Weekend Update

Despite the overcast, dreary weather we Californians have been under the past week, Rob and I ventured out to explore both North and South of our new home.

Saturday, we headed about 15 miles north on Highway 101 to the seaside community of Trinidad. 300 good souls live in this adorable town on the cliffs of the sea. We parked on the edge of Indian Beach, and headed over to Trinidad Eatery and Gallery for lunch. We waited about 30 minutes for a table at the popular diner, and took in the “art” in the gallery. It was really a gift shop. We bought some native blackberry jam, postcards and a homemade biscuit for Maddy, then headed to our table. We had an amazing clam chowder and salad before heading out into the chilly weather again. We walked down the 239 steps to Indian Beach, where we had beautiful views of Trinidad Harbor and the ocean. Quite lovely. We spent the majority of the day taking photos and watching two idiots try to wade in the water, which was probably close to 50 degrees. Yikes.

Sunday we headed south on 101. Once we started to get more inland, the clouds disappeared and we saw our first sunshine in about 9 days. We first headed to Loleta, about 10 miles south of Eureka, and took in the lovely Loleta Cheese Factory. We watched through a window while some guys were making Fontina cheese. We sampled close to 34 different kinds of cheese, then settled on a Smoked Salmon Monterey Jack Cheese, some summer sausage, crackers and sodas, then headed to the Victorian village of Ferndale.
We pulled into Ferndale after about 10 minutes, and completely fell in love. The sun was shining on all the Victorian shops and restaurants, and we settled into a picnic table at the city park for our picnic. We walked down Main Street afterwards, taking in all the sights and sounds.
For those movie buffs, two movies were filmed in quaint Ferndale. The first, Outbreak, with Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo. Secondly, The Majestic, with Jim Carrey and Martin Landau. Ferndale Repertory Theatre on Main Street was used as The Majestic theatre when they filmed in town about 5 years ago. Ferndale Rep is the company I’m hoping to audition for soon, as they are doing The Rocky Horror Show in the spring- my dream to play Magenta!!
We splurged on a piece of chocolate, then headed back on the highway. We traveled south a bit further, and hopped on the Avenue of the Giants. The Avenue is a scenic route that runs parallel to 101, traveling through the great forests filled with Giant Sequoia’s. So beautiful. We stopped at one roadside attraction, the Immortal Tree. The tree is over 1000 years old, over 15 feet in diameter, and has survived floods and fires. To see this tree is something quite magnificent, as you again wonder how something could grow so large. It was huge!!
We wanted to take in other roadside attractions, such as the Point of Confusion (??), the Eternal Tree House, Bigfoot sightings, and Drive-Thru-A-Redwood. However, we decided to stop at Riverbend Cellars to take in a wine tasting. When we stepped out of the car, we realized how inland we must have been, as it was close to 90 degrees! Only 10 miles in from the ocean, and it’s a 30 degree difference. Amazing. We sampled five different wines, and ended up buying my favorite, of course, a Cabernet. By this time, it was 5pm, and decided to head home.

I started my job yesterday at Kidsclub. I had a blast. The kids are aged first through fifth grade, and are so great. I had to help some kids with math homework, and then tried to instruct a kid on how to make a cursive G. Do schools still teach kids cursive? When the kids asked how old I was, I made them guess. One said 35- ouch. But Jonathan, a little sweetie, said I was 23. I blew him a kiss for that one. To end the day, I played Disney Monopoly with a first grader. Note to self- do not play complicated board game with someone who can't read or count past 50.

Ciao.