Category: food

We are off to the Trees of Mystery today! It is kind of like a Paul Bunyan theme park and I bet that most people, even Californians, have never heard of it.  When you approach there is a giant statue of Paul Bunyan with his blue ox, Babe. Bunyan is voiced by someone watching the people  come in and greets them personally while waving his giant hand. There are plenty of photo opportunities before you even buy your tickets.

Next is our adventure in the woods where there are lots of named trees and information about the growing cycle of redwoods.

When you get up the hill  through the trees there is a gondola ride which takes you high above the trees. You can see Karl the fog rolling in off the Pacific. From here on out Sam has instituted a thumbs up meme for all his pictures.

After we descend on the gondola there is a portion of the park that is about the Paul Bunyan story with lots of carved stumps. The kids enjoyed climbing on some of the carved animals.

Lastly we are treated to another time capsule redwood cross section.

We have spent several hours at the Trees of Mystery. What does the family think of our experience?

We grab a so-so lunch at a place across the street from the park and then head back to Trinidad. The kids play video games or read for the rest of the afternoon. Jon and I both snooze in our recliner chairs. We are tired out from all the day’s excitement.

Tonight we are having our “fancy” dinner at a seafood restaurant called SALT in Arcata. It turns out to be a great experience with Alex and Sam trying fried calamari for the first time (a hit!). They also both try steamed mussels. This was a split decision with Sam giving it a thumbs up and Alex thinking that this seafood is not for him.

After enjoying our breakfast at the Holiday Inn, we plan our day in Eureka. Later today we will head up to Trinidad and to our rental. The first thing on the agenda today is a look at the exterior of the Carson Mansion. The mansion is one of the finest examples of Queen Anne Victorian architecture. Since it is a private club we cannot go inside but we look at it from the outside and also at the pink house across the street. Since we are going to a Victorian millworks later this morning this is a good place to start. Exterior and interior wood pieces for these late 19th century houses are still being made at the Blue Ox Millworks in Eureka.

Our next stop is at the Blue Ox Millworks. John and I have been here a couple of times before and enjoyed our visits to this working millworks and also trade school for at-risk teenagers. We are shown around by one of the staff who demonstrates the old-timey machines.

We wander around the rest of the complex looking at the old printing presses and talking about manual typesetting. Imagine having to set type in mirror image! Each font is in a separate drawer. It is especially fascinating to me since my grandfather Rogers used to run a press in his basement and set all his type by hand. Outside we look at other workshops, horses, and a giant cross-section of a redwood.  I think this attraction is a bigger hit with the adults than the kids.

Our next stop is at the Clendenon Cider Works. I figure this can work as a refreshment stop and a demonstration on how cider is made. Uh-oh we strike out. The cider works are not open until August. Oh well, next on my list is the Loleta Cheese factory. Even though when we get there they are not demonstrating cheese making at least there are a lot of free samples. I think Sam and Alex try everything at least twice. I thought the cheese was pretty blah but the kids like it.

So the morning is not terribly successful. But it is lunchtime and everyone always likes to cast their votes for where to eat. It seems like Mexican food is high on list of preferred cuisines so we stop at La Patria Mexican restaurant. Everybody is pretty happy with the food. Alex proclaims that these are the best chips ever!

There is still some time to kill before we can head up to the rental in Trinidad so we head for the beach. Beyond Humboldt Bay there are barrier islands which can be accessed by a couple of  bridges from Eureka. We drive down to the Samoa Dunes Recreation Area and try our hands at kite flying. Jonathan has some luck getting one of the kites flying but the other one is a dud. Alex and Sam each get a turn flying the kite that works but one kite for two kids is not optimal.

Next we head out to the beach where it is pretty much deserted. Jon and John try the kites again. No luck. But Sam and Alex are perfectly happy digging around in the sand, pretending things are forts and finding sticks to battle with.

Now we head up to Trinidad and check into the very hot rental apartment. It must be setting heat records all up and down the coast! The ad had said the rental has air conditioning but when I call the owner about it he just laughs and tells me you do not need air conditioning in Trinidad. It is over 85F in the rental so we open all the windows and turn on the ceiling fans. It finallly cools off in the evening. Jon and I head to the store for some groceries and Jon makes pasta and sauce which everyone enjoys. We settle into our new space and have an enjoyable evening watching The LEGO Movie.