Patrick's Point State Park, Trinidad, CA 8/24-9/1

We spent a week at Patrick's Point State Park in a site next to our good friends that host there each summer.  It was an escape from the inland heat that only got worse while we enjoyed mid 60s temperatures with occasional fog. 

As Labor Day weekend was fully booked we had to leave on Friday 9/1 which turned out to be just as well.  We planned to take Hwy 299 to Redding and then down I-5 to Sacramento.  Due to a fire along the Trinity River the highway was closed.  Friday morning smoke from it and several other fires blazing in Northern California drifted in with an orange haze to the sky.  We had smoke almost all the way to Sacramento and by noon the temperatures on the route (Hwy 101/20/I-5) were well over 100 and it was 112 in Sacramento.  It was 98 at our home in the foothills that only dropped to 84 at night.

We have to take the bad and enjoy the good which we did on the North Coast.

As the campground was pretty full for the weekend and as Hosts Kevin and Pauline had to be around to as Kevin says "Protect the Park for future generations"

Monday we went to Prairie Creek Redwoods Visitor center and had to check out the bridge over the creek.  It is built on a pairs of large logs that support the walkway for each section.

You can enlarge a picture by clicking on it.

Kevin and Linda

Next we went to the Big Tree for a naturalist lead walk through the trees.

As you can see there must be more than one Big Tree.

There are lots of BIG trees!

This is just one tree which looks like a group of 4 or 5 trees, all are clones of the original tree.

Tuesday Linda and I went to Fort Humboldt in Eureka which also had some logging displays.  This is listed as the largest steam donkey built to drag logs out of the forest.

This is all that remains of the original fort.

The Surgeon's home.

The hospital which is now a museum.

Beside the museum is a garden that was typical of the time.

Next we went to the town of Loleta to go to the Loleta Cheese Factory to get cheese and lunch at the cheese sandwich bar.

We checked out Trinidad harbor and the pier.

Linda, Kevin and Pauline.

Up the hill from the harbor is the Humboldt State University Marine Laboratory which we toured.

View of the ocean from the laboratory.

We went to the Redwood National Park Visitor Center that overlooks the beach.

The Quilting Queens known as QQ2 and QQ1 respectively.

The beach at the Visitor Center

Linda reading a book and relaxing by the trailer.

The view from Palmer's Point the Patrick's Point State Park.

We had to go to Ferndale to check out the Humboldt County Fair as it had a building full of quilts.

Of course he had to have the customary corn dog and check out the livestock.

It was a great trip especially as we shared the time with good friends!!!!