One
of the most scenic California drives, National Scenic Highway 199 aka Redwood Highway,
twists and turns through tall redwood forests, skirts the northern
California coast and follows streams and rivers fed by melting, mountain snow.
Our tiny Prius (the State Car) rarely reached
45 mph as 3 well-fed adults with luggage and a dog headed for a family birthday/reunion in Portland.
My grandniece, Claire, was turning 5! She was very proud to be able to display her entire hand with all 5 fingers UP and started calling the adults by their real names to celebrate
her maturity.
The Eureka/Florida group is meeting my brother
Phil, his son Luke and Luke’s longtime girlfriend, Laura (the Washington DC group) for a birthday bash in
a public park in downtown Portland.
During their visit, they rented bikes instead of a rental care and cycled to the Farmer's Market and Beerfest. Luke is a veteran BEER afficianado
and SCIENCE Fan (Tee shirt reads " Science...It works, Bitches".
Portland is “dog friendly” and Cassie has made many new dog friends based on sniffing rear ends.
Here are my sis, Sharon, me 'n Cassie and husband, Norm, with a ole geezer chairs and margaritas. The weather was Perfect in Portland.
Portland has many colorful “neighborhoods” and
public parks are plentiful and the center of family activities. Portland is also well-known to attract alternative lifestyles and spawned an interesting HBO series, Portlandia (check it out on Netflix-it's hilarious!). People ride bikes everywhere as the streets are narrow and there is almost no public parking.
The adults staged a Safari Treasure Hunt; hid a dozen small stuffed wild animals and shouted hints for the wee game
hunters. The kids squealed with delight whenever they found an animal!
Here is Birthday Girl Claire carrying her animals to a safe
wildlife preserve.
A Treasure Chest full of gold chocolate coins
and gaudy jewelry was the reward for bagging all the animals.
Later, Olive Rootbeer and
Dingo Dizmal rode in on high bikes and entertained with silly songs, games and made custom balloon-animals.
Olive and Dingo launched rubber duckies from a cannon for the kids to chase down and staged a burning building rescue scenario for the young firefighters to participate in. Finally, Olive began creating custom balloon art for kids of every age.
Here is my favorite requested by Luke--it is a mad monkey on a motorcycle!
The big kids had as much fun as the real kids;
here is the adult “Magic Bridge” where every adult butt is supported by a 5
gallon pail; the 4 pails are removed one-by-one and the bridge remains
standing-it’s magic! In the end, Olive jumps on top of the bridge and collapses--lots of fun and giggles by kids of every age!
After the kiddie
games came to an end, the adults took a drive to enjoy the Historic Scenic
Columbia River Highway, which included a stop for the must-see
Multnomah Falls (2nd highest waterfall in US),
Bonneville Dam
and at least a hundred wind surfers and kiteboards flying on the windy river.
After returning home, we learned that Woofstock was returning to Eureka;
it is a fund-raising activity for the no-kill animal shelter and is aimed at fun for dogs and owners with games for dogs such as "weenie bobbing" and all kinds of cute dog vendor booths.
I loaded up the kiddie stroller for Cassie while the bigger (and better-behaved) dogs walked. Cassie is in the stroller, Bella, the Pug Diva-Pack Leader occupies the high lookout point and the mild-mannered and sweet GoldenDoodle, Ozzy just wants to be loved.
I felt my FIRST EARTHQUAKE! Here is the official geological data: it was on July 12, centered about 40 miles south of Eureka and was a 4.0 magnitude. I was in bed in my RV when it occurred and knew it immediately. I reported the unusual shaking to my sister the next morning. She had been asleep and did not feel it but verified it with one of the many natural disaster websites she has bookmarked.
PDE-Q 2012 07 12
103907.59
40.75 -123.69 27
4.0 MwNC ...40
It has been a late-blooming summer and
sunshine has been scarce; however,
when you get a sunny day on the
northern coast of California, it's a great
beach opportunity with the dogs!
Here's the gang packed into the Prius
after a romp on the beach--note the
tongues all hanging out.
Here's Cassie squiggling in the dark
sand.
When we got home, I had to give all
three dogs a bath.
Thursday, my sis and I head for
Portland for the first leg of our drive
to Seattle and the Alaska Cruise!
A Treasure Chest full of gold chocolate coins
and gaudy jewelry was the reward for bagging all the animals.
