Ocean

The road to our forest campsite took us through acres and acres of old-growth redwoods, which – if you haven’t been up close – are heart-stoppingly impressive. I decided to spring for the deluxe patio at Redwood Meadows because this was the point in our trip where we turned back inland and I wanted to celebrate how far we had come. It was wayyy more than I even expected. We had a great vantage point to view the area and were close to all the facilities.

The next day, we decided to go to a roadside attraction called Trees of Mystery. It was supposedly only ten minutes away from us. Well, if you are from the area, you’ll know what we did not know: there is no such thing as ten minutes away to the south of Crescent City (the nearest town), due to massive road work. They are completely ripping apart highway 101 and rebuilding it. Workers shut the highway down four hours a day for uninterrupted work time, and rest of the day they stop traffic in twenty minute intervals to allow one lane to pass. There’s no way around this road, because it’s tribal land to the east, and nothing else to the west but ocean. So, we decided on suffering through what amounted to a one-hour delay to get to the attraction, shutting the engine off, and staring at the Redwoods all around us until our lane got to move. We even had time to pick flowers and raspberries on the side of the road.

We arrived at Trees of Mystery to find a massive Paul Bunyan statue, complete with his pet ox. We got our tickets and walked down the path. Unlike the pared down natural aesthetic of trails in most of the parks we’d already visited, this trail was something along the lines of if Disneyworld carved a path and put up signage and rides along the way. Nonetheless, it was still magnificent to see so many different gargantuan species of trees. The semi-circle of trees that formed “the Cathedral” were interesting and photogenic. After that, there was a suspended path through the canopy, where you can get up close and personal with the tops of the redwoods (and where I suffered through my fear of heights to enjoy the walk with my family.) Everyone (but me) loved it. Afterwards, we stopped for an obligatory photo in front of “The Brotherhood Tree” before taking a gondola to the top of the mountain and look out across the forest towards the ocean.

On the way back we saw a “Candelabra Tree” which had multiple trees growing out of a fallen Redwood. There were a few more fallen trees as well. The last part of the walk were a number of carvings depicting the “life” of Paul Bunyan starting with really freaky baby images and moving on from there.

We stayed until nearly four and then headed home, only to find out that we couldn’t pass through Route 101 until 7. It was entirely shut down for hours. Matthew declared that he had to get an In N Out burger before we left California, so we decided to head south to get some in Eureka. It was over an hour away, but what else did we have to do? So, we hit the road and traveled through some beautiful valleys full of streams and grazing elk, along with periodic small towns.

On the way back, we took our last visit to a Pacific Coast beach. This one was full of black, volcanic sand and was absolutely stunning. As was the case with every beach we stopped at over the last few days, there were very few other tourists to contend with, and the temperatures were cool and windy. When we all had our fill, we went home and had a quiet night amid the Redwoods.

The morning we left for the Oregon coast, Chris had some meetings scheduled mid-morning. So, about an hour from Port Angeles, we found a parking lot with five bars of cell service for him and did some shopping and ate lunch. Matthew had wanted some baskets to store things in his bunk and we found them in a Ross store. Plus, everyone needed to use restrooms that wouldn’t require a sewer dump site visit.

When business (of all types) was done, we set off on our drive. This was one of the prettiest drives we took, skirting Pacific Northwest rainforest for hours with the lovely Hood Canal at our left. By the way, Washington, thanks for the hilarious names, like Dismal Nitch and Cape Disappointment. In the evening, the Pacific Ocean was at our right, stretching away to the misty horizon from our breathtaking cliffside route. Astoria was the first major town in Oregon to greet us. I only had time to snap pictures from the car as we were running a bit late to get to our campsite, so I’m sorry for the quality. If you’re fans of the movie “The Goonies” you’ll recognize this town, since a lot of the shots in the movie were filmed there.

When we got to our campsite that evening, we were excited to spend time around the fire with my cousin and his wife, who drove down from Washington to be at our campsite and hang out with us. We had only gotten a night to see them on the Fourth of July so this was an extra treat.

The next day, we filled a prescription in a nearby town. You have to love the convenience of having national pharmacy chains with computer systems that hold your recurring prescriptions that you can fill anywhere. Pumping gas in Newport, we turned around and there was a sign indicating that the road behind us was the same Route 20 that passes close to where we live in Massachusetts!

Then we started to pick our way down the coastline south of our homebase of Waldport. We started by purchasing an Oregon Coast parking pass that covers national and state-run parking lots for the entire time we’d be there. Then we hiked down Devil’s Churn and the kids got their first feel of the Pacific ever. Yep. They’ve never touched the Pacific Ocean.

We spent the day exploring small towns like Yachats and stopping at beaches to hike or just take time to rest. It’s amazing how different one beach can be from another. Close to sunset, we found ourselves at a wide sandy beach that we had almost entirely to ourselves.

Our second day in Waldport was more coastal exploration for us. We met up with my cousin and his wife, who helped show Matthew how to fly a really cool kite, and then afterwards, we sought out tidal pools to explore for sea-life. Our dog, Cee Cee, was a bit confused by all the water that she couldn’t drink, but enthused by getting wet. On the way back, we stopped to do the touristy gift shopping and ice cream eating in Yachats. We instantly loved that quirky and quaint little town. That evening, after dinner, Matthew and I took a walk across the Waldport bridge and spent time watching all the seals that lazed their day away on the sandbar beneath.

Our last day, we didn’t have a long drive, so we took our time driving down the coast. We grabbed coffee in Yachats at a micro-batch coffee roaster, Green Salmon Coffee, which took a good forty-five minutes due to the line. However, we were at our leisure and it was a cute little coffee house, so it was fine by us. As the drive progressed, we left the craggy cliffs of the central and northern coast and shifted into dune topography. ATV and ORV rental businesses abounded. I’d like to point out that dunes are one of those things that seem like fun when you’re standing at the bottom of them and they are extremely photogenic. However, after climbing to the top you really have to consider if you want to go down the other side – and necessitate another climb – or just stay there and enjoy the scenery while your kids run down and up like it’s no problem. (Spoiler alert: I chose staying put.) By the end of the drive to California, the dunes disappeared and the scenery turned rocky again.