Visit #2 from Michigan

Just after Al left, our good friend Gabe arrived for a visit. Gabe also came all the way from Michigan! Once again, we had a wonderful time exploring the local area with our visitor. Our exploring ended up taking us out of the area as well. Gabe and I drove up into Oregon to visit friends Smitty and Shawn, who live just south of Crater Lake National Park. Suddenly, we were back in winter.

We had a fantastic time snowshoeing and skiing along the rim of Crater Lake. With the brilliant blue sky and even more brilliant blue lake, along with the sparkling snow from a blizzard that had just ended, no words could describe how beautiful it was. We just soaked in one of the most breathtaking scenes in the world with little more than occasional exclamations of "Wow!"

After returning back to coastal California, we found continued blue sky with very strong winds. Once again, we marvelled at the rugged, windswept coast. Thanks for a wonderful visit, Gabe!

Visit #1 from Michigan

On the final day of March, our good friend Al arrived for a visit all the way from Michigan. We had a wonderful time exploring the coast and redwood forests near our house. We drove the "Wildcat," which is a twisty, turny road that goes south to the Mattole River and the Lost Coast. Along the way, we saw the "Triple Junction", (two photos below) an earthquake-prone spot where three continental plates merge. The spot is a massive, jagged, rock island that juts out from the ocean floor just offshore.



We also explored several local redwood forests. Most notably was Humboldt Redwood State Park, Redwood National Park and Prairie Creek State Park. At Prairie Creek was saw the "Corkscrew Tree," (below) an amazing twisted giant of a redwood.

To top off the visit, we spent as much time as we could admiring the rugged, windswept coast just north of our home. The weather was wild with storms and wind, but also brilliant sun. Thanks for an awesome visit, Al!