9/10/2017 - Drive to Myers Flat, Avenue of the Giants

Sunday - After our eventful evening, it was time to move on today when Joe was rested enough to get out of bed.  We had a great time here at Patricks Point, but we are ready for some sunshine and dry weather.  While we were sitting at the table eating breakfast, Joe spotted a banana slug on the bushes right against the window!  Finally, some wildlife again.  He took some pictures, then I stood up and saw another, and another.  I think we saw about 30 before we left -- they were all over the place.  They really are yellow, more so than the pictures show.

With one eye on Hurricane Irma, we de-camped and got on the road, keeping in contact with John as the day progressed.  We had sunshine by 9:00 a.m., a surprise.  We left camp about 9:40.  Would have been a good morning to go back to the beach, but we didn't.  But we took one last picture of the sea mist through the trees -- this time with a little sunshine.

We made a stop in Eureka at Costco for fuel -- what a surprise that was to learn Eureka had a Costco, and of course we did some shopping.  The one thing on my list -- flashlight for the car -- they were out of.  So we will have to move one out of the camper so we are prepared next time.  Gas at Costco was 30 cents cheaper than elsewhere.  And Joe complained because he had to pump his own gas -- said he was going back to Oregon.   Eureka has lots of murals on their buildings, some of them pretty awesome, some rather abstract.  This one, on the front of a building supply store, is almost real-looking.

As we got away from the seashore, the temperature went up to 80.  We only drove 80 miles today, and after our long stop at Costco, we got to the campground in Myers Flat at 1:45.  We spent some time doing chores -- Joe dumped our tanks, I did laundry, Joe worked a little more on the step.   Our campsite here is a little more open than the last one (took Joe some maneuvering to get out of that one this morning, but Ole Truckdriver Joe did it).

We are camped in Myers Flat, on the Eel River, so we walked down to it, but it is really low right now, and has an algae bloom on it so we couldn't get in, even if we wanted to.

This is a rather mediocre campground, but it is in a good spot, right on the edge of Avenue of the Giants in the Redwood Forest.  The town is about 2 blocks long, population of 200, with more businesses closed than open.  We went for a drive after dinner, about 5 miles each way, and drove into some of the redwood parks, got to see some of the trees.  Actually, there is a grove of redwoods right here in the campground.  But tomorrow we will try to see everything we can of the redwood forest, then we will decide if we need to extend out time here (we are schedule to leave Wednesday).  And we have a few drives to make out of here, including a seaglass beach at Shelter Cove. 

Our thoughts are never far from Florida, the Hurricane, and our evacuated kids.  We are praying that all goes well for them, and that their damage is minimal.  I know they will be anxious to get back home as soon as Irma gets out of there.