Into California!

Yesterday was a pretty fun day.  We had a lovely breakfast in Eugene at the Morning Glory Bakery, a spot we have visited before.  Sam enjoyed most parts of my breakfast meal as well as some parts of Chad’s, including mashed potatoes (heavy on the dried herbs), mashed tofu and mushroom gravy. I am starting to wonder if there is anything he won’t eat!

We got on the road in good time and headed out towards Grants Pass, Oregon, where we would turn west towards the California coast.  We stopped in Grants Pass for a bit of a break and found a really fun kitchen shop on our wanderings.  I am excited to report that I picked up a mini-doughnut pan, a small stovetop smoker (I have asked for one of these for the past two Christmases with no success, and found one at a good price today).  It was finally warm and sunny today (we actually hit 80 degrees F), and so we tried to put Sam’s sunglasses on – he decided that he would rather do some deep thinking.

From Grants Pass, we drove into California and through the first parts of the redwood forests (more today) – these trees are so ridiculously tall, you cannot believe unless you are actually in it.  My pictures don’t nearly do them justice.

From the redwood forests, we descended down to the ocean, getting our first glimpse in Crescent City.  We stopped for a bit of break and took a few nice shots.

As we were getting ready to pack up, Sam decided to try out standing in the back of the van.  He is definitely getting there!

We arrived in Fortuna, California at about 6pm and had dinner at a (once again very conveniently located next to our hotel) brewpub called the Eel River Brewing Company.  We had a great dinner and Sam made friends with some “hard-looking trucker type dudes, you know the trucker-type guys wearing leather ball caps and dressed up like truckers with cowboy boots, definitely not bikers, just truckers, well maybe bikers who lost their licenses” who were sitting at the bar, “and the next thing you know Sam has got one of the guys making oogly eyes at him”.  (Thanks to my Dad, who contributed the quoted description of Sam’s buddies at the restaurant, when words failed me.)

Speaking of my Dad, we had a really nice Father’s Day today. Happy first Father’s day to Chad!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! Thanks for the bath. 🙂