Point Reyes National Seashore

Today we decided to drive west about 30 miles to the Point Reyes National Seashore. We soon left the town of Novato behind us. Entering the rural area the terrain was rolling hills covered with dry grass and dotted with trees. This area has a lot of smaller family type dairies. We stopped at a cheese factory that specialises in Brie cheese. They told us that they use only milk from Jersey cows because it has a higher butterfat content. Upon reaching the quaint little coastal town called Point Reyes Station we turned north on Hi way 1. At the point Reyes visitor center we enjoyed the sandwiches and garlic stuffed olives that we had purchased at the cheese factory. On the 20 mile trip on out to Point Reyes Light House we passed many historic farms that were established in the 1850s. The majority of them seemed to be dairies with large herds of Holstein cows. Since this is all national park service land I assume that they are leased to local farmers. Point Reyes National seashore covers 70000 acres on a peninsula that juts 10 miles out into the ocean. It is mostly grass covered treeless rolling hills. Once we reached the the parking area it was a .4 mile hike up the hill to the light house area. After hiking up the hill I chose not to traverse the 330 steps down and back up from there to the light house. It is very rocky at the point high above the light house. The few trees there all seem to grow & lean inland due to the windy conditions (up to 100 MPH) on this high point.

Novato, CA

This morning we left Fortuna, CA about 10AM heading south on US 101 through the Humbolt Redwoods SP. This route was mostly 4 lane but every once in a while you would hit a strip of 2 lane road where we were winding through giant redwoods that were passing within a couple of feet of the motor home. We gradually moved inland away from the ocean. This area was sparsely populated and most of the road side attractions were closed. Nearing Legget the trees became smaller and grassy meadows began to line the roadside. Moving on south into the Napa valley we saw many grape vineyards as well as cattle and much more traffic. We stopped at Novato about 3PM and will stay here until Fri morning when we will be able to check into Thousand Trails at Morgan Hill. Even though it need trimmed I thought the topiary trimmed like an RV was pretty neat.

Fortuna, CA

This morning after about 30 miles on the road driving past more rocky ocean vistas and thru many more tree covered coastal mountains we left the beautiful Oregon Pacific coast. Almost immediately after passing through the California check point we started seeing small fields of irrigated crops. I saw something about this also being an area where they grow lots of lilies. About 20 miles into Calif we passed through Crescent City and then it was into the coastal mountains covered with huge Redwood trees. At Klamath we stopped at The Trees of Mystery. Here they offered a gondola ride up into the Redwoods witch we didn't take and have a very extensive collection of Indian artifacts and Indian woven bowls, baskets etc. They also had these huge concrete statues of Paul Bunion and Babe the Blue Ox outside of the building. Passing through Acata and nearing Eureka it became notable more populated with much more traffic. Hi way 101 turned into four lanes and travel speed picked up dramatically. We are at the River Walk RV Park in Fortuna tonight enjoying the 15 degree warmer temps than we have been having the last couple of weeks.

Gold Beach, OR

This morning we left Florence around 9:30 headed south on US 101 traveling along tree lined hills and curves with the Dunes between us and the ocean so saw very little of the ocean. At Coos Bay we took a 12 mile side trip to see Cape Arago Light House. When we got there it was about a mile across the bay so not accessible. Just about a mile further we came to Simpson Reef and had a wonderful view of the Sea Lions on the rocks between the shore and the reef. Unfortunately the road didn't continue on to US 101 so we had to get turned around and retrace our drive back to Coos Bay. Turning back south on 101 it was more trees gentle curves and hills with no view of the ocean.
About 25 miles on south we passed through the town of Bandon and began seeing cranberry bogs along the hi way. Nearing Port Oxford we began seeing the surf pounding against the rocky shores as we traversed the winding mountainous road. As we entered Gold Beach we crossed the Rouge River on the LL Paterson Memorial Bridge. This bridge built in 1931 was the first in the country to be built with prestressed concrete. After driving only 150 miles we stopped at the Turtle Rock RV Park where Hunter Creek enters the ocean. We spent a little time in town this afternoon at a Myrtle wood shop and at a book store that has over 80,000 books in stock. We missed the turn offs to two light houses that are accessible today so we didn't get to see all of the light houses along the Oregon coast.

Florence, OR

This morning we headed south on US 101 by car after about 30 miles we came upon the Umpqua River Light House. This light house marks the area where the Umpqua River reaches the Ocean. This river is navigable about 30 miles upstream by fairly large vessels. This is a carbon copy of the Heceta Head light house. It is still an active light house and there is a really good museum located here in one of the original light keepers residences. This is in the Oregon Sand Dunes area so it is very sandy here. In 1861 and 1863 floods severely eroded the sandy hill where it was located and it was deemed unsafe. In the winter of 1863 crews very carefully removed the lens and equipment, it then toppled into the ocean in Feb. of 1864. It was not rebuilt until 30 years later when they decided that the traffic up and down the river justified it.

The Oregon sand dunes are along the ocean from here at Florence to about 150 miles further south. They are constantly changing due to the constantly moving sand. About 50% of them are set aside for the use of off road vehicles. We saw hundreds of them using them today. After having a late lunch in a little cafe along the pier in Winchester we spent an hour or so going through the Umpqua river Discovery Center.

Florence, OR

This morning the sound of rain woke me around 5 AM. We have had rain everyday for the last week or more, they say that is normal for Oct. on the Oregon Coast. Temps have been in mid 60's daytime and mid 40s' nights. Mid morning we headed back north by car on US101 to see some of the things that we passed by yesterday. Our first stop was the Heceta Head light house (top photo) about 12 miles north of Florence. It was first illuminated in 1894 and could be seen 21 miles from land.
Moving further north our next stop was Yaquina Bay Light House (lower photo) at the north end of the Yaquina Bay Bay Bridge at Newport. This is the second oldest standing light house on the Oregon Coast. It was in service only from 1871 to 1874 when it was replaced by the Yaquina Head light house 3 miles up the coast. It is the only wooden light house on the Oregon Coast. It has been restored and is maintained by friends of Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. Moving on north across Newport we saw the Yaquina Head Light house (middle photo) that was first illuminated in 1873. It could be seen 20 miles from the coast compared to the 10 miles of the Yaquina Bay light house that it replaced. It is currently still in service, however it is now illuminated electrically instead of by oil as originally powered. Before leaving Newport we drove through the historic bay area, an area along the Bay that consists of small old store buildings on one side of the street and on the bay side old cannery buildings & piers that are being restored. This is a real tourisy area. We stopped at many scenic views as we moved back south. One of the most impressive was Cape Perpetua Scenic Area where we saw an long narrow area where the surf came up into the rocks known as the Devils Churn. Also in this area we saw Cooks Chasm as well as 100's of sea lions. We also got a very good picture of the Heceta Head Light House from here.

Florence, OR

After nursing a really sore knee for 5 or 6 days we are on the road again. After walking to the Cape Mears Light House on Fri. my right knee became extremely week and sore. Tues I went to the walk in clinic and on Wed. I received a shot of cortisone. Thur. we went to Astoria and walked through the cannery at pier 39 and ate lunch. On the return drive to the motor home we stopped at an antique store and a blown glass shop that Nancy had been wanting to go to. This morning we headed south on US 101 past the rocky coast north of Tillamook and then through the mountain meadows to the south that were full of dairies. From there on we had many beautiful views of the coast with the surf and waves splashing onto the rocky shores.
I believe the surf was much more violent and the waves much higher today than we had seen them earlier this week. Passing on through the towns of Newport, Yachats, Waldport and many other small coastal towns we were in and out of the coastal mountains and rocky shores. What a beautiful drive this was. Tomorrow we plan to drive back north in the car so that we can enjoy some of these areas and light houses.