Our 13 year old truck has been challenging on this trip so yesterday it went into a local auto repair shop.

Those "challenges" extended into today, so we were given a loaner, and off we went. Our first stop was for breakfast in the island town of Samoa.
Just minutes from Eureka, California, the Samoa Cookhouse, the last surviving cookhouse in the West, has been serving food, continuously for over 100 years. It was not until the late 1960s that it was opened to the public. It continues the tradition of serving lots of good food - lumber camp style (all you can eat)! The service was excellent and our breakfast, eggs, french toast, sausages, biscuits & gravy, coffee and orange juice was delicious.


The place was massive and full of history. One could just picture hundreds of hungry lumberjacks filling the several dining halls. Every logging or mill operation in the redwood country had a cookhouse. It was the hub of life in the community. "Come and get it!" was a familiar cry heard by millmen and brawny-armed longshoremen at the Hammond Lumber Company cookhouse at the beginning of the century. When "quitting" whistles blew, the men were more than ready to sit down to a big meal... as we were in this last cookhouse!

The town of Samoa was one of only two intact lumber company towns in northwestern California and we were glad we ventured to see it (note our loaner car).
Our road trip included a tour of the historic town of Trinidad (1775) and its beach. This 1949 Memorial Lighthouse, an accurate replica of the actual Trinidad Head Lighthouse marked our trail to the shore. 
Sea lions and their pups were basking in the sun. What a treat to observe.

Our final stop of the day was to visit the HSU Marine Laboratory where students majoring in Biological Sciences, Fisheries Biology, and Oceanography take classes, conduct experiments, and pursue advanced research projects at the University's marine laboratory. It is opened to the public and gave us a lesson and allowed us to touch stuff. So cool.
We also learned about the local whaling history. Whales and Redwoods... what is it about these Giants man has needed to hunt. It made me sad, as history can do at times.
We are moving east tomorrow for a different view. This has been a pretty incredible explore for us. We're so excited for 'next'.