A to B to C to D: Covelo, CA to Crescent City, CA to Eugene, Or to Seattle, WA
A to B to C to D: Covelo, CA to Crescent City, CA to Eugene, Or to Seattle, WA
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July 20, 2011 - July 25, 2011
July 20, 2011. After a hectic day of packing and preparing for the road, we made it out of Round Valley by 2pm - not early enough to make it to Ferndale before the No Brand Burger Stand closes. We had planned on eating Max's absolute favorite cheeseburger there and then camping at the Ferndale fairgrounds, our usual stopover for less than super early departures to Oregon. Instead lunchtime found us approaching the equally destination-worthy Peg House in Leggett, CA. They do a mighty fine job with cheeseburgers, salmon burgers and BBQ oysters, and already we feel like we are on vacation. As we head north, we remembered that the days are very long and we can drive further towards Oregon. Emily remembers that at some point in the past she had researched a county park near Crescent City that was 1/2 mile from a drive-in movie theater. She remembered right - Florence Keller Park is a Del Norte County park that costs $10/night. We arrived at the park right at 9pm, chose a spot and left a note so no one else would snag it and headed down the street to Red's Crescent Drive-In, which happened to be playing Hangover II. We can watch almost anything in a drive-in and we haven't been to one in almost three years - it was a treat. They charged us $12 for the car and we paid $6 for popcorn and soda. The new rule of not sticking to a plan seems to be working out from day one.
July 21, 2011. In the morning we took a quick stroll around the "John Dee" trail that adjoins the campground. The 1/4 mile paved trail through redwoods was enough to stretch our legs but we hope to have time to go on some longer hikes throughout the rest of the trip. We made it to Eugene by 4pm in time to have a nice afternoon and dinner with our family friends. Pad thai.... mmmm.July 22, 2011. We moseyed out of Eugene and stopped at Burgerville in Vancouver, WA on our way north for lunch. The meal was characteristically delicious, despite having apparently paid $8 for a lemonade. It was fresh raspberry lemonade, and that stuff is kind of worth it at any price. Terrible traffic south of Seattle made us almost late for dinner, and solidified our pact to avoid deadlines of arrival and I-5 at any cost on the long way back home. July 23, 2011 - July 25, 2011. We had a great four nights in Seattle hanging out with family. Here are some of the non-personal highlights of this part of our journey:
The Hotel Monaco was great - they let us check in early, check out late and were really nice to us about our old van and old cat. Since most of our trip will be camping, it was fun to start it at a fancy hotel that made you feel special. Buzz was happy to have a room to hang out in and a sink that she could jump up and drink water from. Max accidentally kept the key - can you figure out what is happening in the picture on it? We couldn't.It was sunny while we were in Seattle! It had just gotten sunny so everyone was talking about it. We took total credit. We took a lovely walk along the locks, checked out the fish ladders and meandered through Ballard. We haven't spent a lot of time in Seattle, but there seems to be lots of nice places to stroll along and stop for drinks or views.
Brynie Utz Hats. Hat stores are usually disappointing for Max, as size 7 3/4 hats are fairly rare in a style Max would want to wear, but this place seemed different. And it turned out to be - a very old school hat store run by cool, young people who love hats and make you feel cool too, so long as you wear a hat. Max was unable to impress them by his unusually large head and instead was overwhelmed by choices in his size. After an hour and half (not nearly enough time), we both had snappy hats for our trip. They even re-steamed the felt on Max's hat so the crown was more to his liking. Attached to this page is a Stetson Care Guide - for those of you that don't know that you should handle a hat by the brim, not the crown.
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