USA Week 5 Final Week

Pumpkin Patch near San Rafael. Americans are mad about halloween the shops are stuffed full of halloween products especially costumes. Adults as well as children enjoy dressing up. We have seen lots of gardens decorated with pumpkins and witches and there is still 2 weeks to go. Farmers grow the pumpkins and then lay them out in a field for customers to walk round and choose one.There wasn't many left in this field. Many Americans now believe that Halloween is being celebrated more than Thanksgiving .










Lighthouse at Point Reyes has 300 steps down to it. They are numbered so you can count down on the way back up.













Point Reyes National Seashore Park near San Francisco. Park has many miles of beaches, bird areas, whale watching for grey whales at certian time of the year. In addition they have Northern Elephant Seals and Tule Elk.



They are noisy and can be heard from half a mile away.









Roosevelt Elk seen in Elk Meadow on the journey back south to San Francisco. Allegedly there are large herds in this area of Prairie Creek State Park but we only saw small groups. Elk can be very dangerous oif approached especially during calving or the rut which is August to October.

Crescent City is a good place to stop for the Redwood National Parks. We stopped for 3 nights but it is also the biggest Tsunami area in mainland USA. Since 1933 there have been 31 recorded Tsunamis in Crescent city the worst being in 1964 following a 9.2 earthquake in Alaska . This Tsunami resulted in 11 deaths within Crescent City and large amounts of the town being damaged. The most recent Tsunami to hit Crescent City was in March this year following the Japanese earthquake.

The Picture shows the harbour which is situated just round the corner from our hotel with large groups of sea lions which are common on this area of coast. Compare this picture with the You Tube video clip of the March 2011 Tsunami in the harbour. Mr Lockwood had a Tsunami escape plan under his pillow!!! There are signs all round the city warning you are in a Tsunami area and the visitor centre has advice leaflets on what to do in the event of an earthquake/tsunami warning . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ltLkvZYnxQ&feature=related

Turkey Vultures are frequently seen soaring high in the sky above trees which grow right down to the beach and cliff edges.

Other large birds seen along the coast paths are brown pelicans which are very graceful in flight before plummeting into the sea after fish.

Other common sights particularly round the Klamath River Estuary are Gray Whales which can be clearly seen from the cliff tops. Gray Whales are about 14m long and migrate from Alaska to Mexico in Novemeber and back to Alaska in March. However round the Klamath River there is a resident pod of about 20 which we saw regularly each day we were in the area.

The Gray Whale feeds on Crustaceans and is itself often covered with barnacles. The first sign whales are about is often the sight of the water spout as the whales first surface.

Other sights on the coast path and parks are snakes. Mr Lockwood saw 3 including a whipsnake and a racer. All the snakes were non venomous and moved very quickly away. Too quick to photograph.

Woodpeckers, deer, salamander were also seen. No humans were seen for 9 miles!! They were all in their cars!!!

The beaches around Crescent City are good for surfing and barbeques as there is alot of driftwood on some of the beaches.

These are the California Redwood trees the tallest trees in the world. They are taller and thinner than the Sequoia trees earlier. Their habitat is wetter and more rainforest jungle like to walk in. The fog of the California coast helps the trees to stay healthy.

These are in the Jedediah State Park where we also saw a bear.

Mrs Lockwood walking a trail in Prairie Creek Redwood Park.

Stopped at Mt Shasta on way from Lassen Volcanic to California Coast. Mt Shasta (14,179ft) is also known as the white mountain and is an active volcano within the Cascade Range which last erupted 200 years ago. Native Indians believe it to be a spiritual mountain.

Mrs Lockwood in Lassen Volcanic is keeping in practice making the tea!