Northern California

We made it safely to Klamath, California Saturday after a trip from Coos Bay that was mostly in the rain and fog. The skies were cloudy all day which did little to enhance the beautiful scenic coast line of southern Oregon and northern California. This area is in the heart of the Giant Redwoods, which we got a taste of just south of Crescent City. Some of these majestic trees are literally just inches off the highway and one must be careful when traveling this road to avoid hitting them (especially when towing).  Sunday, we packed a picnic lunch and headed back north on US101  to see what we could find. The first stop was the Klamath Overlook on Requa Road. This overlook is 650 feet above the ocean floor and has a dynamic view of the area where the Klamth River empties into the Pacific. The Klamath is the second largest river in California. Unfortunately, it was cloudy while we were there, but the view was still great. It was low tide, and we could see (through binoculars) industrious fishermen crabbing in the area that had been underwater during high tide. This is a favorite area for whale watching on the west coast, but again, we failed to spot any.  From there we traveled North on 101 to Crescent City to find the two lighthouses in the area. The first one was the Battery Point Lighthouse perched on the rocks of Battery Point. The walkway from the parking lot to the lighthouse and museum was under water due to high tide. I assume you have to time your visit to coincide with low tide. The other lighthouse is the St. George Reef Lighthouse, which is about six miles offshore. The only access is by helicopter which has been recently suspended as the landing site has not been approved and a new helipad has to be built before landings there can be resumed. This was the most expensive lighthouse ever constructed in the US. Our last stop was to explore the Gigantic Redwood Trees at the Trees of Mystery, which is a touristy type of place, but does have beautiful Redwoods in an unusual setting. It's the type place that you are glad you saw, but probably wouldn't go back again.There is a huge likeness of Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox in front of the business.

That brings us to today (Monday). We had about 220 miles to travel today to make our overnight destination in Ukiah, Ca. The trip today was long and exhausting due to road conditions, but thankfully, we had a safe journey and will hit the road again in the morning. We're staying at a decent park at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds Campground. This is an overnight stop on the way to Santa Rosa, California, which will be our staging area to explore San Francisco.

Our Camp Site At Chinook RV Resort, Klamath, Ca.

View of the Klamath River from our Camp Site.

View of junction of Klamath River joining the Pacific Ocean.

Battery Point Lighthouse. Notice the walkway under water.

View of fisherman crabbing.

Closeup of Battery Point Lighthouse.

Battery Point Lighthouse from a Northern viewpoint.

Cape St. George's lighthouse which is 6 miles offshore.

Giant Redwoods alongside Highway 101.

Crickett and Paul Bunyan.

Paul and Blue Babe

Largest Redwood at the Trees of Mystery. There were a crew of 5 members filming a documentary about the Giant Redwoods while we were there. They have been near the top of the tree. This tree is reportedly over 300 feet tall and is in excess of 3,000 years old.

Gondola ride to the top of Trees of Mystery

Ride through the trees.

I think someone was skeered!

At the top

Pacific Ocean view from the top.

Grouping of Giant Redwoods known as "The Cathedral". Many weddings have been held here. The pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the trees.

Pretty large stump.

The Redwoods are extremely resilient trees. The main body of this tree has fallen to the ground but new shoots have grown upward off the fallen trunk. We saw several stumps where the trees had been harvested with new growth growing out of the stumps like the above picture.

Moss covered tree limbs.

Tree named Elephant Tree

Ferns growing halfway up this huge Redwood.

Coos Bay

We have been at the Charleston RV Marina Park since Wednesday and has been a different experience to say the least. First let me say, the park here is clean with excellent utilities and friendly neighbors but is not your average RV park. The area is very much geared up for fishing,fishing and more fishing. There is even an odor of fish in the air due to a fish cannery nearby!  I don't know that we would stay here again, given the choice, but was the only available park with decent reviews. Let's just say it's been different.

 Yesterday we decided to check out local attractions in Coos Bay due to the weather and we were getting low on supplies and needed to make a Walmart run. There's a local business here named Cranberry Sweets that is well known and highly recommended. The business is a candy factory that uses cranberries to flavor and enhance candy in an unusual, but delicious way. They have many different flavor combinations and samples of each are available free. There's an observation area in the store where you can watch the candy being prepared. Cranberries are locally grown here in coastal Oregon. My favorite was the Cranberry Pate. We also checked out the House of Myrtlewood here in Coos Bay. This business offers a variety of wooden products manufactured in house by skilled craftsmen. The Myrtle tree dates back to Biblical times and are very common in this section of Oregon. It's well known for its wide variety of beautiful colors and grain patterns. Their furniture, bowls, and gift items are very attractive, but also very expensive.

Today (Friday) we decided to check out the Shore Acres State Park and the Cape Arago State Park that are very close to each other and is without a doubt, some of the most scenic areas we have seen on the Oregon Coast.  Shore Acres has an area of unparallelled beauty with coastal cliffs, bluffs and beautiful rock formations  in the ocean that produce all type of surf when hit by pounding waves. There's a glassed in observation area  at the top of the cliffs where the entire seascape can be seen, and is commonly used for watching for whales. There's also a beautiful garden on the property with flowers and plants from all over the world. Cape Arago State Park is home to the Cape Arago Lighthouse and has an area frequented by huge colonies of seals and sea lions. We hit the jackpot today on finding the seals and sea lions! There were literally hundreds there today sunning themselves on the rocks and letting out loud barks. The barking was unlike anything I've heard before and could be heard quite a distance away. It was way kool!  

Tomorrow it's goodbye Oregon and hello California as we journey to our next destination at Chinook RV Resort in Klamath, California. This area is in northern California and is in the middle of the Giant Redwood trees. We've been looking forward to visiting this area for quite some time. 

Our site here at Charleston Marina RV Park

It was pretty tight!

Scenic and busy marina

I finally got my feet wet in the Pacific Ocean, it was quite chilly!

Historic bridge spanning the Coos River at Coos Bay.

One of many sand dunes in the area.

Entrance to the Cranberry Sweets Store

I liked the Pate best. They had free samples of each variety.

All kinds of Cranberry products

Area where the candy is prepared.

Cape Arago Light House. It's no longer accessible and had to take this picture from a observation point.

Sea Lions and seals at Cape Arago SP.

They were having a "barking" good time!

Observation building atop cliffs at Shore Acres SP.

Very unusual and scenic shoreline.