Final Day In Northern California

Since we have a long drive down to Sacramento tomorrow, John and I decided to spent the day in the Arcata area.  After eating breakfast, we took a short drive north and spent the morning walking on one of the beaches along the 101.  We returned to town for some lunch at Subway and then headed off to the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary for a hike around Klopp Lake where we saw several different species of birds.  We ended up our day at Moonstone Cove watching the tide come in around the rock formations.  Since we were born and raised on the East Coast, we really miss seeing the ocean and it's been several years since we have out been there.  With every visit we spend at least one day by the sea.  This has been a fun trip for us and we have enjoyed walking on the beaches again.

 

From The Mountains To The Beach

This morning John and I headed north up the 101 and hiked the Lady Bird Trail in the northern Redwood National Park.  We enjoyed a guided tour by a Park Service guide and learned a lot about the Redwood trees and what is called a "new growth" forest.  As I was walking along the path, I saw what I think is a wild orchid.  I really don't know much about flowers, so I'm not really sure what this is.

When we were through with the hike, we drove further north to Crescent City where we stopped at a Subway for some lunch before driving along the coast for several miles.  We made a few stops along the way to walk on the beach and take some photos.  I have been wanting to see the Pacific Ocean off the northern coast for years and I must say it lived up to my expectations.  We had lived on the East Coast for years and it was interesting to see the differences between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  To me the Pacific was much prettier, but I'm sure the rock formations have a lot to do with that. 
 

Redwood Forest

John and I slept in a little longer this morning as we're still trying to adjust to the time difference from home.  Following breakfast we headed south on the 101 to the southern Redwood Forest where we spent the majority of the day hiking some trails and looking at these amazing trees.  John kept wondering how many board feet of wood were in one giant tree.  We stopped for supper at a Denny's in Eureka before heading back to the motel for the evening.  Tomorrow we are heading north up the coast and will hopefully spend some time on the beach.

 

Finally, California

Wednesday we were on the road the whole day driving from SLC to Susanville, CA where we spent the night.  John and I slept in this morning and didn't get on the road until a little after 8 a.m.  The trip to Arcata should only have taken about 4 hours, but we hit a few delays with road construction on the mountain road and didn't get here until after 2 p.m.  With changing time zones just about every day, our bodies are having a hard time adjusting, so we took a little nap before heading out for some supper.  Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, so we're not quite sure what our plans will be.  I am anxious to see the Pacific Ocean and some of the rock formations in the surf.  Below are some photos of today's scenery.

 

A Day In Salt Lake City

John and I were up nice and early this morning, enjoyed a great breakfast at the motel, and then hit the road for Antelope Island State Park.  Thanks to good directions from the front desk clerk, we were at the park gates in about 20 minutes.  Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake and has its own herd of buffalo and is a major nesting place for many different species of birds.  We stopped at the visitors' center and then drove down the east side of the island where we saw quite a bit of wildlife.  The day was nice and warm with hazy skies, so the mountains were hard to see.

We left the state park around noon and stopped at a Subway for some lunch.  John and I were both a little tired of hamburgers and decided to skip them for today.  From there we drove into downtown Salt Lake City and visited Mormon Square with the Mormon Temple, visitor centers, and many gardens with beautiful flowers.  Next we made a stop at the Capitol building and walked through on a self-guided tour.  By now we were both pretty hot and tired, so we called it a day and went back to the motel where we enjoyed some time in the hot tub and pool before going to supper at Cracker Barrel.  Tomorrow we head out again for California.

Mormom Temple from 10th floor

of the Brigham Young Memorial Building

 

Utah State Capitol

 

 View from the front steps of the

Capitol buidling

 

Made It To Salt Lake City

John and I had a good visit with Amy's family in Gillette over the weekend.  They had some heavy thunderstorms while we were there, so that forced us to stay close to home. While we were there, John did manage to help Amy with her tomato plants in the garden and to fix the cover on their outside air conditioning unit.  I enjoyed spending time with the boys playing a few games. 

  Noah is ring bearer for the wedding

so he modeled the outfit he's going to wear

This morning we stopped at McDonald's for some breakfast before hitting the road to Salt Lake City.  Below is some of the beautiful scenery we saw in southern Wyoming.  Tomorrow we hope to explore some of the city and see the Great Salt Lake.

 

Long Drive

John and I were up bright and early and pulled out of the driveway around 5:30 a.m. and had great weather for the first leg of our trip--sunny skies and no wind.  Our first stop was Jamestown, ND for a late breakfast and then a stop in Dickinson, ND for lunch at DQ.  We arrived at Amy's at 4:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) after 12 hours on the road.  John and I are glad we'll be spending two days here before heading to Salt Lake City.  We need to recover from today's marathon drive.

Packing

Today we were back to clouds and rain, so our day was spent packing for the trip and getting the house ready--clearing out the fridge, doing last minute laundry, and generally checking out everything so it can be left for several weeks.  We are pulling out bright and early tomorrow morning and will put in a long day and reach Amy's in Gillette by suppertime.  John and I will spend the weekend with the kids and then start out from there for our westward journey.  We'll meet up with them again in Sacramento and spend a few more days with them and other relatives attending the wedding.  I will try and post as often as I can, but it probably won't be everyday.  I have set up a Flickr account and will see if I can link it to this blog so folks can see some of our photos from the trip. 

Load of Wood

Our weather has been pretty nice these last couple of days and we have taken advantage of it by playing golf in the mornings while it's still nice and cool.  JD called while we were out on the course and asked if John would be available to help pick up some slab wood at the Amish sawmill later this morning.  We have been wanting to get some of this wood, so as soon as we got home from town, John headed up to meet JD at his place.  The guys picked up three bundles, unloaded them at JD's, and then went back for three more for our place.  After getting that unloaded here, they then went back and got three more for JD.

While John was keeping busy with the wood, I did some laundry and kept on with the packing for our trip.  Following supper, John managed to get the entire lawn mowed.  JD and Josh will be in charge of our lawn while we're away.  Matt and Sara stopped down for a visit this evening and then we called it a day.  John is pretty tired tonight.

 

Beautiful Monday

We awoke to bright sunshine and clear blue skies this morning with no rain clouds in sight.  The forecast called for warm and humid weather later in the week, so John and I decided to head into town right after breakfast and play a round of golf.  

After lunch John worked down in the basement getting rid of the remaining water and setting up a fan to help dryout the floor.  I kept busy sorting clothes for our trip and doing some packing.  Late this afternoon we took a quick trip to Bemidji where we made a return to Menards, picked up a few snacks for our trip, and then stopped at BK for some supper.  

 

Rainy Sunday

The rain of yesterday continued into today.  We headed off to church in a heavy downpour and the steady rain lasted until late afternoon when the skies finally cleared and we saw some sunshine.  This afternoon John went to the basement for something and found the floor covered with an inch or so of water.  The sump pump is working okay, but the underground water table is so high that water is coming in at the bottom of the steps in the basement.  That area had been dug out when we built the house and when we get a lot of rain, that area usually just gets damp.  We have had over five inches of rain over the last few days, so I guess that explains why we have a problem.

In between bouts of sweeping the basement, we spent most of the afternoon watching the PGA on TV.  A good portion of our time this week will be spent in getting ready for our trip to CA.--we hit the road bright and early Friday morning.

Got The Flooding Stopped

Friday morning dawned bright and sunny, so John and I decided to head into town for a round of golf since the weather forecast called for a rainy weekend.  It seemed quite a few other folks heard the same forecast as there was a steady stream of golfers throughout the course.  After lunch John worked on sealing the gutters on the shop building to see if that would stop the water from running down the side of the building and seeping inside.  While John was busy working on that job, I worked on the finances and got everything caught up so they'll be in order before we leave next week.  

Today we found the predicted weather forecast to be true.  We had showers off and on all day and this evening it has settled into a steady rain.  In between showers, John split some wood and got it stacked in the shed and while it rained, he watched the PGA on TV.  FYI--the building seems to be leak-free for now.
 

Fallen Tree

The rain continued overnight and along with it came some pretty strong winds.  When John went out this morning to put wood on the fire, he found one of our trees had blown over, so after breakfast he spent some time cutting it up.

 

JD called this morning and asked if John could come up and help him install a new ceiling fan in their bathroom.  The project took a little longer than expected since they had to do some modifications.  While he was gone, I got the strawberries ready for jam and, when John got home, we made a batch.  We'll need a few more berries if we want to make another one. 

 

Quiet Rainy Day

We had another all day rain again today so that meant doing inside things.  JD called and asked John to come up to his place and help install a new spring on his overhead garage door.  While he was gone, I did some laundry and cleaning up around the house. 

This afternoon we took a trip to Bemidji to pick up some strawberries for jam and hopefully we'll get that made tomorrow. Before heading back home we stopped off at BK for supper since John had a coupon for a free Whopper.  That was pretty much how our day went.  

A Beautiful Day

Since it was such a beautiful morning, John and I headed into town right after breakfast for a round of golf before the temps got too warm.  We both had some good holes and others that weren't.  Before we headed home, we stopped at the grocery store in town for a couple of items and then John drove by Matt's job site so we could wish him a happy birthday.  This is the job John was helping 
with yesterday.

Matt and Sam working on roof

This afternoon John got ambitious and got the entire lawn cut and trimmed. Thunderstorms are in the forecast so he wanted to get it under control before we get more rain.  I spent some time this afternoon baking bread and getting addresses in the Garmin for our trip.  Below is a photo of the finished drainage area in front of the shop.

 

Day of Errands

John was up and out the door early to meet up with Matt and Sam at the job site south of town.  They needed a third man to help with setting the rafters for the roof.  John was back home around 1 p.m., ate some lunch, and then headed up to JD's place to water their plants as they have been on vacation.  When he got there, he found that they returned home late last night.  John stayed long enough to help JD haul some pallets from town and then went and hauled some fertilizer for Matt to put on his food plots for deer.  He got back home just in time for supper.

Most of my day was spent running around taking care of errands.  I took the trash to the dump and then headed to the post office for some stamps.  Then it was off to Bemidji to drop off a package at UPS and a stop at the mall to return an item.  Next was Target to pick up a wedding gift and card.  One more stop at Wal Mart for a few groceries and then on the road back home.  I felt like all I did today was climb in and out of the car. 

Nice Weather and Quiet Days

Things have been pretty low-key around here for the past couple of days.  With the nicer weather, John was able to move the stones in place down by the shop.  We haven't had any hard rains since he got the job finished, so he's not sure if the flooding problem is fixed.  

Our garden has been in over a week and it's looking pretty good.  All the items planted from seeds have come up, the grape vine has returned to life, and the strawberry plants are beginning to blossom.

Grape vine with little grape clusters

 

Cucumbers from seeds

 

John doing a little cultivating

 

Hanging basket in front of house

Following church this morning, we took some time to relax and then headed into town to play a round of golf.  It was very pleasant being out on the course with partly cloudy skies and low humidity.  We actually had a break from the mosquitos.  I played much better today so for now I won't give up on golf.