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Intro
It all started with our visit to Arcata, California, for granddaughter’s graduation from Cal Poly, Humboldt. The original visit cost about $700. We were almost to Eureka Inn late Friday afternoon when our car was struck by a black Chevy Camero. Had the car towed to a body shop and informed the police (not interested, as no one seemed injured) and informed insurance company.
Damaged Prius
We had planned to leave Monday morning, but without a car that was difficult. So we stayed the rest of the week at the Inn, until I realized that dining out for every meal would get expensive, so looked for B&B or motel with at least refrigerator and microwave. Moved to a refurbished Travelodge that was across the street from a large natural food market and within walking distance of the waterfront. I call this our "Exile".
Body shop outlined the process for fixing the car:
get permission from insurance to take the car apart to look for added damage,
estimate repair cost,
get permission from insurance,
order parts,
wait for parts,
get on work schedule,
fix car.
The added costs for the added stay in Eureka were these:
$5,000 Lodging
$1,500 Transportation (rental car, fuel)
$1,900 Food
$600 Entertainment (admission fees)
Total repair cost was $7,000, some covered by insurance. Then, of course, we have to drive back to New Mexico — at least four days.
Next chore is to find things to do. Lana had never eaten Dungeness crab, so we split a crab for lunch and went on a harbor tour aboard a rebuilt 1913 passenger ferry. We rented a car for the duration and drove to Lady Bird Johnson Grove of Big Trees. Yes, the coast redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, are big. Then we drove up the coast to Ocean World Aquarium in Crescent City, where we watched sea lions perform.
Saturday after the graduation was the start of the Kinetic Sculpture race, with hundreds of accompanying cyclists at the Arcata Plaza. Stood for 3 hours watching the entrants gather and show off, then leave for the 3-day adventure, including a water crossing for the sculptures.
Kinetic Sculpture
Sunday we went to the Eureka Episcopal church, with sung mass, psalm, and a lunch-size coffee hour. For a city with 4 times the population of Taos, the congregation was about half the size of St James. On Memorial Day we went to a Pentecostal church picnic at Redwood Fields, with about 200 people of all ages.
We visited the Clarke Historical Museum, home to the area's leading collection of California North Coast regional and cultural history. Also went to the excellent Sequoia Park Zoo, which has very educational exhibits, including a sky walk. Then we went to the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center, with well-marked native plants (tho some plants have moved since the signs were installed). Sat by Klopp Lake to watch birds and saw many cormorants (many of those juveniles), gulls, and a marsh wren. No river otters, though. (The sea otters were extirpated for their fur.)
Eureka has very many nice murals. These examples happen to be in an alley named Opera Alley.
Then we went back to Arcata Plaza for the Farmers Market, which is very active, with lots of kids playing and music and dancing and food vendors as well as farmers. Had quiche and salad at Café Brio, adjacent to the Plaza, and outside which we stood to watch the kinetic sculptures. On Sunday we went to (low) church in Arcata, where we learned of a gospel choir concert later that day. The choir was more spirit than music, however.
Arcata Plaza during Farmers Market
No Kings, Eureka
I had visited Trees of Mystery 75 years ago, so we drove south to visit it again. Big trees, no mystery, but some informative signs and a lot of wood sculptures with tall tales trying to connect to Paul Bunyon. Their SkyTrail is not nearly as good or informative as the one at Sequoia Park Zoo. Tried to visit the redwood sawmill at Scotia that I also visited 75 years ago, but it has fallen into disrepair and even the museum is closed. They do have an enormous inventory of logs and sawn lumber, however.
We also protested “No Kings” day, along with about 4,000 others in Eureka. We started on the waterfront (photo) then the group marched to the county courthouse, where there was not nearly enough room for all those folks.
Return
After our car was repaired we got to drive the 1500 miles back to Taos. We wanted to take a slightly different route than we used going to Eureka, but still avoid major highways. Another consideration as we neared Taos was the heat dome that was scorching Arizona, shifting our route somewhat northward.
I wanted to take California route 36 to Red Bluff, but that road is closed due to a landslide. So we drove to Redding, then briefly down I-5 to Red Bluff, and joined CA-36 there to Susanville. After leaving Reno, we noticed very many huge warehouses.
Farther east, into the midst of Nevada, we noticed many small warehouses, which turn out to be a very large ammunition storage area. Beyond the warehouses were bunkers that resembled potato storage in Idaho.
We stopped for lunch in Yerington, NV, home to a huge open pit copper mine, abandoned by Anaconda 45 years ago, that should be cleaned up. We had to navigate through a casino to eat, a new experience for Lana.
After we left Tonopah, NV, we encountered some very strange ‘trees’ that appeared to be Yuccas. They are, indeed Yucca jaegeriana, a type of Joshua Tree that is known from southern California. The ones we saw occur together with the more familiar Yucca brevifolia, and form a natural experiment with the pollinating moth.
Once we got into the Navajo reservation the wind picked up and the dust started to cross the road. At one point we had to slow to 50 mph because of poor visibility.
We wanted to see Zion National Park, so made a hotel reservation in St George, Utah, which was an eye-opener. Because I had configured our route planner to avoid highways, we drove through mile after mile of modern suburban shopping malls — a rather disgusting sight to our poor, rural New Mexico eyes. The hotel was, indeed, the best on our trip — largely because it was paid with ‘points’ from our eternal stay in Eureka, so “free” to us.
It was another 3 hours drive to Zion park, and on the way in I was surprised by the huge number of cars and people waiting to enter the park. They lined the road, either waiting for the bus, walking, or bicycling toward the park entrance. We were allowed through the park, but not up the nice valley. The tunnel on the east side is amazing, and now one-way for motor vehicles, so we had a forced pause for photos.
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