Redding California to Brookings Oregon

Trip Start Apr 25, 2008
1
18
26
Trip End Jun 15, 2008


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of United States  , Oregon,
Thursday, May 22, 2008

Todays drive was 272 miles and we traveled on Highway 299 out to the coast. This is a nice road but is only two lanes and in some parts quite windy. It is not a road that you are going to make any time on as it also has several climbs and descents. Once we had cleared this road we arrived in Arcata only to be blasted by strong crosswinds for the rest of the drive up to Brookings. It was a long day and all of us were glad to get to this park. The park is located at the south end of Brookings and is situated right on the Chetco River. Location is great and we are looking forward to a extended rest. We are going to be here for 5 days which will take us through the Memorial day weekend. We have been in Brookings before when we stayed at Harris Beach State Park which was several years ago.We get the local paper and find out that we have arrived for the 69th Azalea Festival. This is quite the big deal in this town complete with a parade on Saturday followed by a large flea market, car show, craft fairs and quilt show. Not to mention that all the azaleas were in bloom.
We got ourselves settled and did some house cleaning etc and relaxed after that long drive. This place is great and we can access the river which gives the dogs a huge area to run off leash. Just great for them. I picked up a seven day fishing license and was able to spend several hours over the five days fishing the river. Not with a lot of success. Saturday came and we drove into town to see the parade and the other exhibits. One funny thing was that I thought that the parade was over and ended up drive up the street through the tail end of the parade. Ours was the only car on the road as it was closed to all traffic!!!!! Oh well.
This town also boasts a beautiful golf course called Salmon Run. I played this course and throughly enjoyed myself. Patsy dropped me off and then she went into town for a manicure and pedicure. This travelling on the road is great and it is neat to be able to do these things without the usual trials and tribulations one must endue in a large city!
We did some exploring of the area, checked out Harris Beach State Park. It was fully booked for the long weekend. On Sunday they had a service for all the Vets of all the foreign wars. 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.
Print this entry