May 31. Rogue River around Gold Beach

 A very leisurely morning.  Now that we’re in a colder clime, we don’t need to get out and hike when it’s cool but rather wait until things have warmed up a bit.  Devices don’t like to change users.  I think we’ve changed most things over to me now on this little IPad.  That was a big part of the leisurely morning activity.  It is nice to do it with the sound of the crashing waves in the background.  

Today, we plan to take some hikes in the woods along the coast rather than the coast itself.  The local rag of 101 Things to Do in Southern Oregon gave us some good ideas of hikes.  If we put 2 short ones together, we should have a nice day of hiking.  They are both along the Rogue River.  First one is Myrtle Tree Trail in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.  Not much traffic up here!  We cross the Rogue River on a little one lane bridge.  Reminds me of the old bridge across the Des Moines River that was the terror of all new drivers.  A rite of passage to drive across that bridge. 

 The trail is mostly up but it’s short - 1/4 mile each way.  The lower vegetation is mostly big, healthy ferns with the Myrtle trees above them and an occasional Redwood.  Many of the trees are hollow in the middle from lightening strikes.  We get to the largest known Myrtle tree in Oregon.  It is 90 feet tall with a circumference of 47 feet! It is also known as a California Laurel.  Certainly not the same as the crepe myrtles we see around Georgia!  It is burned out in the center but new sprouts keep it going.  

Our next destination is the Shrader Old Growth Trail.  We turn off the main road, which really isn’t very main.  The road goes almost straight up for almost 2 miles and turns into a narrow gravel road with the occasional places that are wide enough to pass another car.  Luckily, this isn’t a big tourist destination and we don’t meet any cars in the next 1/2 mile to the trail head.  There is one other car there.  At the trail head, there is an informative pamphlet to go along with 13 numbered stops.  It is a beautiful walk!  Tall old Douglas-fir and Port-Oxford-cedar.  They reach up to around 250 feet and 3 feet in diameter.  Again, there are lots of ferns, with the occasional rhododendron blooming.  My handy-dandy leaflet tells me that the rhododendron have been growing there since a fire about 100 years ago.  At the toes of some of the towering trees are tiny, dainty flowers. Isn’t that what we are - tiny dainty flowers compared to the long history of life on this planet.  

May 29. To Gold Beach, Oregon

 Before we head out from Davis, we meet up with Kirk Caldwell, who I went to High School with.  Our families both went to Second Church in Pella.  We had fun catching up and sharing Pella lore with Nick and John.  I hope we didn’t bore them too much.  Kirk is a good story teller.  I found out that Mother was instrumental in his deciding where to go to college.  She entered an editorial that he wrote to a national contest.  He won first place and was then offered a scholarship to go to the University of Kansas.  It’s nice to hear new stories.  Kirk got away without a picture OR signing the table cloth.  

Our destination today is Gold Beach, Oregon.  The drive starts in the fertile Central Valley north of Sacramento.  very straight and flat.  We see rice fields at different stages of growth.  One can tell by the different shades of green.  

We needed to get over the mountains to get to the coast.  What a change in terrain! Mount Shasta towering over Lake Shasta.  Sharp drop-offs to narrow valleys far below.  At this point vegetation is low and scrubby with the bright yellow lupine dotting the hills.  Burned tree trunks are a reminder of the wild fires that went through the area a few years ago.  A little further on, we follow one of the mountain streams.  Sometimes with lots of rapids and other times looking rather peaceful.  But, I think there was probably quite a current under the surface.  

A bit further on much taller trees - mostly tall pines and some really impressive views. Up and down and around multiple time and then it seems like we’re really down.  We stop at a little valley town for lunch but don’t find anything that excites us and breakfast is still holding us.  So, we continue on.  We get to Humboldt bay in the little town of Arcata.  We stop at the flagship store of Holly Yasha which makes really unique jewelry.  Nick and Randy have both given me gifts from there.  We actually talk to both Holly and Yasha!  Both very friendly.  One of the employees gives us a personal demonstration of the dipping techniques in making the beautiful colors and designs.  I have a deeper appreciation of the artistry and process now of my earrings.  

We’re now driving North along the coast heading into Redwood country.  The towns are miniscual - 323 population.  Finding that local seafood restaurant is turning out to be rather elusive. 

We get to Crescent City, CA. Last town in California.  Our search paid off.  We have a great dinner at the Boat House with a view of the ocean. Most of the menu was sushi but we choose a scallop boil.  And some tempura.  Oh the wait was worth it!

We get to Gold Beach about 8:00. And check into our hotel.  It is right on the beach.  Our room doesn’t have an ocean view but walk around a wing of the hotel and there it is.  We walk down to the beach.  It is quite foggy so there isn’t much of a sunset but there is a little crack in the clouds and the sun peeks through on its way down.  When we checked in they mentioned a sound and light show after the sunset.    There is a big outdoor screen.  We go up to the welcome room where it’s warmer and out of the wind but we can still see the screen.  The first half is about the area and things to do.  It is nicely done.  Both informative and beautiful photography.  The second half is clips of Spund of Music songs and layers making designs around it.  I love Sound of Music so that was fun too.  

Back to our little room and nightly night.

May 30 Around Gold Beach

 After looking at weather forecasts for Beverly State Park in Oregon showing lows in the low 40’s and high in the low 50’s, we wonder if we really want to go there and camp for 2 nights.  I guess we really are fair weather campers.  After seeing the movie last night about the beautiful places around here, we decided to go for the upgrade room with an ocean view and a king-sized bed for the next 2 nights and then go directly to Crater Lake.  We picked up our little bagged breakfast, moved into our new room and enjoyed eating our breakfast on the balcony.  

Today we drive up highway 101 and pull off at several lookout points.  The first one is quite close to Gold Beach and is REALLY windy where the cars park.  So windy that I have trouble opening the car door against the wind.  We walk down to the beach and decide to walk into the wind so that the walk back will be easier.  The beach is deserted and beautiful.  A stream flows into the ocean and the color of the stream changes drastically.  Part of it is the turquoise that I think of in the Caribbean.  The different water colors are really distinct.  Never figured out what causes that.  

There was one man on the beach, kneeling and intently looking at the rocks.  I ask him what specifically he’s looking for - Agates.  The beach is littered with very smooth rocks that have been tossed in the waves for eons.  I pick one up that looks a lot like what the man showed me.  I show it to him and ask if it is an agate.  No, it’s quartz.  Takes a trained eye.  I’m drawn to the flat smooth ones and pick up a bunch of them.  I’m thinking it will be fun to paint them when the grandkids come to visit in August.  Sure wouldn’t be picking so many up if we didn’t have a car to carry them home in.  

We have lunch at a BarBQ place that got good reviews.  It was okay but I don’t think it would make it in the south.

Next stop is high on a bluff.  One theoretically can go down closer to the water and we did see some small figures way down there but that wasn’t going to be us.  Through the milienia, the water had worn away the rock to form bridges.  I walked a little way down the path and especially without my hiking poles there was no way I was going down and back up the path.  

Our third stop was another one where we could walk on the beach.  The sand is very dark. Soon after going down the path to the water, we had to cross an area where the water was headed to the ocean.  No way around it.  I guess we have to go through it.  Where is the best place to cross?  We see someone coming back who just took her shoes off and waded.  A bit inland, there are lots of small rocks sticking out of the water and also some big logs.  That’s the route I choose.  It was dicey but I made it across with dry feet.  Nick did more of the wading thing.  Took his wet socks off on the other side and wore his sandals.   The crashing waves on the protruding boulders in the water was mesmerizing.  Seagulls perched on the rocks and trotted over the remnants of the waves that came in.  We found a little cubbyhole in the rocks above the hightide mark. I went in and found that logs were set for a fire.  What a cool place that would be to spend the night in a cozy sleeping bag.  But we have a nice hotel room with an ocean view and a king sized bed waiting for us in Gold Beach.  

By now, it’s late afternoon and we head back to the comfort of our room.  It’s surprising how tiring it is to walk on the beach in the sun and wind.  

Time for dinner.  Mexican? Pizza? Seafood?  Well, that’s a pretty easy choice.  Seafood it is.  It’s a cute little place with only about 8 tables. A nice local dark beer to start things off.  Then crab and shrimp cakes and shrimp and scallops tacos with cole slaw on them.  Oh they were good and big!  

Back at our room.  Trying to get used to typing on the little IPad keyboard.  And then there is the problem of it not recognizing me and I don’t know my passwords because they come up automatically on my computer so I don’t need to remember them and my Word document that has my passwords is on MY COMPUTER.  ARGH! There may be a lesson to be learned here.  

May 28 Sonoma

 We wake up to the small of bacon.  Patty has made a great breakfast for us of me let’s with asparagus, mushrooms, cheese.  This place gets 5 stars!  Unfortunately, Nick has an upset stomach from eating so much rich food yesterday.

I call Lee and we decide to meet up in Sonoma.   We wait a few hours for Nick’s tummy to calm down before heading out.  Traffic is pretty bad on this holiday weekend.  Lee and Andrea get there quite a bit before us so they go ahead and eat some lunch.  It is wonderful to see them and to get to know Andrea a bit better.  She is delightful and I look forward to getting to know her better through the years.  After lunch, we all walk to the main square where there is a tremendous rose garden.  

Both Davis and Sonoma don’t have any tall buildings but one and two story buildings in the downtown areas.  Sonoma, along with being such a big wine growing center and the home of the Williams and Sonoma kitchen store, it was the furthest North Spanish mission.  Fairly quickly, it moved from being a Mission to being a fort.  Many of the historic buildings remain.  

Warm goodbyes and we go our separate ways.  But not before they sign the travel table cloth!

The drive back to Davis is much quicker than the way to Sonoma.  John, Nick and I go to a dumpling place - Yang Kee.  I’m sure there is a pun there but I don’t know enough to know what it is. Anyway, the dumplings were wonderful and hit th the spot of something a little lighter.