Road trip!!  Margene and I made an epic road trip on Thursday.  We left here at 6:30 in the morning, and drove to Crescent City for the day.  One of our hopes was that we would leave the smoke behind us, but that didn't happen.  So much of Northern California and Oregon are burning, the smoke was everywhere.  

We did see the elk at Orick.  Margene walked across the road to get a better view, and I took pictures of what I hoped wasn't her last moments on earth - those guys are huge, and fast!  (I admit, many of these are used to tourists approaching, but I didn't want to take the chance we found the one cranky elk.....)

Margene's video of them - I hope it will play:

We took the scenic offshoot to 101 and took a stroll in the redwoods - it is so calming there.  It breaks my heart to think of the damage done by the fires in the old redwood groves.  What these trees have seen....so many years.....

We also stopped at Trees of Mystery - even Paul Bunyan and Blue are wearing their masks!

It was just over 14 hours for the trip, and around 470 miles round trip I think - not bad!  We got in about 8:45 Thursday night - and we had stopped at several beaches, had a GREAT lunch at The Chart House (outdoor seating - but who could complain - they are right between the harbor and Crescent Beach - a great view either way!), took the scenic drive to Walmart (yes - I got lost....either that or I thought Margene should see Pelican Bay Prison....) where we scored some cute fabric for masks that the Redding Walmart doesn't have, and took a couple of walks in the redwoods.  What a fun, relaxing day.....and then.....

AJ met us at the car to help us unload, and told me that Allison had been throwing up and had diarrhea all evening.  When I got in, Cindy had Alli on the toilet and was standing in front of her with a towel.  Poor Alli and poor Cindy!  I sent Cindy home and dealt with Alli, and finally got her in to bed, and then found that AJ and Margene had unpacked the car and put everything away for me!  All that was left was to celebrate the day with a glass of wine (which, of course, we did...)  Alli slept all night and woke up happy as usual.  Whew!