Redwoods, Segways, and Hurricane Rick

We left Seattle October 9th on the M/V Ursa Major for Mexico under a beautiful Puget Sound sunset. The seas were relatively calm and the crew, (Josh, Sheila, Teal, Becky, Nick, and myself), was excited for the journey ahead.


Three days into our trip south, a strong southerly storm approached Oregon and California with predicted 50-60 kts wind and heavy seas. We headed into Eureka, California on October 12th to wait a few days for the weather to clear.


Coincidentally, it also happened to be Teal's birthday. It only seemed appropriate to hit all the quality watering holes in Eureka to celebrate accordingly. We dabbled in (chip) hot dogs and pool at "Dave's", beer sampling at "The Lost Coast Brewery", and not to forget some extreme ping pong at "The Shanty".


The following day we rented a miniwan and toured the Loleta Cheese Factory and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The mirrors had to be folded in to get to through this particular redwood.


Becky, Sheila, and I decided to get out of the storm inside this redwood tree house.


After spending time with the redwoods, we headed toward the Lost Coast to investigate the sea state and wind conditions. We stopped in the hamlet of Honeydew for gasoline and snacks. Besides this sign, the only other structure in Honeydew was the gas station itself.


The road to the Lost Coast with Cape Mendocino in the distance. Note the storm clouds and crashing surf in the distance.


Teal and Sheila on our favorite Lost Coast beach.


Josh pointing the way to open water. Only two more land days to go!!


The Fishermans Memorial Statue at the Woodley Island Marina in Eureka. This photo was taken just hours after the storm abated. We left the following morning for San Diego.


Almost four days later, we found ourselves in San Diego awaiting the passing of Hurricane Rick on the western coast of Mexico. As always, we managed to find entertain ourselves in some fashion. The above photo was taken at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.


Later that day, we took a segway tour of downtown San Diego. Most of us were new to the segway experience but we were able to see quite a lot in a couple of hours. Next to us is the ship used in the film "Master and Commander".


Our crew photo for the trip from San Diego to La Paz. Sheila and Teal "jumped ship" in San Diego for a vacation in Vermont and Bill, (center of photo), joined us for the remainder of the journey.