Vacation 2005 – Thursday, August 25

I finished reading Eragon this morning. I have to say I found it pretty derivative. There were a couple of unique thoughts in it, but lots of the components seemed pretty closely tied to Lord of the Rings, D&D, and other similar material. As an example, his dwarf king has the same name as a character in the IceWind Dale computer game. There just wasn’t enough new material to make me fall in love with it as I had with the Wheel of Time series, for example (although that series has its own flaws, it was a very unique land with a very unique background).

Anyway, we had our first breakfast at the Halcyon Inn this morning. It was very good, but not as good as the Elk Cove Inn. The Halcyon Inn has a great deal of style, however. There is a large “common room” for the guests to use, and it is filled with nice furnature. And Mary is quite nice and was very attentive at Breakfast. We’re still not sure if any more guests will arrive today or if it will just be us again tomorrow.

We drove up to the Redwood National and State Parks information center just south of Orick (perhaps some Scottish relatives, part of the Orrock Clan?). From there we went to Lady Bird Johnson Grove and did the short loop hike there. At that spot was where the park was dedicated. Once finished there, we drove down a gravel, one-lane road to Fern Canyon. There we did about a mile loop hike through the canyon. Very pretty as well. We also walked out to the beach to take a few pictures. There was a group of annoying teens there, being loud and blowing whistles (I guess to frighten bear away, but it sent all of the wildlife away). By this time we were getting hungry so we stopped in Orick and ate at a small Mexican restaurant there. We were pleasantly surprised by the food…not the best Mexican we ever had but far better than we were expecting in Orick. We then came back by Target where Cheryl got a sweatshirt and matching sweatpants outfit so she can stay warm, and we then filled up with gas so we’d be ready to roll Friday morning. We have our longest spate of driving ahead, in order to reach the last of our three B&Bs (not counting Steve and Rachel’s place, of course). This one is in a lighthouse. Or at least, in the keeper’s house. Should be great views, if this fog lifts. It was actually quite overcast and foggy all day today, and pretty cold.

The rental car is now covered in dust from the ride to Fern Canyon. We have so much junk piled up in the back seat that I don’t think anyone will think it is a rental.

After a nap and an hour or so watching the news for me, Cheryl and I went to the Old Town Coffee & Chocolates for Internet access and decaf. There was an alternative folk singer setting up, so we decided to stay a while and listen. He was still setting up as I wrote this note, so I'll have to talk later about if he was any good or not.