Heading North on Highway 101!

Today we repacked our cases and headed north on Old Highway 101 towards Eureka, an interim stop-off on our way to the next phase of our adventure, Oregon. The weather was characteristically fine (actually, very fine!)up until the Southern entrance to 'The Avenue of Giants' (huge and ancient redwoods!) at Phillipsville.

There, the weather began to cloud over, it became noticeably cooler, and we were abruptly diverted away from the 'The Avenue', back onto the 101. (Fortunately we'd previously driven the very impressive Avenue and seen the magnificent giant trees on a previous trip ...... just as well, really!) The landscape changed dramatically as we moved from gentle rolling vineyards to progressively more densely forested upland areas and finally to the ocean again! (We spotted a neat wall-mounted 'Route 101' sign that someone had covered with Alien graffiti and added the message "Welcome to Area 101"! ..... we also spotted countless references to "Trees of Mystery" and "Big Foot"!) We drove through Mendicino County, recollecting having previously stayed in Mendicino, and stopped an old 'mom and pop' diner in Willets, for lunch. We'd stayed here too ...... and dined in its unique original Lumberjack-style eatery "Jacks".

Being a Saturday, we avoided encounters with logging trucks, en route! We bypassed the wonderfully quaint town of Ferndale this time round and we arrived in Humboldt's Bay at 3:00 pm with 230 miles under our belt and an opportunity to check-out Shamus T Bones for dinner! What can I say about the latter?! Its big, brash and fabulous ...... ribs as big as your arm, barbecue sauce to die for, a friendly atmosphere, and a Tesla machine that periodically sends lightening bolts across the ceiling area ..... I will return!!

As a musical aide memoir for today I've opted for a classic 'motoring' piece