On Thursday, Katie had her last final exam at Humboldt State University, and the remainder of the day was planned to head about 50 miles inland to a favorite spot of hers and Luke - The Trinity River.  
 After a quick trip to the store, filing the pickup with gas ($64 .00 at $4.39 a gallon) we headed from Arcata on state highway 299. This road brings back some less than favorite memories as Dolly and I drove Katie here in her 1998 Chevy Cavalier from Florida to California nearly three years ago, in August, in a convertible where the top wouldn't go down, windows that only went down a few inches, packed to the max, for over 3,000 miles. The last time I was on this road was from Reno, NV to Arcata - and when we finally hit the coast after six hours of uphill, downhill, left turns, right turns, switchbacks, crawling, then speeding because we were being tailgated by huge trucks carrying tons of trees, I was totally exhausted. I would have preferred at that time to be a member of the Donner Party. 
 This trip, although, went much better and we made the 50 or so miles in a little over an hour. We stopped in Willow Creek at a Subway, each ordered a footlong, then headed out for lunch on the river.
 This part of the Trinity River is geographically in Hoopa, California and a favorite for Humboldt State Students and other coastal dwellers to get into the hills and valleys along the beautiful part of the river and warm up . The temperature was well in the 80's a big change from the cold breezes that rarely get out of the 60's along the coast from the Pacific Ocean.  
 I drove my pickup down a steep winding hill and pulled along a wide stretch of beach covered with water-smoothed rocks. Several other cars were parked along the river, and we went as far as we could to get closer to a wide deep pool under steep cliffs on both sides.
 This is a magnificent place to get away, take in the sights and sounds of nature and listen to the Trinity as it makes its way at about 4 miles per hour to the Pacific Ocean near Crescent City, about 50 miles north of here.
 We weren't there long when Luke and Katie spotted an Osprey nest, then in a few minutes a bald eagle sitting on a branch of a large pine tree probably about 700 yards away. After about 20 minutes the eagle took flight and soared above the hills before landing on a tree a couple of hundred yards closer. He stayed there about an hour then took off again, made several wide arcs and landed about 400 yards away with its mate . While there, an Osprey dive bombed the pair of eagles, they watched, but didn't move. After about another half hour, the male bald eagle took flight and dove straight for the river, no doubt it had spotted a trout rising to the surface, but at the last second, broke off its attack and returned to the tree near its mate. During all of this, I saw the movement and continued watching it dive to the river rather than scrambling to get my camera. The entire event took only about 10 seconds and I surmised that I couldn't grab the camera, turn it on, remove the lens cap, find the eagle through the viewfinder, focus and get the picture. So, I missed it. Dolly was a bit irritated, but you can't win them all.  
 At about 4:30, we packed up and headed back to Arcata on the 299 highway. I was sure a day in the sun would bring a severe sunburn, but the sunscreen must have worked its magic.
 Katie received a package from Keith Havener of Friendship, Maine for her and Kona. (See photo). After an evening of telling Katie stories we turned in about 9pm, totally exhausted and ready for sleep. Into the back of the pickup which is neatly parked in Luke and Katie's carport.