Dapple Designs

Part 2 of the vacation saga.  Andi was right, we picked up the boy and continued on our vacation.  We went farther north.  First I have to go on a little about rugby camp, though.  It was such a treat to be able to visit Cal Berkley and see the tournament the kids put on for the parents.  There were high school kids from all over the world at the camp, a total of 190 boys who were all focused on the game and not a single one was texting or playing a video game.  They were all watching the matches even if they weren't in that particular game.  It was so inspiring.  Kyle plays the lock position, which means you can only see his socks when the play begins.  He's in this huddle of guys called the scrum.  I'm learning all sorts of new things, but I think Kyle learned more.  It helped that he was wearing yellow socks.  I tried to get photos, but I don't know if any of them turned out.  I'll be downloading photos soon as soon as I deal with laundry.  Oh, and Kyle's team made it to the final match.  He's still chatting about things he learned in those few days.  I think rugby is a very solid part of him now.

So, we got in the car, fed him a huge pastrami sandwich and drove while he slept.  We visited the giant redwoods and stayed the night in a tiny little community called Fortuna.  I was grateful for the microbrewery across the parking lot from our motel after my little fall earlier in the day.  I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I'm not very graceful.  (stop laughing Mom)  We kept trying to get a place to stop to look at the Eel River.  They guys are fishermen and are all about water that contains things with scales.  So, I said there was no way I could get out at the first place we stopped.  Too much rock scrambling.  The second place had a small dirt slope down to the water.  No problem.  I slipped on my sneakers and trucked on down the hill.  I made it about 5 steps before I slipped and went down on a tree limb.  My poor shin looks like I've been in a really good bike accident.  Maybe I should tell a wicked mountain biking crash story if anyone asks.  It was a rocky or splintery start to our northern trek, and my dignity was injured as much as my skin.

The next day was filled with wondrous sights.  We began with breakfast at the Samoa Cookhouse that served loggers back in the day.  That was followed by a trek out to the sand dunes and a windswept beach.  The beaches in northern CA are so different from here.  First of all we didn't see another living soul and secondly there was driftwood all over the beach along with rocks and crab remains.  It was gorgeous.  We then drove further north and admired many herds of elk along the way in amongst towering redwoods.  It's hard to describe the grandeur of giant redwoods.  The world becomes a much bigger place under a redwood.  Oh, and banana slugs.  Those are some wild looking dudes.  We thought we were going to stay in Crescent City and had dinner there, but decided it was a little rough.  So, we went to a place we've only dreamed of until now.  We pushed on into Oregon.  We stopped at the Smith River for a little fishing and frog catching on the way.  Whew, ok, more to come tomorrow.