As we made our way north through California, with one night in Medford, OR, the highlight of our trip - to date - was our drive from Medford, down Highway 199, back into the California coastal redwoods. Mid-day Saturday, as we turned on to Highway 101, at Crescent City enroute to Eureka, we begin to notice the clouds hovering over the bay. Our drive took us up and at just the right point, Roger pulled off in a rest area so we could take a break and get some pictures. Have flown above the clouds many times, but don't remember driving above them! You could hear the surf crashing onto the rocks below, but you could not see them. As I stood there for a few minutes, just enjoying the view, the clouds begin to shift and we could begin to make out the foamy surf below. An awesome moment in time.
One night in Eureka and then we headed back north to Crescent City. Made a couple of stops at little redwood shops in the town of Orick - but didn't find just what we were looking for.
The Crescent City KOA is one of our favorites as this park has 17 acres of redwoods to wander through. With Sunday scheduled as an 'off' day, we shucked the yellow shirts and headed back up Highway 199 to Jed Smith's Redwoods - in search of Roger's redwood carving that he has envisioned for our living room wall back in Oklahoma. The minute Roger stopped the truck, I knew we had come to the right place! Spent a couple of hours wandering through the shop and surrounding grounds, just admiring the pieces and trying to decide which one was "THE" one. In the process I spotted some maple burls that were nature's own design. I begin thinking how neat one would look over our fireplace. Before the day was done, Roger had purchased his redwood carving . . . and I had latched on to a maple burl. What was neat, was once we decided exactly what it was we were looking for, Dirk - the main artist - took us back into his 'storage' area and let us go through his entire stock of burls till I found just the right one. We bought it unfinished, to save us some dollars, but then Dirk went on to give Roger a full course on how to sand it and finish it out.
A thoroughly pleasant afternoon, and with our finds stowed carefully in the truck, we headed back to the KOA for some supper and an evening of nothing but pure relaxation. Roger carefully stowed our finds away under the bed; at some point we'll have to ship them home.
Monday - after doing the walk-about at the park, we again 'shucked the yellow shirts' and paid a visit to the Battery Point lighthouse.
One can only walk over - or 'up' actually - during low tide. We had no idea when that would be, but we were lucky enough to hit it. One has to walk down to the ocean bottom and then back up to the lighthouse. Not sure I was up to that, Roger made the walk up to the light so he could get some pics. I wandered around on the beach and picked up a small piece of redwood driftwood to add to my 'lighthouse' bathroom back home.
In reading about this lighthouse, I discovered that the reason the light was placed on the 'house' was so that the light keeper could tend to the light without getting out in the elements. It is also called a 'Cape Cod' style, which is not common out here on the West Coast.
Then it was on to make a stop at the local WalMart, one of the few along Highway 101. That should hold us until we stop for next weekend for a couple of nights in Corvalis, OR. Have to admit to having a bit of sticker shock when we found that a gallon of 2% milk was $4.88! Ouch!
Roger is getting hungry for some of his favorite Pecan Sandie dessert. Found everything but the pudding, so that will have to wait another week. Took pity on him though and mixed up a batch of his favorite chocolate chip cookies. That 'infamous' Neiman Marcus cookie recipe has quickly become a family favorite. I brought just enough ingredients to make a batch a month while we are on the road! The trick is that the oatmeal has to be blended into a powder, and I didn't bring my food processor! It also has a mix of walnuts & pecans, which gives it a different twist.
Tuesday found us trekking on north back into Oregon. Temperatures are predicted to be a bit warm inland, but our next week will be spent along the coast. Yesterday (Thursday), driving from North Bend to Waldport, we made a stop at the Sea Lion Caves. When we were here in June last year there was no parking available. Traveling early in the season has its advantages . . .but also disadvantages! This is supposed to the be world's largest sea cave where thousands of these sea lions call home.
Wouldn't you know, the one day we were passing that way, was the day they would have the elevator closed for maintenance! Just our luck! On the good side, though, we did get a discounted price for the privilege of walking down to the half way point to see the critters on the rock ledge. And, we got a great shot of Hecata Head light while we were at it! HOWEVER, when one walks down, one must also walk up! Thirty-seven steps and a very long winding trail down, makes for (what seems like) 137 steps and a near vertical climb back up! :>) Even the young ones among us were commenting on the trek back up!
Boy, were we feeling it, and we still have a campground to 'walk-about' when we get to our destination. We did it, but I know we both slept pretty sound last night. All that exercise and fresh ocean air, does make for some 'tired puppies'!
Today should be another pretty drive as we head north again to Lincoln City, before we head inland on Saturday. Looking forward to another Sunday off, for it is time once again to catch up on my least favorite job of doing laundry.
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