Epic Road Trip – Day 5

After a wee pause to take the second loop of our road trip…

Backtracking to Friday April 28^th, we had breakfast at our hotel in Eureka and were on the road by 9h15 headed back to Ferndale to check out the cemetery, truly one of the more unique that I have seen – and I like cemeteries so try and visit more than the average person probably.

The bay back of the Best Western Bayshore in Eureka

Victorian Inn - dinner was scrumptious

self-explanatory

View from the middle of the cemetery towards the church

Looking up the hill

Way too appropriate!

Lovely, lovely

On the way out we discussed coffee and a sweet: one of our party turned it down the other two outvoted so we parked on main street and looked around. Weren’t finding much so asked a restaurant worker who was going into his place. He said that Humboldt Sweets was great if it was open: the place stood up to the hype and the calories were abundant!

Shared half of a cheesecake with raspberries and another crust, coffee, caramel, chocolate creation slathered in whip cream together with coffee. Living dangerously.

Then we hit the road to go across on 136 instead of back tracking yet again over 299. The classmate that had met us in the redwoods had said that it was 2 ½ hours, but it turned out to be almost 4. Lots of hair pin curves and windy bits, very little straight although they are trying to get it into shape as an alternative to Highway 299. Sure was pretty country though. So we went past Clear Lake twice on this trip.

One of many rivers - lost track of the names

Looking back

Sad - one of the burn areas that our so prevelant in California

About mid-way

Warnings at Platina's

Mount Lassen in the distance

Rice silos along the valley

Green, green, green this year (I wasn't driving!)

Ended up in St.Helena with 45 minutes to spare before our dinner reservation at Cindy’s Backstreet where we treated our superb driver and our hostess-to-be.

Coming into the Napa Valley

Napa Valley, North-Eastern top of the valley

F left before we did dessert (yet again) and then we toddled off home to cousin J’s and a glass of wine. We were all exhausted so made it to bed kind of on time. Mileage on the rental car? J’s to J’s = exactly 900 miles!

Entertaining visitors two

Friday morning was more of a catch-up-on-jet-lag and a late start.

Back down in Martigny the weather was not at all the beautiful sunny day of the day before (which had been predicted) so we drove again around to get the various views and more folklore in the Old Town as well as exploring the local cemetery before grabbing a bite to eat cafeteria style at one of my favorite places.

Vineyards on the hillside

Sign on a restaurant in the "Bourg"

whimsical balconies again in the "Bourg"

 

details on a tombstone

details on a tombstone

Then it was off to one of my favorite museums: The Giannada.

This time I concentrated more on the car museum bit as had already seen the current exhibition, but F took it all in.

Horn on the Turicum

The PicPic

Shell gas pump

Ford Model T

Lizard on the huge crystal in the museum

I also had to drop him at the Protestant temple for a look at the Erni windows then decided that I had to see the Catholic Chapel with the stained glass windows of Father Kim en Joong from Korea (when Leonard Giannada ordered the ones from Hans Erni for the Protestant Temple the city fathers wanted to know what he was going to do for the Catholics: this was his reply).

The Catholic Chapel at La Batiaz

 

Flower beds behind the chapel

It was rainy all day with snow down to around the 1’000 meter level so beautiful in the background.   

The main Catholic church in Martigny with snow on the hillsides

Up in the village of Les Marécottes is stuck

From out of the restaurant window

More of same

With the clouds clearing in time for me to get a shot of Les Dents de Morcles, Fondue next door made a fitting dinner and end to the day.

nothing like a fondue as winter reappears!

Les Dents de Morcle in the setting sun