8/9/08 – Dad’s house

We have been visiting my dad in Eureka since Wednesday. We had a beautiful drive down through the Redwoods and stopped for a walk up my favorite trail to Fern Canyon at my favorite campground, Prairie Creek State Park. I tell everyone that if you’ve never been in a redwood forest you need to promise yourself to do it at least once in your life. It can’t be described; one has to experience it—that’s all I can say.

Since our visit here last year my dad is now equipped with high speed cable Internet so it is a great place to trade and enables us to stay a little longer than we could before. We have had a good visit with him and it is nice for me to see him and FireCat seem to enjoy each other’s company so much.

Dad is turning 80 this year too—in about a month and a half—so we are celebrating a little early during this visit. Due to some physical difficulties he is unable to travel long distances or I would have him on a cruise too! We are going to enjoy a sushi dinner tonight and do some more visiting. I have enjoyed a lot of sharing this trip of some of the old stories and memories, some from my childhood camping trips and some from his youth before I arrived on the scene. It was great to have FireCat play some old 1940s music on his guitar the other night while my dad sang along. He has always had a great voice and can still belt out “It Had to be You,” making me wish once again that I had received THAT gene! ;)

Of course one of the highlights of my visits here this time of year is that I get to go berry-picking. I was afraid when we arrived that the blackberries weren’t ripe yet because all I could see were little green berries, but I did find some patches up the road yesterday where it must be a little warmer because the blackberries were plump and perfectly ripe. FireCat and I went out today and picked a huge bucket and froze a lot of small containers so Dad can have them on his cereal and ice cream for a few months. I sure wish they could travel better so I could take a bunch home, but mostly I just enjoy the picking. It reminds me of my childhood I guess…except then my mother would make jams and pies and that is a little beyond my skills and inclinations.

We head for home tomorrow, with the required stop at the wonderful Loleta cheese factory and FireCat’s birthday dinner at Gordon Biersch in San Jose. It’s a full week once we get home Monday night, but I am looking forward to seeing my daughter and grandson and getting started on some potential business endeavors. As always, I’ll keep you posted. Enjoy the rest of your summer!