October 11, 2004
Breakfast at the Rhondevous B&B was not served until 9am. I guess the chef had to recover from cooking the very expensive meal from the night before. Usually we were on the road by 9 am, but breakfast was included with the room, and we expected the chef to do something nice, so we were going to hang around to see what it would be. However, we were up by 7 am and could not wait for caffiene. We had all ready checked out the best coffee house in town the afternoon of our arrival, so we headed over there for Nancy's double cappachino and my coffee with the morning newspaper. While everthing else in town was still in hibernation status, the coffee house was jumping. There were cars and pickups parked on both side of the small street, and we had to park around the corner and walk a half a block. There was a line of 2 customers at the order counter (long for Ft Bragg), and the tables were all full of early risers slurping caffienne and eating a variety of muffins and other baked goods, before they set out to open up the rest of the town. We ended up sitting at the "bar" counter at the front window. I went towards the back of the room to look for a "used" paper that someone had read and left for a cheapskate like me, and wasn't having much luck. As I passed by a reader peering at his sport page, he looked up and said, "I'm not going to read the rest of this, do you want it?" Wow! Small town friendliness!! I even got the sport page later when he was done with it!!
We headed back towards our upcoming breakfast with the idea that we would get all packed up, pay our bill, and be ready to eat and then run out to see a few things around the town before heading north to Arcata. Our expensive waiter from the the night before, had told us that his significant other owned the local quilt and fabric store, and Nancy had told him that she would visit it before we left. So that was one stop that we had to make.
Ft. Bragg's big claim to fame was the "Skunk Train", an old line that ran from Ft. Bragg easterly through the forest for about 30 miles on the same "scenic" route we had weaved in on. It was originally a line built to haul logs and lumber to the coast for shipping out of Ft Bragg south to San Francisco, and north to Eureka. One of the old Steam Engines was still on line and pulled old restored passenger cars round trip twice daily during the summer. So, we had to at least check out the schedule for the train while we we there. (Arcata was only 2-3 hours so we had time).
Breakfast turned out to be a fancy "fritata" with spinich and bacon, home made muffins, and coffee and Orange juice. It was OK but not that "memorable". There we only four of us eating breakfast, so I suppose the chef didn't feel that he had to impress!
We packed up the car, said goodbye to the chef (and his cat), and headed for the quilt store. Nancy found that the significant other was expecting her to turn up and would probably have been disappointed if she had not dropped in, bought a couple of pieces, and brought news from the big city far to the south. While Nancy was doing that I wandered through a couple of antique stores looking at prices, and, of course seeing if I could find a treasure that was priced too cheap!! Unfortunately, most people who own antique stores know more about it than I do, and I have yet to find something desireable that is miss-priced in my favor!
We headed over to check out the train, and found that the steam engine ran only in the summer, and there was only one train ride a day in the off season. It was pulled by a diesel engine. That ride would not be memorable. We looked through the small train museum, and then decided that there was nothing left in Ft Bragg to keep us from heading north again, so we were off!
We were soon back on Hwy 101 cruising towards Eureka. Just south of Eureka was the turnoff to Ferndale, a small village that has taken great pains to preserve and restore its Victorian main street, and because of that gets a pretty good flow of tourists in the summer. It was on our itinerary while we were in the area, and we thought we would get back to it. Eureka is an old logging port on a large shallow bay. It is the largest city in the northern part of California with a population of 60-70000 people. It is also the center of commercial activity for the area, so as we entered the city, 101 became cluttered with signs, motels, fast food joints, and businesses of all types from construction to sports bars. We didn't stop, but did take a turn around the restored historic area of downtown, and decided it would be worthwhile to come back and spend a bit of time there if we had the time.
We had decided we were going to camp out for a couple of days, but had not yet decided where. Just outside Arcata there was a sign for a visitors center, so we pulled in for advice. Pete's Point State Park was highly recommended by the visitor's center staff. It was about 5 miles north of Trinidad (about 15 minutes north of Arcata). It was on a bluff high above the ocean with lots of trees. We went into Arcata to stock up the cooler for goodies for dinner, breakfast and snacks! And , of course, some vino for "happy hour" in the woods!! Nancy knew right where to shop. It was in her guidebook!!
We headed for camp and pulled in about 4 pm. The Sun was still bright and the weather was unusually warm for the season--great camping weather!!
Since it was off season there were alot of open camp spaces, and as usual when we go camping, we had to drive around the camp three times before we picked what we thought to be the "best" spot to pitch out tent. (it had to be level, quiet, and not to far from the "loo".)
So we unloaded, set up the tent, and went into campout mode. We needed wood for a fire, so I headed out to the camp visitor center to buy a couple of bundles. I got there at 5:07--and it was closed (5:00 pm--bummer!) We needed wood! So I drove the 5 miles to Trinidad to get some. When I got back to camp, Nancy found that she did not have any butter, which was an essential ingrediant for the dinner she was preparing. Back to Trinidad for butter. I guess we should have picked a camp closer to a "store". Nancy is a great camp cook, however, and we had some really good foil dinners cooked over the fire.
The State Park campground was on a beautiful site. We walked a bit on the bluff trail and watched the sun sink into the ocean.
We decided to camp for three nights since the weather was so good. Nancy had a long itinerary planned for the area, including a couple of quilt shops, a drive to Ferndale, checking out Humbolt State University in Arcata, and driving through the McKinleyville area just outside of Arcata.
I woke up in the middle of the night to walk to the "loo" and heard sea lions barking at each other on the rocks far below the camp. It sure beat waking to the ever present russssssh of freeway noise in southern California.
Breakfast at the Rhondevous B&B was not served until 9am. I guess the chef had to recover from cooking the very expensive meal from the night before. Usually we were on the road by 9 am, but breakfast was included with the room, and we expected the chef to do something nice, so we were going to hang around to see what it would be. However, we were up by 7 am and could not wait for caffiene. We had all ready checked out the best coffee house in town the afternoon of our arrival, so we headed over there for Nancy's double cappachino and my coffee with the morning newspaper. While everthing else in town was still in hibernation status, the coffee house was jumping. There were cars and pickups parked on both side of the small street, and we had to park around the corner and walk a half a block. There was a line of 2 customers at the order counter (long for Ft Bragg), and the tables were all full of early risers slurping caffienne and eating a variety of muffins and other baked goods, before they set out to open up the rest of the town. We ended up sitting at the "bar" counter at the front window. I went towards the back of the room to look for a "used" paper that someone had read and left for a cheapskate like me, and wasn't having much luck. As I passed by a reader peering at his sport page, he looked up and said, "I'm not going to read the rest of this, do you want it?" Wow! Small town friendliness!! I even got the sport page later when he was done with it!!
We headed back towards our upcoming breakfast with the idea that we would get all packed up, pay our bill, and be ready to eat and then run out to see a few things around the town before heading north to Arcata. Our expensive waiter from the the night before, had told us that his significant other owned the local quilt and fabric store, and Nancy had told him that she would visit it before we left. So that was one stop that we had to make.
Ft. Bragg's big claim to fame was the "Skunk Train", an old line that ran from Ft. Bragg easterly through the forest for about 30 miles on the same "scenic" route we had weaved in on. It was originally a line built to haul logs and lumber to the coast for shipping out of Ft Bragg south to San Francisco, and north to Eureka. One of the old Steam Engines was still on line and pulled old restored passenger cars round trip twice daily during the summer. So, we had to at least check out the schedule for the train while we we there. (Arcata was only 2-3 hours so we had time).
Breakfast turned out to be a fancy "fritata" with spinich and bacon, home made muffins, and coffee and Orange juice. It was OK but not that "memorable". There we only four of us eating breakfast, so I suppose the chef didn't feel that he had to impress!
We packed up the car, said goodbye to the chef (and his cat), and headed for the quilt store. Nancy found that the significant other was expecting her to turn up and would probably have been disappointed if she had not dropped in, bought a couple of pieces, and brought news from the big city far to the south. While Nancy was doing that I wandered through a couple of antique stores looking at prices, and, of course seeing if I could find a treasure that was priced too cheap!! Unfortunately, most people who own antique stores know more about it than I do, and I have yet to find something desireable that is miss-priced in my favor!
We headed over to check out the train, and found that the steam engine ran only in the summer, and there was only one train ride a day in the off season. It was pulled by a diesel engine. That ride would not be memorable. We looked through the small train museum, and then decided that there was nothing left in Ft Bragg to keep us from heading north again, so we were off!
We were soon back on Hwy 101 cruising towards Eureka. Just south of Eureka was the turnoff to Ferndale, a small village that has taken great pains to preserve and restore its Victorian main street, and because of that gets a pretty good flow of tourists in the summer. It was on our itinerary while we were in the area, and we thought we would get back to it. Eureka is an old logging port on a large shallow bay. It is the largest city in the northern part of California with a population of 60-70000 people. It is also the center of commercial activity for the area, so as we entered the city, 101 became cluttered with signs, motels, fast food joints, and businesses of all types from construction to sports bars. We didn't stop, but did take a turn around the restored historic area of downtown, and decided it would be worthwhile to come back and spend a bit of time there if we had the time.
We had decided we were going to camp out for a couple of days, but had not yet decided where. Just outside Arcata there was a sign for a visitors center, so we pulled in for advice. Pete's Point State Park was highly recommended by the visitor's center staff. It was about 5 miles north of Trinidad (about 15 minutes north of Arcata). It was on a bluff high above the ocean with lots of trees. We went into Arcata to stock up the cooler for goodies for dinner, breakfast and snacks! And , of course, some vino for "happy hour" in the woods!! Nancy knew right where to shop. It was in her guidebook!!
We headed for camp and pulled in about 4 pm. The Sun was still bright and the weather was unusually warm for the season--great camping weather!!
Since it was off season there were alot of open camp spaces, and as usual when we go camping, we had to drive around the camp three times before we picked what we thought to be the "best" spot to pitch out tent. (it had to be level, quiet, and not to far from the "loo".)
So we unloaded, set up the tent, and went into campout mode. We needed wood for a fire, so I headed out to the camp visitor center to buy a couple of bundles. I got there at 5:07--and it was closed (5:00 pm--bummer!) We needed wood! So I drove the 5 miles to Trinidad to get some. When I got back to camp, Nancy found that she did not have any butter, which was an essential ingrediant for the dinner she was preparing. Back to Trinidad for butter. I guess we should have picked a camp closer to a "store". Nancy is a great camp cook, however, and we had some really good foil dinners cooked over the fire.
The State Park campground was on a beautiful site. We walked a bit on the bluff trail and watched the sun sink into the ocean.
We decided to camp for three nights since the weather was so good. Nancy had a long itinerary planned for the area, including a couple of quilt shops, a drive to Ferndale, checking out Humbolt State University in Arcata, and driving through the McKinleyville area just outside of Arcata.
I woke up in the middle of the night to walk to the "loo" and heard sea lions barking at each other on the rocks far below the camp. It sure beat waking to the ever present russssssh of freeway noise in southern California.
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