would want. One who knows everything and everybody. He recommended a place just out of town to the north. He ssured us that it was a very nice restaurant with really good food!.

What a place it turned out to be. We entered through this little old grocery store, just like out of Grandpa’s time, past the restrooms to find the bar. We of course thought this was also where we would eat? As we found out later everything is down past the men’s and women’s bathrooms! The tavern area was a little sleazy, but we had been told the food was good, so we decided to go ahead and eat there anyway. As it turned out the food was very good and not at a bad price either.

But the real funny part was when we went to get our salad from the salad bar. Again, you had to go past the ladies and men’s bathrooms and take a left down this narrow little hallway to the salad bar????? So, Monty and I gave this considerable thought before deciding that we would go ahead and chance getting a salad. What a shock! As we came into this large dinning room, all the tables were covered with white tablecloths and had candles on them. The room was filled with people. We were just amazed. So funny, you just wouldn’t have guessed that there was a nice dinning area anywhere near this place. Everyone but us entered the restaurant through the restaurant entrance, not the store! This turned out to be a fun place. We were glad we went. Nice night as well.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

We took off about 9AM and decided to go north on HWY 101 rather then going over to the coast. We hit the coast at Eureka. It is a beautiful clear day, with white soft clouds and gold rolling hills. Lots of birds in the air. It is so clear. We saw a flock of wild turkeys along the side of the road and Monty took some pictures of them. The hills are dotted with fold trees buried in amongst the green, what a wonderful sight.

We’re heading into the Redwoods. Our drive through the Avenue of The Giants was a thrill. We stopped and did the Drive Through Tree, as Monty had never been through it before. It was a fun thing to do, but everything was pretty much closed up for the holidays. The magic of going through this area is hard to explain. The trees are so overwhelming. Growing so slow, it takes 900 years for a tree to grow nine feet across and 90' to 100' tall. The turning leaves were filtering down upon us like a shower of leaves. It was magnificent!

In Eureka, we stopped at the Samoa Cookhouse for lunch. It's also a fun place with a lot of history. Monty enjoyed it and we both were hungry, which is always a good thing when you stop here. This is where the loggers and mill workers ate in the old days. In the last picture below, you can see the Simpson plant from the parking lot. After lunch we almost got into an accident trying to get back onto Hwy 101. This is a interesting harbor area and we will be traveling along the coast most of the way home from here on.

Just outside of Eureka before, you get to Crescent City, we pasted two very large herd of Elk. The first group had about 35-40, mostly cows with a couple of young bulls.

As we headed on down the road, we past the next herd of elk, all bulls! There were about 8 of them. It was funny, Katie barked like crazy at the cows and wanted to get out at them, but she took one look at the size of the bulls horns and didn’t let out a peep! She was so funny to watch.

We stopped at Brookings for the night and stayed at the Best Western near the Harbor. What a great place this is to stay. We both would like to come back for a few days in the summer. Katie just had a ball and really enjoyed the beach the next morning. Not only was there a beautiful beach just a few steps away from our room, but the hot tub and pool were right next door! They love to have animals. Great place. We just had appetizers and wine for dinner, but it was a good meal. Afterwards, we went back to the hot tub for an hour or so. What a nice way to complete a nice evening and day.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

We slept in a little late, until about 8:30, and then took Katie for a walk on the beach. Decided to have a nice breakfast with Champagne. After we went and did a little shopping for Christmas and took off to start heading towards home. We hoped to get to Lincoln City by that evening and then head eastward to Salem. Or at least that was the plan.

The coast is magnificent, with crashing waves on the large rocks out in the water making for fantastic sight. Just out of Gold Beach it started to rain – yuck, but we had two very nice days of sunshine, so really couldn't complain too much.

About 3PM the wind started to come up, making driving a little difficult. We stopped in old town Florence just to see the area, as neither one of us had ever been there before. We grabbed a drink, but it was way to cold to walk the town and decided to just head on down the road.

With the rain and wind, it was hard to see the beaches well, but it was still a fun drive with lots of neat and beautiful views. A must come back to. At about 4PM the wind was getting worse and we decided to stop at Yachats for the night. We stayed at the Adobe Inn, a motel Monty had stayed at before.

The Adobe turned out to a great place, right on the water, with a very good restaurant. We couldn’t believe our luck, as the winds got stronger and stronger. We had found a beautiful place to stop. Not only that, but they too loved to have dogs and gave Katie a doggie towel and some doggie cookies. What a special treat for Katie. Great place and a must do again, when the sun is out.

We were told that the winds got up to 90 miles a hour, which we sure believe, as it felt as if the building would blow apart. We were able to sit and eat our dinner right at the windows overlooking the beach and watch the storm crash the waves up on the breakwater. It was a sight to remember. The motel lights had the ocean all lit up, so you could see the storm, until the power and lights went out! After we lost power, we had to walk back to our room, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do in the wind with no lights. I guess the hotel is used to this, as they handed out candles for your room at the front desk. Again a neat night with a special charm of it’s own.

Monday, November 13, 2006

We were up around 9 and went for a walk on the beach It was still a little stormy, but nothing like the night before. What a pretty beach the Adobe Inn has. Katie, again, really enjoyed her walk.

Two of the bridges on HWY 101 had to close down the night before for safety reasons, so were weren’t too sure if they would be open this morning. Both the Newport and the Waldport were closed and we didn’t now how far north we were going to be able to get on Hwy 101, but decided to go ahead and try for it anyway.

We stopped at Lincoln City for lunch/breakfast at a cute little place. The food was Ok. We had to pick up new windshield wipers and then headed for Portland on Hwy 18. Well at least that’s what we thought we were going to do. As it turns out, we couldn’t go east on 18 due to the number of trees that were down on the roadway. As we understood it, there were over 200 hundred trees down and nine of them had hit cars, which also were still blocking the road. So, we turned north towards Tillamook.

I like the Tillamook area anyway, so this wasn’t really a disappointment to either of us. As we were driving into the town, we saw the sign for the Tillamook Air Museum and decided to it check it out. It turns out it's an old World War II military blimp hanger. We thought that the Spruce Goose was in this museum, but as we found out later, it is at the McMinnville Air Museum. So, maybe next time? I know Monty really enjoyed going through this old museum and seeing all of the old warplanes. I must admit they had a lot of interesting ones there to see. From there we went on to the cheese factory, bought some cheese and a Garfield cat for Katie. She was still asleep in the back seat.

We headed out of town through some winding mountains and saw some lovely white foamy waterfalls. No wonder the rivers were so full! All of the rivers that we past, were right up to their banks and just about ready to spill over. We were going out via Hwy 6 to hwy 26 at Tillamook Junction and on to Portland and the airport to pick up Monty’s car.

We got to Monty’s car about 5:30. It was dark and raining pretty hard, but we tried to head north for home anyway. About 20-30 miles down the road, I called Monty and suggested that we stop for one more night. It was just to hard to drive in those conditions with all the big trucks etc. We decided to stop at the Red Lion in Longview. What a good decision that was. Had a very nice night, snug and warm in our room. Even decided to order dinner in the room. It was fun and we all enjoyed the finished to our trip.

So what’s next, you might ask? Who knows??

Smile!