Corax's cross country thread

[corax]

started the day by going to the Bale Grist Mill just north of St Helena. It claims to be the biggest overshot waterwheel west of the Mississippi at a whopping 36 1/3" diameter.

bit of a closeup of the waterwheel, look at the massive ring gear just inside the circumference of it. I wanted to take a look at all the inner workings, but it was closed for the season

we had to stop by the Mondavi winery, my wife got a bottle of white as a gift for her dad

there was just too much awesome architecture in Napa to photograph it all. This one is Peju winery where Liz got a bottle of red for herself (special occasion)

If I had a bigger shirt on, or a jacket, I might have tried to fit one of these under it . . .

one thing most of the wineries we stopped at had in common was sculptures in the courtyard or on the property, and lots of them

one last awe inspiring building before we left Napa - the American Culinary Institute Greystone


leaving Napa we turned north up the 101 and had good weather until the last 100 miles or so. With light rain turning to semi-downpour and the 4runner intermittently hydro-planing we made our way to Humboldt Nat'l park to find safe harbor for the night, unfortunately the Nat'l Forest park we planned on staying at has been closed since Labor Day (no mention of that on the website). So, tired and not wanting to drive further, we settled on spending more money on a private owned campground. If anyone ever heads up this way, you'll need to check out the drive up the 101 north of Layton during the day, there are redwoods literally lining both sides of the road and plenty of quirky stores with life size bigfoot carvings -- good stuff, but too far south at this point for us to revisit.

[slosurfer]

Nice pics and story! Glad to see you guys are doing well. Funny you went to the Peju Winery, I used to be really good friends with the two Peju daughters, then I got married, haha.

Oh, and I emailed the guys to find out if they got that sand car moving again. It ended up not being the brakes, the hub had welded itself to the housing. They took it apart and it broke loose after dragging it about 100ft. with the Superduty.

Also, the guy from Sand Addiction magazine who was there, is sending stuff for the the 4runner jamboree now.

[YotaFun]

Hey Keith, When are you scheduled to be at your final destination?
Your going to be in Allentown which is like 45 min away, maybe we could get together and hang.

[corax]

Hey Keith, When are you scheduled to be at your final destination?
Your going to be in Allentown which is like 45 min away, maybe we could get together and hang.

Not really sure when we'll be back in PA. If we decide to leave the Eureka area then we'll probably be in PA within a week or two. How 'bout a run down to Rausch Creek when I get back? I've never been there yet . . .

[corax]

This was where we woke up yesterday . . . so much better than parking at Wal-Mart - this was in the middle of nowhere just off Rt 101 in Humboldt County at Meyer's Flat - they also have plenty of tent camping

[corax]

I definately feel like we're in the Pacific Northwest now . . . my flannel shirt that I haven't worn in 2 years is calling to me.

here's a few more from yesterday.
the Memorial Lighthouse at Trinidad

the coast line up here is just wicked, it's no wonder there have been so many shipwrecks historically. and the waves are HUGE, any one of them could easily drown me

from Clam Beach

[YotaFun]

Hey Keith, When are you scheduled to be at your final destination?
Your going to be in Allentown which is like 45 min away, maybe we could get together and hang.

Not really sure when we'll be back in PA. If we decide to leave the Eureka area then we'll probably be in PA within a week or two. How 'bout a run down to Rausch Creek when I get back? I've never been there yet . . .

Yeah def, hopefully I can get my front diff and rear locker in by then!

[strykersd]

Hey Keith, looks like you're on an adventure of a lifetime! Keep the pics coming and good luck back in PA!

[corax]

today we explored up north a bit, and the word of the day was "Elk" - a whole lot of them. We saw 5 or 6 herds just from the side of the road, we also saw 2 Black Tail Deer (looked like a small mule deer, they don't get very large). At one point, I got to yank a 1st gen 4runner backwards out of the water - it wasn't in deep and I think the guy and his buddy had already pushed it back some, but the engine had water mixed with oil and the guy said it just stopped trying a salt water crossing. Since they were right at Clam beach, next to a major highway and civilization, I didn't stick around too long. I did advise him to start by yanking the plugs to blow any water out, but with salt water dripping of the dip stick, I think he was done and had it towed.

More evidence of the wickedness of the coast up this way - "Deadly Sneaker Waves and Hazardous Surf"

you gotta be careful of tsunami tearing through the old growth forests up this way?


We stopped by Ladybird Grove, named after Lyndon Johnson's wife, for a quick stroll through the redwoods. They're not as big as the Sequoia trees, but supposedly they do get taller. Either way, when you start talking about a 2,000 years life-span, a few feet one way or the other becomes less important. One thing I started to notice is that they all seem to spiral up to the sky

This one was hollowed out by fire years ago, but is still growing and besides being a little impaired looked to be doing good.


This guy kept looking right at us because our greyhound kept whining to get out of the truck - this herd was about 30 yards away.

up a 6 mile dirt road from the Elk Pasture is Gold Bluff beach, I'm betting that during the week this place is completely deserted

just past Gold Bluff beach is a campground where I found out that Elk like the beach too. You might not be able to see it in this pic, but this herd is hanging around right next to a tent and a blue Saturn - when we drove back 45 minutes later, the herd was still there. At a 1/2 ton a piece, I think I would be learning patience if that was my campsite and car . . . .

Saw this at one of the Nat'l Forest Visitor Centers - apparently an Elk got it's head stuck in a Madrone tree and died, as the years went by the tree just grew around the skull and antlers, on the other side of the log you can seen the skull an how the tree just kinda filled it in


What day trip would be complete without seeing a giant Paul and Babe statue?

[corax]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I saw one of these in a turnoff on the other side of the road, but once I got turned around to try to take a close up look, it was already gone (the wife just didn't understand why I needed to see it so bad)

behold, the Unicat

click me -> UNICAT <- and read up on the equipment and engineering that goes into these
Starting prices are:
Amerigo with Unimog U500 4x4 starts @ $500,000
Amerigo with International 7400 4x4 starts @ $500,000