Here’s the thing about trying to act upscale when you really aren’t. The truth always comes out in the wash. For example:

If you want to move the coffee table in your room it probably shouldn’t do this:

We are no longer camping, but staying in a swank boutique hotel in Mendocino, CA. We crossed the Mendocino county line blasting the Willie Nelson & Leann Womack song “Mendocino County Line.” Fitting, huh?

Nearly each night when we were camping our little dog would hover near us shivering looking really wimpy. She’d refuse to go into the tent unless she could see us, which wasn’t always an option. Instead of playing nursemaid to her, we discovered a simple swaddle with a beach towel and strategically placing her in the car resulted in some loud snores.

Now that there isn’t a tent in sight or even a dirt floor, Sydney is happy as a little clam. She has been bouncing on the bed, wagging her tail trying to entice us to play a game with her.  It’ going to be difficult to explain to her that this whole hotel thing is a short-lived deviation from our road trip plans.

I have had limited driving time on our road trips since I tried to jump our car house in Australia. That means I have hours and hours logged as the navigator.

This also means that I have many,many self-portraits of me in tiny mirrors.

They are usually pretty much the same. Until I get bored. I know it is time to put the camera away when…….

pictures like this start appearing.

A few months ago I read Wren’s mystery post and was reminded of Babe and Paul on Highway 101. We opted to pay the fee to get in after noticing that it was pet friendly.

I’ve had my picture taken in front of  both Paul and Babe a number of times, but don’t quite recall wandering through the Trees of Mystery myself. It was fun and even a bit entertaining, but I’m not sure that I need to do it again.

Turns out that one of the perks of pulling off the highway to see these trees is that Paul Bunyan talks to the visitors. It was like  meeting the Wizard of Oz, leaving Barry and I standing slack-jawed listening to the kids shout questions at the oversized giant. He used the word ‘folks’ a bit too much for my taste and sounded a bit like Barack Obama.

While inside the actual park we force Sydney to ride the Sky Train. Just as we had our mouths agape at Paul Bunyan’s speech patterns, we also found ourselves in awe as we rode our tiny green gondola over the tops of the trees that we had just been walking next to. The ride was quiet with a breeze blowing through our swaying little pod.

We are all the way here in the magnificent Redwoods and it turns out that they love dogs less than Edmonds. We were kind of expecting this, but it still hurts. We love our dog more than is probably necessary or reasonable. For this reason we smashed her into our backpack and took her on the trail with us. Her little paws didn’t touch the forrest floor. We promise. Scout’s Honor.

She was really into it. I think that she really would rather be carried anyhow. For the duration of our time on the trail she sniffed, gazed and pretty much let it all hang out, at least until we got back to the car.

It was swift and quick to not move around with a short little dog needing to smell each and every leaf. We kept seeing other dogs left to sweat-it-out in their own cars. SO SAD. I get it. I do.

BUT wouldn’t it be cool to have an off-leash dog park at the head of each trail so at least dogs wouldn’t have to wait for their anxious owners to return? I know, I know, not the best idea, but I told Syd we’d try not to take her to any more National Parks unless there was a change.

Last night we fell asleep  huddled in our tent talking about past 4th of July celebrations, both reaching back into our memories to recall our childhood traditions and newly developed ones.

We determined that for this year it wasn’t important to partake in the local festivities that Crescent City has to offer, mostly because we  had  just spent the afternoon walking around town watching the city slowly come alive with preparations for today’s celebration and were excited to feast our eyes on some huge trees.

As we wandered through town yesterday we noticed not only the city’s love for reminding visitors of the tsunami in 1964, but also Glen’s Bakery, which had signs up announcing it had gone out of business after 60 years. It might have been old and closed but Glen’s Bakery still had that delicious look to it. I know you know what I mean.

Well, our plan to hit the trail bright and early was foiled when we woke today and overheard some local campers talking about how Glen’s Bakery was opening for the 4th of July. The sound of excitement and astonishment in their voices led us to put our plans on hold and make our way back to Glen’s….only to arrive and find that there was a massive parade of locals lined up to taste Glen’s one more time!

I stood in line and heard two ladies gushing behind me about how happy they were that Glen’s was back! It was hilarious. There were cute little old ladies fluttering around handing out cups of coffee and tasty treats while people dressed in their festive reds, whites, and blues happily waited in the line to support this tiny and old joint.

I ordered two cookies and two apple turnovers and peeked my head in the restaurant next door halfway expecting to see  a group of old men huddled around a couple steaming pots of coffee playing cards. It just had that feel to it. Old pictures of JFK, newspaper articles from Glen’s Glory Days.

Once I had my loot, I headed back outside to find Barry and Sydney enjoying the start of the local parade, bobbing their heads along to the beat of the soundtrack  of all-songs patriotic. We opted to hit the road and eat Glen’s delicious treats on the trail rather than stick to the parade route.

I have always been told that I have beautiful hair and was even trained by my Grandma Lowman how to gracefully take compliments from strangers telling me what a gorgeous color my hair is. This post isn’t about my gorgeous hair. This post is about Barry’s hair.

Barry has beautiful hair. It curls, it is thick and it grows like those dang weeds in my garden. Not only does it grow like a weed but it also makes for a great show each morning, even when we aren’t camping. When we are camping/surfing/being plowed by piles of sand, however, his hair has it’s own life. It’s kind of like a teenager, doing as it pleases with nobody else in mind.

Looks normal here, right? I thought so too.

I mean, what exactly is normal, right?

How is it possible to have your hair do that? Does the saltwater really work better than L.A. Looks?

It doesn’t really look any better from that side either, does it?

The top? Oh. My. God.

Phew. Luckily, we bought The Vacation Hat to help when the hair becomes so unruly neither one of us know what to do with it. Not only does he look super cute in The Vacation Hat, but I also happen to think his hair looks beautiful when standing up at all angles from his head…can’t be that much of an improvement over my wind-blown dome.

I dumped about a pound of sand out of my ear this afternoon after we returned from the beach to our car. Trying to fight the fight against the sand just isn’t an option on this trip.

About a week before we left, Barry’s brother, Brian, got a ride from us for whatever reason and even he made a comment about  how much sand we had in our car. This was before we spent majority of our days lolly-gagging on the beach.

We’ve pretty much steered clear of the beaches filled of tourists that instantly drop their beach chairs once their white little toes hit the sand. We’ve discovered a new favorite beach in Oswald State Park. You have to walk down a winding path for about 3/4 of a mile before discovering the beach.

The fact that getting to this beach means you have to essentially hike down a trail allows for it to feel much more remote than other nearby destinations. Each time we’ve been there, we’ve been able to find a private and peaceful area to call our own.  Sadly, today was our last day at Oswald West State Park, as tomorrow**, bright and early, we hit the Tillamook Cheese Factory (yummy!) and drive to southern Oregon!

** I’m attempting to write a couple more posts right now and will have them post tomorrow and in days to come. In the past, it hasn’t worked, but I’m crossin’ my sandy little fingers.