Yosemite to Eureka

Total Miles: 480

High Temperature: 98 in Ukiah
Low Temperature: 55 in Eureka

We left this morning from Yosemite at 9am for our drive to Eureka. I printed off directions from a general location at Yosemite to Eureka but I wanted to double check my map so I asked the lady at the front desk at our hotel. Okay..... so big mistake/cool at the same time. When I showed her our directions she said, "ooh you want to take the 45 instead of the 41 which will get you to the 120 which will eventually get us to the 99/5.". Hmmm... I said! Okay sounds good, she is local and she knows better than I do!

Off we go down this beautiful country road, speed limit is 65 mph, so we are cool! Hmmm... going uphill a little, and still going uphill a little bit more. We reach the top of this hill and then it was like a roller coaster ride through the mountains! Possibly the windiest road in the world! We did at least 8 full horseshoes at 5-10 mph, and it took us nearly 2 hours to go 50 miles. Although the drive was incredibly beautiful and with each turn there was something unexpected on the other side. I asked Grandpa if he would be afraid to drive the motor home on this road and he said no, but I don't think I would be on ANY road trip in a motor home on Highway 45.

Good to mention -if there is any possibility of you getting car sick.... stay clear of

Highway 45!

Here is a photo from the road:

After our extreme driving outside of the Yosemite Valley we headed on the 580 towards San Francisco/Oakland to the 101. Grandpa mentioned that he thought the San Ramon Bridge would take us across to the 101 but we did not know if the San Ramon Bridge attached to the 580. Let's just say that I SHOULD have pulled over to look at the map - but instead I thought what I was about to do was right... let's have the photos tell the story! (1st wrong decision to take the San Francisco Bay Bridge)

Lost and driving around the city.... ooh look there's a pigeon! We were just looking for the 101 North.

An hour later we finally found the Golden Gate Bridge and HW 101 North. You would have honestly thought that I had never been to SF before!)

Well we made it out of San Francisco - and Lord only knows how because not only did the cab driver but also a SFPD gave us the WRONG direction! As of today Grandpa and I have made a decision that we will no longer ask anyone for help!!! I soon remembered that I have a service through the travel agency we work with which is like an Onstar. Thank God for them!!!

Next stop was Ukiah. Now, I did have a couple of people ask me about why I even mentioned the small town of Ukiah. My Mom was born and raised in Ukiah and I have great grandparents who are buried there, Ukiah is a part of our family! Today in Ukiah there was at least a 5 alarm fire on the mountain. Just as we were approaching the fire had started and all of the fire engines were on their way. The helicopters and water airplanes had just started dumping water on the mountains.

Here are some photos of Ukiah... Mom and Wayne I hope you especially like

these!



This is the first home that my Grandpa and Grandma bought together and the house that my Uncle Wayne was born in. 825 Dora Street, Ukiah 1942, $8000

This is the park that is located a couple of blocks away from the house on Dora Ave.

Remembering Loved Ones Who Have Passed



When we were in Yosemite yesterday the only wildlife we saw was some birds, squirrels and some raccoons. We had to drive all the way to the Ukiah cemetary to see some deer! Just moments after we left Ukiah we also saw a field of Elk, unfortuantly they were too far away for my camera to take a quality photo.

Next up, the redwoods! There is a photo in here of the town of Willits which is the "Gateway to the Redwoods", it is also the same place that my Mom broke both of her arms when she was a little girl by falling off of a slide!

Tomorrow we are off to Battle Ground, WA. We are going to drive up the coast of Oregon and Washington. We are having a wonderful time, even with all of the extra routes today! See you all tomorrow!

Love,

Christie and Grandpa