Observations of the day (Hudson US Family Tour Edition – Part 3):
– When we arrived in Arcata, it was supper time. Sonshine came over with friends Tim and SuSu and we went to a nice restaurant called Campground, which was an Argentine-inspired steakhouse. I had salmon, which was okay, but hubby had the bison-beef burger. He ordered it medium well and it arrived rare in the middle. He had to eat around the outside and said it was the worst burger her had ever had. This is really surprising as the area is eclectic and usually has very good food of all kinds. Here is hubby’s burger with a photo bomb by Sonshine:
– Here is beautiful Clam Beach and when we crest the hill, we always gasp at its beauty:
– Tim was kind enough to let us borrow his Tesla Model X and I snapped this pic while hubby had it on auto-drive so when we crashed and died, people looking at my phone would know the reason why:
– These are pictures of Trinidad, CA where we used to live. The first photo is of Trinidad Head and the 2nd is a view from where the memorial lighthouse used to be. If you want to read about the controversy surrounding the moving of the lighthouse, you can do so here. Finally, there are beautiful California poppies.
– Here we popped in and surprised my great friend, Stephanie. I purposely did not post on Facebook that we were headed north so she wouldn’t know we were there. I love her!
– Before we moved, Steph knew the same grief as we are going through now with the loss of her beloved dog, Girls. She has healed enough to welcome a new pup into her heart – here is Chester Copperpot:
– Once again making it quilt related, I visited Fabric Temptations, which is right off the Arcata Plaza (and it’s pronounced pLAAza not plaza). I asked them if they had any fabric unique to Humboldt County and they said no. Wandering around, I found this:
I’m thinking you can’t find this just anywhere.
– While on the pLAAza, we took our pictures in front of President McKinley’s statue (located in Arcata, not just down the road in McKinleyville – things that make you go hmmm). It likely won’t be there the next time we go back. If you want to take a gander at that controversy, click here.
– We visited the Clarke Historical Museum in Eureka, CA to see an art display of our wonderful friend, Kathrin Burleson. Here I am standing in front of some of her work, her artist’s statement and a sample of her work:
She’s a big deal as people such as Maria Shriver and George and Laura Bush own her work. I am so honored to call Kathrin and her husband, Mike, our friends.
– I also saw this at the museum:
– Guess what! We bought our own Burleson painting! Here we are at The Larrupin’ Café picking it up as well as celebrating Sonshine’s birthday and the purchase of his first house:
We used to live within walking distance from the Larrupin and celebrated many of sonshine’s major milestones there.
– Here is our “Rose”:
– Kathrin also gave us a signed copy of her latest book:
– One of the most wonderful places on earth is Renata’s Creperie! We used to eat there every Thursday (only because hubby wouldn’t let me go there more than once a week!) The waitstaff knew us and our usual orders, knew that I love The Walking Dead and they remembered us after a year away. Take a look at this party for your mouth:
– OHMYGOODNESS!!!!! We found out when we got to Arcata that the Banff Mountain Film Festival was playing there! We went the last two years that we lived there and jumped at the chance to go again. We took Sonshine for his first time and we all had a great time. I would encourage you to check it out if you get the opportunity.
– Here are some pics taken at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park:
– This was hanging in the visitor’s center:
– While we were there, we met this wonderful woman with her daughter and she was kind enough to chat with us and take our picture. Of course, never missing an opportunity in my quest for fame, I told her about this blog. Turns out, she has her own YouTube channel “Delectable Mountains”. You can check it out here.
– As previously mentioned, while in NorCal, our friend Tim let us borrow some wheels. We first got the Tesla Model X. It had lots of cool gadgets, could drive itself and had us worried on the way home from Prairie Creek that we’d run out of power. We made it to Tim’s house, plugged it in for a bit and we were good to go! Check out these cool doors:
– When Tim needed to drive to San Fran, he took the Tesla and gave us the BMW I8. It’s a very cool car:
– In case you wanted to know, this is what I look like driving the I8 at 104 mph:
– And finally, a last look at Humboldt County from the airport:
– Off to Dallas, Amy and our first meeting of Millie, our grandpuppy. Remember to share and tell your friends about the blog – help quench my thirst for fame!