DAY 224 SUNDAY 20th APRIL 2008

Eureka, CA (Miles to Date: 22160)

Yesterday was one of those biting cold days, with a chilly wind coming off the Pacific Ocean. It feels more like New York than California!! Fortunately it is not raining, but is threatening, so we decided to bite the bullet and head out for a few hours. Today our destination is the village of Ferndale, known for its well-preserved Victorian buildings, which are also known as "Butterfat Palaces" due to their construction during the 1880’s when considerable wealth was generated in the dairy industry. Ferndale is a popular film location and is featured in movies like The Majestic with Jim Carrey, Outbreak starring Dustin Hoffman and Salem’s Lot starring David Soul and James Mason.

After parking up we take a gentle stroll down the high street to look at some of the buildings with their ornate ginger-breading, some to the extent of gaudiness. As you might expect Ferndale is on the tourist trail so many of the shops are oriented to this trade. We do find a small café, and after the mornings exertion we feel justified in a coffee and some blackberry pie. Of course we are not here just to eat and drink, so we find our way into several of the arts and craft stores on the main street. One of these stores is attached to a museum which is dedicated to the Kinetic Grand Championship. The kinetic sculpture race is an organised contest of human-powered amphibious all-terrain works of art. It is also called the "Triathlon of the Art World" because art and engineering are combined with physical endurance during a three day cross country race that includes sand, mud, pavement, a bay crossing, a river crossing and major hills. Ferndale is the endpoint of the annual Kinetic sculpture race as well as being the town where the first race began when Hobart Brown was challenged to race his odd-looking five-wheeled bike down Main Street on Mother's Day, 1969 by local sculptor Jack Mays.

Just a short drive from Fernadale across the Eel River is the small town of Loleta, a quaint dairy farming community, where there is a cheese factory and store. Mark never knowingly passes a cheese shop, especially when he knows there are samples on offer. When we get there they are making cheddar cheese in the factory – which you can watch from the comfort of the shop through a large glass window. The factory makes premium and organic cheeses, with varieties of flavoured Cheddar and Jack cheeses; including Jalapeno Cheddar, Garlic Jalapeno Jack, Havarti with herbs and Hickory Smoked Jack, to name just a few. We ,of course, have to try all the different varieties on offer – and of course eat too much. Naturally we didn’t want to be too cheeky so we did buy some cheese before we left.The lady serving us was so taken with Emily that she rushed into the factory side and took a pot of curds for her to try......they were so fresh they squeaked! Delicious!

DAY 222 FRIDAY 18th APRIL 2008

Eureka, CA (Miles to Date: 22115)

Yesterday was our last day in the Bay Area and today we are greeted again by typical Pacific Coastline weather, with cold coastal fog layering our campsite. We had been fortunate with the weather, it had been mostly sunny, but this is more the norm, with the temperature inversion between cold sea and warm air creating a sea mists. We decided to spend the morning doing some chores and by the time we finished these it was late morning, the mist had burnt off and it was now a fine, warm day.

At the Girl Scout meeting Emily had attended the prior Friday she had made a friend in Annie, and as children have a wont to do they had planned a play date. So after a bit of a telephone tag we finally arrange to meet at a horse stables in Portola Valley, where Annie’s family has a share in a horse. When we get there we are greeted by Annie and her Aunt, Lynda who was the leader at the Girl Scout meeting. There is a bit of an administration booboo so the horse is being used by someone else, but the children happily entertain themselves in the hay barn on the stacked up bails of hay which make a great jumping platform. By the time the other lady is finished with the horse, Weasel, time has gone by and the horse is hot and tired with it exertions on this warm day. Annie takes him out for another short workout, after which he is worn out but Emily does get a chance to sit on Weasel. Again the children conspire and before we know they are plotting to go back to Annie’s house in Foster City and go kayaking on the waterways there.

Well -in for penny in for pound and off we go to Foster City. Annie’s father John and her brother Sam had carried out the kayaks and a canoe for us to use. Annie and Emily set off on a tandem kayak whilst Mark and Jack get to use the canoe. We paddle around for a few minutes and much to Mark’s relief everyone else wants to come in. Jack and Emily had been warned about not getting wet – well obviously this was a rather pathetic attempt on the adults part to get some control. Of course we might as well not have wasted our energy. In no time at all they were back out in the water capsizing the kayaks and trying to climb back in, after the novelty of this had worn off they decided to climb on to the back of the inverted kayaks and use these as diving platforms. It was getting cold but as usual the children seemed to be impervious to this.Finally we manage to extract Jack and Emily from the water and it is amazing how quickly they suddenly start to feel the cold. The car provides us all with a welcome relief from the chilly wind and we set off back to the campsite.

Today we left Pescadero and headed north up Route 101 across the Golden Gate Bridge. Karen, Jack and Emily take a short detour in San Rafael to visit the campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind. As many of you know while we were living in New York we worked with the Guiding Eyes for the Blind organization, socialising over 45 puppies at our house and caring for 3 brood dogs. It was interesting to see another organisation’s approach to their training and development programmes. The whole operation was very professional and the presentations slick, but there was no real opportunity to handle any puppies which was very disappointing. Soon it was time to continue our journey north up 101 to the old lumber city of Eureka in the north western corner of California. The journey is pretty slow, but takes you through glorious countryside with tree lined hills, distant snow capped mountains and coursing rivers. In between there are areas of more open countryside with green, gently rolling hills with cows in pastures. Made us all feel a bit nostalgic for the English countryside. The end of the journey finally brings us back to rugged Pacific coastline, with sea hewn cliff walls and raw, uncombed beaches strewn with drift wood. This is one of those road trips well worth taking.

DAY 219 WEDNESDAY 16th APRIL 2008

Monterey, CA (Miles to Date: 21815)

Today for a change rather than head north up to San Francisco we decide to head south on the Pacific Coast Highway to the town of Monterey, some 70 miles south of where we are staying. The weather is sunny again today but there is a chilly wind coming off the ocean so we stay well wrapped up. Like San Francisco, Monterey does have its own Fisherman’s Wharf but this one is small, but perfectly formed and there is ,as you might expect ,plenty of shops and restaurants. Very cutesy and a bit more cosy than its' San Francisco namesake! We are amused by a sign we come across which reads “Dogs, cats and other pets must be on a leash at all times”. Oh! I wish we had bought a pet goldfish or ferret with us, mind you- not sure what we’d have used as a leash.

From here it is about a half mile or so along a walk way to Cannery Row which used to be the commercial centre of the town's fishing industry. Here a dozen or so large factories processed and packed fish like sardines and anchovies fished from the local waters. This was a tough business and it’s heyday is memorably captured in John Steinbeck’s book, “Cannery Row”. Today the old canneries are out of business: the buildings still remain but now they are shops, restaurants or apartments. Even the distinctive bridges across the streets where the packed fish were sent across to the warehouses still remain, giving the area a unique appeal.

At the very end of Cannery Row is the Monterey Aquarium one of the finest in the United States. As we had arrived quite late (it was about 1:00pm) and the entry cost was high we decided not to go in – Emily was very disappointed. We passed by the entrance to the overlook of the ocean where you can see frolicking sea otters, swimming amongst the kelp forest. As we stood there a gentleman came up and said would we like go into the Aquarium. He was a member and had a pass for 4 extra people. He must have heard us deliberating outside the entrance and then decided to treat us to the experience. This was such a generous offer – we were taken aback by this act of kindness.Karen questioned him closely ...just to be sure it wasn't another timeshare offer. Emily was thrilled!

Having been given this wonderful opportunity we obviously wanted to make the most of it. Our first port of call was the auditorium where we are treated to a live lecture by a researcher on the deep sea fish found in the 2 mile deep canyon not too far off the coast of Monterey. The footage of these weird and wonderful creatures were taken by a robotic submersible. This literally wetted our appetite for the rest of the day so we slowly wandered our way around the exhibits including several huge tanks with sharks, rays and a large assortment of other fish from the local waters. For us the highlights were the sea otter exhibit, the giant octopus and the sea dragons. In general giant octopuses are nocturnal creatures so when you see them in aquariums they are hiding in corners or under rocks. Luckily this octopus had other ideas and for some unknown reason was extremely active and seemed content to swim from one end of his tank to other, giving us the most amazing display. Karen was particularly consumed by our eight legged friend and it was a real struggle to drag her away. We were also lucky with the sea dragons, who were also unusually active. Sea Dragons are arguably the most spectacular and mysterious of all ocean fish. Though close relatives of sea horses, sea dragons have larger bodies and leaf-like appendages which enable them to hide among floating seaweed or kelp beds off the South Western Australian coast. So often when you see these splendid, delicate creatures in aquariums they, like the octopus, are elusive, hiding in the vegetation. Not today -they are out frolicking. We have a wonderful day thanks to the kindness of some total strangers.