9/28/10 If the helmet hurts your head then just fix it with Grandpa Wade's hammer. Mark pulled over on the California coast so I could take some pictures and I come back to the motorcycle and he's hammering away on his helmet. A little Styrofoam surgery and we were back on the road and no more red dents on his forehead after almost 8 weeks! The infamous hammer has been our tent stake smasher, helmet fixer and weapon of choice if needed in the campgrounds!
We had left Fort Bragg in the late morning and headed up the rest of Highway 1 on a beautiful day. The marine fog and mist started to set in the further north we got.
9/28/10 We had heard good reports about the Patrick's Point area of Trinidad, CA so after checking out 3 campgrounds settled in at Patrick's Point State Park. We figured we had picked a good place since it was named after our kitty cat! The park was vast in size and thick forested land. The marine air and fog just got thicker as the night wore on as you can tell by the picture I took from our spot. We had a wonderful campsite right across from the trail (200 ft in elevation) down to the beach. Thing was you couldn't see the ocean or hardly the trail! We took note of all the bear postings, the metal locked container at our campsite and I kind of wished I was in a trailer! No bear sightings but while I was heating up soup for dinner there was a mouse or gopher in his hole next to me eating grass and before bed one of the local raccoons sauntered past our picnic table. I don't think I slept real hard that night! When we got up in the morning the only bear I saw was in my dream BUT Rocky the Raccoon decided the motorcycle and trailer was his Winnebago for the night! There were muddy footprints everywhere!
9/29/10 After packing up a damp tent and gear from the marine mist we got to see some redwoods and great landscape on 101 into Oregon. Since the weather was getting more clear and I could see sunshine and the ocean we stopped early and set up camp in Brookings, Oregon. It is right across the CA/OR border. We had spent 13 nights in California with 8 of them in a tent! 
We stayed at Harris Beach State Campground. The campground area is surrounded by trees and we picked a forested area where we had a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean and had lots of privacy. We were down a hidden path and only one other camper next to us. He told us lots of stories about Smith River and gave us some dry pallet board kindling to help get our "wet" firewood started. You'd think at $1 per piece of wood they would sell you dry wood!This picture shows the trail that lead down to an awesome sandy beach with hardly anyone there. It was a little bit of a hike and it was nice to have some energy since our colds are almost gone!
Mr. Larson celebrating being in Oregon! He feels like he's almost home now.... Road fatigue has started to set in a little more so some R & R in the sunshine was good therapy. I sat in my beach chair and caught up on my journal and Mark took a siesta.
Jonathan Livingston decided to join us on the surf! I didn't want the day to end but sunset and dinner called us back to the campsite.
9/30/10 We thought we would stay another night in Brookings since it was so beautiful yesterday but the marine fog set in here about 11 am! I called Stephanie to get a weather forecast off her computer since we didn't have internet access here. It sounded like it was nicer up north so we headed out. Well, the fog got thicker and the mist was like light rain but we ventured on to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park in Reedsport. It was another forested campground with Lake Marie close by and the sand dunes right next to us. Here is the master driver when it comes to backing up our little trailer. With a 900 lb. bike, 300 lbs of trailer and gear and the 2 of us, it can be quite the challenge depending on what site I pick! Mark is such a good sport and just makes it happen!
We took a little ride to explore before reheating up our leftover lunch pizza for dinner! This is the Umpqua Lighthouse-the first one in Oregon history. The ship captains would have needed it tonight with the thick marine fog.
Hiked down to the beach over the sand dunes. As you can see it was a little on the chilly side so the stocking hat and leathers came in handy. We saw a couple dune buggy's braving the weather and it looked like so much fun. Mark wouldn't agree with me when I ask him to take the Harley out on the sand. Go figure!
10/1/10 Getting ready to break down camp in the morning. We decided to leave the coast in search of warmer and drier weather inland after checking out the weather forecast in town. Off we went towards Florence after the "rare" McDonald's breakfast stop! We were tired of granola bars and instant coffee!
10/1/10 We cut across inland for the central area of Orgeon. It was supposed to be in the 70's for a couple more days and not too cold at night. That beat the 50's-60's for the coast! Highway 126 along the Suislaw River was gorgeous even through the fog. We saw more redwoods, cedars and huge pines. There were numerous fishermen out this morning, too.
We took the "scenic byway" McKenzie/Santiam Highway Pass. Another chance for the driver to test his skills at windy, steep graded roads. But the view was SO worth it. Well, at least for me. The leaves had changed colors and were falling, the mountain ranges were picturesque, and the air was warm! One side of the road had 3 Sisters Mountain and the foreground is a huge lava field from an eruption 15oo years ago. We climbed about 5,800 feet to the summit- so much for no more mountain passes!
We thought we were on the big island in Hawaii since there was so much lava rock. It was like being on the moon! Just needed Uncle Scott to bring the mango slushies!
On the other side of the road were views of Mt. Hood (here), Mt. Washington and 3 Fingered Jack. Little did we know that we would be treated to such amazing scenery when we started out the journey today.
10/2/10 We called it quits when we got to Madras, OR. After stopping in Redmond (north of Bend) and getting some groceries we got to this KOA camp. It was a really nice one-especially the owners. We have pastoral views one way and Mt. Hood in the other direction. We even got electricity to charge all the technical components and water right at our site! A luxury the past few days. The icing on the cake was the high 70's-80 degree forecast! After a candlelight dinner of salmon, fresh beets and wild rice we decided we may spend 2 nights and rest up! Hey Barney, the coffee pot also doubles for a vegetable steamer!
Mr. Larson celebrating being in Oregon! He feels like he's almost home now.... Road fatigue has started to set in a little more so some R & R in the sunshine was good therapy. I sat in my beach chair and caught up on my journal and Mark took a siesta.
Jonathan Livingston decided to join us on the surf! I didn't want the day to end but sunset and dinner called us back to the campsite.
9/30/10 We thought we would stay another night in Brookings since it was so beautiful yesterday but the marine fog set in here about 11 am! I called Stephanie to get a weather forecast off her computer since we didn't have internet access here. It sounded like it was nicer up north so we headed out. Well, the fog got thicker and the mist was like light rain but we ventured on to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park in Reedsport. It was another forested campground with Lake Marie close by and the sand dunes right next to us. Here is the master driver when it comes to backing up our little trailer. With a 900 lb. bike, 300 lbs of trailer and gear and the 2 of us, it can be quite the challenge depending on what site I pick! Mark is such a good sport and just makes it happen!
We took a little ride to explore before reheating up our leftover lunch pizza for dinner! This is the Umpqua Lighthouse-the first one in Oregon history. The ship captains would have needed it tonight with the thick marine fog.
Hiked down to the beach over the sand dunes. As you can see it was a little on the chilly side so the stocking hat and leathers came in handy. We saw a couple dune buggy's braving the weather and it looked like so much fun. Mark wouldn't agree with me when I ask him to take the Harley out on the sand. Go figure!
10/1/10 Getting ready to break down camp in the morning. We decided to leave the coast in search of warmer and drier weather inland after checking out the weather forecast in town. Off we went towards Florence after the "rare" McDonald's breakfast stop! We were tired of granola bars and instant coffee!
10/1/10 We cut across inland for the central area of Orgeon. It was supposed to be in the 70's for a couple more days and not too cold at night. That beat the 50's-60's for the coast! Highway 126 along the Suislaw River was gorgeous even through the fog. We saw more redwoods, cedars and huge pines. There were numerous fishermen out this morning, too.
We took the "scenic byway" McKenzie/Santiam Highway Pass. Another chance for the driver to test his skills at windy, steep graded roads. But the view was SO worth it. Well, at least for me. The leaves had changed colors and were falling, the mountain ranges were picturesque, and the air was warm! One side of the road had 3 Sisters Mountain and the foreground is a huge lava field from an eruption 15oo years ago. We climbed about 5,800 feet to the summit- so much for no more mountain passes!
We thought we were on the big island in Hawaii since there was so much lava rock. It was like being on the moon! Just needed Uncle Scott to bring the mango slushies!
On the other side of the road were views of Mt. Hood (here), Mt. Washington and 3 Fingered Jack. Little did we know that we would be treated to such amazing scenery when we started out the journey today.
10/2/10 We called it quits when we got to Madras, OR. After stopping in Redmond (north of Bend) and getting some groceries we got to this KOA camp. It was a really nice one-especially the owners. We have pastoral views one way and Mt. Hood in the other direction. We even got electricity to charge all the technical components and water right at our site! A luxury the past few days. The icing on the cake was the high 70's-80 degree forecast! After a candlelight dinner of salmon, fresh beets and wild rice we decided we may spend 2 nights and rest up! Hey Barney, the coffee pot also doubles for a vegetable steamer!Here we are on our second day here and I'm sitting at the pool catching you up on the blog! We did 5 loads of laundry this morning which included washing the tent and rain tarp! After 19 states, over 8000 miles and lots of dirt, sand, smashed bugs, and campfire smoke the tent needed a once over. It's never smelled so good! We have used it twice as often as we first thought we would. Tonight may be the last camp out! Rain and colder weather are in the forecast in the direction we are heading.
Our plans at this moment are to head northeast tomorrow as far as Pendleton, OR and then to Pullman, WA and spent some time with Ross and Corinna.
Home sounds good but we really don't want our journey to end! Ah, back to reality soon!
Home sounds good but we really don't want our journey to end! Ah, back to reality soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment