April 5, 2005

April 5, 2005

Crescent City, California to Bandon, Oregon

DAY 291

 

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning we drove out of Sunset Harbor RV Park, and across the highway to Crescent City Harbor. We parked the rig beside the fishing boats and went exploring. A portion of the parking lot is dedicated to a net repair area for the fishermen. As we walked across this area, Bo found a star fish. OH, BOY ... Bo's very own star fish ! He walked around with it in his mouth for about the next 15 minutes, looking ever so pleased. When he saw the harbour seals along side the dock, he was so stunned he dropped his star fish and forgot about it. We watched the harbour seals for a few minutes, then went back to the rig to drive over to the large jetty, which was a bit too far to walk to. WOW ! ! ! Sea lions ! Lounging around on the edges of the jetty, sunning themselves. I got some great pictures of them, while Joanne stayed back, holding Bo, screaming behind me that I was getting too close to them.

Before we drove out of Crescent City, we stopped at Safeway for a few groceries. We headed north on Hwy. 101, and soon were passing from California to Oregon. Soon after entering Oregon, we stopped at a State Travel Information Centre. Goodbye, California ! We picked up an Oregon road map, and some very helpful driving guides from a very friendly and helpful attendant. Goodbye, California ! ! ! The best driving guide is a "mile by mile" narrative of Hwy. 101 along the Pacific Coast all the way through Oregon, from California to Washington. The scenery along the Oregon Pacific Coast is spectacular. Rocky, rugged terrain behind wide sand beaches, with crashing surf.

We stopped at Brookings, so I could shop in a salmon smokehouse. MMMMM ! I bought some smoked Wild King Salmon. I really enjoyed having it for lunch. So did Teddy. I hope he appreciates that he was eating U.S.$30 a pound smoked salmon for lunch. We continued along Hwy. 101, stopping periodically to take pictures of the scenery. We stopped for diesel in Bandon. We also stopped at a Myrtlewood factory / gift shop. We didn't know what Myrtlewood was. It's a tree found only along Oregon's wet Pacific Coast. One of the friendly employees in this wood working factory / gift shop explained about the Myrtlewood trees, and took me outside their store to show me a couple of growing Myrtlewood trees, and explain their growth to me. He ripped aleaf off the tree, and had me smell it. They use Myrtlewood leaves locally as a substitute for Bay Leaves. Back inside the gift shop, we browsed through the Myrtlewood products, but it was very expensive, and not particularly suitable for our lifestyle. We bought some Myrtlewood leaves as seasoning, and some cranberry candies. Cranberries are grown in this area of Oregon.

We stopped for the night just north of Bandon, in Bullards Beach State Park. This is a very nice park, with fully serviced campsites, at a reasonable fee. Goodbye, California ! I hope other Oregon State Parks will be as nice as this one. We stopped earlier today, so I had time to barbecue some nice steaks for supper, accompanied by the remaining half bottle of California Chardonnay.

DSK