Bandon, Oregon to Crescent City, California

Another day of great adventures for us.  Today was mainly a driving day but I think we stopped at about every pull-out between Bandon and here!  We just don't want to miss anything!!

We left the motel and drove down to the beach and ate some breakfast in the car while watching the surf. It was a cold 45 degrees. Then we tackled the 129 steps down to the beach.  It wasn't foggy at that place and there was lots to look at on the beach.

                                                 Nice place for a morning walk, huh?

This is another view.  The sand was real firm.  It's much finer than the sand on the Gulf coast.

We saw more cranberry bogs here.  This one was already flooded but it looked like the cranberries were still there.  Another bog looked like it had already be harvested.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse is at Oregon's westernmost point.  It was a beautiful spot but that point catches the brunt of all Pacific storms.  Conrad estimated the wind to be about 40 mph (and those of you who know him know that he is a pretty good meteorologist!). I had a hard time holding the camera still to take pictures!

                                                             See how windy it is?

Then it was on to Port Orford.  It was an interesting little town.  It was still awfully windy but nothing like up at the lighthouse.  We spent a little time here at the harbor.

This was a really hard picture to get but the little bit of white in the water is a whale blowing!  We couldn't catch him when he was actually on top of the water but we saw him surface several times!!

                                                   One of many stops along the coast.

                                                     And another stop......

We are parked on the jetty here on the Rogue River that runs into the Pacific.  It is famous for fishing.  We watched the fishermen here while we ate our lunch in the car.  It was awfully windy here and the gulls were hanging out beside our car, waiting for crumbs!  I guess they're used to people eating there.  It was so windy that when they tried to walked, the wind blew them sideways!  It was fun to watch.  We drove out to the end of this long jetty then decided maybe we couldn't turn around out there.  So......I backed up all the way!  It was a little scary and there were huge pot holes.  Luckily, this little Corolla we're driving didn't hit bottom!

This is the I.L. Patterson Memorial Bridge over the Rogue River in Gold Beach, OR.  It was the first bridge in the country to be built with prestressed concrete in 1931.  You know how much I love bridges and we've seen a lot of them on this trip.  Of course, my favorite is still the Brooklyn Bridge!

                                                              Cape Sebastian

                                                              I could look at this all day!

                                               What great views and no fog to speak of!  

      This one is called Arch Rock (for obvious reasons) at Samuel Boardman State Park.

The big rock in the center is the largest island along the Oregon coast and is called Bird Island. Breeding takes place here for a variety of birds, including tufted puffins.  It was foggier when we got there but it kept going away little by little.

So, here we are in California!  We are checked in our motel in Crescent City, about a block or so away from the harbor.  We can hear the fog horn and the sea lions are barking up a storm!  We ate dinner tonight at a restaurant at the harbor and it was so good.  I guess we'll have to listen to the sea lions all night but my guess is we're so tired, we'll never know they're there!!

Tomorrow we will start with the different redwood areas.  I think there are 3 parks.  In just two days we'll be in San Francisco and get to see Brent and Jackie!  We haven't seen them since November and it's been too long.  

So good-night for now and check back tomorrow.