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.