Willits, CA

The RV park we stayed in was outside of Willits on the grounds of the Ridgewood Ranch - Home of Seabiscuit.  Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion Thoroughbred race horse during the Depression and later died on the ranch in 1947.  The current owners of this semi-working ranch give walking tours of the ranch a couple of times a week.  We were not there on those particular days.   However, we did drive through the stable area and saw the statue of Seabiscuit.

Many years ago the owners of the ranch (Charles and Marcella Howard) became friends with William Randolph Hearst.  Hearst  gave the Howard's about 50 of the white deer that he had on his ranch.  This herd has now grown to over 200 and they roam the 2,250 acres of the ranch.  We were lucky enough to spot one of two of them a couple of times while we were at the RV park.

These two were laying in the tall grass and hard to spot.

 

 

The white deer and brown deer travel together.

There were lots of other wildlife to be seen in and around the RV park.  We missed getting pictures of a group of 7 or 8 large wild turkeys.  Before we could get a picture they went into a field of tall grass. We did get a picture of a Jack Rabbit and some quail.  Haven't seen quail like that since right after we built our house in the 80's.

 

 

 

At one time we counted around 30 quail.

 

 

This picture of a Jack Rabbit was taken from a distance.  He looks smaller than he actually was.  They have really long ears.

We had a great spot to view the wildlife.  The motorhome was facing the field where most of the wildlife action took place.  Notice the Crepe Myrtle blooming......we were far enough inland and south to see  blooming trees. 

Ft. Bragg and Mendocino, CA:
We took a day trip to Ft. Bragg, CA and Mendocino, CA.  Both coastal towns are located about 30 miles from where we were staying.  The only way to get there from Willits was a  road that went straight through the mountains.  It takes about 50 minutes to travel this road due to the vast amount of curves.  If you are prone to motion sickness, you might be in trouble.  It was one of the curviest roads we had traveled on.  Motorhomes not recommended for this road because of the steep and curvy road.   It was foggy and misting rain when we got to the coast, but cleared up enough to go for a 1/2 mile loop trail out to the edge of the ocean.  We drove along the coast from Ft. Bragg to Mendocino.

 

The trail we took led us out to the cliffs looking out over the rocks and ocean. 

 

It was quite a drop-off to the beach below.

 

 

 

This path came to an abrupt end!

 

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This is as far as I would go!  One slip up and your history!

 

This was a really neat picture of a windblown tree hanging onto the side of the cliff.

Their trees are our Christmas trees!  They smelled so good!  It was so odd to see the ocean and these trees in the same area.

 

 

 

 

I had packed a picnic lunch and while we were eating this gull hung around begging the whole time we ate.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ferndale, CA

Ferndale, CA is a small town about 6 miles west of where we were staying in Fortuna, CA.  It is the childhood hometown of Guy Fieri from the food channel.  We saw where they were having their County Fair in Ferndale and decided to ride over.  What we discovered while we were driving around was that this small town of Ferndale has live horse racing.  They have the rows of horse stables, the race track and the grandstands.  From what I read, horse racing flourished in Ferndale in the late 1800's .  Banished for a while, horse racing was legalized again and in 1935 became a mainstay of the fair.  There are 6 days of racing during the 10 day fair: on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.  There is live and satellite horse racing.  It is a quaint little town full of Victorian downtown buildings as well as many old Victorian homes. 
We found out that Guy Fieri was going to be the emcee at the races for the "Ladies Hat Day"  on Saturday.  Unfortunately, we were heading south that morning and wouldn't be able to get back to Ferndale to see him.

Here are some pictures we took while visiting Ferndale.

 

The old "Victorian Inn" in downtown Ferndale.

One of the many Victorian homes.

Some of the downtown buildings.

 

 

The horse stables are located on the fairground property.

 Left and right side of the racetrack.

 

 

Spectators horseracing grandstand.

 

 

 

 

Ready for race day!

 

Eureka, CA:

Eureka, CA is about 15 miles north of where we were staying.  We rode up to explore and see the sights.  We rode out to the ocean, but the fog was so thick at the shore, you couldn't see anything.  We rode out by the marina and downtown.  Here are some of the interesting things we saw:

This mural was on one of the downtown buildings depicting the Murray Field.   The airfield was established in 1919 and is now a county owned airport.

 

 

 Beautiful old Victorian homes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was some sort of country club.

 

The marker in the picture below and the fisherman statue was out by the marina in Eureka.

 

 

 

 

Fisherman's Memorial Statue. 

You can't tell in this picture, but the statue was really quite big.

 

 

 

"Avenue of the Giants"

"Avenue of the Giants" is a world famous 31 mile scenic drive which is a portion of Old Highway 101 and parallels Freeway 101.  It runs through Humboldt Redwoods State Park where Coast Redwoods overshadow the road and surround the area.   The two lane road has a number of parking areas, picnic sites, and attractions for visitors.
There are several hiking trails along the road where you can park and wander through these big giant trees.  We stopped at the Founder's Grove which had a 1/2 mile loop trail.

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Driving through the redwoods.

 

 

 

  

 

I loved looking up while in the redwood forest.

 

 

 

 

 

This fallen tree was probably 300 feet long.   Couldn't get the entire tree in the picture. 

 

 

At some point in time this the tree below had fallen onto the road and had to be cut.  You can see the roots system on the other end sticking up in the air.  They just leave the trees where they fall.

 

 

 

 

This tree was hollowed out about 3 ft. down.  Alan jumped in to see the inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the sign for the next tree picture.  Be sure to read all of the information listed on the sign.  It explains why it is called the immortal tree.

 

 

 

The fish on the tree (below) represents how high the 1964 flood was.  The axe is where loggers got their real axe stuck in the tree.  You couldn't see the axe, so I assume the tree grew over the axe.  And, as the sign said, it survived a fire and a lightening strike.

 

 

 

 

 

You really can't tell from pictures just how big these trees are.   For those of you who have seen them in person you know what I mean.  You are just in awe of how big they are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the 1/2 mile loop trail at Founder's Grove.  It was a nice path to walk on.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the root end sticking up where the tree fell many years ago.  You can tell by the trees and fern growing on the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is nothing inside the hollowed out tree, but it was very roomy inside.

 

 

 

 

 

There's a couple of trees growing on top.