The Klamath Camper Corral, where were stayed in Klamath, was a very nice RV park and several fishing guides stayed there and offered services on the famed Klamath River. After Rick found out that Chinook Salmon were starting to run up the river from the Pacific, he was interested in giving it a try.

Dan, a camper who had the site next to Rick and Orinda, suggested that we team up and go out with Wild Rivers Outfitters, which is operated by Dave McLaughlin who was also in the park. Dave had a wonderful boat, seen above, which is 22' long and powered by a 6.0 litre jet drive -- it MOVES!

We fished right where the Klamath River empties into the Pacific -- which was a very rough and high current area. We were glad to have Dave's knowledge guiding us.

Dan was lucky enough to catch two Chinooks, while Rick had a couple of bites, but no fish. Still, the deal was that the boat shared the salmon, so Orinda and Rick still have some beautiful spring salmon for dinner!

The next day, Rick and Orinda walked out on the sandbar between the river and ocean (it was about 2 miles long!) and tried some fishing, but without result. Still, it was beautiful to see the river and ocean interact.

We did see a number of sea otters and seals swimming around as well as all kinds of birds. A beautiful sight.

Traveling on the Big Tree Scenic drive

We started the day with a trip to the Trees of Mystery attraction which features many novel attractions associated with the Redwood Trees in the area. Of prime importance to Orinda was the Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox statues -- in Redwood scale!


Once we left that attraction, we took the Drury Scenic drive which passes through many old growth Redwood trees. One tree, aptly named Big Tree, really lived up to its name. It is about 25' in diameter and 300 feet tall.

Rick and Cody try to show the scale of these trees which are massive.

This tree has survived a forest fire which resulted in the hollow center of the tree.

The Redwoods need constant moisture and a stable climate. This also allows many other plants to grow, especially ferns which are all over. This will give you an idea of the moisture that is present.

The redwood is also very adaptable and can grow on many different surfaces. This large tree started by growing on a downed tree and then spread roots out to the ground. Amazing.

Fourth of July in Crescent City, CA

We spent a great Fourth of July in Crescent City, CA, a small town in northern California. They really put on a great Fourth celebration here and offered a wonderful parade. As we waited for the parade, we found this huge log in the town square area that weighed some 52 TONS! Orinda and Cody were really interested in this.


Next to the log, was this piece of old, riveted steel. It looked like a piece of a ship's hull and sure enough, in front of the hull was this plaque:

It turns out that the steel was from the SS Emidio, a ship that was torpedoed right off Crescent City by the Japanese in early WWII. There is quite a bit of history in this area.

The parade was great and was dedicated to the WWII veterans, which was great. The parade went on for about 3 hours and really was fun to watch.

After the parade, we drive the Jedidiah Smith tour road, a dirt road that traveled through old growth redwoods. These trees stood well over 300', as can be seen in this photo. WOW!

Visiting Eureka, CA

We have been exploring the Klamath, CA area and decided to go south this day before July 4 and check out the Eureka, CA area. As we left, we noticed that several Golden Bear statues patrol the Klamath area. These life size statues patrol both the approach to town and the local bridge crossing the Klamath River.

Eureka is about 55 miles miles south along Hwy 101 which is a beautiful drive along the Pacific coast. It is the largest town in the area, so we did a bit of shopping and exploring. We really enjoyed the Boardwalk area right on the Humbolt Bay area which is a great place to take a stroll.

One really interesting item is the WWII ship LCI 1091, which was sued in both WWII and the Korean War. This is now a museum ship and is still operational.

The harbor is still a working port with many commercial and private boats around. Naturally, we had to try some of the local seafood, and while the seafood was tasty and fresh, we thought our meal at Capt. Flint's, in Ft. Bragg, was better. We have decided to have a Clam Chowder taste test up the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington!

There is quite a history of commercial fishing in the Eureka area and this large statue pays homage to the past. A beautiful sight.

We also went to the small, but very interesting, Humboldt Maritime Museum, shich also owns the LCI 1091. There were many interesting pictures and items in the free museum and it is well worth a stop.

Much of the area is classified a tsunami hazard zone! In 1964, a large tsunami wave hit Cresent City (about 70 miles north of Eureka), killed 11 people, and caused considerable damage. This was the result of the large Alaskan earthquake. Today, there are sirens that warn folks when conditions are right, so we will be sure to pay attention.


On the way back to Klamath, we passed this rock that contained many sea lions barking loudly! These large animals, as well as the smaller seals, were resting on the rock and swimming around it. Lots of fun to watch.

Exploring the Ft. Bragg Seacoast & Drive Through Tree

On our way to the Ft. Bragg area, we saw a sign for the Drive Through Tree and had to stop and take a look. It turns out that this was a very famous tree and we were delighted to drive through the tree which was pretty cool! This tree is 315' tall, 21' in diameter and is 2400 years old! Amazing.


Cody was impressed with the tree but disappointed that he couldn't do the driving through the tree. Here, he is expressing his thoughts!

OK, OK, Cody can pose too! He liked the tree very much.

Once we got to Ft. Bragg, it was lunch time and We went to Capt. Flints, which was a rather plain, but excellent seafood spot. If you ever are in the area, be sure to pay the good captain a visit.


The drive on Hwy 1, also called the coast road, is wonderful. Surprisingly undeveloped, you can see the Pacific Ocean most of the time. It is an amazing site to watch the surf pound into the beach.

Mist drifts in and out of the area, adding to the eerie effect.

During a short walk on the beach, Orinda found out that the Pacific is COLD! I would guess it is about 50 degrees or so.

Finally, look at those trees at the top of the cliff. The wind REALLY blows at times.

Giant Redwoods and Shelter Cove, CA

We stayed in Garberville, CA which is about 200 miles north of San Francisco so we could tour the giant redwood trees in the area. These trees are truly amazing. Orinda and I knew they were large, but we had no idea as to the size. Rising some 250 to 300' tall, they are unlike any tree we have ever seen. Here you can see a "smaller" tree next to the HHR.

Orinda really enjoyed the Avenue of the Giants drive which is about 30 miles of road that meanders through grove after grove of huge trees.

At the visitor center, this log was displayed that showed is was about 839 years old when it fell. Wow, this tree was hundreds of years old when Columbus came to America.

We took the morning to tour the redwoods and then in the afternoon, we decided to take a side trip to Shelter Cove which is on the Pacific. The small town was only about 22 miles away, but on a VERY twisty, narrow road and took us about 45 minutes to get there.

Upon arrival at Shelter Cove, we found this lighthouse that was retired in 1951. While it looks pretty short, it is installed on the top of a 400' cliff above the ocean, so ships could see it well away at sea.

The sea was spectacular! The waves crashed against the rocky coast and was wonderful to watch.

The waves hitting the rocks sprayed up quite a ways, and really crashed in. The spray flew a long ways!

We even saw some sea lions sitting on the rocks around the kelp beds. Beautiful animals. This was a great day!

Visiting the Jimmy Doolittle Air Museum at Travis AFB

We found that the nearby Travis AFB is home to the Jimmy Doolittle Air Museum and of course, Rick had to take a look. This free museum is super and has a great collection of aircraft and related components. Additionally, Travis hosts some of the heavy lift service of the Air Force and as evidence, Rick got to stand next to this C5A transport engine. WOW -- this thing is massive.

Here is a fully restored WWII B-29 that is very impressive. If addition to this aircraft, there is a complete section on the restoration of the plane which was quite a project.

We enjoyed the large, outdoor exhibit area where many different aircraft are displayed. Many of these are in the air lift category (the B-52 could also be called an "air lift" platform I guess!) which are often not seen in museums, so this was quite interesting.

Inside, there is a wide range of exhibit, including a complete room on the Doolittle Tokyo raid which was fascinating. There are many hands on exhibits as well, so Rick got his chance to "try on" this jet trainer! He was ready to give it a spin!

Finally, there was a room featuring engine of the past and current times. In addition to the huge C5 engine above, there was this WWI Liberty engine. In its day, this was a marvel of engineering and Rick really liked it!