Faux camping in Fortuna, CA

The weather in Grizzly Creek Redwoods state park did not support our dream of camping--it was very very wet and cold, especially with dark settling in at around 4:30 this time of year. So we created a Faux camping experience for Monroe--the tent in the background, a campfire dinner, and running through the forest. But when it came time for pajamas, we headed for a Best Western in nearby Fortuna!
The Fortuna leg of our trip was unplanned (since we weren't sure if camping would pan out or not.) We were delighted to learn that we were mere minutes from the best-preserved Victorian village in California, Ferndale.

I loved the old-time drugstore with an amazing collection of antique grooming products, and I was very excited to get to browse a few copies of Scientific American from 1880-1890.



After exploring the Victorian downtown, we took a playground break. Monroe said she was "teaching" the swing to swing when I took this photo.

Next stop was a cheese factory in Loleta where we got to see a big vat of whey churning to form curds, and a tank from which the whey had been drained. We snacked on cheddar curds and sampled the 35 flavors of cheese.

Our hotel was on the edge of town in dairy farm country. I took the picture that appears below from the front window!