June 20, 2010 Father's Day

We awoke this morning to raindrops on the roof.  I snuggled back down in the blankets.  It was just getting daylight.  I thought about all those people around us sleeping in tents.  I am not a camper and I would hate the dampness.  

When I finally got up I looked out at all the tent campers see how they manage with the rain.  They were out cooking on their open fires like any other day.  I would be miserable.  

Once we got on the road later in the morning we continued our trip up the coast.  Rt 101 is a nice ride.  Each turn presents a new vista.  If we stopped at all of the overlooks, it would take us a couple of years to drive up the coast.  

The rain and fog presented Darlie wtih new photo opportunities.   The sea looked grey.  The clouds enshrouded the mountains.  Mist rolled in from the sea.  She was in the back with the window open snapping away.  On the northbound side there are no overlooks.  They are all on the southbound side.  It is too dangerous to pull across the road.  There are so many hairpin turns.  You can’t see what is coming.  It takes a minute to get the old bread truck up to speed.  The way some of these people drive these roads I would get run over.

Another lighthouse in the mist.  Notice she caught it with the light shining.

I got some Father’s Day greetings from my kids throughout the day.  I hadn’t thought about it being Father’s Day.  We have lost track of time.  

I was hungry for some seafood.  Each little town we drove through, Darlie scanned the businesses looking for a restaurant.  Most of the little villages are all about selling things to the tourists.  There are so many antique stores, gift shops, and tee shirt joints in every town I can’t imagine how they sell enough to stay in business.  

Every village seems to have a local woodsman who carves big bears, big foot, seals, and a host of other critters.  I am sure the market is saturated.  Who would want an eight foot big foot standing outside their house?  

We were riding through Newport, OR when Darlie spotted a little seafood restaurant right next to the road.  I noticed the place was packed.  I noticed there also was lots of room to part the MH.  As many people as were in this place, it must be pretty good or really cheap.  We discovered it was both.

If you are ever up this way be sure to stop at the Newport Cafe.  It is a small place.  Windows all around.  They are open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day serving breakfast, lunch and dinner at any time.  Believe it is good.

We had the Captain’s seafood platter which we shared.   It had 2 fillets of cod, 2 fillets of salmon, 2 fillets of sole, 2 fried jumbo oysters, 2 prawns, clam strips that really had clams in them and a huge portion of fries.  All that for just $14.95.  Try to get that at Red Lobster for less than $30.00.  We also had a cup a piece of homemade clam chowder.  It was delicious.  Our total bill came to $22.60.  We were stuffed.  I told the owner we were just passing through but we would send everyone his way.  So you better try it.

After lunch we continued on up the coast.  There was a tourist trap called “Sea Lion Caves”.  We stopped.  From what we learned, sea lions rest on the beach a few hundred feet below.  You could pay these people $12.00 a piece and walk down on an overlook they had built and look at the sea lions.  They also had a huge gift shop with all the usual junk you wonder what to do with when you get home.  We decided to pass.

Darlie took two pictures of this thing for some reason.

We stepped outside.  Darlie said, “I can smell sea lions.”  I didn’t want to tell her I had a bit of gas from the big lunch.   She walked over to the railing along the road and looked down in the water and sure enough, there was a sea lion swimming just offshore.  She snapped a dozen or so pictures.  They looked like floating logs or some other ocean flotsam.   I tried to point that out to her but she said she knew what they were and that is all that mattered.  

I know it is a bit fuzzy but there is a sea lion and it didn't cost $24 to see it.

Rt 101 turned inland a few miles.  The green mountains reminded me of the Smokies of Virginia or North Carolina.  There were wide green valleys between.   Dairy farms lined the valley floor.  This is a major milk producing area.  Darlie saw an elk in a field and wanted a picture but there was no shoulder to pull over.  That is the case with most or the roads in the area.

In Oregon there is no self service at the gas pumps.  It is illegal to pump your own gas.  I stopped to fuel up.  A young lad came out to pump it for me.  He was all questions about our trip.  He was amazed we had come so far.  He asked if we had seen any elk.  He and his Dad were big elk hunters.  I told him Darlie saw one.  He told me to go back to the airfield outside of town.  There are always a couple dozen elk hanging around there.  I chose not to share this information with Darlie or she would have insisted I go back and find the airfield.   She was on the phone with her Dad when I got back in so the matter didn’t have to come up until I was some distance from town.  

I have said many times how much we love state parks.  Oregon has some of the best we have seen.  They have full hook ups, large forested sites and the prices are very low.   We sought out another state park tonight.  We found Nehalem State Park.  It is right behind the sand dunes on the beach.  You don’t get this at those commercial places.  I don’t know why anyone would want to be packed into one of those places like canned fish when they could come here.

This is a huge park with about 200 sites.  There is a separate section for horse camping.  People can bring their horse and ride the beach for miles.  

We took a walk over the dune to the beach.  It was foggy and mist filled the air from the crashing waves.  People were swimming.  We were bundled up.  Darlie had to take picture of them, of course.  I was going to lie and tell you they were pictures of me out there rolling around in the waves. 

We spotted some elk tracks on the beach.  We followed them up into the dunes.  High grass of some kind grows up there.  I figured they were lying down somewhere nearby.  We searched around for awhile but didn’t spot one.  Darlie found more flowers to photograph though.  And trees, raccoons.......

We are settled in for the night. Tomorrow we will cross into Washington.  

June 19, 2010

We awoke to a bright sunny day, though it was very cool.  Locals tell us this is their summer weather.  70s would be the normal high and 80 would be a heat wave.  The wind blows off the ocean all the time keeping it cool all summer.  It still amazes me to see people swimming while I am walking around all bundled up.

We rode up Rt 101, the Pacific Highway Scenic Route.  The coast is a continuous postcard photo.   We saw the sign for Point Blanco Lighthouse and decided to check it out.  Point Blanco is the most westerly point in the state of Oregon.  The lighthouse has been in use since 1870.  It is still operating today.  It sits high atop a rock on the coast.  The views are spectacular.  

We had to park the MH in a lot about 3/4 of a mile from the lighthouse.   We had to walk a very steep road to the lighthouse.  It was our workout for the day.  Darlie was snapping pictures of everything, as usual.  We spent an hour or so there taking in the view.  We returned to the MH and made lunch before hitting the road again.

After we passed Coos Bay, we came upon the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.  The dunes are probably 150 to 200 feet high.  The sand is no longer the black and white ground up stone.  It is beige in color.  The same color of the surrounding hills.  There are no big rocks sticking up out of the water either.  

There are hundreds of ATVs running around all over them.  We checked a few campgrounds in the area but they were all filled with ATV riders.   The noise was more than we wanted to deal with.  

We finally stopped at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.  We figured it would be full this late in the day.  To our surprise, they still have some very nice sites available.  Full hook ups are just $24.00 per night.  

After getting our MH set up, we took a trail down along a freshwater lake that sits behind the dunes.  People were fishing and swimming.  One young man told me he had caught a small rainbow trout earlier.  There was another man out in the middle of the lake fishing in a big inner tube.

We rounded a bend and went up a hill to the Umpqua Lighthouse.  It is a working lighthouse that was built in 1890.  The site is also a well known whale watching location.

Grey whales pass by close to shore in their migration route.  During the season as many as 30 whales can be see an hour.  This time of year the last of the nursing females and young are passing by.   On average 1 per hour is spotted this time of year.  We didn’t see any.  The water was calm so spotting one would have been easy.  

Darlie standing next to the lower jaw bone of a grey whale.  

With a jaw bone that big, it must have been a female.

We are back at the MH now.  Darlie is pretty worn out.   It was a long walk with lots of up and downhill walking.  We will burn something on the grill and call it a day.  

Week 6 Expenses

Gas:   $252.46    Gallons:  81.7

Campgrounds:  $155.50

Groceries:  $187.82

Total Expenses:  $595.78

Total Miles:  647

We didn’t move the MH for three days while at Harris Beach State Park.  That kept our expenses way down.  We eat pretty good though.

Our First Cloudy Day In Weeks

We awoke to a cloudy day.  We have not had a cloudy day since we were in Louisiana.  That is the last place we saw rain also.  Now that we are on the northwest coast I suspect we will see more clouds and rain.  It is what keeps this area so green and lush.

Many people have emailed me and said they don't know how to post a comment on our blog.  If you notice at the end of each blog post there is the word, "Comments".  Click on that and a small box opens up where you can write something.  Then click submit.  I have to review all comments before they are posted on the blog so it might be a day or two before you see it.  You can also rate the blog post next to "Reactions".  I hope this helps.  We love to see comments.  It makes us feel connected to the people we care about and we love hearing from people who happen on to the blog.

It is after 9:00 AM and we are still sitting here in our pajamas drinking coffee.  It is nice not to have to get up and race off to some place.  I didn't tell you that I am wearing pajamas for the first time since I was about 10 years old.   When the nights started getting cool as we moved farther north, I stopped and bought some.  I was freezing and slept almost fully dressed.  We do have heat but it uses lots of propane.  We only use it in the morning to take the chill off.  Getting up in the night to use the potty can be a chilling experience.

Last night we warmed up my corn bag in the mircowave and took it to bed with us.  Our feet were cold so we put it between us and planted our feet on it.  When your feet are warm you are warm all over.

The state of Oregon provides wifi service in some of its campgrounds and rest areas.  They charge for the use by the minute, day, week or month.  I signed up for a day for $3.99.  Darlie said I should sign up for a week.  I couldn't see the sense in that.  We might only be here for a couple of days and we might not stay in another state park.  Well, I am a big dumby cause my daily use internet runs out tonight at 8:00 PM so if I want to use it after that I have to pay for another day at $3.99.  I could have had a week for $7.99.  Once again, I should have listened to my wife.  I am learning...... slowly.

We finally got around and headed out for a hike.  What we thought were clouds in the morning turned out to be sea fog.  It burned off by 11:00 AM and gave way to bright sunshine.

We programed a geocache into our GPS that is supposed to be located in this park.  The GPS led us up a steep trail to Harris Butte.   It is a high overlook at the top of a big rock.

There are seals on that little beach.  This is a view from Harris Butte.

We looked around for the geocache but couldn't find it.  I think it is mostly due to the fact that I hate heights.  Looking very far beyond the relative safety of the trail itself was out of the question.  We decided to pass on this one.  I am sure it is there for the more adventuresome.  I wasn't about to hang out over the edge to see if I could find the thing.

For those who don't know about geocaching go here to learn more about it:  geocaching.com.
It is a fun hobby if you own a GPS device.   People hide things all over the world.  Then they register those things on the website with latitude and longitude coordinates.  The object is to locate the hidden object by following the leading of your GPS.  Most have a log that you sign recording the date of your visit.  Some contain small trade items.  You take something and leave something.

At the overlook, Darlie did spot a survey marker embedded in the top of a rock.  It is a metal plate with survey information on it.  It was placed there by the US Survey and Geodetic something or other.
We didn't find the cache but finding this thing relieved the sting of defeat.

Harris Butte

We made our way down the butte, as it is called, to the beach.  We decided to walk north on the beach today.  As we were descending to the beach we came to some people who had big scopes set up.  We inquired about what they were watching.  There was a group of harbor seals sunning themselves on a beach of a nearby large rock.  They had us take a look.  Sure enough they were there.

The seals are those things on the lower left of the beach near the water.

We walked down the beach as far as you could go before you come to impassible rocks.  The wind was blowing very hard.   It was freezing.  People were running around in shorts and tee shirts.  We saw one family with hardly enough clothing to cover one body let along four.  They must have antifreeze for blood.  We have noticed there are many redheads in this area.  Where we come from you seldom see a redhead.   Must be many of those Oregon trail pioneers were Irish.

That is the face of a person who is cold and doesn't want to admit it.

We found a cozy spot out of the wind to have our lunch.  We didn't have a begging squirrel to pester us today.  It would have been nice if we had.  We did pass a grassy patch earlier that had no less than ten of these red squirrels running around.  One of them ran right up to us looking for a handout.

After lunch we headed back up the beach towards the campground.  It felt colder than when we first came down here.  We had passed a couple of girls sunbathing on the way out.  They were gathering up their stuff when we came back.  They said it was too cold for them too.  Still others played in the surf.

We are back to the MH now.  It is afternoon nap time.  Then we will sit in a warm spot out of the wind and read for awhile.  We love this state park but we have decided tomorrow to move on.  There are other state parks up the coast.  We will see if we can find one that still has room for one more.

Wind art.   The wind erodes away dry sand leaving all kinds of shapes in the wet sand.

The rest of our day will be just lounging around.  Darlie's feet and knees have had enough exercise for one day.  We will make something simple for dinner tonight.  I'm not sure when I will have a connection again when we leave here.  Keep checking in on us.  We will post what we do each day when we can.  God bless all the Dad's on Father's Day.

Harris Beach State Park

Daytime highs here have been round 60 degrees.  Overnight it drops into the low 40s.  It amazes me how many people are out camping in this weather.  By camping I mean in a tent.  

This is a YURT.  They have wood floors, electric, water, heat and furniture.  You can rent one for $39.00 per night.

A couple on a motorcycle pulled into the site across from us last evening.  By the time they got here I would call it flat out cold.   They were all bundled up with motorcycle garb.  The motorcycle has several large saddlebags.  They began unpacking bag after bag.  They set up their tent, gathered firewood, stripped off the motorcycle garb and went for a walk.  

This morning they are up and packing everything up again.  They are conveniently parked next door to the restrooms and showers.  Everything has its place in those bags.  They fold everything neatly and stow it away.  It is cold out there.  The last thing I would want to do is go for a motorcycle ride.  With the money I was saving on gas, I think I would splurge on a motel.  

Yesterday people were running around in shorts and tee shirts while Darlie and I were all bundled up with sweatshirts and jackets.  We have decided this must be the annual Oregon meeting of the Polar Bear Club.   

After breakfast and our morning choirs, we headed down the trail to the beach.  It winds around the rock outcroppings down along the cliff to the beach below.   Most of the rocks contain a high amount of quartz.  When the waves grind the rock up into sand it sparkles like it is full of diamonds.  It is very different from back home.  There seashells make up the sand.  Here it is the rocks.  

It was low tide.  There are many big red and orange starfish clinging to the rocks in the tidal pools.  The tides are very high here as evidenced by the barnacles and mussels clinging to the rocks far over our heads.  The Pacific is very blue unlike the Atlantic which is an emerald green until you get way offshore.  

We came across people surfing and swimming.  Both of us are bundled up like it is winter.   One man who is disabled was dressed in a thick wetsuit.  He was surfing.  When he came up out of the water it was obvious he was having difficulty so I approached him to be sure he was ok.  The told me of his disability and asked if I would mind going over to a rock and get his canes for him.  Darlie took our picture together, naturally.   

Darlie is doing real well with the hiking.  She has a brace on her knee which is helping with the pain.  She doesn’t complain.  She climbs up steep grades and climbs over huge rocks, things I didn’t think she would be able to do.  I don’t remember the last time I saw her really enjoying herself like this.  She always has a big smile.  The scene is awesome.  I think that helps.

Years ago some Oregonians with foresight, obtained all the shoreline of the Oregon coast for a continuous state park.  I know of no other state to do such a thing.  No development has occurred on the coast so it is open to the whole world to enjoy.  I wish we had some people in Florida years ago with the same foresight but I think they were seeing dollar signs rather than preserving the beauty of the state for future generations.  I can only imagine how beautiful Florida would be if the coastal area had been preserved in its original state like this is.

We worked our way into an area where a tidal pool had formed through a large split in a rock formation.  We found a comfortable place to sit and have our lunch.  It was only a few minutes before a brown squirrel showed up begging us to share.  He sat right at our feet, pleading.  You are not supposed to feed any wildlife but it was apparent this guy knew the routine.  We shared some of our lunch with him.  He packed it away as fast as we gave it to him.  When we were done, we started up the beach.  He was following right in our footsteps.  If we had met a ranger it would have been hard to deny that we had fed him.  

The air is very cool and the wind is blowing hard.  I had to dig out another jacket from the backpack.  By the time we hiked back to the top of the cliff, I had it off again.  The temperature is in the tweenies, not warm enough to go without a jacket but not cold enough to keep it on when you exert yourself the least.

We have paid for two more days for this campsite.  The weekend is filled, so we will have to move on.  Weekends are the only time we have problems finding campsites but the Lord always provides a neat place in the end.  We will probably we boondocked somewhere.  

A few weeks ago we missed home.  Now we don’t look forward to this time running out.  We are really enjoying each other’s company and the experiences we are having together.  It doesn’t matter where we are as long as we are doing it together.

June 16, 2010

Today we traveled up Rt 101 through the Redwood NP.   The redwood trees were very tall.  They are the tallest trees in the world.  Though not nearly as large in circumference as the Sequoia’s, they are still very large.

There were no areas where you could pull off the road in the midst of the park.  We watched signs and never saw one that directed you to an entrance.  There were several state parks in the area that were clearly marked but nothing for Redwood National Park.  

We stopped at Mystery of the Trees to see what was up with that place.  The parking lot was filled.  There was a huge statue of Paul Bunyon and the Blue Ox, Babe.  Darlie had her photo taken with Paul.  He spoke to her and told her to smile for the picture.  Some guy sits in the belly of the thing with a microphone and talks to the people as they pass by.

See Darlie standing by his shoe?

They had a private trail that went up into the redwood forest.  They charged $14.00 for a quarter mile walk.  People were paying up and taking to the trail.  Call me cheap but I didn’t see the value.  They did have a very large Indian or should I be PC and say native American, museum on the grounds.  It was free.  You had to pass through their large gift shop to reach it, however.

These are hand carved.  Don't they look lifelike?

They had one of the best collections of Indian relics I have ever seen.  They had each area of the west covered by tribe.  Clothing, musical instruments, implements used for preparation of food and weapons, and ceremonial clothing were just a few of the many items they had on display.

We hit the road again and traveled to Oregon.  The price of gas dropped 40 cents a gallon.  That was a welcome sight.  The roads also improved.  California roads were pretty rough and in need of repair.   

As we were going up the highway, George Stapp flew by us in this bug.  If you don't now George, you should.  I like the alien face on the back, George.

We stopped at Harris Beach State Park.  We were told that Oregon has the best state parks anywhere.  I would have to agree.  We paid big bucks last night to get a glimpse of the ocean.  Tonight we are right on it.  The views are breathtaking.  We will stay here for a few days and do some hiking around the park.  They have paved trails that go down the cliff to the beach.

The beaches here on the northwest coast are made up of black and white granular sand.  There are no seashells like back home.  Black and white rocks roll back and forth  at the shoreline as they are tossed around by the surf.  Signs along the beach warn of “sneaker waves”.  They are rogue waves that sneak up on you if you get too close to the surf.  People have been washed away by them and lost their lives.  Signs warn you never to take your eyes off the waves.  

Darlie picked up the usual junk; crab bodies, driftwood and stones, all of which was transported back to the MH for bagging.  Before we get home we will have to start throwing away good stuff to make room for these “collectables”.

We cooked our dinner outside over an open fire tonight.  It is an activity that stirs the primal juices.  If you ever wondered what early man did with all his time it is very simple.  He spent most of the day chasing down something to eat.  Then he sat patiently while his wife roasted it over an open fire.  That pretty much takes the whole day.

We developed a method that works pretty good.  We use a deep aluminum cake pan and a pie tin to make a dutch oven.   Tonight we put our chicken, potatoes and seasonings in the cake pan, cover it with the pie tin and put it on the grate over the open fire.  It takes about one hour to cook everything.  We also put a can of Bush’s beans next to it.  I know, back home that sounds horrible but out here it makes you salivate.

We were going to go listen to a young ranger talk about tidal pools tonight but we are pooped.  We are both ready to go to bed. 

Sunny and Cool

Our heater ran often during the night.  We awoke to beautiful clear sunny skies.  I took a photo of our "ocean view".  The water is calmer this morning.  You can see a fog bank offshore.  Winds are supposed to pick up to 30 to 40 mph later.

This lovely view is what we paid a premium for.

When we are hooked up to electric in an RV park, we take full advantage of recharging all of our electrical gadgets.  Before leaving home, I coiled and labeled every wire for every gadget.  They were all placed neatly in a container.  It was assumed we would be able to quickly locate the needed cable without having a big knot.

Plans sometimes don't work as well the ideas behind them.  We carefully packed everything in cupboards also.  We even went to the extra trouble of placing potholders and place mats between things that would rattle while driving on the road.  The reality is this:  When you open the cabinet for a cable, a huge ball of wire jumps out at you like some crazed Amazon spider.  When you open a cabinet for anything, you get bombarded with the contents.  We have braced, stacked and re-stacked but can't seem to come up with a formula that prevents the avalanche.  Our system may work well if you only travel on Interstates or the better state highways but if you go where we do, things do get a bit mixed up.  It is all just part of the experience.

We come across RVers who tell us they are full timers.   What some of them mean is they live in an RV full time in some RV park for months at a time.  I have a nice home back in Florida.  I don't care how nice your RV is, I would rather sit in my nice house on my own lot looking at the water than in some RV park.  Real full timers in my mind are people who move on every few days.  They are out to see the country.  Just my thoughts on the subject.

There are somethings you probably should only talk about with other RVers but I like to open a window into the lifestyle as much as I can.   Dumping waste is not the only area that probably should be left to the imagination rather than explained in detail as I tend to do.  What we call the sniff test is another one of those areas.

We met a young lady in Durango, CO at the laundry mat.  She has been traveling in an RV with husband and kids for a year.  They have been all over the country.  They are full timers in my definition.
She was telling us some of the things that become second nature after awhile.  One of them was the sniff test.  We didn't fully understand what she was sharing until a few weeks later.

Doing laundry is a pain.  Do you remember going to the laundry mat when you didn't own a washer and dryer?   It wasn't fun.   Traveling in areas of low humidity or cool high mountain altitudes you don't tend to perspire like you do in Florida.  At home a shirt is good for one day.  Sometimes not that long.  But out here where you spend lots of time driving your clothes don't show any dirt.  You wear them day after day.  Each morning you do the sniff test.  If it passes, you put it on.  (Underwear is the exception.  Who would want to sniff those.)  If there is a question whether a shirt will pass the sniff test, you may ask your spouse to do a sniff test also.  If it passes her test then it is definitely good for another day.  After all you don't see the same people day after day so whose counting.  Darlie reminded me that we do see the same people day after day or at least they see us.  Who, pray tell?  The people on your blog, dumby.    So from now on I will be sure to change my shirt each day.  I will still do the sniff test and if they pass I will put them back in the closet.  But you won't know that.

Lassen to the Pacific

We have been in the boondocks for a couple of days.  I haven't been able to post anything on the blog.  I  wrote something each day and have posted them now.  You will have to go back a couple of days to catch up.

We were up early this morning once again.  I put the coffee on and fixed Darlie eggs and sausage for breakfast.  We share all the household chores.  If I cook, she washes and visa versa.  Sometimes we cook and wash together.  We prefer making our own meals verses eating out.  We avoid many belly bombs that way.  Some interesting little cafe can turn out to be a session on the john that requires a seatbelt.

When we left the National Park, we stopped to chat with the park ranger at the gate for a few minutes.  She said we were the only campers in the entire park last night.  Their season hasn't started yet because the road is still closed to much of it.

We told her about our bear encounter.  She said there are several bears hanging around the campground we were in.  One is a big sow with two cubs.  We told her the one we saw was alone.  We figured it was a male.

We traveled Rt 44 over to Redding, CA.  On the way we passed a good view of Mount Shasta about 85 miles north of us.  Mount Shasta is over 14,000 high and can be seen for many miles.

Mount Shasta

In Redding we have planned to visit the local Walmart.  We have been compiling a list for a couple of weeks.  When you are far from cities or in remote areas it can be difficult to find ordinary everyday things you need.  Our list can be quite varied with automotive, RV, camping, hardware and household items along with groceries.  At Walmart you can find all of it under one roof.  Besides that, it is easy to find a good place to park.

The Redding Walmart was the most upscale Walmart I have seen.  It was by far the largest.  We just walked around looking at all the stuff.   You don't realize how much you take for granted until you have been without it for awhile.

We stocked up, gassed up and set out for the Pacific coast via Rt 299.  I asked a local how that road was.  He said after a long winding climb of about ten miles it was a piece of cake.  It turned out to be a 146 mile up and down, round and around trip.  I really love driving these mountain roads.  I haven't had so much fun since I was in the Troopers chasing speeders on the Interstate.

Ever see a sign like this?

Then we got to the drop off part that I enjoy so much.  Darlie was happily snapping photos.  I asked how deep the canyon was.  She just said, "you don't want to know."   Wonderful.

Those rocks at the bottom of the photo is the edge of the road.

By the time we got to the coast, I was pretty tired.  I felt like I had been lifting weights.  My arms and shoulders ached from all the cranking on the wheel.

We had chosen an RV park with an ocean view.  It was the most expensive place we have stopped yet.  We had an ocean view though.... right between the roof of a house and a large clump of trees.  It was a bit disappointing.  We no more than got parked when I heard sea lions barking down by the water.  The park owners gave us a map for some trails that led to some overlook sites so we set off to see what we could see.

Can you see the ocean?

The trail went through a grove of redwoods.  The ground under them is lush with growth.  There were ferns, flowers, vines and moss.  The air was heavy with oxygen and moisture.  We breathed it in deeply. We have been up high in the mountains for weeks.  We had become accustomed to being short of breath.  It felt good to feel like you were getting enough air.

We walked out onto a point.  The scene was awesome.  The wind was blowing hard.  The sea was up.  Large waves were crashing against giant rock outcroppings throwing spray high into the air.  We found a bench near the edge of the cliff.  We sat watching for a long time.  I spotted a large rock below with several sea lions lying on top of it.   Darlie zoomed in with her camera and got a pretty good photo of them.  The wind carried their barking away so we couldn't hear them from our position.  They probably are the same ones we could hear from our campsite though.

The walk was cool and refreshing.  Darlie took pictures of grass, flowers, trees, bushes and a rabbit.  I sure love digital photography.  I don't have to think about paying thirty cents apiece to have them developed.  I have pretty much stopped asking her why she is taking a picture of "that".

Once back at the MH, we fixed a big dinner.  The wind is blowing very hard tonight and it is getting cold.  I think we have gone too far north too soon.  Darlie is loving it though.  Tomorrow, if we aren't frozen, we will go look at Redwood NP.   Until then.

Cinnamon roll anyone?