Road Trippin’ 09 – Page 5

July 8, 2009

Swaddled

We are no longer camping, but staying in a swank boutique hotel in Mendocino, CA. We crossed the Mendocino county line blasting the Willie Nelson & Leann Womack song “Mendocino County Line.” Fitting, huh?

Nearly each night when we were camping our little dog would hover near us shivering looking really wimpy. She’d refuse to go into the tent unless she could see us, which wasn’t always an option. Instead of playing nursemaid to her, we discovered a simple swaddle with a beach towel and strategically placing her in the car resulted in some loud snores.

Now that there isn’t a tent in sight or even a dirt floor, Sydney is happy as a little clam. She has been bouncing on the bed, wagging her tail trying to entice us to play a game with her. It’ going to be difficult to explain to her that this whole hotel thing is a short-lived deviation from our road trip plans.

July 6, 2009

Driving Can Be Boring

I have had limited driving time on our road trips since I tried to jump our car house in Australia. That means I have hours and hours logged as the navigator.

This also means that I have many,many self-portraits of me in tiny mirrors.

They are usually pretty much the same. Until I get bored. I know it is time to put the camera away when…….

pictures like this start appearing.

July 5, 2009

Trees of Mystery

A few months ago I read Wren’s mystery post and was reminded of Babe and Paul on Highway 101. We opted to pay the fee to get in after noticing that it was pet friendly.

I’ve had my picture taken in front of both Paul and Babe a number of times, but don’t quite recall wandering through the Trees of Mystery myself. It was fun and even a bit entertaining, but I’m not sure that I need to do it again.

Turns out that one of the perks of pulling off the highway to see these trees is that Paul Bunyan talks to the visitors. It was like meeting the Wizard of Oz, leaving Barry and I standing slack-jawed listening to the kids shout questions at the oversized giant. He used the word ‘folks’ a bit too much for my taste and sounded a bit like Barack Obama.

While inside the actual park we force Sydney to ride the Sky Train. Just as we had our mouths agape at Paul Bunyan’s speech patterns, we also found ourselves in awe as we rode our tiny green gondola over the tops of the trees that we had just been walking next to. The ride was quiet with a breeze blowing through our swaying little pod.