HEADING NORTH

 We spent the night in Pasadena at the Pasadena Rose & Crown hotel.

We got up and left early and headed north out of town, going home.

We drove almost non-stop on Hwy 99 to just south of Sacramento for a much needed walk in The Consumnes River Preserve.

There have been some very nice improvements since last we've been here.  The trails are well marked, some are paved but most are just natural.  There are hundreds and hundreds of birds to see and hear.  It was so relaxing and enjoyable.  It's another of our favorite places.

The next stop was in West Sacramento.  Darrell wanted to stop in and meet his Felder dealer, Fergus.  They've talked on the phone for years, but never met in person.  

While they were talking and looking at the machinery, I sketched.

This is a semi-blind contour drawing with a bit of watercolor added (and a photo added later).

We left Fergus and headed north on I-5 to Redding, where we spent the night.  We bought some dinner at Sprouts Grocery.  

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK

 We left Newark very early for the 4+hour drive, 250 miles) to Sequoia National Park.  Darrell really wanted to see General Sherman, the biggest tree in the world, a giant Sequoia in the park.  We arrived a little after 9am.

What we didn't realize was that there has been a lot of flooding in the park and roads washed out.  So, the roads are blocked about 5 miles in.  We would see no Sequoias today.  We stopped at the Visitor Center for a bit.  I got my NPS Passport stamped, then Darrell walked down to the river to see the rushing waters while I stayed and sketched the Visitors Center.

We did drive in as far as we could.  Considering it isn't really open, there were a lot of people there (it is Memorial Day afterall).  We stopped along the way to see a few of the sights.

Tunnel Rock - the road used to go thru here.  See Darrell up on top?

At Hospital Rock, you could climb up to see native symbols painted on this rock.

A little disappointed, we left the park, but are putting it high on our list of places to re-visit.  We headed south to Santa Clarita, where we will the night, another 3 hours and 175 miles of driving.  

INTO SAN FRANCISCO

 We spent the night in Santa Rosa, got up early and headed into San Francisco.  Of course, it was foggy on the bay.

We stopped in Golden Gate Park for a walk.  We went straight to Stowe Lake and walked up to the top of the hill on the lake's island.  We've done this almost every time we've visited.

Then we looked on Yelp for a good breakfast place and headed there.  When we got to where it sent us, it wasn't what we were expecting, but down the street a few doors was a very nice little place.  The menu outside looked very promising.  So, we lucked into another great place.  They make their own breads, including English Muffin (my fav).  So, I indulged in one with homemade pear jam along with my yummy scramble.  It is LaLe at 731 Irving Street.  If in town, check it out!

After breakfast, we stopped at Haight & Ashbury.

Next stop was the Palace of Fine Arts. 

Then it was on to another National Park site, Fort Point, which is located under the Golden Gate Bridge.  It's a very interesting place.  There was a Spanish Castillo built on this site in 1794.  Americans took it in 1846 and started building the current structure in 1853.  It housed many cannons to protect the opening of SF Bay.  

Looking out thru a cannon porthole.

We headed out of San Francisco, across the bay to Fremont, where Darrell met up with one of his buddies.  We visited with them for a while, getting a tour of his woodshop and garden.

We spent the night in Newark.

LUNCH IN EUREKA

 We left behind the Redwoods and stopped in Eureka for lunch.  From Crescent City to Eureka is about 85 miles, about 1 hour 45 minutes driving.

We found another great place for lunch, The Greene Lily (516 2nd St, Eureka, CA 95501).  They serve breakfast all day.  It was very crowded by the time we got there.  We waited a few minutes for someone to finish and leave before we were seated.  The food was great.

When we walked out of the restaurant we walked by a quilt/yarn store with a big MOVING SALE sign in the window.  I couldn't resist but to go  inside and see what treasure might be left.  There really wasn't much to pick from, but I did find a few $8 a yard pieces and one really cool fabric that was $22 a yard that I got a half yard of.  It's Eureka Fabrics.  You can go to their website and get 50% off what's left, for a while.

SAYING GOOD MORNING TO BABE AND PAUL

 We left our horrible motel in Crescent City heading to the Redwoods National Park.  But, first, we had to make the obligatory stop to take a selfie with Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe.

Good morning!

ON VACATION

 Darrell and I left early this morning, heading south.  The ultimate goal is Pasadena California.  But, there will be lots to see and do on the way there and back.  Our original plan was to stop at Fort Vancouver on the way down, but since we left so early we decided to pass it by this time, get it on the way back, and head straight to the Oregon Caves, about 460 miles, 7+ hours of driving.

We arrived about 3pm in Cave Junction, stopping at the Visitors Center there in town, then headed up the windy road to the park.  When we go there we walked up to the Visitor Center and got another stamp in my NPS  Passport.  Neither of us was not interested in going into the cave (I'm a bit claustrophobic) so we walked around a bit.  I sat down to sketch the lodge, but discovered I'd left my sketchbook in the pickup.  So, I took a photo and made some notes and sketched the Visitors Center later.

This is the 1924 Chateau, which is closed for now, awaiting funds for much needed repairs and upgrades.  It sits atop the large stream coming down off the mountain side.

The opening for the guided cave walk.m

They let us walk a short way into the cave.  The temperature dropped significantly to about 40 degrees.  Brrr.  

We walked up the hillside on a very nice trail.  Since it was late in the day we didn't go very far and we had a ways to go yet.

So off we went, hoping to make it to Crescent City for the night.  It was another 69 miles, a bit over an hour and a half.  Since it was the beginning of Memorial Weekend the hotel prices were sky-high with most places being pretty well booked up.  We ended up in a horrible hotel called Front Street Motel, right on the main drag.  I now wish we had paid the extra $100 to stay in a nicer place.  This place was scary icky and smelly.  Yuck.

We did manage to find a good Thai restaurant for dinner though, The Kin Khao Thai Eatery.  Good food, very busy, too.

BACK TO THE LITTLE ONES

Here's my painting of the day. First image is the underpainting, basically laying out the lights and darks. The next image is the second layer I put on. I started playing with the coloring.

I had to quit because I was not happy with it. It was tedious and boring. (And my neck and head ache so bad I can't concentrate). The second state seems lifeless at this point and the clouds seem contrived...

This is acrylic on canvas, 9"x12"