A big traveling day as it was Dan’s birthday. He’d already had his present; we had some cards and not much else. For much of the journey, there was no signal Jules made a special meal for him, in the evening; Spaghetti Bolognese. But that was it. It must have been hard for him given the circumstances.
The journey was more of the same – winding roads that skirted the coast and when that route was closed, they ascended the slopes between the giant redwoods. One leg of the journey was along the Avenue of the Giants. Apart from being a narrower road, it was much like before, a drive through a channel of arboreal sentinels. It looked like something out of Lord of the Rings; we expected Frodo to jump out at any moment and hitch a lift.
We had read about a ‘glorious’ coffee shop on the route, “The Daily Grind”, so we stopped for a caffeine break. The shop was stuck in a 70s time warp, reggae was playing through a desktop and a world map covered the wall, pins stuck in customers points of origin. Instead of glorious, we found Gollum. Locals’ livelihoods must depend on tourist trade on the 101 but you would not know it from the way that we were served here. Like the map, the man was prickly. Moral of the story either don’t believe all you read in promotional material or be fully caffeinated before you enter the shop.
Good to move on, if only for another pause to complete an oil change and to check the tyres. It turned out that there was undue wear on the front passenger side tyre (could I really be so over-weight?) so we swapped the two front tyres over. Hopefully, we will be reimbursed.
The RV site was alongside the river and we had, by now, repaired the cable although wifi was problematic yet again. It seems that you have to sit atop of the aerial in order to get a reasonable signal and even then my aged machine refuses to co-operate. Nic is tolerant of my demands to use hers. Found the sewer hose was now too short to reach the outlet. Having tired of being sprayed by effluent through the holes and tears in the existing pipe, I had trimmed the length. Purchased a new hose so now we are pristine in the poop line department.
We also bought some bocce/petanque/boule balls and both Jules and I defeated Dan. Happy Birthday. We took the dog down to the river and let her off the lead. In a predictable fashion, she raced up and down the bank and even in the water. Her horizons have been broadened along with ours. Then back and the communal camp fire had been lit. One of the residents there was a singer, KenTizzard, who was traveling with his wife Alison and daughters Cassady and Caitlin. They lived close to Toronto and he had been giving concerts in Canada and there would be more performances in New Mexico and Nevada. We had a common interest in Dylan and Ken gave us a CD of his music which we are both looking forward to hearing. And Alison passed on some recommended camp sites which we will explore.
We discovered from other residents who were warming themselves by the fire that the site was predominantly one for fishermen and we listened, with equal measures of ignorance and enthusiasm to the rules and regulations of fishing and the antics to avoid them We also learnt about the wildlife. There had been a bear and her cubs in the site only a week ago and today’s guest appearance was an injured hummingbird; from the sublime to …….
The journey was more of the same – winding roads that skirted the coast and when that route was closed, they ascended the slopes between the giant redwoods. One leg of the journey was along the Avenue of the Giants. Apart from being a narrower road, it was much like before, a drive through a channel of arboreal sentinels. It looked like something out of Lord of the Rings; we expected Frodo to jump out at any moment and hitch a lift.
We had read about a ‘glorious’ coffee shop on the route, “The Daily Grind”, so we stopped for a caffeine break. The shop was stuck in a 70s time warp, reggae was playing through a desktop and a world map covered the wall, pins stuck in customers points of origin. Instead of glorious, we found Gollum. Locals’ livelihoods must depend on tourist trade on the 101 but you would not know it from the way that we were served here. Like the map, the man was prickly. Moral of the story either don’t believe all you read in promotional material or be fully caffeinated before you enter the shop.
Good to move on, if only for another pause to complete an oil change and to check the tyres. It turned out that there was undue wear on the front passenger side tyre (could I really be so over-weight?) so we swapped the two front tyres over. Hopefully, we will be reimbursed.
The RV site was alongside the river and we had, by now, repaired the cable although wifi was problematic yet again. It seems that you have to sit atop of the aerial in order to get a reasonable signal and even then my aged machine refuses to co-operate. Nic is tolerant of my demands to use hers. Found the sewer hose was now too short to reach the outlet. Having tired of being sprayed by effluent through the holes and tears in the existing pipe, I had trimmed the length. Purchased a new hose so now we are pristine in the poop line department.
We also bought some bocce/petanque/boule balls and both Jules and I defeated Dan. Happy Birthday. We took the dog down to the river and let her off the lead. In a predictable fashion, she raced up and down the bank and even in the water. Her horizons have been broadened along with ours. Then back and the communal camp fire had been lit. One of the residents there was a singer, KenTizzard, who was traveling with his wife Alison and daughters Cassady and Caitlin. They lived close to Toronto and he had been giving concerts in Canada and there would be more performances in New Mexico and Nevada. We had a common interest in Dylan and Ken gave us a CD of his music which we are both looking forward to hearing. And Alison passed on some recommended camp sites which we will explore.
We discovered from other residents who were warming themselves by the fire that the site was predominantly one for fishermen and we listened, with equal measures of ignorance and enthusiasm to the rules and regulations of fishing and the antics to avoid them We also learnt about the wildlife. There had been a bear and her cubs in the site only a week ago and today’s guest appearance was an injured hummingbird; from the sublime to …….
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