Epic Road Trip 2017 - Day #18

We packed up the campsite and headed out for Cape Meares Lighthouse. A short drive up the coast took us way up a cliff and above the Lighthouse. We could see the light at the parking lot and there was a neat informational display to view. The hill was very steep but it was super cool to see the building up close. There was also a great view of the three arch rocks across Cape Lookout.

After the lighthouse we went into Tillamook to check out the Cheese Factory! We grabbed lunch at the Creamery Cafe and had some amazing grilled cheese and macaroni. We also had some fantastic ice cream.

In Tillamook's downtown we stopped in at Tangled Yarns. I found some great local dyed yarn, Alexandra's Crafts from south of Salem, Or. The shop owner told us all about the dyer and her trunk shows at the store and then mentioned she lived in Gentry, Ar for a while. It's always so nice to meet someone who has connections with home.

We then drove across the Coast Range and into Portland. Before we checked into our AirBnB for the night we went by Nitro Knitters in Beaverton. I loved this store. They had a great selection of local dyed  yarns. I bought a couple skeins. One from Nano Stitch Labs and one from Candy Skein.

At our AirBnB we got to order in Shogun Sushi and do lots of laundry!

What We Learned: Today we learned about the common murre.  When we went to the lookout point at the Cape Meares Lighthouse, there was lots of information about the murre.  From the viewpoint we could see the "Three Arch Rocks," which are a nesting place for hundreds of thousands of birds throughout the spring and summer.  One of the species that nest on the rocks is the common murre, and the rocks provide the largest nesting colony south of Alaska.

For the day we drove 111.4 miles and saw license plates from 20 states and 2 Canadian provinces.

Epic Road Trip 2017 - Day #17

Today we woke up in Sunset Bay State Park.  We had planned on seeing the 4th lighthouse on the Oregon coast from the state park, the Cape Arago Light, but we weren't able to see it.  The Cape Arago Light is not available to be seen up close by the public.  Then we left the park and went for breakfast at a local place called the Pancake Mill north of Coos Bay.  The breakfast was great and the service was just ok.  We also went to the nearby My Yarn Shop in Coos Bay that seemed to be just a small local yarn shop, but was actually a giant warehouse style yarn holding that surprised us both.

After the yarn store, we continued our tour of the Oregon coast with the Umpqua River Lighthouse, that we had previously visited in 2010 on our honeymoon.  The lighthouse had a spectacular viewpoint of the ocean nearby that we took advantage of as well.

The next stop was Heceta Head Lighthouse, where we were able to get a look at the lighthouse and a nearby rock with some sea lions.

We did manage to top that though, when we were able to see some gray whales off the overlook at the Cape Perpetua visitor center.  We had planned to get a distant view of the nearby Cape Perpetua Lighthouse, but we settled for the awesome view of the whales!

We were not expecting to be able to see the whales at this time of year, but it was fantastic.  Our next stop was in Yachats, Oregon, where we got Katy some coffee at the Green Salmon Coffee Shop and me some ice cream across the street at Toppers Ice Cream, Espresso, and Candy.  We took our goodies to the nearby Beachside State Park and sat by the beach while we enjoyed them.

We took in the sights of the coast and saw two more lighthouses (Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head) before getting to our destination for the day; Cape Lookout State Park.  Overall, this experience on the Oregon coast has been much more pleasant than our experience in 2010, in large part due to the weather.  Back then when we came through here, it was cold and rainy, even in June.  The past few days it has been sunny, warm, and quite clear for mostly wonderful views of the coast.  Cape Lookout has a great beach that we watched the sunset on and then had a nice campfire before bed.  Tomorrow we head inland.

What We Learned: Today we learned about the Oregon dunes.  We obviously knew that Oregon had lots of coastline, but what we didn't know much about were the Oregon dunes.  The dunes are not just on the immediate coast, but rise up to 500 feet as much as two miles from the shore.  This is due to the thousands of years of wind and sea erosion that have pushed the sand back this far.  They are a major tourist attraction to the area and have been made into the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

For the day we traveled 178.2 miles and saw license plates from 34 states and 3 Canadian provinces.

Epic Road Trip 2017 - Day #16

We packed up camp for our final morning of 8 days in California and the Redwoods and headed for breakfast at Lety's Cafe in Rio Dell, CA by finishing out our drive down the Avenue of the Giants. The food and service were great. In fact it was probably the best breakfast croissant sandwich I've ever had. The only negative we had was the local guys who came in toward the middle of the meal who made mean comments toward the employees and then discussed politics at the lunch table.

After breakfast it was back out to the coast and on the road to Eureka, CA where I picked up a Starbucks and we stopped in at Northcoast Knittery. I loved the Northcoast Knittery. They had a great selection of mid to high end yarns with some exclusive local fabulousness (Ferndale Farms!). I picked out a single skein of Ferndale Farms worsted weight in Dark Moss and two skeins of Studio Donegal Soft Donegal in a dark purpley tweed. We had excellent customer service and I would highly recommend the store to anyone who wants to visit. While I was in the yarn store, Dean visited Eureka Books and found several books including a first edition of Clan of the Cave Bear.  We thought Eureka is a neat town and one that we would consider living in in the future.

Back on the road we drove up through more National and State Redwood Parks. The visitor center was very informative and the staff was very helpful in picking out a possible hike/drive for the day.

Further up the road we grabbed lunch in Crescent City and then stopped in at A Perfect Yarn. This tiny shop was crammed full of yarn and lovely people. I found a skein of 100% Alpaca (Kahlua)  from Russell Ranch out of Carlotta, CA.

Here is Tucker as we entered Oregon just north of Crescent City and started our lighthouse tour on the coast.

Pelican Bay Lighthouse was up first- it is the newest, being lit in 1997 and was smaller than we thought.

Next was Cape Blanco

Then the Coquille River Light house

We finally reached our campsite at Sunset Beach State Park, just south of Coos Bay. We quickly set up camp and then headed into town to eat at Little Italy in Coos Bay. We loved the food, generous portions, and the service. It was super enjoyable and we ate on the left overs the next day too!
We finished up dinner and thought we might be able to make it back to the Bay for sunset but the clouds had rolled in. Our campsite was nice though a bit crowded and a little loud.

What We Learned: Today we learned all about the lighthouses of the Oregon coast.  There are 11 lighthouses along the coast of Oregon and we planned to see most of them, and had only previously visited one (Umpqua).  Each light has its own characteristics and stories.  The first was the Pelican Bay Lighthouse, very near the southwestern border, close to the town of Brookings.  It was the newest of the 11 lighthouses, built in 1997 and owned privately.  Today we also saw the Cape Blanco Light (oldest on the Oregon coast), and the Coquille River Light.

For the day we travel 306.7 miles and saw license plates from 26 states and British Columbia.

Epic Road Trip 2017 - Day #15

Today we spent the day in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.  We had a breakfast of eggs with veggies and while I was cooking, Katy found her previously lost (now old) wedding ring in the box with all our kitchen supplies!  After breakfast, we took a shower with nice hot water at the campground and relaxed for a bit before going to the State Park visitor center that was near our campground.  It was nice and very informative, but a bit disorganized as far as visitor centers go.  After our tour around the place, we went down the road a bit to Redway, CA and had lunch at Deb's Great American Burger Company.  It had a great small town atmosphere and we sat outside while we ate. They even had some pretty good desserts and we had peach pie and carrot cake.  We spent the afternoon driving and walking around in the various areas of the redwood groves.

We did an "auto tour" that took us along the Avenue of the Giants and we learned lots about the area and the redwood groves.  The trees were just as impressive as the Sequoias, but many of them had also been cut down before the area was protected.

There were still plenty of large trees and "old growth" that had not been touched by logging.  We even did a little photo shoot of our new wedding bands with inlaid redwood on some redwood trees.

After our exploring, we stopped by the Miranda Market for gas, an ATM stop, and some bread and cheese.  Once we got back to camp, we made a fire and toasted the bread and cheese along with some leftover peaches for our evening meal.  Tomorrow we will head up the coast again.

What We Learned: Today we learned about the Bolling Grove of the coastal redwoods.  It was named after Col. Raynal C. Bolling of the US Army.  He was the first high ranking officer in the US military to be killed in WWI.  We took additional note that he was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  It was our interesting fact of the day.

For the day we traveled 47.9 miles and saw license plates from 16 states and 2 Canadian provinces.

Epic Road Trip 2017 - Day #14

We packed up a little earlier this morning and headed north on Hwy 1 to find some breakfast. Just a few miles up the way we found Stewart's Point Store and enjoyed a sticky bun, mocha muffin, coffee/London fog, and a Dr. Pepper in a glass bottle for Dean. It was a nice general store and bakery. I can see it being a regular stop for others along the route.

The road is pretty curvy and the cliff are pretty high and rocky through this section, but the scenery was beautiful. We got into some heavy "marine air" fog as we drove.

We stopped for lunch at Vinny's Pizza in Fort Bragg, CA and on the way out of town we filled up with gas and drove through a coffee stand. I love that every little town along the coast has a coffee stand with good espresso. Makes the drive short! lol
After lunch, the fog burned off and we were able to see a few beaches along the drive. We stopped off at an unnamed beach north of Inglehook and walked the shore for a bit. The sand was pretty hot but the water was crazy chilly!

Pretty soon after the beach we were starting see California Redwoods growing near the roads and as we merged into HWY 101 they became plentiful! Some parts of the Redwood Highway are very tight with giant trees on both sides of the 2 lane roadway.

We set up camp at Humboldt Redwoods State Park, home to the Avenue of the Giants. Our campsite was secluded and fairly quiet. We snacked around the fire and enjoyed the visible canapy.

Tomorrow: exploring the Redwoods.

What We Learned: Today we learned about the great Christmas flood of 1964.  We watched a video about how the flood impacted the area and how large it was.  The locals call it the "1000 year flood."  Based on the video and pictures, I believe it!  It affected most of Oregon and Northern California.  It was a "perfect storm" of circumstances that led to the flooding.  The temperatures dropped and the ground froze, then lots of snow fell early in December.  Later in the month a warm, wet storm came through and melted much of the snow and dumped many inches of rain on the area, but did not thaw the ground.  The resulting flood was devastating.  We saw a high water marker in the town of Weott, CA that was 35 feet above the ground, and it was nowhere near the current river.

For the day we traveled 166.6 miles and saw license plates from 20 states and 2 Canadian provinces.