Ashland, OR - When I saw the name of the store, I did a quick pat-down of myself to make sure I was intact.

Ashland- Oregon Shakespeare Festival outdoor stage. I went to a performance of "The Comedy of Errors" (see text entry a few days ago).

Ashland - rehearsing.

This is the hotel where I stayed in Ferndale (see the web-link at the top of the blog about the town). br />

On the road to Ashland, OR from Ferndale, CA, is "Trees of Mystery" with this 49 ft. Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox (who has blue you-know-whats. Honestly.) Just another roadside attraction cashing in. Isn't America great?

And here he is with an amazed little girl.

Memorial Day in Pleasant Hill, CA, with my friends Sue and Charlie -- they are the two waving. Their friend, of whom there is more than a backside, "owns" three of the scampering children, with a fourth one on the way....

Sue and Charlie doing what parents do when most of the young 'uns -- theirs and neighbors' -- are finally rounded up for a photo at the end of the day.

I honestly tried to get a photo with ALL five -- especially the little girl -- smiling. At least, in this one, I've got the son of my friends (2nd from left) looking cute, a good Will hunted (sorry!).

Sometimes Highway one merges with Hwy. 101 and goes inland through small towns in northern CA. This is still in Marin County, near the border with Sonoma, I think. Nice to see priests carrying their own groceries....

Another view, with the parish house and landscaping.

Driving Highway One to Mendocino. (See text entries.) The depth-of-field doesn't show that it's at least a couple of hundred feet drop to that inviting blueish lagoon...Note the car wheels at the right edge and the bridge just above right of center.

As if the hair-pin turns and blind curves on Highway One weren't enough of a challenge, it cuts through some ranch land before Mendocino. This is would have been more road-kill than I could handle.

For fans of John Grisham, this was my pelican brief lunch by the banks of the Russian River in Jenner, CA on the way to Mendocino. It was brief because he wasn't much of a conversationist, though he had a good appetite.

I passed it and turned around to take this shot of an unusual topiary with a silhouette metal sculpture of a woman reading. (The circle in Hell for people who dress their dogs in little outfits must be right next to the one for people who do this to a tree....)

Mendocino. My room at McElvoy's B+B. Note the "trompe d'oleil" (sic) painting on the door. The colors and decor really got me in touch with my feminine side....

Mendocino. Another view of my room at McElvoy's Inn B+B, now owned by a Frenchman named "Michel". Great location and rates, but the "Breakfast" part of the B+B has huge room for improvement: it consisted of convenience-store, celophane-wrapped danishes!

Mendocino, CA. Typical "water-tower" houses. They all look like there should be a windmill on top. Maybe they did at some point. The place is too quaint for its own good. Eat at Cafe Beaujolais or the Mousse Cafe: they are NOT "cafes", but full-blown French restaurants (with prices to match), but quite good.

Mendocino, early evening. The view from where the next photos were taken.

I was watching the pre-penultimate rays of the sun over the Mendocino Cove when these two girls, in vintage 1940s dress, walked up and plopped themselves in the middle of the road for a photo-shoot. Is it their age or California?