Sadly leaving Tahoe behind us but happy in the knowledge we will definitely be back someday. We took the 50 up the Eastern shore of Tahoe lakeside very quickly crossing the stateline into Nevada & were promptly met with kitch casinos and several $6 marriage license vendors...quality!

We dropped out of the mountains into the desert passing through Carson City then Reno on the long drive north on the 395. Brief lunch at an old logging/railway town called Susanville. We then climbed again into the Lassen National Forest. Several large forest fires had blanketed the area in smoke adding to the diversity of our views from Betty.

We stayed that night at a fantastic KAO RV park at Shingletown at the top of the Lassen forest with Big Al the manager who loved to 'high 5' everyone at every possible opportunity. Mysteriously one of Olly's sandshoes disappeared overnight from outside Betty and was was some 50 metres away by the property fence. Big Al informed us wily local foxes loved stealing things...but luckily hadn't managed to squeeze OT's shoe through the fence gaps. Shingletown (CA) will definitely be another favourite spot of ours. A small, quaint relic of a timber town nestled deep in the woods. Great.

We then headed down one of the best roads we have travelled. Once through Redding, you head onto the 299 heading through Weaverville then aiming for the Pacific Ocean. In that day we went from 40 degrees (Weaverville) to a chilly 15 degrees on the coast. The 299 was a stunning 3 hour downhill journey following the Trinity River which we stopped in twice and had a quick dip (photo) in the freezing water at CEdar Flat. Careful not to let the boys disappear down the rapids around the corner.

As we reached the coast (Eureka/Arcata) our first attempt at an RV park was a boring, open caravan park so we headed north on the famous 101 to Trinidad beach, ending up at 'Emerald Forest' a site nestled amongst "small" Redwoods but still truly massive trees. Damp, dark, misty and cold it was a surprisingly welcome variation to our hot, dusty camps so far. We hung out in the area the next day, heading south briefly to savour the last original logging cookhouse - Samoa Cookhouse. No menu, communal tables - they feed you endlessly following the tradition of feeding the timber mill workers. Biscuits & gravy, scrambled eggs, sausages and endless pancakes - all the boys were in 7th heaven. Everybody loved the mini museum which had relics and photos from the glory days of logging the Redwoods. Some of the engineering and ingenuity was staggering. Boys being boys they wanted to take the giant saws home...tricky at check-in no doubt!

Mon was gagging to visit a county fair so we headed off to the Humboldt County fair, succeeded in parking Betty in a field of cow pats and wandered in to see what they're all about. Actually pretty lame, usual crappy hot dog stands but the highlights were the kids loving all the sheds of goats, cows sheep etc. Olly wanted to buy a giant Flemish rabbit for company in the RV - when told it was about to be judged, sold then eaten he wasn't that impressed.. OT also entered himself for the 'hog calling' which would have been hilarious but we'd left by then. Another totally inappropriate highlight was all the boys firing modified assault rifles at targets, brilliant! Camp that evening back in the forest was freezing as we huddled around the fire pit (which we light every night).

The essentials we stop for pretty much everyday are firewood, ice and petrol - and coffee if we can find a good one. Before we headed north towards Oregon on the 101, HT strapped on the runners and put some miles into his RV softened legs around the Trinidad fishing jetties and headland. Running up the coastal track in the fog with only the sounds of the fog bell and seals was a great memory.

With names like Trinidad and Samoa you'd expect these coastal towns to be tropical...anything but. Low fog most of the day, damp and cold - you could easily be in the script of a Stephen King novel.

Time to head into Oregon and push up the 101 towards WA state!