When are we going to have a holiday?

This is the question posed to me by she who cannot be named when I woke her up at 8 am this morning. A good question as to date we have camped in Wellington airport and then had a long drive to get back to my original itinerary.

Last night we stayed at the Comfort Inn Humboldt Bay. very nice and comfortable, we had a king size bed which was we accommodating and the pillows were spot on for me. But, best of all was the 45 inch LED TV. Great.

Breakfast's at the hotels to date have been very good. Today they offered hot food (apart from the waffle machine); scrambled eggs, sausage pattie with gravy and biscuit - not for me. Just had the usual. Though to be clear 'she who can not be named' did break out to eggs.

Left the hotel around 9.30. Stopped for gas ($2.65 per US gallon. Not bad when you are driving a car that gets around 38 mpg.

Our first stop was historical downtown Eureka (right on an estuary). When we arrived it was just us, a few older street people-drinking coffee or packing up their belongings or a few older people walking down to the board walk to fed the seagulls. We walked along the board walk and then around the Victorian buildings. Nothing opens until 11 am in Eureka. (Photos to follow, once the photographer gets up and gives me the memory card). So around 10.30 we called it quits and hit the road. From Eureka to Regen's home just south of Medford is about 3 and a half hours driving.

The drive north to Crescent city was pretty nice scenic wise. Drove through a number of small hamlets which seemed to have either a cafe or tavern but all having wood for sale. Must be a depressed economy in this part of Northern California. The vegetation was either Redwood forest, beaches or swamps/wetlands (where she who can not be named saw a couple of young elk grazing, me I was concentrating on driving.

Missed the short cut coming into Crescent City so had to carry on into town to join 199 to Grants Pass. The town seemed quite affluent, plenty going on, including a farmers market. I think 'she who can not be named would have liked to stroll through it (parking was difficult to say the least). From Crescent city we turned inland and climbed over the coastal mountains to Oregon. A good if slow drive. A few stop/go situations where they are working on the road. Stopped at a rest area (the only one on this road) for a break and to finish off the sandwhiches we bought in Fort Bragg (yesterday). Nice and sunny, but a little cool -about 12 degrees C. The rest area had signs about not feeding the Bears, we didn't see any. Then it was off to Oregon.

In Oregon passed through a few small towns, one or two looked depressed. But what did strike me was the appearance of marijuana shops.Here in Oregon it is legal to purchase and smoke for personal use, you just can't smoke it in public. In Oregon the vegetation changed. The Redwoods gave way to meadows and spruces and different types of pines.

Grants Pass ( a booming city-full of Walmarts, Targets etc). Here we joined I-5 south for a 43 mile drive down to Regen's place. We arrived around 3 pm and meet his new partner (soon to be married) Diane plus two dogs (Merlin and Saddie) and two cats (whose names I never bothered to know).

Regen has just over an acre of land. Very narrow (about 22 metres across, but very long). Spent the rest of the afternoon just talking. Around 5 pm decided to take the dogs for a walk in the hills. Great 3 mile walk in the growing gloom of evening. Spent the night talking and talking and talking. Evan may have got a commitment to visit us in NZ

So that's it. Another good drive. But the question is, have I answered the question posed at the beginning of the day? Perhaps 10 days in Fiji or Tahitit would have been a better choice?