More Trees than Cars!

I'm writing tonight with the help of internet service at The Benbow Inn in Garberville.  We've been out of cell and wifi service since Tuesday, but came here tonight for a jazz concert and also found we could connect to the internet. YES!!! We had stayed here several years ago and it's fun to be back, feels like a very comfortable home. A great place to stay if you're up this way and NOT camping like we are.  :)

Well, last time I wrote we were on our way to dinner at my cousin MJ's home in Potter Valley. What an amazing evening... surrounded by their vineyards and the new construction of their winery. A fantastic lamb dinner with neighbors, laughs, lots of tasty Naughty Boy wines and just fun catching up. Thank you, MJ and Jim!!! Congrats on your new endeavors!

Nothing better than a warm evening outside.

Here's a preview of the new Naughty Boy Winery of Potter Valley. We loved the lovely purple interior color.  Jim's crew worked until 7 that night trenching a ditch but it looks fantastic already! Looks like it will be ready soon.

We left Ukiah the next morning about noon...it still takes us lots of time to pack up and get us ready to go. Stopped by the cemetery on our way out to visit the gravesites of Paul's Mom, Helen, and his grandparents. Then we were on our way to the Redwoods passing through the little town of Willits and it's welcoming sign: 

Gateway to the Redwoods

 Guess we were headed in the right direction!

The little yellow motor home did well considering we were traveling in the heat of the day and had quite a few hills to climb, another RV learning experience for us...get on the road early, not in the middle of the day!  But it was only an 80 mile drive to Richardson's Grove, our destination for the next few days. And, our first State Park camping on this trip, which means BEAUTY, not just a place to park us!!!  The most amazing thing was the park was practically EMPTY!! Not at all what we had expected. I guess with all the schools starting up so much earlier (right, girlfriends?) vacations are over for summer. How nice for us  cuz we had an absolutely gorgeous site, Huckleberry #28.  A big pull through, our first, and no neighbors...nothing to see but trees, trees and more trees!

We rode our bikes, checked out the rest of the park and did a couple of small hikes to view these amazing redwood wonders. Wednesday was still very warm so time to head to the river to cool off. Now that we're in the parks I love to cook outside, but we both were getting eaten by mosquitoes!!! Yuck!!! Nothing seemed to help...I used OFF spray, put on my "Buzz Off" clothing that's treated to repel these nasty bugs, but somehow they were immune to it all. Sure could use any advice about how to keep these things from biting!!!

Yes...I did have to pick up a beautiful flower for the table while we were in Ukiah.  Couldn't resist the yellow mums. I keep a red geranium in the shower when we travel and this one goes in the sink, but I have tons more space to pick up a few more along the way.  Cant wait to see how my traveling flower garden will turn out.

Today we decided to take advantage of our Passport America Club and move to a private RV park just down the road.  We get it at 50% of the price of the state park plus it has full hooks ups.  One night here and tomorrow we move on to the Avenue of the Giants and another park along the way. After dinner tonight I was reading a local paper and saw that there was a Jazz Fest starting tonight at the Benbow Inn, so we jumped in the car and came up for a lovely evening here outside on the deck.  What fun!

So, now it's time to say good night and head back to our little RV in the woods, thanks again, Benbow Inn. I know there's still a problem with writing comments on our blog...hopefully I can figure it out.  its got me stumped right now.  So....if you can't leave a comment, you can always send me an email, I love keeping up with everyone.
julieklopping@mac.com

Does anyone know how Blog sites work for comments...I could really use some help!!!! I want this to be a dialog for us.  Love to everyone.