We had a lovely weekend in Brookings. It was a quick trip, but well worth it. The drive is absolutely beautiful and enjoyable (unlike the desolate wasteland that is the 5 freeway through California's Central Valley). My in-laws are in the process of building a home in Brookings, and it will be nice having them closer. We can visit whenever we have the opportunity! (We'll try not to wear out our welcome.)
We took a walk down to Mill Beach Friday and Saturday, the latter being prior to sunset. I saw something I have never seen before.....
Skunks on the beach! There were four of them and we gave them a wide berth! We also saw a fair amount of Black Tail Deer. They graze through the yards around town.
The sunset was lovely...
I think we'll be enjoying this view quite a bit in the future!
Though short, we had a great time. Brookings Harbor had a Kite Festival, but parking was a bear, and we didn't get to see it. But, from afar, it didn't look like there were all that many kites being flown. We had some good chowder, observed that the farmers market was more craft fair than fresh produce, and spent some quality time with two people we love very much.
On the way home, we stopped in McKinleyville so we could check out Six Rivers Brewery. This did not disappoint. We ordered a round of tasters, and this is what we got:
40 ounces of beer for $12. Kevin had me drinking most of it, since he was driving. Boy, did I find my happy place! The food was great, I had the Halibut Sandwich and Kevin had the Fish & Chips. A lot of food! Our two favorite beers were the RaspberryLambic (awesome) and the Chili Ale (with a bit of a bite). This is my new favorite brew pub. I could drink that Lambic all day! This is definitely a must stop on our trips up North.
Eel River Brewery is not that far away, and we enjoy that pub as well. But, the brews they offer at 6R (as they refer to it) are more varied and unusual, and that's what we like. When Eel River has the Hazelnut Porter restocked, we'll stop there again.
Here is the beer menu -
6R isn't much to look at from the outside, but it has some distinction. That glass block is so retro!
At least the bar and dining area is open and airy. The brewery is back to the right of the bar, and there is a pool room as well. They have live music on the weekends.
Heading up to Brookings for a weekend with the in-laws. An excellent opportunity to enjoy some refreshing beverage and tasty dishes. We stopped in Fortuna at a little gem we found a couple of years ago, Eel River Brewery.
Eel River is the first certified organic brewery in the US. We really liked their Hazelnut Porter, which we found out was a seasonal beer and not currently on tap. We bought our first growler from Eel River because of said porter. The food was good, as it was last time, and the tasters were tasty, but none quite worth getting a growler to take with us. Maybe next time. Here are some shots of the beer and bar....
I like their motto - Be natural, drink naked! I was tempted to buy a t-shirt. Kevin would wear it.
I really needed to take a trip out the coast. I needed to see the ocean - feel the sea spray on my face - breathe in the air. I told Kevin we were going for a drive and off we went. It was good to be behind the wheel for a trip longer than the usual drive to work or the grocery store.
We headed down to Half Moon Bay. We haven't been there is quite a few years. It was nice to walk around down town. There were some nice little shops - even a yarn store! There were some empty store fronts. I found this ironic:
Didn't they violate their own request?
There were a few murals around town, but it was rare to see one actually in progress:
After we had seen what there was to see - and the stores were closing as it was 5 pm - we headed over to the beach and decided to talk a walk. We started on the beach and ended up on the paved path. But, as you can see, it was a beautiful day:
Doggies in the surf, horses with riders on the shore.
We also saw quite a few pelicans - all of them in the air! We saw at least half a dozen groups/flocks fly by.
We ended our day in Half Moon Bay at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.
We enjoyed our tasters. Instead of ordering full meals, we ordered appetizers which consisted of the Fresh Seafood Sampler and the Fried Seafood Sampler. The Fresh Seafood Sampler was excellent! Is consisted of Ceviche of fresh fish, Bay shrimp, lime juice, cilantro and spices from the Yucatan. A wonderful raw Ahi was also served that was nicely seasoned. This was served with a mango salsa, fried won tons and tortilla chips. I would highly recommend this sampler and look forward to trying it again should we have the opportunity to go back. The Fried Seafood Sampler consisted of Calamari (tender, not chewy), Beer Battered Mahi Mahi (good, but I prefer Halibut or Cod) and deep fried oysters. I have never liked oysters, and thought this might be a good way to try them in a different presentation. I still don't understand why people like oysters. Ugh.
Of the tasters, I would say we enjoyed the Sandy Beach Hefe the most. Close behind was the Mavericks Amber Ale and Pillar Point Pale Ale. As usual, the IPA was too bitter for our taste.
Another great brew experience. At least we know where to go when we're down on that part of the coast!
There are those rare occasions that we venture out from out humble squalor and actually interact with other humans socially. It's rare, but it happens. In this instance, it was my husband's co-workers and we went to Berkeley for dinner and a lecture (not the boring kind).
Dinner was at the Pyramid Brewery. I have never been, which is funny, because I love micro-brews and there is a Pyramid Brewery in Walnut Creek as well. I worked in downtown Walnut Creek for over 5 years, and the Brewery was less than 5 minutes from my office. Not a lot of good excuses for this one.
I wonder if they give tours? I requested the tasters, and there were 5. A nice range, from malty to hoppy, light to full bodied. I liked the Hefe Weizen best. I usually lean towards the dark beers, but this just had a nice, complex palate. I'd like to go back - and I only have to go to Walnut Creek to do that!
Ok, the main point of the evening. We went to Zellerbach Hall, on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley (commonly referred to as "Cal") and enjoyed this: Visit their site at Discovery Channel.
Our view of them was this:
It was still fun, though. We got to see some video that Discovery said was not appropriate for airing (it was about farting). I learned some new things about the show, and the guys. Jamie has a degree in Russian Studies and was a charter boat captain. Adam did not graduate from college, and worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic - the Holy Grail to all Star Wars and tech geeks). Their experiences were very interesting and they took a lot of questions from the audience, mostly kids.
It was a great evening. On a way home we stopped for Ben & Jerry's. That just about made it perfect.
I like going places on my birthday. It makes me forget that it's my birthday. Birthdays were fun when I was turning 24, not so much now.
This was our second trip to the North Coast in a month. We were up there for Memorial Day, checking out my in-laws soon-to-be new digs. This, however, was an old fashioned Road Trip. To check out an album I created, look here or here.
We managed to fit a lot into three days (6/28-7/2/07). We visited the Avenue of the Giants, who's heyday has passed, but was still fun. Kevin loves these types of places, because they have "nostalgic" tourist attractions, such as the Shrine Drive Thru Tree. As you can see, he had some fun!
We visited several other spots along the way such as the Chimney Tree, the One Log House and the Immortal Tree. I would go back again, someday, to spend more time in some of these places, just so I can appreciate them a little more.
We stopped in Scotia, one of the last lumber company owned towns in the Pacific Northwest. Their museum was quite interesting.
We stopped in Fortuna, and had lunch at Eel River Brewing. Mmm, mmm, good. I had a crab salad sandwich and cheesy garlic fries. I will have that again. We also did tasters of the beer and I have a new favorite - Hazelnut Porter. Brought home a liter of that stuff. It's dark and full of body and tasty as all out. That will definitely be a stop on the trip to visit the in-laws. Did I mention they're organic! The tree hugger in me loves that part.
We went to Ferndale, which needs a power wash. It's still nice in respect to the fact that's it's an historical landmark, but it has a little bit of a neglected look about it. I bought my first souvenir yarn of the trip here at Foggy Bottom. The stash flash took place here. A small haul, but well worth the stop. Also, the Gingerbread Mansion is located here, and it is beautiful.
Since it was getting a little late in the day, we headed towards Crescent City, where we were staying for the next two nights. The drive through the Redwoods is so nice towards the end of the day. We even saw Roosevelt Elk!
The next day, we went to the lighthouse, which was open this time. I got my lighthouse passport stamped and found out that the Postal Service had issued that week first class stamps based on Pacific Lighthouses, and St. George's Reef was representing California. We were able to see that lighthouse from the Battery Point light, and I managed to get a picture of it with the telephoto lens. We went to the post office, where I was able to get a first day cancellation! Yes, I am a geek.
Next stop was A Perfect Yarn, which will be my Mother-In-Law's LYS when she moves. I picked up more souvenir yarns here, both sock yarns, but they are from local dyers! Squee! That was my birthday present for myself. It was in the stash flash mentioned earlier.
We also stopped by the Redwoods National Park office so I could get my National Park Passport stamped. Yes, geekness is my friend. I wanted to get an idea of where we might drive on Sunday on the way home. Next stop - Trees of Mystery in Klamath!
There are so many cool things here - there is a beautiful nature walk, tons of carved sculptures and something called the Sky Trail. These gondolas take you up onto a ridge - the view is beautiful - but you're floating above fern groves and through the tops of the Redwoods. It is so awesome! And when you're done, there's a Native American Museum with some truly wonderful artifacts. OMG - I could spend the whole day there. And we got pictures with Paul Bunyan and Babe. It is so Route 66!
In desperate need of food, we left and headed back to Crescent City. After having a late lunch, we were at a loss for what to do with the rest of our evening. We headed out to an Indian casino that offered free breakfast to those staying at the Curly Redwood Lodge. OMG - the smoke - the smell. A never cleaned ashtray smells better than this place. I could fee the lung cancer gaining hold. I'll pay for breakfast, thank you. If I felt like this, I can't imagine what Kevin's pristine lungs felt like. Yuck.
We decided to see a movie - Die Hard 4! It was fun! I like Bruce Willis in these movies. I especially like his catch phrase - which wasn't used in it's entirety but quite effectively! We had popcorn and soda and it was lovely. The place reminded me a little of the Edwards Cinema at Westminster Mall, but that's a 20+ year old memory.
So, Sunday, we head home. We were able to see another tree with a hole - the Tour Thru Tree. They have emu's. I hate emu's. The sound they make reminds me of veloceraptors from Jurassic Park. Shudder. We stopped at the Loleta Cheese Factory, in Loleta, and picked up some very tasty, very reasonably priced cheese. This will be a stop again in the future. We did a few other things too, stopped for dinner, and arrived home while the sun was still up!
On the 9th, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, album here. We haven't been in there since out first vacation together in 1992! That was fun too.
We saw otters
We love otters.
And jellies....
and some more jellies...
and some fishies.....
I love going to the aquarium! Hopefully it won't be another 15 years before we go back. And just because it's cool and I learned how to do it, here's some video.
Then - bad things happened.
On July 12th, as Kevin was coming home from work, a guy made an unsafe lane change in front of him. Kevin didn't have time to break completely, and hit Mr. "I didn't even see you" Highlander. State Farm decided to DNR it - a busted radiator and A/C compressor. Yes - the cosmetics were the issue. Impy still wanted to go on - it started just fine, could even be driven. Granted, parts would have to be salvaged - if found - since some things just aren't made anymore for a 1993 Subaru Impreza. Valiant to the very end, off it goes to the salvage yard with a full tank of gas and 268,192 miles on the original engine, tran-y, paint and interior. Though it was literally a pain in the ass to sit in, the term aching back seems trite, we will miss you. Your 38 miles per gallon will be a mark that your replacement will find hard to match. Your head and leg room were of comfort. Your 0 to 60 was amazing. Your 95 mph on highway 5 will be missed. The fact we could cook an egg on your dashboard won't be missed. Or your bucket seats - did I mention the aching back?
What I will remember is when we drove to Roseville to pick up Fen.
Or the trips we took to Idaho Falls t0 visit the family Kevin and our youngest nephew, Tyson.
The last day trip we had with Fen and Heidi, before Fen was diagnosed with Cancer. Kev & Fen at Briones.
Or spending time with friends in Solvang. Kev, Tammi, Chris and his daughter Autumn enjoying ice cream on a hot summer day.
But, most of all, the trips we took with you all over this state. All the time I spent driving to Mom's. All the time I spent knitting, or stitching, or sleeping. Or the time simply spent with Kevin just being.
Last Thursday, Kevin said he would like to go for a drive for the Memorial Day weekend. Ok.
My in-laws recently purchased a lot in Brookings, Oregon. They will be retiring there after my mother-in-law has completed here servitude to the US Government next year. She has calculated the time to retirement by calendar days, weeks and working days. Considering the challenges in her personal and professional life over the last several years, she is quite deserving of some "down time". I am frequently awed by her strength and perseverance, and sincerely hope that I would handle things as well as she does in a similar situation. I know that this can be a rarity in some circles, but I love my mother-in-law. She is awesome.
Kevin and I have been curious about where we will be spending our Thanksgiving holiday - having spent that particular holiday in Idaho Falls ever since Kevin and I became a couple. It's about 350 miles for us to get to Brookings. It's 450 miles to my mom's in So Cal, and that takes about 7 hours, when everything works at its optimum level. It took about that long to get to Crescent City this past Saturday, though we had traffic on and off from Novato to Santa Rosa.
The last time we drove that far north on the 101 was around 1993 or 1994, when we drove up the Oregon Coast to the Columbia Gorge, before heading east to Idaho Falls via Boise. One thing that has changed - Indian Casino's. There were no casino's back then. Other than that, it was still beautiful with the vast Redwood forests, rambling streams, diversified wildlife and revitalizing ocean breezes.
We stopped in Hopland and had a beer at the Hopland Brewery, where last time we were there we had some really good pub food. They don't serve food anymore. We were disappointed.
The beer is still good, and this is the first microbrewery in California, dating back to 1983, if I recall correctly. My favorite brew is Read Tail Ale. They make some tasty mustard too!
We continued to Crescent City, where I had made reservations at the Curly Redwood Lodge. It's a no frills motel, quiet and clean. Very reasonable too. The only drawback - we really wished we had brought our own pillows. Flat, well used, uncomfortable, fiberfill. Highlight, for me at least, the sound of the fog horn at night. It was very soothing.
We had breakfast at the Fisherman Restaurant, which is across the street from the Lodge. The first breakfast we had there we both had a couple of really good dishes - a smoked salmon omelet with cream cheese filling (light and fluffy) and Eggs Benedict with cod instead of ham. Mmm, delicious. The next morning I had a sourdough grilled cheese sandwich with bay shrimp and Kevin had cod and eggs with 2 huge pancakes. Not as good as the previous day, but still tasty and filling. Dinner Sunday night was at the Smuggler's Cove in Brookings-Harbor. First, the food is pricey($15 for fish 'n chips), but the beer was not at $3.50 for a Guinness. The fish 'n chips I had was good, beer battered halibut, but it was one of the more inexpensive menu items. Kevin had a salmon open-faced sandwich, which he thought was decent. Both of us would have selected a seafood dinner, but they were $20+, more than we wanted to spend. The clam chowder was ok, but very, very thick. Kevin was happy to see a Dairy Queen in Brookings, and we had a little ice cream for an afternoon pick-me-up.
We didn't do too much in Crescent City. We went out to Battery Point Lighthouse, which was scheduled to be open, but was not. We took pictures and walked around. We were lucky since this past weekend was clear and warm enough not to need a jacket for the most part. I had several minutes of panic as I had dropped our small digital camera when we were checking out the commercial harbor. Luckily, when we retraced our steps, Kevin found the camera. Huge relief! I bought that camera for Kevin's birthday last year, and was about ready to have a major cry if we hadn't found it. Disaster avoided.
When we were done with the Lighthouse, we headed north to Brookings. After driving around for a while, we left a message with the in-laws for clarification. But since my cell battery was running low, we had to keep the phone off for the most part. We finally had a message and some directions, which allowed us to find the lot.
During the time we were waiting for the message, we drove around and came across an Arts & Crafts Fair. It was part of the annual Azalea Festival. We walked around and looked at the paintings, drawings and photographs that comprised the Art Fair. We than checked out the Craft booths. Across the street was a Quilt show, so we checked that out. Then we headed over to the VFW Hall for the Fiber Festival.
Inside the VFW Hall were weavers, spinners and dyers. Not a large space, but a lot of beautiful things. I met a spinner, by the name of Cherie Torkko-Barnes. I bought 3 skeins of yarn from her - 2 hand dyed dishcloth cotton and 1 lace weight tencel. I finished the dishclothes on 5/29/07:
This is the lace weight, I am calling it "Kelp, Mussels & Sky", or simply "Brookings":
I spent $23 - that's it. I've already warned Kevin he'll be holding the lace weight while I wind it, because I know it will fall off my swift! As far as souvenirs go for the weekend, besides this I bought a charm, a book, a sticker for the car and some taffy. I was a good girl.
is working on a bridge 10 miles north of We headed home Monday and wanted to see if taking the 5 would save us any time. Nope. No way. IT IS SO BORING. At least after Mt. Shasta. Nothing but flat, boring farmland. Just like the stretch of the 5 we take to So Cal, there is a great threat of road hypnosis. Besides, CalTransRedding. We hit the backup to this bridge 18 miles north of Redding. It took an hour and 10 minutes to get to the bridge. One lane - each way. The CHP warning said to expect a 5 to 30 minute delay, but insure you had water, snacks and a full tank. Right, 5 to 30 minutes. So, now we know, we take the 101.
It was an enjoyable weekend. I'm looking forward to going there again. I would like to take some hikes in the National Parks in the area. Take some pictures of the elk, which we did see, including a bull elk with a decent rack. I might even try my hand at fishing again. There are also places like Eureka and Ferndale that have beautiful Victorians. I'm just excited about all the different things we can see, do and learn about in the years to come. Besides, there are stash enhancements opportunities yet to explore!
