Back To California

The landscape in Oregon was fascinating and changed practically by the minute. We'd be driving along the coast, in a forest of pine and redwood trees, and two minutes later we'd be in sandy dunes, with ATV's tearing over the hills. Once we got back to California areas seemed to be more defined, taking longer to transition from beach to forest to desert.

Just south of Crescent City we entered Redwood National Park. Dick noticed a sign for Elk Meadow and, on a whim, turned in. We noticed several cars and people with cameras standing in the road and then we saw this - the elk herd was literally within touching distance behind the low wood barrier. The adults were keeping a sharp eye on the crazy people but didn't seem too concerned. Whenever the three babies tried to get closer to the road, an adult would nudge them back into the center of the group. One youngster didn't get the message fast enough - just like human kids! - and ended up getting a quick hoof-swat to his rear from mom.

We stopped for a short hike at the Lady Bird Johnson Grove in Orick, CA. Huge redwoods, azelea trees, ferns - this tree was hollow as far up as Dick could see. How in the world does it remain standing??

Our next-to-last (probably) lighthouse of the trip was in Trinidad. This is a full-scale replica of one that was destroyed in a storm. We wanted to spend the night in Eureka, so we'd have time to see the town and all the gorgeous Victorian houses, but couldn't find a vacancy anywhere in the area. We ended up driving through the historical downtown area, admiring the beautiful mansions - including this hotel where we wanted to stay - before continuing south into one of the luckiest breaks of the trip. We noticed a sign on the freeway for 'Ferndale - a Victorian Town', took the exit on the spur of the moment, and found this - the Victorian Inn, built in 1880 and luxuriously restored, which just happened to have a vacancy. See the bay window over the front door? That was our room, with king-size bed, a dining alcove in the window bay, antique furniture and a claw-foot bathtub. We felt almost like royalty. What a treat.