Temperature in McMinnville was 103 degrees! A bit too warm for me.
Our first stop in McMinnville was the Evergreen Air Museum but it has no air conditioning and it was warm inside. Lovely museum, very well presented and the famous Spruce Goose is housed inside a huge building. It is unbelievably big; one wonders how it ever got off the ground. There was also an antique car event going on and an air show, so it was a big weekend for McMinnville. We had dinner at the McMinnville Hotel and it was a lovely old hotel and the food was good. Next time I think I’ll stay there, too.
Day Two – McMinnville to Eugene, Ore. We stopped at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge and had a lovely walk, half in the shade of Oregon Oaks, and half in 90 degree sun! I preferred the Oaks. We saw four deer, mama and papa and two cute deerlets. You say that’s not a word…well it should be! It was a long hike up hill but very nice to move after a couple of hours driving. At a large pond we saw American Pelicans, I love pelicans, they just float in the air, and they are so peaceful to watch.
We also stopped at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge. Too hot, no shade to eat lunch, no critters no birds. I got grumpy because we kept driving around and I needed gas and was getting nervous…I was driving…my adventure partner had to comply with my decision! He was patient.
We got gas in Monroe and found a park with shade and the trees were teeming with birds, so we had a delightful lunch, then on the Eugene. Hectic driving in Eugene and it was 98 degrees or more. There were vendor stalls in the park across the street so we wandered through them. A definite hippie crowd, my daughter would fit right in. We found a cute little motel on Pearl, then walked back downtown to find a place for dinner. We had Greek food at Anatolias and it was excellent. Checked my gas mileage and it’s also excellent, 30 miles per gallon (later in the trip I was getting 32 mpg, so it got even better!). I have a 2003 Chevy Malibu. I use cruise control whenever possible, and keep the gauge between 60 and 65 and that really helps.
Day Three – Eugene, Ore. to Crescent City, Calif. Had to do some time on I-5 today, I try to avoid the freeways, but not too bad since it was a Sunday Morning. We drove over four passes and it was lovely, scenic territory but a lot of up and down. Car-skiing I guess; it’ll be in the Olympics soon, I’m sure. (The 2008 summer Olympics were going on during our trip so we missed all that excitement.) Lots of smog? Fire smoke? Haze? Not sure but we got above it at Big Bear River Trail and stopped there for lunch. Over a few more passes, then we were in the Redwoods. Beautiful BIG trees right on the edge of the road. This is how all the roads used to be. It was a trip back to my youth and I felt secure, protected, and breathing in the wonderful vibrant forest smell. I powered down the windows (no need to roll down the windows in this car) and just breathed the clean forest air. We stayed the night in Crescent City, Calif; tomorrow we’re going back to hike in the Redwoods.
Day Four – Crescent City to Fortuna, Calif. We did the Simpson-Reed Grove hike in Jedediah Smith Redwoods Forest http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Jed%20Smith/Jed%20Smith.html and the trees are huge and it’s wonderfully quiet. This forest of ancient trees is full of wisdom and history. It was a spiritual experience, one that’s hard to leave behind. By the river there was a man cleaning up the litter by a lake…as it turned out, we needed him later on! As we hiked out, we took a wrong turn and ended up miles away from the car. Luckily for us, this man had stopped here to pick up litter and he gave us a ride back to the car. He and his wife live in a trailer for free during the summer and in exchange he goes out every day and cleans up litter. A sweet job! Plus he runs a little rescue service for lost souls! We were very lucky he was there, we were a long way from the car and we would not have known which way to go to get back; but we did have a compass so we would have gotten back…. eventually. Next stop, ranger station for a bathroom! Put my bladder muscles to the test that day. 
We stopped at Enderts Beach but it was very foggy. We did see Brown Pelicans and enjoyed the cool ocean spray climbing up the cliff. Next hiking stop was in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_Creek_Redwoods_State_Park .
We saw a sign that said Elk Prairie and we took it. ELK!!! I guess. It used to be a farm and the elk visited it regularly and they still maintain the memory. There were at least 12 bulls right by the road, with a lot of people parked and looking at them. Didn’t seem to bother the elks, or the people, we got on well together. No petting of elk, no goring of people allowed. We hiked the trail that parallels Redwood Creek for two hours. It was lovely. We had some difficulty finding a place to stay. First stop was Arcata, but it was Humbolt University freshman orientation…no rooms. The Best Western called ahead to find us a place and finally got us a room in Fortuna, so we drove more than expected that day. Had dinner in Fortuna at the Elk River Brew Pub, very popular, and packed, and this was a Monday night! We lucked out and got a table immediately and the service was good considering how busy it was. The food was good; I had halibut and a baked potato, yummy.
Day Five – Fortuna to Santa Rosa, Calif.
We had a great breakfast choice and I had a lovely square of carrot/dried cranberry coffee cake at the Best Western in Fortuna. We stopped at Humbolt Redwoods State Park and I discovered a section of the forest that 
was purchased and saved from logging by the General Federation of Women’s Club. I used to belong to a Washington chapter of GFWC and we also have a “Federation Forest” Park on the foothills of Mount Rainier. I didn’t know other federations had parks that they supported; too, I thought we were unique. Check this website if you want to read the story how they saved this portion of the redwood forest from being logged.
was purchased and saved from logging by the General Federation of Women’s Club. I used to belong to a Washington chapter of GFWC and we also have a “Federation Forest” Park on the foothills of Mount Rainier. I didn’t know other federations had parks that they supported; too, I thought we were unique. Check this website if you want to read the story how they saved this portion of the redwood forest from being logged. We hiked the Avenue of Giants for an hour-and-a-half, but it’s not as good a hiking place as Jedediah. My shins were tired from all the walking so it was good that we had to put pedal-to-the-metal (which means “When the accelerator is pushed so far it can’t move any more it hits a metal bar, or the end of the foot well (which is hopefully made of metal).
Drive we did, lots of passes and lots of curves, and we hit some road construction near Laytonville. We were the second car in line so had a 20 minute wait. It was a nice day, sunny but comfortable so a pleasant stop. Then on to Santa Rosa which was quite cool even with the sun out. We had great pizza downtown at Mary’s Pizza. It’s a nice town, I’d like to go back and visit longer.
Day Six – Santa Rosa to Salinas, Calif.
Drive we did, lots of passes and lots of curves, and we hit some road construction near Laytonville. We were the second car in line so had a 20 minute wait. It was a nice day, sunny but comfortable so a pleasant stop. Then on to Santa Rosa which was quite cool even with the sun out. We had great pizza downtown at Mary’s Pizza. It’s a nice town, I’d like to go back and visit longer.
Day Six – Santa Rosa to Salinas, Calif.
My birthday! Our room had a big palm tree right outside our door and in the morning there was a huge walking stick/praying mantis on the threshold of our door. He was lucky we didn’t step on him! It would have been a nice stay except that our phone rang at 4:00 and again at 4:30! What’s up with that! But the praying mantis is a good omen, and we did have a wonderful day. Santa Rosa is wine country and there are grapes fields as far as 
the eye can see. It’s lovely. We stopped in San Rafael to see the courthouse that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1960 and it is magnificent; a work of art. He also did the post office across the street by the lake. We checked out the library and walked around for a bit and got a life bird, a black peewee, so that was a good sign. It was a lovely stopover on a beautiful day and nice to get out of the awful traffic between Santa Rosa and San Rafael. Very bad drivers in California, signals are put on the car for a reason! Hello! Our next adventure was the fog shrouded Golden Gate Bridge and getting through San Francisco. It was not a piece of cake, and we did wind up in the lovely (tongue in cheek) Mission District, not the best place to be in San Francisco.
the eye can see. It’s lovely. We stopped in San Rafael to see the courthouse that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1960 and it is magnificent; a work of art. He also did the post office across the street by the lake. We checked out the library and walked around for a bit and got a life bird, a black peewee, so that was a good sign. It was a lovely stopover on a beautiful day and nice to get out of the awful traffic between Santa Rosa and San Rafael. Very bad drivers in California, signals are put on the car for a reason! Hello! Our next adventure was the fog shrouded Golden Gate Bridge and getting through San Francisco. It was not a piece of cake, and we did wind up in the lovely (tongue in cheek) Mission District, not the best place to be in San Francisco. 
In San Jose there were bail-bonds guys on the street trying to drum up business and they were funny. Not something I’d seen before…bail-bonds guys soliciting on the street. We sat on the steps of a business on a tree-lined street (where we’d parked the car) and ate our left-over dinner from the night before. We got a few stares, but we weren’t there long enough for the police to find us. Then on to Salinas which turned out to be a very difficult town to find your way around in. I stopped to ask a guy for directions but wound up with two guys from different countries trying to tell me how to get there and, in the end, they were both wrong! But I did finally find the motel. We had a horrible dinner though. They even charged me a dollar for my cup of hot water. Not my best birthday dinner ever! The waitress got NO tip, she was rude and insolent. All-in-all a very nice birthday day and next is Hearst Castle! Day Seven – Salinas to San Luis Obispo, Calif.
We had nice drive to San Simeon, beautiful country. At Hearst Castle an injured seagull flew in and took a bite of a young ladies pizza and she threw it in the garbage. When she left I dug it out and gave it to the seagull. I’d rather feed the bird, even if it encourages him, than just throw the food away. He had an injured foot and couldn’t balance very well but I couldn’t let him starve.
We did two tours at Hearst Castle and the guide for tour one was excellent, tour two…less than excellent guide. But, all-in-all, I really enjoyed seeing Hearst’s abode and the view is magnificent. I’m very glad the general public can see it. The tours were all about opulence, nothing really about Mr. Hearst or his family, his business adventures or about the art that he collected other than it was old and expensive. Netflix has two DVD’s about Hearst’s life and about building the Castle. I was very glad I’d watched them before seeing his home. http://www.hearstcastle.com/ .
Day Eight -- San Luis Obispo, California.
I attended a wonderful wedding, got my nails done, did ½ hour of shopping for presents and did my laundry. We had a great time there, did a small hike, and I loved seeing my relatives.
Day Nine – San Luis Obispo to Bakersfield, Calif.
Day Nine – San Luis Obispo to Bakersfield, Calif.
We had a last good-bye to relatives at a local park. There were teenage girls practicing roller derby moves on an old tennis court (I think) and the practice looked brutal! We left SLO and headed to Carrizo Plain National Monument. http://www.natureali.org/carrizo.htm. (This web site show the area during the wet season, we were there during the very dry season! None of this wild life was even remotely apparent.) Very glad I had air conditioning! It’s a lake in the winter and a critical food opportunity for migrating birds, but in the summer it’s a dry, parched, HOT piece of low land. We drove on to Bakersfield with just a stop for our usual picnic lunch at a park in Buttonwillow. There were plants with white tufts on them that looked vaguely familiar. Cotton! I used to live in Alabama where they raised cotton but hadn’t seen it for over 40 years.
Day Ten – Bakersfield to Lone Pine, Calif. We drove to Sequoia National Wilderness and walked the 100 Giant Sequoia’s Trail. http://www.visitkern.com/sequoias.asp. It was a beautiful day, and a lovely time to be in the forest among the very old trees and once again the smell is so powerful and healthy. They have a life expectancy, so when they die there’ll not be anymore old Sequoias because logging is taking all the young trees. We are a very greedy and short-sighted country. We drove all over in the national wilderness, lots of burned trees, old burns and new burns, and then on over Sherman Pass. Talk about a wild ride! So many twists and turns. The car got over-heated from the altitude climb so we powered down the windows and turned on the heater to cool down the engine and when we got to the top of Sherman Pass we stopped for awhile to let the engine rest.
There was a sign to a Forest Fire Tower Lookout so we walked up there while the engine cooled. What a view, and the ranger was happy to have company and answer all our questions. We were his only visitors that day, but the day before his guest book showed eight visitors. It is a beautiful drive over Sherman Pass if you ever get the chance to drive it. Hairy…but beautiful.
On the bac
k side, on the way down we passed Joshua trees which I didn’t realize grew outside of Joshua Tree National Park which I’d visited years ago. So far we’d seen Sequoia trees, Redwood trees and Joshua trees. The ranger told us to eat breakfast at the Alabama Cafe in Lone Pine, turns out it was closed on Tuesday! We had this issue several times on the trip. We were just not meant to eat! We did get dinner Monday night, though at the Pizza Factory in Lone Pine and it was good, plus our motel looked directly at Mt. Whitney, however, no snow on it, and it’s not near as impressive as Mt. Rainier which I am privileged to look at every day in Washington.
k side, on the way down we passed Joshua trees which I didn’t realize grew outside of Joshua Tree National Park which I’d visited years ago. So far we’d seen Sequoia trees, Redwood trees and Joshua trees. The ranger told us to eat breakfast at the Alabama Cafe in Lone Pine, turns out it was closed on Tuesday! We had this issue several times on the trip. We were just not meant to eat! We did get dinner Monday night, though at the Pizza Factory in Lone Pine and it was good, plus our motel looked directly at Mt. Whitney, however, no snow on it, and it’s not near as impressive as Mt. Rainier which I am privileged to look at every day in Washington. Day Eleven – Lone Pine to Bridgeport, Calif.
We saw another huge heard of bull elk, and a few females on the side of the road outside of Big Pine. It was a lovely drive up to Mono Lake where we stopped for lunch. Very hot outside and no tree shade, but 
we did find a spot in the shade of the building to eat our lunch. I watched the movie about Mono Lake and it was very interesting. I hope it can be preserved, but again, greed may take the day because Los Angeles wants all the water that flows from the streams into Mono Lake. There is no outlet for Mono Lake, so the evaporated water must be replenished by the streams or die. Glad I got to see if while it still flourishes. It’s another major resource for birds. We drove more scenic roads to Bridgeport and after dinner we sat outside and looked for bats and owls in the nice cool evening at a nice park area at our motel.
we did find a spot in the shade of the building to eat our lunch. I watched the movie about Mono Lake and it was very interesting. I hope it can be preserved, but again, greed may take the day because Los Angeles wants all the water that flows from the streams into Mono Lake. There is no outlet for Mono Lake, so the evaporated water must be replenished by the streams or die. Glad I got to see if while it still flourishes. It’s another major resource for birds. We drove more scenic roads to Bridgeport and after dinner we sat outside and looked for bats and owls in the nice cool evening at a nice park area at our motel. Day Twelve – Bridgeport to Susanville, Calif.
We zipped through Carson City and Reno as fast as possible and got back into sage brush prairie lands. We took a couple of side trips to find wildlife but came up empty. After dinner we did a short hike about town. A day of just driving, no hiking.
Day Thirteen – Susanville to Burney, Calif. If you look on the map you’ll say, "geez you didn’t get very far!" True, but we did do hiking at Lassen National Forest. It was a lovely day and a beautiful two hour hike down to Bumpass Hell. http://www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/hiking_bumpass_hell.htm It’s a mini-Yellowstone geyser and bubbling pools area.
My blood pressure dropped too low from the extreme heat and uphill climb back to the car park area but I stopped for awhile and all was well. The temperature that day was 98 degrees according to the TV that night, and we were at 8,000 feet and in a geyser area where it was even hotter!
After Lassen we drove to Manzanita Lake and walked for 1-1/2 hours around the lake. A doe and her two 
deerlets stepped into our path and I got a great picture of one of the deerlets. He was very cooperative. We were tired by the time we got to a motel in Burney. We got settled in and I noticed heat coming out of the wall register. Yikes…it was 68 degrees outside and 81 degrees in our room! I called the office and they moved us but it was a hassle because we were already settled in. They did have a laundry there, so in the morning we did laundry before we left, so that was convenient.
deerlets stepped into our path and I got a great picture of one of the deerlets. He was very cooperative. We were tired by the time we got to a motel in Burney. We got settled in and I noticed heat coming out of the wall register. Yikes…it was 68 degrees outside and 81 degrees in our room! I called the office and they moved us but it was a hassle because we were already settled in. They did have a laundry there, so in the morning we did laundry before we left, so that was convenient.Day Fourteen – Burney to Klammeth Falls, Ore.
We did a small hike this day to Klammath Basin Wildlife Area and Tulelake and saw three white-faced Ibis. I’d left the cap to my water thermos slightly unscrewed and it tipped and soaked my bird book. Boo. So at the ranger station at Tulelake I bought Sibley’s Bird Book. It’s very nice. They also said there’s a web site where one can keep a record of their life birds. I have been able to dry out my book, so I can retrieve all the information about the birds I’ve seen in the past 20 years! We drove on all sides of Mt. Shasta today so I got pictures from a lot of different angles. There are four glaciers on Mt. Shasta. We had dinner at a brew pub in Klammath Falls.Day Fifteen – Klammeth Falls to Roseburg, Ore.
We drove to Crater Lake today but it was COLD. 
I wasn’t prepared for that. Traffic was not bad at Crater Lake though. We did each buy a Golden Agers Pass to get into the parks at Mt. Lassen, so we just waved our pass and drove right in to Crater Lake Park area. We drove the North Umpqua River and it’s a pleasant and very beautiful drive. There are lots of waterfalls but we didn’t stop at any of them. When you’re on your way home, sometimes you just want to get there. We’d seen so much beauty and the drive along the river was spectacular so we didn’t feel deprived. We ate at McMenamins in Roseburg and the food was excellent, and the atmosphere was fun.
I wasn’t prepared for that. Traffic was not bad at Crater Lake though. We did each buy a Golden Agers Pass to get into the parks at Mt. Lassen, so we just waved our pass and drove right in to Crater Lake Park area. We drove the North Umpqua River and it’s a pleasant and very beautiful drive. There are lots of waterfalls but we didn’t stop at any of them. When you’re on your way home, sometimes you just want to get there. We’d seen so much beauty and the drive along the river was spectacular so we didn’t feel deprived. We ate at McMenamins in Roseburg and the food was excellent, and the atmosphere was fun.
Day Sixteen – Roseburg, Ore to Auburn, Wash. We stopped at Marsh Anne Vineyard for a bottle of wine, we’d been through all this beautiful wine country we needed to stop at least once at a vineyard. Shortly after leaving Albany, Oregon that we hit pounding sheets of rain. It was horrible but thankfully didn’t last too long. There were cars that whizzed past me and never even slowed down to 60! Crazy. You couldn’t see 10 feet in front of you, only one misstep by one person and we’d have had a huge pile up. Fortunately the people behind me slowed down and we all made it through. We stopped in Olympia, Wash. To get have dinner at Fish Tales, a place we’ve liked in the past. Finally home, in my own bed for the night. It was a wonderful adventure and I’m ready to go again!
I have a hobby of taking pictures of county courthouses when I travel. Some are very old and very beautiful, some are new and beautiful, some are not remarkable in any way, but they still get their picture taken. This hobby got us some fun quick stops in lovely towns and some walks around town to find the courthouses. I added 22 new courthouses to my collection on this trip. It’s a fun hobby even if you don’t take a picture; it lets you stop in places you probably wouldn’t have any reason to go through. Next trip may be Chico, Calif, maybe Hawaii, and probably to Wyoming next year. Stay tuned for more adventures. One final picture to lure you to travel into our national forests and help preserve them for our children. They are a treasure.
