We watched the shadows lengthen on the Wimbledon courts in the early California morning. Good playing on both sides. Mrs. Phred hides in the bedroom on critical points. She is afraid she will bring Roddick bad luck if she watches. Most of the time this works.
After the game, I went by myself to see the Trinidad State Beach. Mrs. Phred wanted a stay at home day to wash clothes and clean up the RV. I need to fix the tow wires again and check the tire pressures and generator oil before we leave tomorrow.
They are not allowed to fish for salmon in California again this year. The returning salmon population has fallen off a cliff during the last six years. The problem is thought to be declining water volume and quality in the rivers. As agriculture draws more water into canals and then returns it to the rivers, the water temperature rises and the water quality and volume diminishes with the addition of insecticides, fertilizers and other pollutants.
The Shenandoah leaves on an afternoon fishing trip at 1 PM. We catch our limit of black rockfish in about three hours. I end up with about ten pounds of rockfish fillets. We cook some in bread crumbs and olive oil for dinner and freeze the rest in portions for two. I make some brown rice and vegetables to go with the fish.
After we limit out, the crew asks if we want to watch them pull crab traps. They have a hydraulic device on one side of the boat (I've forgotten whether it's called the port or starboard side) to pull in the traps.
None of the passengers actually want any of the crabs, so the crew returns them all to the sea.
A great day for fishing. Today we'll visit some of the redwood parks and maybe play some tennis before heading up the Oregon coat on highway 101. I have always wanted a black leather jacket with a chicken on the back.
He wore black denim trousers and motorcycle boots
And a black leather jacket with an eagle on the back
He had a hopped-up 'cicle that took off like a gun
That fool was the terror of Highway 101
Here's a picture of our RV park. The redwoods are tall and thick.
We went to the Trinidad beach in the morning. The temperature never got much above 55 degrees F., but the fog finally cleared a little in the afternoon.
We drove to a kind of junky place in Eureka in the California. It was called King Salmon Avenue. We were struck by the work of a roadside artist. His (or her) website was rust.lust.com.
These were strange, large iron sculptures...covered with rust. The artist took off for the 4th of July.
In the afternoon we visited Patrick's Point State Park. We bought a little rock cod at a local fish market to cook for dinner. I'm rubbing it with sea salt and pepper and serving it with lemon and butter.
Patrick's Point had some nice views of the Pacific.
We saw this seal sleeping on a rock at Patrick's Point State Park.
The viewpoints require you to climb down steep paths. I stepped in a hole and fell again, but this time I didn't damage the camera. Mrs. Phred gave me an odd look as I climbed back to my feet. I begin to wonder if she has doubts about my competence.
At another point we saw sixty or eighty sleeping seals. A bald eagle was floating motionless on the strong updrafts at about 600 feet. Suddenly it folded its wings and dive bombed down to retrieve a fish.
Mrs. Phred wants to watch the Wimbledon finals in the morning. Personally, I've booked a fishing trip. This seal was in the marina where the boats go out.
President Obama took the time out to send me a personal E-mail today. Considering all he has on his plate, I'm impressed with his energy. I get more E-mail from him and the First Lady than anybody else. The last guy never talked to me. Here's what he said:
Robert --
This weekend, our family will join millions of others in celebrating America. We will enjoy the glow of fireworks, the taste of barbeque, and the company of good friends. As we all celebrate this weekend, let's also remember the remarkable story that led to this day.
Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, our nation was born when a courageous group of patriots pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the proposition that all of us were created equal.
Our country began as a unique experiment in liberty -- a bold, evolving quest to achieve a more perfect union. And in every generation, another courageous group of patriots has taken us one step closer to fully realizing the dream our founders enshrined on that great day.
Today, all Americans have a hard-fought birthright to a freedom which enables each of us, no matter our views or background, to help set our nation's course. America's greatness has always depended on her citizens embracing that freedom -- and fulfilling the duty that comes with it.
As free people, we must each take the challenges and opportunities that face this nation as our own. As long as some Americans still must struggle, none of us can be fully content. And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed, that triumph -- that pride -- belongs to all of us.
So today is a day to reflect on our independence, and the sacrifice of our troops standing in harm's way to preserve and protect it. It is a day to celebrate all that America is. And today is a time to aspire toward all we can still become.
With very best wishes,
President Barack Obama
July 4th, 2009
(I added the fireworks...They're from Tropea, Italy in May, 2007...I forget what they were celebrating)
It took five hours to drive though the California Mountains from the Lassen National Park to the Pacific coast. The RVs V-10 was constantly wound up to about 4,000 RPM either braking or climbing though the mountains, generally following the Trinity River.
California is a garden of Eden,
a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not,
you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.
-Woody Guthrie
The Emerald Forest RV park is on the Pacific Coast. The temperature dropped forty degrees as we approached the coast. It's deliciously cool. The RV park is thick with redwoods. One stump, about eight feet in diameter, is sprouting a new tree. Redwoods are very hard to kill. Apparently the area was logged in the past. The new trees are very thick and tall. There are 650 of them in the twelve acre park.
Mrs. Phred was hoping that Andy Roddick was going to win the semi-finals against the Scottish player, Andy Murray, at Wimbledon today. I'm sure that the Queen of England was disappointed with the outcome, but that's the way the ball bounces. Princess Firecloud is happy, anyway. We're watching the reruns at 6PM Pacific time.
We're about 250 miles north of San Francisco on the coast in the middle of the Redwood forests. We want to visit San Francisco again...it's been 44 years. Maybe it's changed a little.
You can hear the seals bellow in some of the RV parks nearer to the ocean.
I read Hunter S. Thompson's first book, "Hell's Angels" in San Francisco. I sort of remember his diatribe about white trash with English origins rolling up to the Pacific beach in the 1930's with a feeling of being cheated and and sense of unsatisfied restlessness.
They still operate strict immigration stations here in California. It's very much like Europe before they became the European Union. They pull all the cars and RVs over and inspect your refrigerator before they let you in.