Roll Down the Window, Gulp Fog, Say Yeah

Getting ready to cruise the Redwood Highway Christmas Eve. Our travel lunch is packed: hard-boiled eggs with candied salmon (from the Dungeness crab place back in Oregon) and green olives. Well alright.

But first, a quick stop in Brookings to get a turn signal assembly for our 1975 Ford truck. I can't believe you can buy such a thing, but you can. Art gets it in place in the NAPA parking lot.

 

Just a few miles south of our last campsite, the agricultural station at the California border. Always uber-friendly, these people. Nothing to declare--we saved our last grocery receipt, as advised, to prove where our produce came from. They didn't even open the camper.

Northernmost northern CA, Del Norte County, heading south into the lush cannabis-growing culture of Humboldt County. These coastal redwoods are enormous. If I could, I'd enlarge this photo 100 times. Look how they block out the light.

Highway 101 curves through hundreds-year-old trees. They have a unique energy.

Giant Redwood National Park hugs the coast.

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We're making some tracks today and sadly aren't prepared to stop for long to explore the giant trees. Art reminds me we've traveled only 281 miles in the seven days since we left Portland. This is an intensely enjoyable way to explore, but we do have departing reservations on Amtrak in SoCal, where we'll store the Avion. We need to close the gap between here and there.

But first a stop at this richly endowed visitor center celebrating the combining of state and federal lands to create Redwood National Park.

Tip o' the hat to Lyndon Johnson for that. I'm sure Ladybird had something to do with it too.

The beach behind the visitor center is immediate and accessible.

The Yurok Tribe Welcomes you.

When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even

Snow? No snow here on the west coast. In fact, in southern Oregon everyone was talking about how it was supposed to be the rainy season. And there it was, 60 degrees F and sunny.

Salut!

Here in Fortuna, CA, it's a bit warmer even. Warm enough for a Bulleit bourbon on ice with lime and soda.

Really? You're Going to Put The Grill Together?

Art got this dumb little grill at a second hand store. Not all parks have firewood this time of year. OK, I decided, I'll put it together.

Hmmm. Lots of bits.

Using the non-editorial part of my brain, it HURTS! Plus, this is a cheap-ass grill with poorly made parts.

Well now. I guess it's big enough for that old t-bone.

Happy.

A Second Day at Harris Beach State Park, OR

Yes we stayed another day. With views like this, how could we not?

We walked for about 4 hours this day, drunk on outdoor air and activity. First, a new trail to a different part of the beach.

 

The sharp scent of pine is in the air. Mostly sitka spruce here, a favorite of mine since we walked forests filled with them on the coast in BC. They hug the fog-infused shore from Alaska south into northern California.

Again with the scale...

 

Someone's been fort building.

The largest island off the coast of Oregon is right here, though I'm not sure this is it. Bird or Goat Island, a national wildlife sanctuary, has been preserved as a breeding ground for rare birds including the tufted puffin.

After a quick stop to pick up a backpack, we head into Brookings to get some charcoal. There are steaks to be fired up.

Part of the path hugs the coastline...

...and parts closer to traffic.

What's this? The aptly-named Bakery By The Sea, crowded with holiday shoppers.

Busy, busy.

 We'll take one of these for Art.

Back at camp, time to fire up the grill (but that's another post). In many parks, you can rent a yurt.

 Ever wonder what's inside?

I like the bunk that sleeps 3. And a pull-out couch for 2 more. "Don't step on my clean floor," the guy with the broom said.

A slice of heaven.

One more night...

Winter Solstice Beach Walk

Highway 101 to Harris Beach State Park told part of the story (me, hanging out the window hollering "slow down!").

We're at the southern tip of the rugged and extraordinarily beautiful Oregon coast. And site A20 has a killer view of the water.

Out our back door:

It's a perfect spot

Time for a walk. The beach trail wends its way out of the campground and steeply down toward the beach.

The scale is impossible to capture. Those are cars down there, at a day-use parking area.

It seems like a different planet.

Tiny me.

In the tidepools, sea anemones hold tightly to the rocks, an otherworldly color.

Starfish too as we pick our way through the shallows near a great gash in the rock...

Shellfish-encrusted rocks await the next wash of seawater.

 

The tide is out, lucky for us.

We look for treasures among the detritus near shore.

And meet a nice guy, a manager for a cable company who was transferred here to Brookings. He's happy about that.  Brookings grows 75% of US-grown Easter lily bulbs and ships worldwide.

 

This is a glorious beach.

Back to camp before night falls...