November 17th - or so. Transition south.

Yeah, we fell off the earth.  It's been a crazy month.  Now that we are settle  in SoCal, things should start happening for us again. 

Just before we left Eureka, we made a final night at Humbolt Cider Co. There was a night of live jazz with a gentleman who came in and stood in the upstairs balcony and played some cool jazz on a sax with recorded background.  It was pretty good. 

Laurie finished her final shift and then we packed up and closed the camper.  Back on the road.  We pretty much drove straight through.  The two big fires were in areas we didn't have to go near.  The one in the north was way off to the east, and we didn't go anywhere near Malibu.  There was a lot of haze in the air where ever we went, though. 

The contrast in driving conditions between driving through a forest, over mountains, and semi-arid deserts was something.  I chuckled when I drove through the Angeles National Forest that consisted of scrub brush and a few scattered short trees after being up in the Redwood National Forest.

Driving down through the San Joaquin Valley, I noticed a lot of farmland that was just not being used.  Worse, a lot of the orchards and vineyards seemed sick and under watered.  This is the result partially of drought, and partially of State Government taking water away from the valley due to concerns over an endangered small fish that gets caught in the canal filters.  As we drove through Kern county, there were many protest signs declaring "Farming is not wasting water" and blaming the State politicians of mismanagement of resources. Sad.

We got down to El Centro and Rio Bend in the evening.  A security guy put us in a short time pull-through until we could settle up with the office in the morning.  The owners put in new managers and changed a bunch of rules and tossed out all workamper contracts from last year.  Because we couldn't reconcile there offers with her work schedule, we decided I wouldn't work and we got our preferred site and got moved in.

Here we are.  We participated in bingo one night and attended the park's Thanksgiving dinner.  We were also able to have our first Magic the Gathering night in San Diego.  I found out that there are four new geocaches in the immediate area. That should be fun.

There should be a lot more to come.

Jazz at Humbolt Cider Co

Her final night at work

Some random final shots of Eureka

A cool old car project found at BNS

September 24th - Heading South

I wouldn't do it for cod, but I'd do it Fortuna.

There is a limited number of local breweries here.  The only one we hadn't visited was Eel River brewing south in Fortuna, Ca. We drove down there and found the only really good brewer in the area.  Very tasty stuff.  Out back, they have a great patio for dining.  Part of it is a small covered garden area. Nice.

After having lunch, we visited the riverwalk, a biking and walking path that runs next to the river.  The river wasn't that impressive, but the width of the riverbed itself tells you what it must be like during the spring thaw. 

As we made our way home, we stopped in Loleta where we had heard of a local cheese maker.  They had a huge selection of cheeses they make and boast of a grilled cheese sandwich bar where you can get fresh sandwiches.

It wasn't a long outing, but it was fun.

September 17th - North County Fair

North of us, there is another town called Arcata.  They had their annual street fair.  In the town is a block-square park.  Vendors and artisans lined both sides of the surrounding streets with booths.  Some food, lots of great handcrafted items and clothing.  This looked like a real hippie-artist thing.

There was the annual Samba parade around the square.

We walked around and looked at a lot of cool stuff.  Of course, we had to buy some hot sauce and jelly.  We stopped in a tavern that had a lot of old items around the bar and a couple of surprises.  A couple of the buildings have ancient neon lights which was cool. 

On our way out was a girl band which played music from the 40s.  Guitar, double bass, and woodwinds/brass.  They were pretty good.  Arcata is an interesting town.

http://www.northcountryfair.org/

We had lunch at a combination cider and meat pie place.  We even brought home a couple of empanadas and pot pies.

By the way, completely unassociated, Baseball postseason started today.  I'm excited.  Just sayin'.

This was painted into the street up where I parked the beast

Lots of people

Town square

Amazing art masks

The parade

Everett's

no, wait, what???

Awesome band

Booty

Empanadas!!

Cider bar

September 9th to 16th - Our First Week in Eureka

Okay, this is going to be a longish post.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Our RV park is right off Hwy 101.  We are surrounded by city, a slough that opens to the bay, and forest.  We got into our spot at night, and got the paperwork done the next morning..  The office here seems a bit unorganized.  We have talked to a number of different people between the actual meeting and earlier phone calls.  Some of the people we talked to aren't here since we left ND.  My only complaint about the site is that it's only 30 amp rather than 50.  Eureka seems to be a pretty area.  Being right on the ocean, the fog comes in at night or even late evening, and rolls out in the morning most days.

It didn't take us long to start exploring.  We went to the downtown area which has a wonderful "old town" section along the waterfront.  There are buildings here from every decade going back to the 1880s gold rush era.  Up here there is farming, a prosperous fishing trade, and lumber processing.  This area is called the Emerald Triangle for the three counties of Humbolt, Mendocino, and Trinity. I was told it was mostly due to the lumber and farming in the area, but wikipedia says it's because of the marijuana framing.  This area has all the charm and culture of San Francisco set in a small town rural environment. Very laid back and arty as well as very liberal. You know, hippies. lol.

We had our first breakfast out in a small restaurant called the Green Lily.  Great food and dragon fruit mimosas.  The next day, we found Lost Coast Brewing.  The place looked marvelous inside though the beers, which are a huge local brand, were a bit lacking.  I'm constantly amazed at all the buildings which are still in use despite their age.  Also, many, many buildings have huge murals and artwork painted on them.

Later, Laurie had to go in for training and orientation.  One of the days, she wasn't going to be there long, so I just parked and waited for her.  There is a large wooded area next to the hospital, and on this side, they have a small garden for reflection or whatever.  Really cool.

We drove up to Arcata to look around. We found a trendy, and overpriced brewery called Six Rivers.  We also drove over to Blue Lake to Mad River brewing for lunch.  Their brews were pretty good.  We had lunch and the ribs I had were huge and meaty.  I love great ribs.  She also loved her tri-tips.

There in downtown Eureka is a cidery with some great blends. such as blueberry and passion fruit.  Across the street is a pizza place with an art-deco motif.  They make fresh NY style pizza that was pretty good.  There's a lot to see and explore, not just here in town, but all around in the country and surrounding towns and coastline.

We have arrived...

Dragon fruit mimosas

This shop is used by the Green Lily but the sign from 1885 stays

Inside Lost Coast Brewing

Murals

A peaceful reflection garden at St. Joseph's Hospital

Humbolt Cider Company

The artwork reminds us of Shel Silverstein or Peter Max

Six Rivers Brewing in Arcata, Ca

On the Mad River in Blue Lake, Ca

At Paul's Live From New York Pizzaria