California - North Coast to Central Coast (San Francisco)

It was pouring rain and I mean pouring rain when we crossed over into California.  The wipers were going as fast as they could and still had trouble keeping up to the pelting and relentless rain.  It doesn’t take long to realize that California costs a lot for everything!  It is hard coming out of a State (Oregon) that has no tax, into one that charges for everything plus tax!

We continued traveling South on Highway 101 and passed through the Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.  As we neared the City of Trinidad, we passed a giant herd of elk grazing at roadside.  What a magnificent site to see!

Dan and I pulled into Cher-Ae Heights Casino in Trinidad.  Where better to spend Halloween night (Monday, October 31) than a casino?  LOL  Their RV parking is $20 for 1 - 3 nights and there is water available.  The RV parking sits high on the hill above the casino and away from the road enough to provide a very quiet space.  It is beside the Tribal Office and kitty corner from the local library.  So, a very nice spot at the perfect price!  On top of that, when we registered our RV in the casino, we signed up for their Crown-Club card and they gave us $10 on each card to start using at the machines!  They also gave us a come back tomorrow card that we could get another $10 on.  We played the VLTs and lost (of course), we went to their restaurant and shared a prime rib dinner with all you can eat bread, a salad, and prime rib with potato as the main dish.  It was a completely ample amount of food for the two of us and the bill?  $14.95 plus tax…unbelievable!  We did return to play slots the next night and got the other $10 each on our cards, plus by spending $10 of my own, they gave me another $10 for ladies night!  We had a lot of fun there, but Dan and I are not big gamblers.

Dinner at the Cher-Ae Casino, Trinidad

Because we decided to stay two nights in the casino RV parking, we took the day, Tuesday, November 1 to explore the Trinidad area a little bit.  Thankfully I was able to get wifi to do a little research as to recommended hikes and things to see.  Our first stop, we went into the town to a small lighthouse where there were a series of steps leading to the ocean.  The website trinidad-ca.com called this area below the Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse, Indian Beach/Old Home Beach which is the site of an ancient Tsurai Indian Village.  Dan and I couldn’t believe how close the village would have been situated to the water.  This hike I read about on trinidad-ca.com said their was a trail we could take from the lighthouse heading South to Parker Creek Trail, but we quickly discovered that the trail was gone.  It had been washed away.  So, when we descended to the beach and the waves were so close, we did a lot of running to miss being hit by the waves to see if we could find another trail, but to no avail there was no other trail from that area.  Running on the beach and timing the waves was fun and exhilarating though!  LOL

Onto the next recommended hike…
We parked in the Trinidad Bay Harbour parking area down Edwards Street in the Trinidad State Park and found the recommended trail North of Stagecoach Road.  The hike takes you up onto the sea cliffs high above the ocean.  It was a gorgeous and invigorating hike, just what we all needed.

Next, we drove back towards the casino and beyond it down the scenic and winding seaside road South of Baker Beach to Luffenholz Beach with sea stacks projecting themselves from the foamy water.    Again, viewpoints are high above the beach here and apparently if you are lucky you may spot sea lions and seals.

After two nights at the Cher-Ae Heights Casino, on Wednesday, November 2 we pulled out and headed South again towards Eureka.  Eureka has amenities, but we were warned by locals that this is not the safest of places due to their high homeless population and to be careful as to where we go as it can be “kind of sketchy”.

I found a website, redwoods.info, that recommended some sites to see as we traveled towards the Avenue of the Giants (Redwoods).  At Eureka, we crossed over a bridge West then South toward Samoa to go to a restaurant called the Samoa Cookhouse (circa 1893).  It was amazing!  The building housing the restaurant was the original cookhouse used years ago for loggers that were working in the area clearing the giant redwood trees. They were given three incredible meals a day in this camp style kitchen.  Everything seemed to be original in the old building.  Dan pointed out that the glass in the windows was original as you could see the waviness looking through them.  That was the way of glass years ago.  The restaurant itself continues to be set up in the ‘camp kitchen style” with long tables (likely original) that seat ten or more people at each table.  A menu was non existent other than the listing on the wall that stated prices for each meal through the day, Breakfast, Lunch, Supper.  Each day the main meat staple changes for lunch and supper.  Lunch on this particular day was roast beef and this comes with soup, salad, vegetables, potato, brown beans, bread, coffee, iced tea, water, and finally dessert!  Wow!  Who has room for dessert?  Dan did! Lol  This is also all you can eat!  What an incredible meal and what a cool place.

The back part of the restaurant houses a museum that exhibits old items like gas powered chain saws, cook stove, pictures of workers during the logging days, manual tools, and many other goodies.  It’s definitely a sweet find and we would highly recommend a visit to the Cookhouse if you are in the area.

After lunch, we continued South of the Samoa Cookhouse to the Samoa Dunes.  On the way, we pulled over and took Piper for a run on the beach.  When we returned to our truck and trailer, there was a fellow scouting with his metal detector and he very seriously looked at us and said, “do not leave your trailer where you can not see it.  There are people that live in the bushes out here that watch you and when they have opportunity, they will break in to your trailer.”  Here again was that warning.  Always listen to the locals, they will always tell you what the area is like and what to watch out for.

Continuing down Bunker Road, we went to the Samoa Dunes Recreation Area.  This area houses numerous underground bunkers that were set up years ago for protection in case of a potential attack.  Doors on the bunkers are welded shut now.  The area has since been turned into sand dune recreational land for ATVs and dune buggies.

While we were in this area, we had a weather warning come up on the phone that said in our area to be aware that there was a Sneaker Wave coming that night and to be prepared and always keep an eye on the ocean if you are close to it.

We decided to continue back into Eureka and travel on through the ‘Avenue of the Giants’ where the giant redwoods are.  The trees were humungous.

Start of our drive through Avenue of the Giants

Look at the size of the tree beside the trailer!!

We stopped at Founders Grove in Humboldt Redwoods State Park to hike Founders Trail.  There is a short hike and a long hike. We opted for the short hike as dogs are not allowed on the trails and we had to leave Piper in the trailer.  These are beautiful ancient forests that are protected.  Founders tree is said to be the tallest redwood in the area standing at 346.1 feet!  The tallest tree before falling was the Dyerville Giant in the same area that fell on March 24, 1991.  Measurements after falling showed the tree was 370 feet tall, 17 feet in diameter, 52 feet in circumference, and likely weighs over 1,000,000 pounds!  The size of these trees certainly remind us of just how small we are in the scope of the world!
Information taken from:  (Founders Grove, Humboldt Redwoods State Park pamphlet, text by Ron Jones, drawings and layout by Larry Eifert)

Continuing on that same day, at Leggett, we turned off of Highway 101 onto the ever winding Highway 1 towards the West Coast again.  After sending a personal message via Facebook to our friend Anthony B, he graciously sent us a list of things he recommended we should check out and suggested we follow the Highway 1 scenic route.  (Thank you Anthony)  It was getting dark and our desire to find a place for the night encouraged us to take a spot at the Westport Beach RV Park and Campground, Westport Beach, CA.  The lady there was very nice and gave us $10 off for being a later “walk-in” which we really appreciated as the rates are higher along this stretch of coastline.  This was the most we have paid for a spot yet at $46 for the night (regular $56) with full hookups but right near the beach.  Beautiful place, but a bit pricy and they charge another $8 for firewood if you want to have a fire.

The setting sun, Westport Beach, CA

In the morning, (Thursday, November 3) we went for a nice morning stroll along the beach and sat with our coffees to watch the waves hit the shore before hitting the road again.

Remember that Sneaker Wave I mentioned earlier?  Before we left the RV Park, a gentleman walking by said, “Did you feel that earthquake last night?, 3.6 on the Richter Scale.”  We told him that it probably was because of the Sneaker Wave we had been warned about and later as we thought about it, the trailer had seemed to move in the night.  I just thought Dan had been up and was moving the trailer a bit as he got back into bed! But apparently that was not the case!

The day was a beautiful, sunny one.  Finally we were getting the weather that we were looking for!  Highway 1 California coastline lends itself to scenic ocean views and quaint seaside towns.  Mendocino is one of these beautifully, quaint seaside towns with cute little shops and restaurants.  As it was lunch time, we decided our first stop in town was to eat something.  We found a cool little bakery style cafe, ‘Goodlife Cafe’, that seemed to be a very popular place to eat serving healthier dishes such as variety of salads, burritos, sandwiches, and baked items, to name a few.  Very delicious.  I took some time to look in the various little shops in town while Dan was looking after emails and messages by picking up the local Wifi and cell reception.  The Mendocino Country Store located at 10481 Lansing Street in Mendocino is one store I went into where I met owner Michael Gordon.  Michael’s store carries a variety of unique gift ideas and boasts a country flare complete with country music lending to it’s country ambiance.
Website:  www.mendocinocountrystore.com

Panoramic of waterfront cliff area, Mendocino, CA

The original main street gives way to beautiful ocean views and captivates that small old town feeling.  Everywhere you look in this little town, there are old water towers that used to be used to collect the rainwater that was the town’s main freshwater source.  Buildings are original and upon speaking with a local resident, we were told that the entire town is ‘a historic development and architecturally protected’.  We spent a few hours of our day here taking in the beautiful town.  This is a must stop if you are journeying out this way.

Original Main Street, Mendocino, CA

The day was getting away on us, so we decided to find a place to park for the night again.  This trek took us down the road past Sea Ranch and Gualala to the Salt Point State Park area.  We found a beautiful campsite.  In promise and as we have been sworn to secrecy to not give out the location by the regular folks that go there, we can not tell you the specific name of the camp spot.  But, it was absolutely beautiful.  We camped right near the ocean again, no utilities, $30 a night.  We met a group of wonderful people here and we liked them and the surroundings so much we decided to stay for three nights.

Sunset from our top secret location! lol

Some shots from our hike...

Shout out to our new friends, Stephanie, Gus, Heather, Kurt, Natalie, Dave, and Jim.  Three different parties of people plus us and we got along like we have always been friends!  Thanks to all of you for making this leg of our journey so remarkably fun, for all of your advice and insight as to what to see and do in our travels, and for all of your RVing tips!  We sincerely hope that one day our paths will cross again.

For the next couple of days, (Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5) we had a great time with our new friends, visiting and exchanging information, and really feeling a sense of belonging somewhere for the first time since our trip started.  We went hiking along the ocean and took a look at Stump Beach.  We saw the local handful of deer and a their very handsome stag grazing in the nearby field.  Driving back to Gualala on Saturday, we went to a little book store and bought a road atlas book of USA, Canada, and Mexico.  As sometimes it is difficult to get wifi and get the internet for research, we felt a paper map would be a great thing to have!  We stopped at one of the two local grocery stores for a few food items (fairly expensive here).  It was nice to take a couple of days to just relax and enjoy the fresh ocean air surroundings.

Ahhh...another glorious sunset!

Sunday, November 6 we hooked up and headed back on Highway 1 South towards San Francisco.  Our first stop on this day was at Jenner.  We had a bite to eat at Cafe Aquatica located along the highway and an inlet of water that is calm enough for kayaking.  A musician was set up alongside the cafe and people were sitting outside eating and enjoying the views and music.  Again, another beautiful sunny day!

We continued to Olema passing through Point Reyes Station and Stinson Beach.  Olema Campground would be our final stop and overnight for the day.  The campground was very lovely and it had full hookups and laundry.  (It has been my goal to do our laundry every Sunday)  We went to sleep that night thinking about what it was going to be like to pull our trailer over the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco and into major traffic.  We knew there would be challenges to come in our next leg of the tour…

Stay tuned, next - Part 2 of California

On a Personal Note 1

Traveling like this has been a dream of mine for many years.  I felt that the freedom of doing whatever I wanted when I wanted would be amazing and it is, but HOME is definitely where the heart is and thankfully I have someone with me I love very much.  This makes being away from other family and friends more tolerable, but the fact is that if I could take all my family and friends with me where ever I go, or end up, would be the ultimate for me.  

Just over a month into our journey and Canada continues to rank as our #1 country in the world.  If it weren’t for the nasty cold and long winters it would be perfect for me.  I am grateful to be Canadian.  I am grateful for the life I have in Canada and for the freedom I have.  Now, if someone could just point me in the direction of the “winter warm spot” in Canada especially for January and February, it would be most appreciated!  Where is Canada's tropical island?

Some of you who know Dan and I as a couple will also know that when we have a problem or issue with the other person, they know about it pretty quickly and sometimes in a most vocal way!  Yes, we have our little tiffs and squabbles, but like our sons say, “if you wait five minutes, they’ll be done, things solved, and they’ll move on to the next thing…”  They get it. Try traveling and living in close quarters with your loved one for months 24/7.  Actually, for us, the close living quarters is not the difficult part, we get along just fine and enjoy our tiny home, BUT when it comes to finding our way around, driving with an RV attached to the truck and the traffic is thick, it becomes very stressful and yes, sometimes there is yelling, BUT about one week into the trip l started playing the SPA channel on Sirius to add a “Zen” ambience to the driving experience.  This helps immensely with this stress and Dan will tune into the the music even putting his fingers together jokingly with an “ohm”.  That which does not kill you makes you stronger, and we are getting stronger, wiser, and I am not white knuckling the entire trip…lol.

The most difficult thing we have encountered overall is planning the trip.  Not because we can not agree on where we are going, but because we have no idea where we should go.  We had an idea of direction that we wanted to travel, but It’s thanks to our friends’ suggestions and ideas of what to see that has gotten us this far!  We have become so dependent on the internet to access information, that when we can not do research via the internet we are scattering to figure out what campground we should go to next and cost is a big issue with me.  I do not want to pay $60 or more a night and unfortunately unless you drive to the middle of nowhere (no internet) that is what you will be paying here in California anyway.  We drove by a sign for Motel 6 and it said $60 for the night!  We are pulling our home (RV) around, driving miles and miles, burning up fuel, and then paying almost as much or more to park our RV somewhere for the night!  We still prefer having our own bed to sleep in and a kitchen though. But the cost to park your trailer in a spot for the night is becoming outrageous when at one time it was the best way to have an affordable vacation especially for families.

What we do know about ourselves so far is:  We love to travel to new places to see and learn new things. Dan loves to drive (but I always knew that about him).  Not to be negative, but it may be easier to tell you what we do not like thus far.  We do not like cities or crowds of people.  We do not like the Interstate Highways, the traffic, or the cost of things in California.  We would much rather camp in a bush area rather than side by side with other RVs on concrete.  I do not trust the ocean so it’s not over appealing to me to park right beside it for $50 plus a night, no utilities.  We are people that always have to be doing something.  For the most part, we feel the same way about most things, and we're doing a great job of listening to our guts when we don't feel quite right about an area.  This has been an amazing learning experience and we are just getting started!

Oregon Coast - Heading South

Wednesday, October 26 saw us cross over the giant and very long bridge near the mouth of the Columbia River from Washington State into Astoria, Oregon.  Armed with the Coast Explorer Magazine Visitor Guide Fall 2016 - Winter 2017 we were able to read about some recommended tourist attractions and interesting things to see along the way while learning some history about each stop as well.

From Coast Explorer Magazine, by Gary Hayes, Coast Explorer Publisher, “The ocean is different in fall and winter.  Don’t be surprised to see big waves that explosively crash along the shoreline, turn foamy white or leave a spindrift of mist as they roll ashore.” (pg 7) That is definitely how the coast has presented itself to us.  Lots of rain, crashing and foamy waves with endless beaches.

Website:  coastexplorermagazine.com

The Oregon Coast highway stretches an amazing and brilliantly beautiful 363 miles.  There is so much to see and the landscape offers everything from rainforest, beaches, ocean waves and breezes, tide pools, wildlife (especially elk, sea lions, all kinds of birds, deer and whales), sand dunes, lava rock formations, hiking trails, and meadows.

Astoria marks the beginning of our journey down the Oregon Coast.  Strategically placed near the mouth of the Columbia River, it is the first commercial hub of the West Coast and oldest US settlement west of the Rocky Mountains.  (Coast Explorer Magazine, Visitor Guide Fall 2016 - Winter 2017, pg 13).  It was a very busy place humming with traffic and ships, making its spectacular debut to us when we arrived.

We continued down the highway and stopped at a town called Ecola near Ecola State Park.  The reason for stopping?; to see Haystack Rock and Cannon Beach.  We parked the truck and trailer in visitor parking and walked out to the ocean.  The closer we got, the windier.  When we got out to the beach, the wind was howling and it was blowing hard.  Sand flying towards us and the whole time I was wondering how it didn’t lift Piper’s tiny body off the ground.  Piper seemed to have a lot of fun running through the wind and even jumping and trying to catch the sand in her mouth. (whoops)  She’s a quick learner though realizing that is not a good idea, but she did try it twice! LOL  Sometimes we would carry her to give her a break from the sand blowing into her eyes.  After battling with the wind and blowing sand, even walking backwards at times, we reached our destination in front of Haystack Rock.  There it was, standing in all its grace and glory.  Absolutely beautiful and majestic and worth every step to get close to it.

The rest of the day lent itself to a whole lot of driving as we had a goal to get to McMinnville which is further inland from Highway 101 to Highway 22 and then Highway 18 East.  During this part of the drive, the sun was setting and it was getting quite dark.  I was starting to think about wildlife and how we hadn’t seen any and right at that moment Dan and I both saw elk ahead of us crossing the road.  Four of them.  Thankfully, Dan saw them and slowed right down.  He then looked at me and said, “Funny, I was just thinking about how we haven’t seen any wildlife and boom!”  I said to him, “Me too!”.

We arrived at Spirit Mountain Casino, Grande Ronde and parked for the night.  Again, this is an amazing and great priviledge to be able to park for free (you have to sign up for a Coyote Membership here (free) and you can only stay 72 consecutive hours though.  If you want to stay longer, they need to see that you are gambling at least $200 a day in the casino.  This was a great stop as it had water and dump available too.

The next day (Thursday, October 27) we drove to Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, McMinnville.  This museum  was a must see for us. (Thank you Jim for the recommendation)  The Spruce Goose, known as the world’s largest airplane at its time, built by Howard Hughes and Henry Kaiser (1942) is now housed at Evergreen.  In the past it was housed in a marina in the San Diego area.  It was a definite highlight for both of us.  We also had opportunity to sit in the cockpit exactly where Howard Hughes piloted high speed water taxis with this new prototype (the Spruce Goose) made almost entirely of wood.  On the last high speed taxi, Hughes surprised the crowd of spectators by lowering the flaps which allowed the Spruce Goose to fly just above the water for a short time and then returned the flaps and brought the aircraft back to the water.  This was the proof they needed to see that this plane built of wood could fly, making history!  The plan was to have three of these planes to help take men and supplies into or near the front lines believing that if a plane could carry the supplies and men, land on the water and then dock it would be more successful at surviving the journey as many ships had been blown up before reaching their destination.  Shortly after Hughes demonstration of the Spruce Goose, the war ended and the project was kiboshed.  That was to be the one and only time the Spruce Goose ever flew.

Wing of the Spruce Goose

Inside Spruce Goose looking down into tail

Leonardo Decaprio also sat in the pilot’s seat for some of his scenes in the movie “Aviator”.  Aviator was partly filmed using a model version of the Spruce Goose and miniature models of the hangar in which it was built.  By using a green screen behind the actors, they could place the models of the hangar, plane parts, planes, etc. on the screen and then by putting the actors and sets together, it looked like the actors were actually standing beside life size objects.

The next few photos below show the model set of the Spruce Goose for the Aviator movie that was on display at the museum.

There was a little park beside the parking lot where we were able to take Piper for some exercise and a much needed outing after waiting for us in the trailer that we parked in the parking lot nearby.

After spending a fabulous day at the museum , meeting my new friend Vivian (a volunteer for many years at the museum whom I immediately connected with) and taking in all the planes, space shuttle, rockets and capsules, we headed back to spend another night at the Spirit Mountain Casino.  Before returning to the casino, we stopped at a barn selling fresh veggies and homemade peanut brittle, honey, etc. and stocked up on fresh organic apples and pears, among a few other goodies.

Friday, October 28 we traveled back to the west coast and back onto Highway 101 South.  The scenery was ever changing and absolutely gorgeous.  I tried to capture a few shots of the beautiful scenery as we passed by.  We stopped at Depoe Bay to see if we could see whales from the shore.  The Coast Explorer Magazine said it was possible to see whales from shore in this area.  And sure enough, we did!  We saw whales just off the shore using our binoculars.  We could see them come up for air and sometimes roll in the water.

Depoe Bay

Dan, whale watching with binoculars

It was actually a very beautiful day.  We seem to luck out with our days.  The days that we want to hike and check things out, the sun seems to shine for us, at least for the time we need to do the exploring we want to do.  We continued down the road and stopped at Otter Rock to see the Devil’s Punchbowl, a natural sandstone geological formation.  It is thought that this was once a sea cave whose roof has collapsed.  (Coast Explorer Magazine, Visitor Guide Fall 2016 - Winter 2017, pg 27-28)

A little further down the road on Highway 101 South, we pulled in to see Devils Churn in the Siuslaw National Forest.  What started years and years ago as a tiny fracture has been endlessly beaten and pounded by the waves and has created a chasm.  The sound is loud and harsh as the sea waves hit and splash in the chasm below exhibiting its amazing power.

Devil's Churn

We made many short stops along the way and enjoyed taking in the fresh ocean air and the beautiful scenery.  Cool tunnels, winding roads, construction zones, traffic, unexpected surprises like surfers along the journey make driving the 101 all that more spectacular.

Devil's Churn

Enjoying the beauty at Devil's Churn

Passing through beautiful North Bend led us into Coos Bay over another really cool looking bridge.  While crossing over the Coos Bay Bridge, over to my side of the truck we could see another bridge that was opened to allow ships to sail through.  Coos Bay is a bigger city that offers many amenities, but we didn’t stop here.  It is always our goal to stay out of busy places when possible especially while pulling the trailer.

No better place to stop on a Friday night than the Three Rivers Casino in Florence.  This was just for an overnighter (free) and then the next morning we were on our way again.  Florence is about halfway down the coastline of Oregon.

On Saturday, October 29, Sunset Bay State Park was our first stop.  The sun was shining and this was the calmest we had seen the ocean in all the days we have traveled alongside it.  There were people out on paddle boards in this area.  There was a lighthouse on the far North side.  We didn’t walk to it, but later further down the highway we were able to grab a glimpse of it.

Paddle boarders in Sunset Bay

Panoramic shot of Sunset Bay

Taking a little scenic route out to Cape Arago State Park proved to be a really exciting part of the day.  The area was beautiful with a few walking trails.  Following one trail to a spot North of the parking lot led us to barking sea lions on the rocks below.  There were quite a few of them and what an exciting thing to see them so close in their natural environment!

Sea Lions at Cape Arago

A walk to the other side of the Cape took us to beautiful scenery, but also we stumbled upon a lady that claimed she saw a whale out in the bay.  Dan was armed with the binoculars and sure enough he also saw the whale!  It is so amazing what you can learn and discover in nature.

Before we left this area, we had lunch and enjoyed listening to the waves crashing on the rocks below us.  And yes, the sun was still shining!

We continued on to Port Orford and found a beautiful RV park called Port Orford RV Village (located at 2855 Port Orford Loop Road, 541-332-1041, www.portorfordrv.com).  Rates here are very decent and offer full hook-ups, picnic tables, coin-op laundry (excellent machines), dump station, pet friendly, and many other amenities.  They have a monthly potluck as well, which Dan and I showed up for right on time!  As soon as we pulled in and got our spot, Cindy, (owner) told us to come to the potluck!  There was lots of food and the people were very nice.  Cindy was extremely knowledgeable with the area and while there wasn’t a whole lot to do there, she pointed out the highlights of the area. (Thank you Cindy)  We decided to stay for two nights here.

We were very grateful for and really enjoyed the potluck and social of other people.  The RV park was immaculately kept and clean.

Sunday, October 30 we woke up to pouring rain.  It was raining hard and everything was saturated.  We took our time and enjoyed the off traveling day for what it was.  Time to relax a little and do the laundry!  In the afternoon, we ventured out to look at the town and some of the sights that Cindy recommended.  Port Orford is the oldest town on the Oregon Coast according to their town pamphlet.  There is a natural harbour with a dolly dock.  The dolly dock houses cranes that lift boats in and out of the water.  Apparently there are only two dolly docks in the United States and a total of six known in the world (Port Orford pamphlet).

Because it was still pouring rain, we contemplated not taking a walk, but all of a sudden we had a break in the weather as we sat in the truck outside of the Coast Guard Museum at the Port Orford Heads State Park.  We quickly entered the museum as it was closing in ten minutes.  We had a very quick look around and a little bit of a tour from the fellow working there.

Coast Guard Museum, Port Orford

From this area, with the rain still ceasing, we took a walk on the trails that lead out to the cliffs at the ocean’s edge.  Beautiful trails and scenery and great exercise for all of us!  Near the end of the walk, the rain started again, but we were so pleased to have made the most out of the day!

That evening, for dinner, Cindy had recommended the Crazy Norwegian’s Fish & Chips Restaurant as we were hoping to have some good fish and chips or other seafood.  For anyone that knows me, my Grandpa was Norwegian heritage although Canadian born.  Both of his parents came from Norway and as I was growing up, my Grandpa taught me a lot of Norwegian traditions and words.  He didn’t learn English until he went to school when he was six years old.  My Mom always made a few of the old Norwegian favourites at Christmas like lefsa, rosettes, lutefiske (which only Grandpa would eat - lol!), among others.  (Lutefiske smells like stinky fish and it is chewy like rubber!)

The fish and chips at the Crazy Norwegian’s were excellent.  Dan and I shared an order as there were six pieces of fish!  We shared a delicious salad to start, Dan had a Rogue Dead Guy Ale which he really enjoyed, and we finished with an extremely delicious pear crisp cobbler a la mode. What a wonderful way to end our visit to Port Orford.

Monday, October 31st!
Today, we focused on getting into California.  We were still searching for hotter weather thus we kept pushing forward and tried to stop as much as possible to see as much as possible in the short time we allowed ourselves.  We drove past beautiful Nesika Beach, crossed the Rogue River, passed Gold Beach, and then we got out for a walk at Brookings.  This was our last stop before crossing into California.  California, here we come!

Bridge crossing the Rogue River

Brookings area

Brookings area