Up the West Coast

Cal-i-for-nia here we come. After about three weeks in the desert, we arrived in California. I-80 is a tough interstate. The mountains we climbed were tall enough to have snow (it was snowing as we drove across.) The road was rough from trucks using chains to drive the pass. We were coming across just a day before a big storm was to hit the area. The entire trip on I-80 was very windy, but the higher elevations were really “exciting”. The weather was enough to make us change our original route plans. We had planned to get off of the interstate, but changed our minds.

We drove to a quiet campground near Upper Lake California. We arrived early in the day (about 1 pm) and just took an afternoon to read and recharge our batteries.

We moved to Trinidad the next day. (California, not the Caribbean) Trinidad is the entry point for the Redwoods National Park. We stopped at the Park information center. We took a nice drive through the park. All along our drive we saw the roughness of the Pacific Ocean with it’s large beaches and rocky coastlines. It is a beautiful sight.

Magnificent Redwoods


Sally is dwarfed by the redwood stump

We moved on into Oregon with our first stop in Coos Bay. We stayed there three days to take advantage of the National Wildlife Refuges. We had been contacted by two of the coast refuges about working this summer. We actually got to meet one of our contacts while we out looking at the wildlife. We also took advantage of our stop to eat at a couple of seafood restaurants.

Driving the coast has its challenges. We drove Highway 101 from Trinidad, south of Eureka, CA, into Oregon. It is a drive with major changes in elevations - we drove through snow at about 1000 feet in elevation and rain and wind near 10 feet in elevation. The coastal road is very winding and narrow in many places. Some places it looks like the redwoods are right on the shoulder. It took nearly 6 hours to travel the 250 miles.

Snow on the road

Coos Bay is where the Redwood Country of California and Oregon gives way to the Oregon Dunes. The dunes are MUCH larger than what you may expect. They look more like hills!

We drove from Coos Bay to Netarts, Oregon. The drive was once again exciting with the wind, rain and narrow roads. We have seen a lot of wet weather since getting into the coastal states. Lots of beautiful scenery, lots of good chowder, and lots of soup weather in April!

Netarts is very close to Tillamook, which is the home of Tillamook cheese. On the way north the next morning, we stopped to take a quick tour of the cheese factory and sample a bit of the cheese.

Making cheese in Tillamook

But after our arrival at Long Beach, Washington, the weather has taken a good turn. The boundary between Washington & Oregon is the Columbia River -and it is huge! The bridge from Astoria, OR, and Washington is not as long as the Ponchartrain bridge, but it is MUCH taller. Once we crossed, we stopped at Dismal Nitch to try to get some Washington information, but we were disappointed at the rest area, no kiosks. Dismal Nitch is where Lewis & Clark spent a week during an early November snow storm on their way to the beach. Their next stop was Disappointment Cape, but we drove right past. Finally we arrived in Long Beach - where Lewis & Clark found their goal. The Pacific Ocean, which they decided is not really as peaceful as the name suggests. But we enjoyed walking to the beach and dipping our feet in the water. Then we toured Marsh's Free Museum (you have to see the 2-headed calf and Jake, the Alligator Man).



Tom in the Pacific


The Museum

We did get a break in the weather, and a break from the road. It has been a nice stay.

Tomorrow we head to the May worksite at Penrose Point State Park on the Puget Sound west of Tacoma.