49'er Village

We arrived in Plymouth, as I said earlier, and settled in at our campsite after relocating to be able to get satellite TV we did laundry. On my trip to the laundry room I took a few pictures.

This is a group of Winnebago/Itasca owners who are members of one of the California groups. We are eligible to join a club but haven't so far.

This is a little bridge in the middle of the campground I crossed over on my way to the laundry. room.

And this is one of the rustic walking paths in the park. This place is huge and we were as far as you can get from the facilities and office area and, you guessed it, the laundry room.

This is part of the main buildings on the 49'er campground looking from the laundry area down to the general store and sidewalk cafe.

On my way back I got these ducks in a stream leading to the pond.


This shot is from the bridge I showed you earlier of the pond.


Well it's night time and our lobster lights are lit. They are the coolest things and a gift from our friends Dr. & Ms. Red Sox esq. et al. and they ride with the Musemobile everywhere we go. Their only vacation is Christmas time when they adorn our Christmas tree.

Scrabble Score Scrabble Queen 327 - the lowly contender 297

Quote of the Day -

“Men rush to California and Australia as if the true gold were to be found in that direction; but that is to go to the very opposite extreme to where it lies. They go prospecting farther and farther away from the true lead, and are most unfortunate when they think themselves most successful.” ~ Henry David Thoreau quotes (American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher, 1817-1862)

Through Wine Country to Plymouth

We left Willits and headed south on the 101 where we hit the northern end of wine country near Ukiah, California. I didn't get many pictures today and no award winning shots but they do give you some idea of the travels today.


These first three were all taken in the same area but there were vineyards all along the 101 today until we exited on the 37 south of Petaluma and headed east toward Sacramento.

As you may have guessed this Ranch is owned by the Crofoot family. I looked them up and didn't find much but I did find an obit on Henry Crofoot in the NY Times from March of 1993 on their ancestor. He was:

"Henry Clay Crofoot Jr., a Northern California lumberman and Nevada miner, died Tuesday in a local hospital. He was 75.

Mr. Crofoot was born in Syracuse and grew up in the old timber town of Magalia in Butte County, Calif. He lived and worked in Mendocino County and northern Nevada for nearly 50 years.

In the 1940's, Mr. Crofoot and his family came to the North Coast of California and set up sawmill operations in the Ukiah and Anderson valleys during the heyday of Mendocino County's timber industry. The Crofoot mills were among the most successful of the county's many sawmills."

This vineyard is just across the 101 from the Crofoot sign.


When we arrived in Sacramento we went to a wonderful market called Taylor's. They had a really nice selection produce and meat so we stocked up. What a cool place to shop the staff were wonderfully helpful and made us feel at home. They even carried our supplies to the Musemobile parked a 1/2 block away.


Almost to Plymouth, our destination we stopped for some cherries at a roadside stand next to some California "Happy" Cows. I think these guys were hot they were all gathered under this lone tree.


I did get a nice picture of their field with wonderful earthy hues and two trees in the distance.

Finally we stopped in Plymouth to get some stuff so I took a picture of the sign for the big happenings in town.

Scrabble Score ~ Scrabble Queen 313 - The Contender 315

Quote of the Day ~ “What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.” Crowfoot

Crowfoot (c. 1830 – 25 April 1890) or Isapo-Muxika (Blackfoot Issapóómahksika, "Crow-big-foot"^[1]) was a chief of the Blackfoot First Nation in Canada

Crowfoot was born in 1830 in an area later to become the province of Alberta. His parents were Packs a Knife (Istowun-eh'pata) and Attacked Towards Home (Axkahp-say-pi). His brother Iron Shield became Chief Bull. His mother remarried to Many Names. . Crowfoot was a warrior, fought as many as nineteen battles, and sustained many injuries during the course of his life. Despite this, he tried to obtain peace instead of tribal warfare. When the Canadian Pacific Railway sought to build their mainline through Blackfoot territory, negotiations with Father Lacombe convinced Crowfoot that it should be allowed.

In 1877 Colonel James Macleod and Lieutenant-Governor David Liard drew up Treaty Number 7 and persuaded Crowfoot and other chiefs present to sign it.

Canadian Pacific Railway President William Van Horne gave Crowfoot a lifetime pass to ride on the CPR out of gratitude. Even though he was well respected for his bravery, he refused to join the North-West Rebellion of 1885, believing it to be a lost cause. In 1886, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald invited Crowfoot to Ottawa. With him was Three Bulls and Red Crow, but Crowfoot fell ill and had to return from Ottawa.

Down the 101

Today we drove from the RV park through Crescent City, CA down the 101 to Wilits, CA. Crescent City is a nice coastal town with an interesting history.

On the afternoon of March 27, 1964, Alaska was shaken by an earthquake even stronger than the recent Indian Ocean quake. Anchorage and other Alaska cities were devastated, and more than a hundred people died. It was said "If Crescent City was at a different angle to the ocean, they wouldn't have had that destruction." The 1964 Alaska quake struck on March 27 and killed 125 people, including four children in Oregon - at Beverly Beach State Park - and 11 in Crescent City, Calif. Crescent City was virtually ruined; Newport, Cannon Beach, Coos Bay, Depoe Bay, Florence, Gold Beach and Seaside all were all hit. There was approximately $15 million in damages in Crescent City alone in what was the only fatal tsunami ever recorded in the lower 48 states.

Crescent City from a viewpoint south of town.

California like Oregon has miles of beach strewn with logs and seastacks, large stone spires jutting above sea level. Give you an idea about the dangers of surfing or swimming in these waters. This view is looking south from a pullout on the 101 at this point called the Redwood highway.

Another view looking North from the same spot.

This shot is of the South Fork of the Eel River. The Eel River is the third largest river in California. It carves deep canyons down great mountains, through flat valleys, and past majestic and ancient redwood forests. The Avenue of the Giants follows the South Fork of the Eel river.

After taking the picture of the Eel River I got this one of a poppy complete with a bug inside.

Scrabble Score ~ Scrabble Queen 317 - The Contender 332

Quote of the Day ~

We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls. ~ Anais Nin, Writer ~ A naturalized American citizen (she was born in France), Anaïs Nin was a modernist writer of short stories and novels. Born 1903 in Neuilly, France Died in Los Angeles, CA in 1977.

Jedediah Strong Smith and the Redwoods

I'm going to do something new with this blog. Tell you interesting facts about where we went today interspersed with some caption less photos. Most of what you read are quotes from various sources.

Jedediah Strong Smith (born January 6, 1799 - presumed date of death May 27, 1831) was a hunter, trapper, fur trader and explorer of the Rocky Mountains.

Smith was the first white man to cross the future state of Nevada, Utah, American to enter California by the overland route, scale the High Sierras, and the first to explore the Pacific hinterland from San Diego to the Columbia River.

"Established in 1929, this predominately old growth coast redwoods park is bisected by the last major free flowing river in California, the Smith River.

Yes, It's more Trillium

Okay that's the last Trillium

"Wildlife of the park is both abundant and varied, Mill Creek is a spawning ground for many salmon and steelhead."

"Misty clouds shroud the northern California coastline as twilight settles on the towering trees of the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. The date is 28 August, 1995. A fleeting glimpse of a dimly lit figure, caught on video, a massive, shaggy bear. It walks upright, arms swinging at its sides, around a slight bend in the road some 30m or so ahead. "Let's go get it!" someone shouts. It's Bigfoot!!!"

The big draw are the awesome Redwood Trees, they are magnificent.

"Paleontologists Henry Fairfield Osborn of the American Museum of Natural History, Madison Grant of the New York Zoological Society, and John C. Merriam of the University of California at Berkeley founded the Save-the-Redwoods League in 1918. The League was formed as a nonprofit organization dedicated to buying redwood tracts for preservation. The majority of these purchases consisted of North Coast redwood groves. The California Department of Parks and Recreation created Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, and Humboldt Redwoods State Park in the early 1920s with these lands. Today the League continues its protective work in partnership with Redwood National and State Park.

The Memorial Grove Program of the Save-the-Redwoods League was started in 1921 when the first large donation was given to the League to purchase and dedicate a redwood grove. Now more than 700 memorial and honor groves, named for individuals and organizations, have been established in California State Parks and Redwood National Park, with more being added each year. "

As you can see even these smaller Redwood dwarfed the Musemobile

So that's the story of the Jedediah Smith Redwoods Federal and State Park but I did get two smaller subjects among all the giant trees. One was this bamboo looking stand near the Smith River. I'm not sure what it is but it looks like a small Totem Pole.

And I just liked the leaf all dried out and blanched laying there in the conifer needles like a lonesome feather from a white dove.

Scrabble Score - Scrabble Queen 327 - The Contender 347

Quote of the Day ~

Del Gue Ain't this somethin'? I told my pap and mam I was coming to the mountains to trap and be a mountain man. Acted like they was gut-shot. Says, "son, make your life go here. Here's where the peoples is. Them mountains is for animals and savages." I said, "Mother Gue, the Rocky Mountains is the marrow of the world." And by God I was right. - Del Gue was one of the Mountain Men in the movie Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford 1772

Del Gue was played by Stefan Gierasch who also acted in the first episode on Mr. Peepers with Wally Cox in 1952. He also played in "Knots Landing" as Professor Truwald in 1992

From Fungi to the Golden State

I've searched to find the name of this Mushroom/Fungus and didn't find a thing. So I took more pictures. It is beautiful.


..and photogenic - Yep that's the Musemobile in the background.

Still another view


and another

Okay this is the last one not fully open.


I love the ferns pre-opening they look like a herd of seahorses.

I also got one last picture of the Trillium before we left Seven Feathers in Canyonville, Oregon


We stopped in Grants' Pass, Oregon for a supply run at Walmart. While Scrabble Queen went in I got gas at sub $3 and then called and talked to Ed. When we were ready to leave a woman drove past with her work truck - cool name for a construction company.


We took US 99 out of Grants Pass and just after entering stopped for lunch at the Randolph Collier Tunnel Wayside.

On this memorial its' noted "Father of the California Freeways" - If only he could see them now, or better yet be stuck in traffic on the 405 near LAX

Tunnel 01-049, near the Oregon State Line in Del Norte county, is named the "Randolph Collier Tunnel". It was built in 1963, and named by Senate Concurrent Resolution 74, Chapter 246, in 1961. Senator Randolph Collier was elected to the State Legislature from 1938-1976 to represent Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, Lake, Trinity, Del Norte and Siskiyou counties. Although he was recognized as a leader in many fields of legislation, Collier gained statewide and national fame in the planning and financing of highways. He was the principal author of the Collier-Burns Act of 1947 which brought about the California Highway Plan. The state's highway system served as a model throughout the nation in that the state assumed responsibility for state highways in cities.

There was the inevitable "one lane road" complete with cones and a flag person so familiar to travelers these days.

A little further we came across this cool waterfall. I suspect it's not a year round water fall because it wasn't named and had no rest area associated with it.


We finally arrived at our place to stay for a couple of days called the Hiouchi RV Resort. Hiouchi, according to the Resorts' brochure, was the Tolowa tribe's phrase for "Clear Blue Water."

"When explorer Jedediah Smith first traversed California's North Coast in 1828, he met members of the Tolowa tribe near present-day Crescent City. It was a peaceful encounter, although subsequent encounters between white settlers and the Tolowa went nowhere near as well -- and the tribe was almost wiped out."

I found this 1 foot high waterfall 50 yards from our campsite and yes the water was clear.

Finally I found this Iris happily resting next to the creek and grabbed a quick shot. It's very similar to the ones in front of my house.

Scrabble score ~ Scrabble Queen 371 - the contender a measly 345 (she beat me and I had a 2 bingo night (50 points bonus per bingo for using all my letter tiles)"

Quote of the Day

A politician will do anything to keep his job, even become a patriot." - William Randolph Hearst
I found a little know fact/rumor about Hearst:

"In 1897 Frederick Remington, a newspaper cartoonist who had been sent to Cuba by William Randolph Hearst, Sr. to find a war, had cabled back to his boss in New York that he could find no war.

Unperturbed, Hearst nevertheless ordered him to stay in Cuba and assured him that he would be duly furnished with a war. The U.S. battleship Maine was forthwith blown up (Feb. 18, 1898) and, "By Jingo!" Remington had his war. Dewey took Manila and Theodore Roosevelt took Cuba. And meanwhile the pictures kept on coming."

7 Feathers - On The Road Again ♫

The World Famous Musemobile

Yahoo!! We are on the road again and back at one of our favorite places. Seven Feathers RV park and Casino. No Casino this time just good old fashioned relaxation. We barely drove 86 miles but we love this place mostly for the landscaping and setting.


The Rhododendrons are just blooming and beautiful. It's hard to describe the color on these and even the picture doesn't capture the rich cream color on these.


So I took a picture closer up....


..and even closer up - they are breathtaking.


The red Rhodies are such a deep red they also can take your breath away.


Now those were landscaped but this poppy was hiding on the hill across the street from the RV so I went over to get it also.


Above the poppy I saw these thisles and just had to go get those as well.


Even higher was this beautiful Trillium Symmetry at it's finest.

Trillium and the Trillium Family (Trilliaceae)

This genus is a very interesting one. Under great simplicity and conformity of habit, 3 leaves at the summit of a stem, supporting one solitary terminal flower, it contains and conceals many species." Stephen Elliott, A Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia



Then there were the fungi in cream color


...and in bright orange

13

... and some bracken in white


.. but my favorite was the black mushrooms


These mushroom open from the top like an umbrella blown up by the wind. The ones on the left are fully open (notice the snail) notice the one on the right black underside and not fully open. The top is shaped like a bowl.


This is the same kind of mushroom fully open and it looks like a grey daisy, pretty special


On the back side of the Musemobile runs Cow Creek. A pretty little creek that runs the length of this huge RV park. The Cow Creek Indians who run the RV park and Casino were a band of the Umqua Tribe.

History Lesson Time - Chief Miwaleta, who negotiated the Cow Creek Umpqua Treaty for the Indians, had been opposed to joining the Indian Wars. He wanted his people to live in peace with the non-Indians. However, he died shortly after the treaty was negotiated.

Cow Creek Treaty "For and in consideration of the cession and relinquishment contained in article first, the United States agree to pay to the aforesaid band of Indians [Cow Creek Umpquas], the sum of twelve thousand dollars, in manner to wit: one thousand dollars to be expended in the purchase of twenty blankets, eighteen pairs of pants, eighteen pairs of shoes, eighteen hickory shirts, eighteen hats or caps, three coats, three vests, three socks, three neckerhandchiefs, forty cotton flags, one hundred twenty yards prints, one hundred yards domestic, one gross buttons, two lbs. thread, ten paper needles." - Cow Creek Umpqua Treaty, September 13, 1853


His successor led the Cow Creek Umpquas into the Rogue Indian Wars.

Chief Miwaleta, who negotiated the Cow Creek Umpqua Treaty for the Indians, had been opposed to joining the Indian Wars. He wanted his people to live in peace with the non-Indians. However, he died shortly after the treaty was negotiated. His successor led the Cow Creek Umpquas into the Rogue Indian Wars.

In September, 1855, hostilities broke out again as Volunteers moved to exterminate or remove all Cow Creek Umpqua and Rogue Indians. Hard fighting ensued and many Rogues took refuge along the Umpqua River where they and the Cow Creek Umpquas were rounded up and held against their will.

In 1856, these Indians were removed from the area and marched some 150 miles northwest to the Grand Ronde Reservation on the Yamhill River. This became the Umpqua Trail of Tears.

We took a walk and stopped to shoot several places along the creek. This on is taken from a small bridge that crosses from one side of the park to another.


I thought this was a rather creative waterfall idea.


Finally it started to rain so we hustled back to the Musemobile after one last shot of Cow Creek complete with boulders.

Scrabble Score Scrabble Queen 302 - the Contender 332 wo wo

Quote for the day ~ I think this is appropriate on our way to California, the Golden State

"But why think about that when all the golden land's ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you're alive to see?" ~ - Jack Kerouac, Beat Generation