CAN YOU SAY CHEESE?

Tuesday, May 24 – We left this morning and drove to Eureka, CA. It is going to be a bit chilly this week. Today will have a high of 59 and low of 46. That seems to be the weather report for the entire week.

We are staying at the Eureka Elks. There are 22 FHU sites. They are a bit close but manageable. We are paying $20/night. We plan to use this as our base for visiting Redwoods National Park, Samoa Sand Dunes, and other attractions in this area.

We are in Site 3.

Paul trying to get out of the wind.

Looking to our left. That's the clubhouse.

Looking to the right.

We didn't realize Northern California was such a dairy cattle area. We stopped at the Loleta Cheese Factory, and during a discussion with the host was told about this dairy rich area.

 

The Loleta Cheese Factory is a small family-run business dedicated to the production of premium quality natural cheeses. Their award winning cheeses include 34 varieties from Creamy Monterey Jack to Smoked Salmon Cheddar, which are made in small batches using traditional recipes to ensure old-fashioned flavor.

While there, we viewed through a glass window the workers making organic white cheddar and the traditional yellow cheddar. It was a very interesting process. We were then free to enjoy samples of all their cheeses in the tasting room. Did we…heck no. After the first 15, the tastes all ran together. We did purchase the Habanero White Cheddar….YUMMMY!

Stirring the organic Cheddar cheese.

We then drove out to the Ferndale, The Victorian Village. This is a magnificently preserved village with wonderful Victorian architecture.

The entire town is full of interesting shops housed in amazing restored buildings. There is everything from a blacksmith shop, old-fashioned mercantile, antique stores, art galleries, specialty shops, and much more. We enjoyed strolling along the streets.

Victorian Inn

Hotel Ivanhoe

Thank you to Judy, Travels with Emma, Heyduke, On the Road of Retirement, and a dear friend from home, Lorraine, for giving me the name of these little ones. They are called Western Scrub-Jays.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE LOST COAST

Sunday, May 20 – We drove to the California Coast today. It certainly wasn't an easy drive! It was only about 23 miles away, but due to steep grades, tight turns. switch backs, and sheer drop-offs with some parts of the road marked with 10 MPH speed limits and others requiring ALL vehicles to use low gear. It took over an hour to reach Shelter Cove, CA.

This area is referred to the Lost Coast of California. It is California's only coastal wilderness, where no development or major roads come near the ocean.

At the end of this challenging road from Garberville, the town of Shelter Cove rewards you with truly magnificent views of the Coast. Black sand beaches, outstanding fishing and all the solitude, peace and relaxation you could need are found here.

Shelter Cove is know for its black sands but also for Cape Mendocino Lighthouse. This structure presented huge challenges to the designers. They had to take into account 400' cliffs prone to frequent earthquakes, landslides and storms.

The rocky cliffs are home to a noisy group of sea lions and some magnificent views of waves breaking along the shore. There are numerous warnings to stay alert of rogue waves and strong under currents.

We were told not to miss the Clam Chowder available at the small eatery in town. So we stopped and shared a bowl of this delicious treat. It was great and makes us anxious to compare it, numerous times, while driving up the Oregon and Washington coasts.

We saw this on the back of one of the RVs parked in front of us. We think it says it all.

We see these birds by our motor home each day. Masha would like to know if anyone knows what they are called?

She also needs help identifying this flower. They were all over in Shelter Cove.

A FINAL NOTE:

We are camped at Richardson Grove Campground just outside of Garberville, CA, on highway 101. What a surprise we had when visiting this quaint little town. The 60's are alive and well. This is a Hippie community! And may we say, the use of “wacky tobbacy” is openly obvious. I talked to the owner of the campground and she confirmed this by calling Garberville the Marijuana Capital of Northern California. I understand you can obtain an once of the stuff for “medicinal purposes” without the local law coming after you. The Federal Drug Enforcement people don't agree with this “looking-the-other-way” approach, it should be noted.

This is the local dress.

They even have their own flag.

What is that flower on the top of the building?

We fit right in.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

ANNULAR ECLIPSE

Sunday, May 20 - Were you able to see the Annular Eclipse? An annular eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly in front of the sun, but the lunar disk is not quite wide enough to cover the entire star. At maximum, the moon forms a "black hole" in the center of the sun.

Being in Northern California, we were in a prime viewing area. Of course, Marsha wanted Paul to make a viewing screen so she could see the different stages of the eclipse. She explained how it was the first annular solar eclipse in the United States since 1994. We just can't miss this opportunity.

So we poked a hole in a piece of cardboard and used it to reflect an image of the sun on a second piece of cardboard.

Paul wanted to experiment with different size holes. This one didn't work.

Now we have it.

It worked pretty well and we were able to view the moon crossing in front of the sun.

This is what our sky looked like before the Ellipse.

Please remember, we don't have any of the special glasses (which are pretty cool by the way) like our friends, Sandie and Jim, so we couldn't look directly at the sun. All the photos are original, not touched up.

Getting started. We made two pin holes. The bigger one was much better.

5:15…the adventure begins. Look at about the 1-2:00 o'clock area and you can see the moon starting to creep in.

5:27

5:52…looks like a crescent moon.

6:04…a little sliver left.

6:10That is all she wrote…or at least all we could get.

Finally at the very end, 6:18, the sun's intensity was blocked by the moon (you could really feel the lack of normal heat from the sun on your skin). We were unable to get a good imagine of the “ring of fire” or the total eclipse. We experienced a “twilight” type of lighting from the sun. It was a pretty neat science experiment!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!