Valve Stems etc.

Got to the tire place about 10am only to find that they were shorthanded until about noon. Please come back then. So -- how to fill my time. I know! I'll spend money!

First I went to the P.O. and mailed an application. If I get this job, I'll tell you all about it. It'll be another adventure, and on the East Coast.

Then off to Wally World where I got a bigger pot to put my money tree plant in. I wanted a clay pot but they didn't have one in the right size, so I got a round blue embossed ceramic pot. I also wanted some Calgon water softener (really good to put in the black tank to keep it slippery). "You want what? We've got these appliances over here; is that it?" No. Got a rayon hawaiian-style shirt and a swimsuit (both on sale). You'll be pleased to know that I'm discarding a shirt, too (bring one in, take one out).

Then off to Home Depot to find some hooks bigger than the ones I had to hang cups etc over the drainboard. Also got some silver contact paper to attempt to jazz up the interior. I'm so bored with the brown-ness of it all. The cabinet doors have raised edges so I'm thinking about putting the silver paper on the center panel. I'll try one and decide.

Then across the street to the Farmer's Market. Got eggs, squash, carrots, onion (Walla Walla variety, sweet like Vidalias), and red potatoes, all no more than a day old. Will roast them with the t-bone steak and have a feast.

Then to Safeway for more grociers (like the steak and some garlic/herb chips and tomato/mozzarella "salad" and an Asian-style prepared salad).

Finally, it was noon. Off to Les Schwab. It took about 45 minutes, just long for me to do one of my crosswords. They had aired the tires but forgot the airbags, which were down to 30lbs. The whole rig lifted up when they put 60lb in the bags. Driving is once again a pleasure.

Have decided to blow off the kite festival, what with all the walking around I did today, and the hooking and unhooking. Besides, I went to see the Battery Point Lighthouse while stalling around, so have been enough of a tourist. Here's a couple of pics from the beach. It was a nice foggy morning so you can just make out the path to the lighthouse on the island. You have to wait for low tide to walk out there.

Fern Canyon

Today, Mary-Anne and Joe picked me up and got to see the KOA I'm working at. We headed 50 miles down the coast to Elk Meadow (we saw a few elk lying in the grass at Elk Prairie but none at the meadow. Then we wended our way on a one-lane unpaved road, wet and muddy from rain, up over some small hills and down to Gold Bluff Beach and along that to the Fern Canyon trailhead, fording a few streams along the way.

Less than a quarter-mile along a nice level trail we entered Fern Canyon, a micro-climate where ferns have grown to cover the walls of the canyon, waving in the breeze, with an active creek along the bottom. Here's a couple of pictures.


Not only was it overcast but it was really really humid, which made it feel really chilly. Interesting experience, though. And this place was filmed by Lucas for use in Star Wars for the Ewok planet.

Joe found a tiny fleck of gold in the stream. This area had a mini-Gold Rush back in the 1890s.

After leaving here, we drove to the Trees of Mystery so they could see the Native American Museum collection.

Back to Crescent City. We were all starving so we wound up at the Chart Room Restaurant. Joe had chili and a vege sandwich. Mary-Anne and I both had the seafood platter, with ling cod, shrimp, and scallops, grilled, fries, coleslaw. Didn't take us long at all to scarf it all down.

We stopped by their motel to get some goodies they'd brought across country for me. The most important was two packages of Newman's Ginger Creme Cookies. I've looked everywhere and the only place I've found them is the Ingles in Asheville. Very odd.

After a stop at Safeway for me to pick up a few grociers, we wended our way back to the KOA. Sat and chatted a bit, took a few photos, hugged, and they went back to town, planning to go across to the Battery Point Lighthouse at low tide.

A very nice day. It was great to see them both. They say they're having a wonderful time and doing lots of silly things. Good!