NATURE STUDY

Travelling south from Fortuna, we came across the final Redwood forests with a couple of famous features: The one log house lies beside the main Highway 101

Inside it is like a cross between a railway carriage and a windowless winnebago

The Grandfather Tree had the widest circumference of any redwood we had come across...

.. and here is a photo of another grandfather whose circumference is not quite as large as the tree's

South of Ukiah is the tiny town of Hopland where an alternative energy centre is situated. Here they illustrate graphically why they do not approve of drive-thru trees (a tourist feature of the area) but do approve of trees growing through cars!

They had a number of statues/models made of junk metal (another feature of the area). This one was the most impressive

... and the carefully-oxygenated ponds housed some lovely fish.

We stayed in Santa Rosa (about 60 miles north of San Francisco) for 4 nights and enjoyed the parks and gardens of the area. The Luther Burbank home and gardens are made over to the famous horticulturalist who made Santa Rosa his home at the beginning of the 20th century.

The rose garden had many pleasantly perfumed plants ... we had to sniff them all!

A walk around the Laguna wetland park in Sebastopol (6 miles west of Santa Rosa) found us confronted by more "nature": this turtle was on the path having wandered out of the water for a bite to eat

this snake was sunning itself on the path ...

The birds were spectacular but hard to photograph. There are scores of eagles soaring about the skies here ... and here is a red-winged blackbird. (The red on the front of the wings is quite shocking when the bird is in flight ... but even photographer Pat could not manage to picture one actually flying)

This is quite a common bird here ... but we do not know its name ... any suggestions?

and here is a night heron pictured in Spring Lake Park. We enjoyed a lovely walk around that park ...

... and Pat captured a FANTASTIC image (I think we should submit this last one into a photography competition)

EUREKA!

Just south of the town of Eureka, California, is the Avenue of the Giants: over 30 miles of huge redwoods. When you are beside one that has fallen is a bit like standing next to a train!

The Founders Tree (one of the tallest standing) is over 340 foot high!

Between the Avenue and Eureka is the Victorian village of Ferndale. The cemetery is beautifully laid out in family plots.

Eureka itself has some spectacular 19th century architecture

... and Eureka's old town is not just about old architecture: there are great murals throughout the town.

Every Memorial Day week-end, Eureka hosts the "kinetic sculpture" race. Dozens of wonderful contraptions, that must be pedal powered for land and sea, are cheered through the town.

the hippypotomus!

a batmobile?

some sort of racing car

a couple of "snails"

a heroic rower

and extraordinary machine made of crushed tin cans!

and this was "mother earth"

When we crossed the border from Oregon into California, we hoped for warmer weather. But the wind off the Pacific has kept us wrapped up warm. Of course when walking amongst the giant redwoods, we are well protected against the wind as these huge trees are a more formidable barrier against Pacific weather than most buildings. Although they grow to over 300 feet, they are closely packed together and have intertwining root systems to keep themselves from falling. Mind you, the storms that can whip through here do uproot some and these fallen monsters take decades or longer to rot away into the ground.

We think that Eureka is the largest town that we will see before we get to San Francisco. Its downtown area is a delightful place with artists' work in shops and on walls. The 19th century architecture using wood rather than brick melds into the landscape: the style is described as "Victorian" but it does not feature neo-gothic arches as in the UK. Instead it shows more American country style verandas, porches and bay windows that are shown off well by having houses well-spaced out ... again unlike more crowded Victorian buildings in the UK. Also, unlike the UK, we have seen little or no grafitti so the murals look wonderful!

REDWOODS

We arrived in California and stayed in Crescent City. This is beside the Jedediah Smith Redwood Park - the most northerly of the redwood forests. We drove into the forest, parked down a tiny lane and walked a couple of miles to the giant redwood trees in Stout Grove. As you can see, these trees are REALLY big!

In the afternoon, we drove to the seal hospital where the wind off the Pacific Ocean was blowing seabirds backwards. We ventured out to see the seals although we were not allowed inside the hospital compund. Here is one of the patients (an orphan) recovering after having its shoulder stitched. When they recover, the seals are released back into the ocean.

No photos ... but we had to visit the Rumiano cheese factory where we could watch the cheese being made. We tasted a wide selection before choosing one to buy. Unfortunately, blogs have not yet developed the capacity to communicate taste ... but the cheese is excellent.

VANCOUVER ISLAND, WASHINGTON & OREGON

This is the lovely house where we stayed with Robert and Rhoda ...

...and this is what we could see when we looked out of our bedroom window ...ALPACAS!

Going south, Robert took us to Chemainus. This used to be a major logging town but mills have shut and now it is well-known for its amazing murals throughout the town.

Robert and Ray pretending to be back in the old days (except for the crossing sign!).

This is the best known mural illustrating some of the native peoples who still live in the area.

Pat just had to try to ride this bicycle back into the early 20th century ... but it was stuck in the wall!

We REALLY liked this mural showing the complex wooden latice work in front of the old mill.

We set off leaving Canada by ferry ... you can see the snow-topped mountains of northern Washington State above the ship's bow.

After Washington, we made it into Oregon. This is the bridge over the Columbia River which marks the State line. Pat took this from our room at Astoria's Cannery Pier Hotel. The hotel used to be a cannery when Astoria was a thriving salmon fishing centre: but now it is more a tourist centre.

... another stunning sunset photo from the Astoria hotel!

... and so further south we drove. This is the Yaquina Bay Bridge: there are a lot of rivers in Oregon!

The Sea Rock State Recreation Site had scores of sea lions lazing about on the rocks. They made a lot of noise ... sounded like a motor racing circuit! We descended into a cave 200 feet down the cliff (by elevator!) where we could see the largest sea lion cave in the world. In the winter several hundred sea lions make themselves at home there but when we arrived, they were all out on the rocks revving their engines!

By the afternoon we arrived in Bandon. Walking along the Pacific shore, we enjoyed deserted beaches and spectacular rock formations. The locals say that the place is pretty empty as the season has been affected by high petrol prices (about half of UK prices!) and the credit crunch. You would cetainly acquire more house for your

VANCOUVER ISLAND

Vancouver Island contains some BIG TREES!

Arrival in Vancouver International Airport was uneventful followed by an easy taxi ride down to the harbour. There we were greeted by a wonderful sight … SEAPLANES! Not only had we never been in one, but we had only ever seen these on TV. A 20 minute flight by seaplane across to Vancouver Island was much more exciting (and noisy) than flying halfway across the world in an airbus.

We are staying with Pat’s cousin, Robert and his wife Rhoda: they have taken us to see extraordinary scenery. Cathedral Grove contains the tallest trees in Canada – a wood full of Douglas Firs. These spectacular monuments tower so high that you cannot see the avian wildlife that sings continuously from the treetops. One bird descended to settle nearby and Pat snapped it without knowing its name. Any suggestions?

A further trip to view the powerful Qualicum waterfalls gave us the opportunity to walk around an area that featured steep slopes amongst the thousands of pines that cover Vancouver Island. The air here is clear and clean. The houses, built of wood, blend beautifully into the landscape. You can see why many Canadians choose to retire here.