Friday we met up with our friends Diana & Karen at the Portland Art Museum. We spent most of our time at a special exhibit of Aboriginal art from Australia. Like the USA they have a troubled history regarding native people and non-white immigrants. This piece applies to us all.

Saturday morning Alexis and Joe picked us up at 9.15am to drive to Lakewood, WA for my stepmother Jean’s 90th birthday. She has been such a good friend since she married my dad almost 60 years ago. We caught up with a lot of family that we had not seen in many years, it was such a good time.

Early Sunday morning Tricia and I headed south on I-5 for Redding, CA, 422 miles. Monday we spent the day at Lassen Volcanic National Park. We have talked about visiting this less popular, and less crowded, park for a long time. With memories of the crowds in Utah’s parks or Yellowstone, the low crowd level was so nice.

Earlier this week I posted about doing a quick sketch to be finished later in the hotel room (Here is the link). Monday evening in the hotel I dug out the watercolors and finished the sketch.

So far on this trip the food has been less than outstanding. We had picnics that we brought from home on Sunday and Monday, BLT wraps. The best food so far was at Mosaic Restaurant in Redding when we got back from the park. I had one of the better pizzas I have had in a while. Tricia had a salmon cesar, the salmon was so good that I even chatted with the server about the cooking technique – though I cook salmon well enough that Alaska folks approve, which is something to brag about, I did get an idea or two to try when back in The Pearl.

In Eureka, where we are at the moment, the Waterfront Cafe had a comfortable rustic waterfront-town ambience, spotty service, but decent food. I had an oyster burger, Tricia had fish cakes.

We went to happy hour at Sea Grill, which is housed in one of the many old buildings from Eureka’s heyday as a lumber, fishing, and industrial center. We loved the decor, local patrons, and reasonable prices. Oysters are always a temptation so we succumbed, six seemed right. Shortly the server brought out a small salad-sized plate with six oysters and a plastic cup of some dip. No bed of ice or salt as is the norm all over the world, just oysters tossed on the plate. So we gave it a go – the worst oyster experience ever. They were room temperature, almost warm. We questioned the server as to how fresh they were and she assured us they were just then off of the truck, “really fresh.” We both had visions of an uncomfortable night so did not finish the oysters. And, they charged us anyway. Such are the joys of travel. Thankfully we have had no unwelcome visits from bacteria.

We are staying at The Eureka Inn. It is an historic hotel built in 1922 during the hight of the cities rich history. Luminaries such as Winston Churchill, Shirley Temple, Bogart, and future presidents have all checked in. We are writing our blogs in the beautiful, nostalgic, lobby – these were once a standard feature of hotels where patrons relaxed, read the newspaper, sipped sherry and met friends. Today we are sipping a california chardonnay and writing.

Both of us were pretty much done with our drafts of today’s posts so we went for a walk into the Eureka’s Old Town, then we got a referral for a restaurant we should try – Brick & Fire. It was about a 20 minute walk but it sounded worth it, and was it ever!

This trip’s food experience took a major leap for the better. Our often mediocre dining quickly retreated into the distance. This place is firmly in the stratosphere of les meilleurs. We even ate en plein air.

Brick & Fire is located in a mostly residential area, and quite popular with the locals.

Tricia had a Wild Mushroom Cobbler – “shiitake, porcini, cremini, and oyster mushrooms in a savory reduced cream, topped with a cheesy cobbler biscuit & baked in a wood fired oven.” Tricia said, “Oh my, it was just so good!” I think superlatives just escaped her.

The Fig & Pig Pizza shouted out to me – “a basil oregano parmesan crust … with goat cheese crème fraiche, red wine & balsamic poached dried fig tapenade, red onion, house-cured pancetta bacon, provolone, fontina, parmesan, and arugula..”

As an unashamed pizza junkie I have enjoyed a lot of outstanding pizzas; this one has me struggling to remember one that was better.

We are finishing up our posts at Sea Quake Brewing in Crescent City. Tricia is writing quite an interesting piece about Notre Dame de Paris, along with photos you need to see. Along the way we stopped at Trinidad Bay to explore and sketch.

We will be here a couple of days, then head further up the coast into Oregon. This is such a beautiful part of the world.

I hope you are doing well, and enjoying whatever adventure you are on, and of course capturing the moment in a sketchpad. Thank you for following, and commenting, it means a lot.