September 30, 2024 - Go to San Francisco

 

Title: September 30, 2024 - Go to San Francisco (Vacaville)
Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type:  Car 

Car Mileage:  536 miles

Drive Time:  10 hrs 30 minutes

Description:

I got up at 6:30. Andrea was just taking off to go to work. I got a few things together and also issued a correction to an email I sent last night to my health educator. Then I had breakfast. Lawrence left for work. Sherri got up and we got ready to leave.

I am surprised that we were able to leave by 8:15. I am thinking we will get gas in Eugene. This should give me time to finish a call with my health educator before stopping for gas. But the best laid plans of mice and men. I waited and waited for the call and nothing came. I had Sherri check my phone’s Do Not Disturb. It was on and Erica had called me. So I returned the call and we talked about my weight goals. The call went on for about five minutes in the Costco parking lot.

After it ended, we got gas at Costco. Then I went on a search for a Starbucks. You would think it would be easy to find, but we searched a whole shopping center before finding it. Once obtained, Sherri started our drive south again. This an uneventful time and Sherri drives for about an hour and half until the rest stop at Canyonville.

After Canyonville, I drove down to Medford. I had asked the car’s GPS to direct me to the Costco gas station. But the data from its GPS is old and Costco has moved, so it led us on a wild goose chase. I realized this when we passed by Costco on I-5. We made it back there, a bit delayed. Then went to Kaleidoscope pizza-seems like our regular Medford haunt. We shared an Alaskan pizza with Sherri getting a salad. Then off to Harry&David’s for Sherri to pick up relish.

Then it is time to hit the road again. I will drive the rest of the way to Vacaville, about four and half hours. Except for stopping once, we drove straight through. Towards the end of the drive, I was getting a bit tired, but nothing serious.

We got to the Holiday Inn a little before 7. Once we checked in, we had the remains from our lunch before stepping out to Fenton’s. At Fenton’s, we split a Saddleback Brownie Sundae. This thing was huge! My blood sugars will pay for it tonight. But we managed to devour the whole thing.Afterwards, we filled up with gas at Costco and returned to crash at the hotel. After taking a shower, we turned in at 10.

 

September 29, 2024 - Washington Park, Portland

 

Title: September 29, 2024 - Washington Park, Portland
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking :  Car 

Trail head: Veterans Memorial Parking Lot, Washington Park, Portland

Trail:  Maple Trail,Wildwood Trail, Rose Garden, Redwood Deck

Destination:  Loop

Distance: 2.93 miles 1

Elevation Rise: 1,060 '

Descent: 1,060‘

Maximum Elevation: 860'

GPS Tracks

 ¹No GPS. The data above is from tracking on Google Earth.

Car Mileage:  119
Drive Time:  2hrs 20 minutes

Description:

I got up at 7:20, but had woken up about an hour earlier than yesterday, just laying in bed. I am the first one up. Sherri has not been able to get into Facebook on this trip. Every password I have for her does not match what her memory says. So I check to see if there is anything I can do to help.

By about 9, everybody is up. We go to the Sassy Onion. I splurge, at least as far as my blood sugars, and get the chocolate chip pancakes. While the pancakes themselves are sort of bland, I am savoring the chocolate covering with the whipped cream. The rest get bountiful helpings of peachy stuffed French toast, apple cinnamon swirl and a spicy biscuit. All are content.

 

Examining a tree

We then take off for Portland and the Washington Park trails with Lawrence driving. Enjoyable being the passenger and having Andrea giving directions. We parked in the Veteran’s Memorial Parking area. After paying the parking fee, we start our hike.

Sherri and Andrea in the Rose Garden

 

We left the parking area, crossed a road and walked on a paved path for a short way. The Park has their trees identified as to their variety. So we are going to constantly look from the tag to see if our guesses are right. Most of the time, mine are not. After a short time on the paved path, we transition to the Maple Trail which is graveled over. Looks like on this park’s trails we will “never walk alone” as the gospel song says. There are many dogs with their people. Some of which we recognize later on. 

 

 

 

 

 

Rose and Autumn

The walking is pleasant, and not just because we are descending. The trail and almost all trails in the park have broad leaf trees providing cover against the sun, making for us to be bathed in a green light. The air is cool, perfect for walking. Plus I enjoy our company.

We descend down to the archery range where we find shooters practicing. Also there is a small group of people who have swords and shields just standing around. It would have been interesting to see them play their weapons, but we travel on.

We continue to follow the trail further on. We then get to the Rose Garden. Sherri, Lawrence and Andrea browse through all the flowers. I am content to do a token browse and then observe the three. The garden is divided up into several sections, some with names others with more function. And of course each needs to be explored. As expected from a test garden, there are all kinds of roses. One particular fascinating one was a black rose. Then again, there was a very large purple bloom which caught our attention. Even though we spent about an hour exploring, we only did about half of the garden. 

 

 

 

Lawrence, Andrea and the Cat

Before moving on out of the garden, we saw a cat statue. Lawrence and Andrea posed by it. Like San Francisco’s hearts, They are modeled after Neil Gaiman’s Caraline book’s cat-it maybe the movie. Portland has these scattered throughout the city. Only a few are not downtown.

Now, it is time to head out. We go south, towards the tea garden, but circle to the west of it. This takes us back onto the Wildwood Trail. You know all of the downhill we just did getting to the Rose Garden? It is time to start climbing again. This may be part of the magic of this park. We are walking within 50 yards of a busy road, but it seems like we are in our own private world here. Only a few people do we meet. We know there are people around as when we get to the top of one of the climbs. There are houses to the left of us. They seem like an intrusion into this world. But then later, looking at a map, I see how close we are to the city on both sides of us. Still, it is a marvelous trail.

 

Redwoods

 

We crossed a couple of roads and made our way to the Redwood Observation Deck. Now we get people. Apparently this is a big thing. We find ourselves a couple of benches and eat our lunch. While the City’s web site does not explicitly say this, I suspect these redwoods were probably planted. Still they look like they are doing pretty well. With the warming we are having, maybe this will be the new native area for redwoods.

After lunch we take a swing around and continue our trek back to the car. We get on Bray Lane and walk that for a ways. Interestingly, out in the middle of no place is a working outhouse. I will just leave it at that. At the end of Bray Lane is an interesting meadow-maybe part of Hoyt Arboretum. We do not go in there, but find the parking lot for Hoyt. Then cross FairView Blvd. 

Area around Hoyt

 

 

We find another path which leads us back to the Wildwood Trail. After crossing Knights Blvd, again, we are faced with some steep stairs, without railings. So down we go, one step at a time. Andrea and Lawrence wait for us at the bottom. From here, it is just a short walk to some blessed relief: the car.

IKEA

After a few minutes, we get the car loaded and then take off for IKEA with Lawrence driving. It is not far. We wander through the warehouse. Sherri's interest at the moment is organizing our pantry. But I do not think she sees anything which looks magical to her. After our wandering, Andrea and Lawrence make their purchase-I think the Washington Park adventure was just a disguise to use our vehicle. They are buying a kitchen island. When it comes out, we struggle to get it inside the car, but manage to do so.

 

Left Behind Stuff

Then Lawrence drives us back to Salem. Then another good dinner is cooked and we are content. Sherri and I get our stuff together for tomorrow’s trip. Lawrence and Andrea will be going to work in the morning. So no late night games. Except, Lawrence decides to put together the scooter we got for Andrea. Of course, being a good engineer, you have to make sure it is put together well and he gives it a test spin. Just a normal bedtime for me. Sherri follows shortly afterwards.

 

 

Extra Photo's

Lawrence, Sherri, and Andrea climbing out of Rose Garden

Andrea and Sherri

Sherri and Andrea examining roses

Lawrence and Andrea coming down the trail

Trees of the park

 
Flowers and Plants

September 28, 2024 - Salem

 

Title:  September 28, 2024 - Salem
Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type:Hangout

 

Description:

I must have been tired after yesterday’s drive. I slept in till 8:20, way past my normal time. Both Andrea and Lawrence are up, but I found out later that Lawrence beat me up by five minutes. Andrea makes us waffles. I top my waffle with peanut butter and Nutella, what else?

We then sort of mosey around for a while. When we get moving it is about 11:30. Still, it is an enjoyable morning to be with family. Lawrence and I go to Lowes to pick up supplies for the gutter project. The gutter on their garage drains out near their trash can area. With them having redone their driveway and it sloping properly now, they would like the water to drain down the driveway.

We spent about an hour or more at Lowes. When we got back it was time for lunch. Lawrence makes us a turkey sandwich. Then it is time to work on the gutter. We dismantle the old gutter and work on getting the right pitch. Not sure we ever got it pitch perfect. But it is close. We get the first length up and realize that we need to put up an additional length of flashing. I go to the store while Lawrence works on fine tuning the work.

While putting up the second length of gutter, I figured out that we have the wrong size of joining length, so off to Lowes for the third time today. Lawrence also gets a socket which will fit the heads to screw into the eaves. This makes the work go a lot faster. By now it is getting towards evening. But we finish up the gutter and even get the downspout put in. We quit for the evening while still needing to close up and seal the joints, put in the end caps and attach the extra flashing. Stuff which Lawrence can do himself.

Andrea has made us drumsticks, potatoes and roasted vegetables. Feel pretty good. Then we talked about banned books. I do not think that we came to an agreement, but maybe a bit of understanding. There needs to be some sort of agreed upon criteria and the criteria should be pretty high.

I do not know if it is because of the long day driving yesterday, but I am once again tired. So it is time to go to bed.

September 27, 2024 - Go to Salem

 

Title: September 27, 2024 - Go to Salem
Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type: Car

Car Mileage:  370 miles
Drive Time:  8½  hours

Description:

Today’s blog entry will be pretty short as it is mostly driving. I wake up around 6 and get up shortly afterwards. David and I go for a short walk around his neighborhood. Maybe half an hour. Sherri is up when we get back. We have our cereal breakfast and then pack up our stuff. We have learned to bring in only what we need when we have a short stay. So this packing is quick.

At 8:30, we say goodbye to David. He is appreciative that we stopped by, even if it was only for about 36 hours. After checking on our gas situation, I think we could make it to Costco in Roseburg, but we would be coming in on fumes. David has warned me that the gas in Eureka is expensive, so I do not bother to get filled up there.

We are supposed to be retired, free and easy. So we should act that way. Instead of taking the faster Highway 101 straight through, we get off and stop at the Visitor Center at Redwood National Park’s Prairie Creek Visitor Center, mostly to take care of business, but also to stretch our legs for a few. Then we go up the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway. It is scenic, and a little slower than 101. It is a drive I enjoy.

When we cross the Klamath River I start looking for the gas station David told me about. We found the Pem-Mey store and put about 5 gallons in. Turns out when we reached Roseburg, I would have needed about half a gallon, so this was a wise stop. We continued on through Crescent City with me missing the Starbucks stop Sherri wanted. I had just passed by there and noticed it. Sherri indicated we could continue on.

When we passed through Crescent City, we left Highway 101 and went onto 199. It is a good road, but has a lot of curves. It also is scenic as we pass through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. The Smith River cuts a gorge through these mountains as we climb towards to Oregon border.

Then in Oregon, we stop at Cave Junction and Taylor Sausage. It is time for lunch. I enjoyed a French Dip and fries while Sherri enjoyed bratwurst with sauerkraut. This is a good place to stop both in terms of the good food and a good time to rest for a few minutes.

Sherri takes over driving. We continue on 199 until it gets to Grants Pass. One of these days we need to not be in such a rush and visit my cousin. But today, we are heading for Salem so no chance to start. Sherri travels up to Roseberg and the Costco there. Why? To get gas, of course!

We also switch drivers and I drive all the way to Salem. There was some heavy traffic starting about a half an hour outside of Salem. I want to say it is because of 5 o’clock traffic, but the traffic is going into Salem, not out of it. We were delayed long enough that we stopped at a rest stop just outside of Salem.

When we got to Andrea and Lawrence’s house, we greeted them. Then unload the back of our Highlander. All of a sudden, the back looks pretty vacant. Good. Then we rest a few minutes before Lawrence fixes us dinner. After dinner a bit more talking followed a game. This keeps us busy until I am about to fall asleep.

September 26, 2024 - Eureka

 

Title: September 26, 2024 - Eureka
Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Herrick Avenue Park&Ride

Trail:  Eureka Waterfront Trail

Destination: Spruce Point

Distance:  2.8 miles 1

Elevation Rise: 180 '

Descent: 180‘

Maximum Elevation: 20'

GPS Tracks

 ¹The above information is from plotting our route on Google Earth. I did not attempt to plot the route in the forest behind David’s house. It is too dense to see the pathways.

Description:

I initially woke up about 5:40 and saw that there was no lightning, then went back to sleep. I must have been tired since I finally got up about a quarter to eight. I sat in the front room until David got back from his walk. Sherri got up and I fixed our oatmeal.

David had brought down one of his redwoods a month ago and is cutting some of the wood into 1” slabs. He has enough to side a whole house with I think. My “help” consists of stacking each slab after he cuts them. After half a dozen cuts, he is ready to take a break. Besides, he needs to take the whole apparatus-chainsaw and his Alaskan mill to Don’s house.

Don is someone whom I met in Hawaii and have enjoyed. Don and another friend are cutting a downed tree into usable pieces and will be needing the mill today. After talking for a while, David and I go and get a chain which was sharpened at a local place-Kris Kingle (That is the name of the person, really). We come back and drop off the chain, then head back to David’s house.

It is time for a walk. David takes us to the Herrick Ave Park&Ride. We picked up the Eureka Waterfront Trail. It is a paved walkway, following alongside an unused railway. David said the railway carried lumber to various mills around Eureka. We are about a mile and half from its southern end, which is where we head.

On one side are the sloughs and marsh lands. The other is Humboldt Bay. Since the path only roughly follows the railway, there are some ups and downs but never very much. I cannot say it is level, but it is easy walking. After the long drive yesterday I needed to unwind.

On the slough side of the trail, we see an assortment of birds. The main attraction is a great egret picking through the mud, looking for grubs to feed on. But there are ducks or are they geese? Also some mud living avifauna-I learned a new word today. On the other side of the breakwall, we see water splashing up high.

We stop at the local WinCo, both for David to gain a few items for tonight’s rib-eye and for us to stock up on things we forgot. By the time we return to David’s place, it is time to have lunch. Then a short afternoon nap.

In back of David’s place is a forest which David says has been recently sold by a logging concern to a developer. So David takes us on an afternoon jaunt down into the forest. A steep own is the phrase I would use on this pathway. The path takes us through a thick coating of forest overhead down to a tributary of a creek called Martin Slough. I ask David why we have not gone down here before? He says that it is because I did not want to. I cannot imagine that, or can I?

It is pretty serene down here, someplace a person could just enjoy sitting or wandering. We circle around to the southwest side of the ravine and start climbing up the other side. Not steep, but enough to know you are going up. At one point David says that a couple of days before he went further and it got pretty muddy. So we retrace our steps back. You know that steep downhill going in? We now need to climb it. It is pretty steep and I stop several times to take a breath.

When we get back, David gets our dinner ready to be served. He has been smoking some rib-eye all afternoon and now they are ready, and so are we to eat them. This is in celebration of our 48th anniversary. He would have cooked them yesterday, but we would have gotten in too late. Tasty meal. That is my brother, a pretty good cook, treating us well.

We talk for a bit longer and then go to bed. It will be a long day tomorrow, so I need to get some rest.

 

September 25, 2024 - Go to Eureka

 

Title: September 25, 2024 - Go to Eureka
Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking : Car

Car Mileage:  465 miles
Drive Time:  Approximately 9 1/2 hours

Description:

Today is a normal trip from Fresno to Eureka to see my brother. It is the start of a ten day trip to Eureka, Salem and San Francisco. The latter to celebrate our 48th anniversary, which is today.

We are mostly packed before today. There is lots of stuff to bring up to Lawrence and Andrea’s place, so initially, the car is tightly packed. There are pads, a birthday gift, a box which Andrea wants to bring up, plants and other stuff. By the time we get all situated, it is around 8:30.

I start off driving. Sherri takes over in Turlock and drives to Elk Grove’s Costco. That is becoming my good place to get gas on a trip like this. As long as we stop in Elk Grove, we might as well go to Leatherby’s for lunch, after all it is that time of day. For lunch I have Grandpa’s Chicken Breast sandwich and Sherri’s sandwich is chicken pesto. Mine comes with a Sarah Sundae. I guess I can be forced into enjoying that one. Sherri and I share it.

After that, it is time to continue our drive. I will drive the rest of the way with a few bathroom stops. We got to Davids after 7pm, pretty tired. Just sitting can do that to me. We all go to bed a bit after 9.

September 6, 2024 - Boole Tree Loop

 

Title: September 6, 2024 - Boole Tree Loop

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking 

Trail head:  Boole Tree Parking Lot

Trail: Boole Tree Loop

Destination:  Boole Tree

Distance: 2.39 miles

Start Time: 11:32

End Time:     3:14

Travel Time: 3:42  (0.65 mph)

Moving Time:  1:47  (1.34  mph)

Elevation Rise:  711'

Descent: 716‘

Maximum Elevation: 6,810'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Patterson Bluff

Last night my CGM woke me up with a low of 58. But all was well as my blood meter registered 40 points higher. I turned off the alarms for the CGM and slept soundly until 6:30. Today, I lounged in my bag, feeling very comfortable until the skies got a bit lighter. I then got up at 7:15.

Korra and I went for a walk to the interpretive trail. Along the way, Korra and a squirrel had a face off. I was not quick enough with a camera to capture this stare down. But the squirrel blinked and scampered away, dropping his prize pine comb. We continued on our way. I visited some relations along the trail. At this point, Korra insisted on going back, so we did.

Sherri was up and Steven followed soon afterwards. Soon afterwards, Sherri has French toast ready to eat in about 15 minutes. Steven and I enjoy the meal with Sherri following us. A good way to start off a trip. I get cleaned up and we get the camp organized. But we do not leave until after 11. We will pay for the late start.

We are going to the Boole Tree, just a few miles away. Sherri and I have been here before and enjoyed the hike. It is not a long one, but there is a good climb up to the tree. We get to the parking area about 11:20 and start walking a little after that. The drive in is not bad most of the way. That is until we pass the road to Converse Basin Grove (13S21). Then our road (13S55) passes Stump Meadow and starts a climb up to the parking lot. I noticed that there is a thick layer of dust and the car kicks into All-Wheel drive. We make it through OK. Before entering a second dusty area, I put the car into All-Wheel drive until we made it to the lot.

I thought we said we would be doing the loop counter-clockwise. This would give us the steepest, most direct route to the Boole Tree. Sherri and Steven are ready before I am, so they start in. When I start, I glance over at the trail we are going to come out and see Steven and Sherri walking westward on it. Not that it matters-it is the same distance and elevation gain. Still I could have been going a different way than they did.

That late start has me paying a price. I feel the sun beating down on me and my steps being sluggish, not that I am overheating, just sweating and drinking water a lot. I am also lagging behind Sherri and Steven, not badly, but this is unusual as I can keep up with Sherri. Maybe it is that I do stop to take pictures, but that is only a cover, I think.

Boole Tree

Even though the trail is hot and dusty, there is many places to enjoy views. Looking west, I see Patterson Bluff’s profile, unlike seeing it front on from Delilah. Then there is Rodgers Ridge. Speaking of Delilah, I look for it on the far westerly ridges, but I do not see it until we have almost gotten to the top of our climb, when it comes into view through the haze. Spanish Mountain is right across from us with all of the spurs which come off of it. Then we can see into the Middle Fork of the Kings. There is a lot redeeming about this trail, but maybe not so much today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tops of the trees

Gary in repose and Korra on guard duty

When we round hill 6872, there is a sudden cooling. We are no longer in direct sunlight and there is a bit of a breeze. So much better. Not that I feel totally refreshed or anything like that. Also the Boole Tree comes into sight. We start descending to the base of the tree and upon arrival, I lower myself to the ground and look up at the Tree. I tell Sherri that I am meditating on the tree, but it is more that I am just that tired. Tired enough that we just sat there, enjoying the tree for an hour before eating lunch of Ritz crackers, Nutella and peanut butter. The jelly belly bag had come open, so there is some consumption of them, even by Korra.

 

 

 

 We leave after 2:30, climbing the short distance out of the bowl where the Boole Tree is. Then it is close to a mile downhill back to the car. Even though there is a lot of direct sunlight, we are going downhill, so it is not very tiring. We got back to the car by 3:45, I noticed that the temperature was in the upper 80’s.

Sherri on path back to car

On the way back to the camp, I took a detour down the Hume Lake road. Last Saturday, there was a rescue of a lost person who got stuck about a thousand feet from the road on the west side of the road. I am interested in seeing what the terrain looks like. I can see why in certain places you could get stuck. What I am wondering about is that his mother also found him and got stuck.

We got back to the camp at 4:45 and just recuperated. Sherri fixed the chick garlic pasta dish. We all decided that we would wait until Sunday to go to a Dark Sky presentation at Big Stump-we should have gone, but you will need to read that post to find out why. So we just sat around until it got dark. Around 9, I said that I was going to bed. The others followed me. I read for half an hour and then fell asleep.

Extra Photo's

Patterson Bluffs

Morning at Indian Basin

Patterson Bluffs

Gary surveying the Kings

Looking towards Spanish Mountain

 

Steven on the return trip to the car

Converse Mountain Grove

Sherri patiently waiting

Steven reading by the Boole Tree

Boole Tree

Boole Tree

Top of Boole Tree

 Animals

 
Flowers and Plants