Phillipsville, CA

We just checked into the Madrona Motel and Cottages in Phillipsville. I asked the young man at the desk if this place had internet, he said, "I don't think so". So when I got in the room, I turned on my little wireless detector and found out that there is a good wireless hotspot. I am probably not supposed to be using it, but that's the way it goes. People should password protect their networks, eh? I have a nice little head cold going, with all the usual sniffles, runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, etc.

Since our last post from Arcata, we have tented every night and not had any internet access. I find myself really craving to get online and check the news, weather, my email, our blog, etc. The riding has been great, as we have been following the Avenue of the Giants, which closely parallels 101, but has very little traffic this time of year. It is a two lane, and most of the time, I can count the number of cars passing in one hour on ten fingers. Last night we were in the Burlington Campground just outside of Weott. I only saw one other camper in the area. The campground is setting is unique, in that the really old large trees have all been cut down, maybe a hundred years ago. The stumps are fifteen feet high, and you can see the old springboard notches that they cut when they sawed these giants down by hand with a crosscut saw. It must have taken days to cut one tree down, I'm guessing. Around all the old giant stumps are (usually) a ring of new trees growing. The coast redwood is unique in that it can sprout new trees from seeds and also from the root burl around the tree. So, in many cases, an old stump will be completely encircled by a ring of younger trees, given life by their ancestor tree. Ron.