Wednesday, May 27, 2015

What a day we have had! Left Crescent City around 9:00am to drive south to Eureka. Two reasons for this: we would be driving Hwy 101 south through some. Ore Redwood National Park and also the fact that Eureka had the closest Costco and we were counting on getting really good prices on alcohol. The drive was as beautiful as we imagined with various treks through stands of redwoods and spectacular views of the Pacific. Costco was a major disappointment as they really had no different booze that our Costco...so I just bought a big bottle of Makers Mark... Our friends Jerry and Susan Posten had told us about a grove of Redwoods near Crescent City and to visit with the information center to find out how to get there. So, we did. Directions were clear and cautions were given. "If you hav an RV you won't be able to fit through the narrow road and redwoods crowding the road. It is, at most a one and a half lane road." "If you are hauling a trailer don't go at all." "The road is almost all gravel for 6 miles to the grove." We were Happy to tell the ally nice guy that we neither had an RV or a trailer. We also assured him that narrow roads and dust wouldn't affect such seasoned travelers as us... Well, I've never been on such narrow roads! Rose, who never complains about traveling(at least not since she told the girls to lie down on the floor of the back seat when she was sure we were going to go over a cliff in Glacier National Park), claimed she was getting a stomach ache. About a third of the way up the mountain we encountered a guy going the same way we were, guess what, towing a trailer. He was stopped as it was clear that he could not fit through the narrow opening in the road just ahead. He had pulled off to the side as best he could but there was NO PLACE for him to turn around. He may still be there. He must have missed the sign at the entrance to the road that warned against towing a trailer on that road. The narrow, dusty road was difficult and fun to travel and we finally arrived at Stout Grove. It was all it was advertised to be and more. We took a trail through the Redwoods for about a half hour. It was flat and well kept. No bugs. No heat. No humidity. Just enormous trees! I had imagined how big these trees would be but I was shocked at their actual size. The big ones were 250 to 300 feet tall and I walked around the base of one and by my pacing the circumference of the tree is at least 27 yards!!! Joseph will have to figure out the diameter but I am here to tell you it is BIG!! What a wonderful experience!! These trees are at least 700 years old! I have some really good pictures that I will send out soon after we get home. After the Grove we decided to head north into Oregon. I had asked Siri for liquor stores in OR and she gave me one called All Star, which was in CA and a mile ahead. Got off, went in, and was stunned at the prices...Old Crow 15.99, Angels Envy 36.00, Larceny 19.95, etc. I didn't go too crazy but did. Up four cases of Crow...😀 The drive up 101 on the OR coast is one of the most spectacular pieces of road ever. The next curve presents a more impressive view of the coast and ocean than the last. It's a road everyone should take at least once in their life. We got here to Newport about 8:30 and are glad to be out of the car for a while, although the car is super comfortable, and it is getting great gas mileage... Off tomorrow to the Stepahnie Inn in Canon Beach for some. Beach walking and beach fires...we hope... More later...