Bandon, OR to Lincoln City, OR

Outside the Laundromat

4/29

Bandon, OR to Lincoln City, OR

Today was laundry day. After hurriedly packing the car, we drove to the local Laundromat in Bandon. While drying our loads of laundry, a bedraggled man with a long board and large backpack entered the ‘mat’. He was soaked to the bone and talking to his girlfriend (or wife, I’m not sure) on the phone about how he had spent the last night camping in the rain and was pretty sure he had lost his charger to his phone. As he unpacked his backpack, I noticed that he seemed packed for a trek. His name is Ruben Duran, and he and his brother are long boarding across America to New York to raise money for the No Kid Hungry Campaign. This is their website, feel free to check them out on Facebook as well, as they continue to post progress pictures and status updates. After talking to Ruben for awhile we left him drying his clothes and set out north.

Lunar Snowscape

We took a break at Cummins Creek, where a lovely forest stood atop jutting cliffs. The trees here all grow back into the hillside, the wind effecting their growth so much that they grow away from the light. Some look like lean-tos, the angle of their trunks going from straight to a 45 degree angle.  

One of my favorite stops today was at Cape Perpetua. Just the name to me seems epic and ominous. This area lives up to its name; it is in a perpetual state of motion and ferocity. One of the features of Cape Perpetua is called The Spouting Horn or Thor’s Well where the
 ocean meets this black, volcanic rock at various angles and water shoots 30 feet into the air in a massive wave. Thor’s Well has been called the Pacific Gate to the Underworld, though I’d think they are mixing Norse and Greek mythology there. In any case, when the tide is right, you get an effect like this. I was not that lucky, and left without a shot of the massive fountain.

Crow over Devil's Churn

A different feature, called the Devil’s Churn, is a long narrow canyon in the same black rock that extends into the cliff about 700 yards, slowing narrowing as it goes. Here the water continuously moves and churns as waves inundate the rocks.

Another great town that we stopped in was Florence, OR. This town, another fishing town on a bay, has a great bridge into the town. Most of the bridges that we have crossed have beautiful art deco features; capped towers on all four corners, steel girders with small embellishments, overall very graceful.

Cape Perpetua

Our evening ended in Lincoln City, were we found an amazing view from our hotel balcony. As the misty rain rolled in, we watched in the relative comfort of three walls and a roof. Seagulls played in the stream that dead ended into the ocean as the sun set dramatically over clouds.

Trinidad, CA to Bandon, OR

Orick, CA

4/28

Trinidad, CA to Bandon, OR

I hate packing the car. If I had it my way, I would leave everything in and run back and forth. But enough about me…We left Trinidad without eating breakfast because we could not find a place that served real food, just bean sprouts and tofu…not that I have anything against that, just not for breakfast.

We wound up in Orick, CA at a small diner straight out of the 70’s called the Palms Café. This place looked like it had not been touched by time; wood veneer on the countertops, an AMI jukebox in the corner blaring country music, and homemade pies in the cooler (Yes we had some!!). Just past Orick is the beginning of Redwood National Park. We took several detours, hoping to catch a glimpse of elk or deer, but had no such luck. We did get to see more majestic trees as we wound through the shadows overhanging the road.

Klamath River Overlook

Blowing Sand

We also stopped at the Klamath River overlook. From here if you are lucky, you can see whales migrating to their summer breeding grounds in Mexico. We were not that lucky but we did get to see some amazing vistas. Being up on the side of a mountain really puts into perspective how small we really are.

I think our favorite part of today was actually leaving California in our dust. I was very happy to see that Oregon sign. One beach that we stopped at was called Whales Head beach. The wind was so strong; it was picking up the sand and blowing it in waves down the beach. As waves would break, the tops of the whitecaps would blow back like long hair. The waves of sand and the waves of water met at the waters edge. I wish I could have photographed or somehow captured the raw energy that was exhibited to us. Everything that I took doesn’t even come close to the experience of sand whipping around my face as I try to capture that essence.

Fun with reflections!

 After walking back to the car and shaking sand out of our jackets, we were on the road again. The Oregon coast is much wilder than the California coast. The rocks jut abruptly into the ocean like knives and the wind blown pine trees atop them huddle together like stragglers of a herd. The ocean peeks in between the large pine trees that line the 101, and sometimes we catch a glimpse of the distant vista. Then, over a hill, a long flat beach approaches and we can see for miles.

We stopped for a break in the action at a book store in Gold Beach. Our original plan was to stop there for the night, but we wanted to keep going. We ended up in Bandon, a small town on the coast, full of elderly people and charm. All the shops were closed by the time we finished dinner, so we decided to walk up the beach for dessert. What a treat that was!

 

Sunset here is very late, even for May, about 830. This gave us a long twilight and great light. I photographed mussels clinging to rocks with our new macro lens. We made it back to our room by nightfall and lit a fire in the fireplace as the cold ocean air rolled in. Tonight is the first clear night that we have had, and the stars are beautiful. I may be up early to try some night shots. No promises though!

Fort Bragg to Trinidad

4/27

Fort Bragg to Trinidad

I won’t say we got a late start today, but it was afternoon by the time we left Fort Bragg. We spent the morning buying Shawna some new waterproof shoes (that she probably won’t wear anyway…but nonetheless…) as well as a nice warm jacket. We were going to try to get out of California, but that soon proved to be not possible because the end of Highway 1 was very steep and windy. One of our first stops was the Ten Mile State Marine Reserve, a nice beach with dogs and families playing and houses on the cliff. After taking a few pictures and getting nice and cold, we went on up the road. By up, I mean, up a mountain, tight turns and switchbacks, steep mountainsides and cliffs. We said goodbye to Highway 1 at Leggitt where it dead ends into the 101. Before we turned north, however, we made a quick 5 dollar stop at the Drive-Thru Tree. This 6x6 foot hole had been carved in this 300 foot tree in the 1930’s. Since the park was full of people, we got our postcards and got out!

 

Avenue of Giants

Once on Highway 101, we were able to move much faster, four lanes of open road gives confidence. We made several turnoffs to visit the redwoods we were flying by. One such detour was on the Avenue of Giants, highway 254, which meanders around through massive groves of redwoods. These trees are nigh impossible to photograph, even if I had a wider angle lens for my camera. The sheer scale is mind boggling. This is one of those places you truly have to see to believe. After saying goodbye to the toothpicks and Lincoln logs, we had lunch in Miranda at the Avenue Café.

Smile now, Cry later

Since we already were feeling behind for the day, we moved on toward Eureka. Surprisingly, no jokes were made about the name of the city… When we arrived there, we realized that we didn’t want to stay there, it was too crowded and after being in the country for awhile, the last thing we wanted to deal with was people. At about 6pm, we made it to a small town north of Eureka called Trinidad. Trinidad is a typical small northern California town, perched on cliffs overlooking the ocean with a small bay for fishing boats. Our bed for the night was Trinidad Inn, a small 15 room motel in the middle of the forest.

Our photographic adventures took us to the Luffenholtz Point Overlook at sunset. As the sun sets, a large glowing orb in the western sky, it highlights the high outcroppings and islands. These islands used to be the main coastline a long time ago, but water, wind and rain eroded all the soft rock away leaving only these remnants, like silent sentinels of an ancient time. One day, I think, the place where we stood will be like that, and it will look as untouched by humans as the day it was birthed from the earth.

Bodega Bay to Fort Bragg

4/26

Bodega Bay to Fort Bragg

We awoke to the sound of waves and RV’s pulling out. The morning was again misty, and I think that it’s going to be this way all the way up the coast. No dramatic sunsets here. Packing the truck went much easier the second time around, and very quickly we were on the road again. Sonoma Coast is very beautiful, it reminds me of Ireland in many ways; the vibrant greens, grey granite stones.

We stopped at a few places along the way, Arch Rock Beach as well as Goatlandia. It’s a mighty place. As we traveled we kept seeing houses up on the edges of the cliffs that we wish we could live at. High enough that it’s out of the tsunami hazard zone (we passed through 2 such zones), but still close enough to hear and smell the ocean. Why would anyone leave their house?

A wee bit further started climbing up the mountain. We passed through all these tiny towns, such as Elk, Point Arena, and Gualala. We stopped in Gualala to check out a bookstore called Four Eyed Frog, but they didn’t sell postcards and only had new books. Point Arena was our lunch stop for the day, and we went into the Point Arena General Store and had their “world famous sandwiches”. They are nothing to write home about, but they accomplished their purpose.

After what seemed a long time driving, but really was only about 4 ½ hours, we got to Fort Bragg. All the campsites are full for the weekend, so we checked into the Beachcomber Motel. It has a view of the ocean from our back porch, and is very nice. Dinner this evening was at Restaurante Los Gallitos, courtesy of Yelp. The food was very excellent.

Tomorrow, we get to see redwoods, and hopefully Oregon!

San Francisco to Bodega Bay

4/25

San Francisco to Bodega Bay

We left our hotel at about 9am this morning and drove to Pier 39. Pier 39 is a tourist trap full of weird shops and restaurants. There was a shop where you can buy salt water taffy by the pound, another which sold only socks, as well as an Irish gift shop and various restaurants. But they have sea lions sitting on floating platforms in the bay. The males are constantly barking and putting on a show, trying to knock each other off the platforms, like an epic game of king of the hill. They also tend to lay on each other when sunbathing, leading to piles of seals.

The seals were definitely my favorite part of Pier 39, but we left there and headed to visit my Aunt Anne. When we were about 20 minutes from Sacramento, in Davis, I realized I had left my laptop in the hotel room. I called Aunt Anne and expressed my sincerest apologies, as well as promises to visit at a later date, and we turned around and drove another 70 miles back to San Francisco.

After braving traffic yet again, including a pile up on I-80 that had traffic stopped for about an hour, and crazy city traffic, we picked up the laptop and headed out over the Golden Gate Bridge. We decided to walk part of the way along it. You really can’t tell by driving over it how big it is. The columns that hold up the suspension are absolutely huge! Once on the suspension portion, you begin to notice the bridge is swaying back and forth as the wind blows as well as the up and down motion of the hundreds of cars passing. It is not a peaceful experience. The cars streak by on one side at 55 miles an hour, while you look down into the depths on the other. The water is 245 feet below, and you are separated from falling by a 4 foot high metal fence.

Leaving the Golden Gate behind, we headed out highway 101 toward Bodega Bay. After finally leaving the freeway behind at Petaluma, we cut across the rolling hills and farms that make up inland California. The cows looked quite happy, eating grass and dandelions. We were fortunate to arrive in Bodega Bay at 5pm, at Doran County Park, and snagged a campsite next to the Bay. After setting up camp and obtaining firewood, we settled in for a chilly evening.

As night fell I decided to try a couple night photographs with the help of my lovely assistant. After that, it was bedtime.

Diamondbacks and Chinatown

Breakfast messiness

4/24

Diamondbacks and Chinatown

At the ballpark

We were up early today and decided laundry must be done. After a small continental breakfast we moseyed across the street to the Stop-n-Wash coin op. 3 loads and an hour and a half later, we finished, went back to the hotel and showered, preparing for the Diamondbacks game at AT&T Park. Driving to the park was a mistake. It took us 45 minutes to find a place to park and it cost 40 dollars, although it probably would have cost that much for a taxi. However, we managed to get to our seats before the end of the first inning. We had seats on the fifth row on the first base side. The baseball park is really beautiful and we have never been so close to the action before. Several foul balls landed in our area, but none close enough to try to catch. After a pitcher duel into the 8^th inning, several runs were scored, along with lead changes, but in the end the D-backs won in the 10^th inning. It was awesome hearing the loud stadium go silent as the last out was recorded.

Our seats

The Entombment - Rembrandt

Surprisingly our drive back to the hotel was quick and painless. After dropping the car off with valet, we started walking to Chinatown. Along the way we stopped at the Irish Castle Shop were we met the lovely shop owner, Orla O’Malley aka Granny. She regaled us with tales of Ireland and her Native American husband. She said that I could pass for an undercover cop, with my backwards cap. She wished us many blessings and told us that we were going to have a girl.

After leaving her shop, we were walking past a few art galleries and I saw an Albrecht Durer in the window of one of the galleries, Christopher Clark Fine Art.

Chroma - Richard Macdonald

Walking in I discovered that there were over 50 different prints of Durer, Rembrandt, and others, all on display and for sale! If only I had an extra 40 thousand dollars to spend! While Shawna ran interference for me, chatting up the gallery attendant, I was able to surreptitiously snap a few quick shots of these masterpieces. Fantastic lines, darkness, light covered these pages, some from the early 1500’s. There were also some works by Richard Macdonald, a famous sculptor whose pieces were all dancers in motion. One of my favorite pieces by him was a dancer in mid-leap coming, his foot coming out of the stone in which he was carved, as if he had emerged from it.

Hurlingham - James Whistler

With regret, I left the gallery after 20 minutes, but hunger was calling and we had a date at the Utopia Café. The Utopia Café is in Chinatown and they serve the most delicious sesame chicken I’ve ever tasted. It was a small hike to get there but was totally worth it. Afterwards, we strolled down the main drag of Chinatown, Grant Street, stopping at various places just to browse. I found (and now wish I had bought) some of the foam airplanes with plastic propellers that my granddad had used to give us for Christmas.

Sesame Chicken

San Fran at night

It is very interesting to see the changes in the city as you walk. As we walked down Geary Street, back toward our hotel, at first the city appears very opulent, with Chanel and Louis Vitton shops everywhere. But as we continued to head west, the buildings get a little bit more run down and people asking for change increased. I’ll admit, the people that asked for money that were original I had a hard time refusing. Now off to bed. Tomorrow, Sacramento to visit Aunt Anne and then the real part of our trip starts, going up the coast!