Ocean Suites Brookings

So we decided that we had had enough of motels, so we decided to camp out for a couple pf nights, we selected this beautiful spot outside the national park, it was surrounded by giant red woods and right next to a river... and (as we found out after paying and setting up camp ...

... lanes on 101. Oregon isn't too fond of them in the mid part of the coastal route. But, oh, the sparkling vistas. Very magical.
The staties were out and reeling in speeders, but the Vision stayed in cruise control mode or was busy navigating tight curves on cliffs so no worries here.
I am now very aware of tsunami evacuation routes from all the signage. That will be the first thing I look for now when I enter the small seaside towns.

To get back to the Pacific, we must drive back north into Oregon and we choose a narrow, less-traveled road near Yreka, through beautiful forests and along the ugly and murky Klamath River. Once we enter California again we start to see the huge trees of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, but it is dark and we get a motel room in Crescent City and hope to see some more redwoods tomorrow.

We stopped in Pistol River and had a short ride on a horse. Anna's horse was called Fantasia and Dom's was called Dark Sun. We went up the road and through a couple of fields and we both really enjoyed it. At the end we were allowed to feed them too!

It was another gorgeous day for a drive so we hit the road and headed up the coast.  The views again were spectacular and the vistas that were strewn along the cliffs were stunning.  It was hard not to stop at each one to take it in.  After bearing down we made it to our stop for the evening in the late afternoon.  We chose Mendocino as it was described in our guidebook as having the best vista ...

... wife Grace, and Janet. Don picked us up and took us up to their home outside of Eureka using the back roads so we could enjoy seeing more beautiful trees. The Avenue of the Giants is a road lined in Redwoods so tall that they block out enough of the sun that the only ground cover is moss, fern, and needles from the trees. You look up and they just tower above you. We drove through an old town called Ferndale that ...

... On thing we noticed is that along both sides of Hwy. 101 there were US flags planted in the sidewalk in predrilled holes from one end of the town to the other. It was quite a moving site. One thing we have noticed is that the days just fly by and next thing we know the five days have passed and we must get prepared to move on. We have decided to drive up the coast as far as Florence and spend the night and then push on to Salem the following day.

We slept really well and woke to sunny, blue skies albeit still chilly in the sea breeze. We went down to the local supermarket and got food/wine/beer and did the laundry. Then back to the room to create breakfast which took sometime and involved a minor explosion in the microwave when cooking the poached eggs. The day was beautiful and we sat on our canvas chairs at the side of the motel, to keep out of the wind, in the sun. Around 1pm we set ...

... 27 people involved feeling listened to, respected, and understood, if not resulting in everyone's ideal outcome. We will be pushing forward for the next 9 days, with no rest day, through some fairly difficult terrain - those that wish to keep their rest day will be driven ahead one day to relax and catch up on sanity while those that wish to ride every kilometre will ride through this day to meet up again. All will continue to have the ...

... taking a trip they always dreamed of because her prognosis was not good. We had the opportunity to pray for her and she was in tears. I couldn't help but think of how blessed we are to be making this trip in good health and at a relatively young age. We walked across the street and had dinner before we headed back to the RV park. This park is right on the Klamath River and walking distance to the Pacific ...