Climate Control at the Oregon border?

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

- Nelson Henderson

We went to breakfast at the Best Western in Garberville, where we were staying. The quote above was in the newspaper that was sitting on our table. I thought it was appropriate, since we planned to spend the day surrounded by trees that were hundreds of years old.

One side note: we were VERY thankful there were no fires in Garberville last night; our hotel room was within 15 feet of the corner of the fire station. It was a neat little town that looked a lot like West Virginia. There was a saloon that promised "Fun every five minutes", but we didn't stick around long enough to ask what kind of fun they were offering.

We got back onto Highway 101 for a bit and then got off onto the "Avenue of the Giants", which took us 33 miles, through the redwood forest. The redwoods are like something out of a science fiction movie, and in the fog, it was even more surreal. Some of the trunks were way bigger than the car we were driving in!

Our first stop was the living Chimney Tree. This tree was measured in 1978 at 78' tall and 50' in circumference. In 1914, a forest fire burned out the center of the tree, creating a 12' (diameter) "room" inside the base of the tree. We giggled with another couple who stopped right after us. Aunt Rocky had noticed them the day before at Glass Beach, and teased them about following us.

We stopped again at Humbolt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This had a great visitor's center with exhibits my kids would have loved. Mom asked the volunteer about the fog that we had been driving in all day. He replied that the fog usually burns off about 11:00, but we had a long drive and decided not to stick around to wait.

Another 20 miles or so north, we stopped in Eureka. We had a great lunch at a little deli/coffee shop, and browsed a couple of galleries...but nothing really caught our eye, so we pressed on. (I did see some photographs by an artist named Chuck Chen that were really inspiring).

We stopped next at a small fishing village called Trinidad. (Lucy will probably remember driving in Chapel Hill with a cabbie from Trinidad, with Tico subconsciously talking to the driver in his "native accent".) This is a cliffside resort full of tiny but beautiful cottages and a replica of their original 1871 lighthouse. It seemed REALLY small compared to our Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, so it was fun to see. Aunt Rocky and I trekked down a LOT of steps to the small beach. I took a couple of pictures, but nothing great, since the light was almost nonexistant. I wish now that I had taken the picture of the truck that we passed advertising "Heiney Painting" (silly sign number one for the day).

We skipped the next three parks we passed, but decided to pull in to Paririe Creek Redwoods State Park, about which we read, "The park has an unusual welcoming committee: herds of Roosevelt elk, some with three-foot antlers, graze with serene indifference on the tall-grass prairie bordering the scenic parkway that threads through the area. We pulled in...and NO welcoming committee greeted us. Go figure. We did get a good laugh, however, out of the many signs that read, "Caution! Wild Elk. Do not approach on foot." DUH? Silly sign number two. On the way out of the park we saw a couple stopped with a video camera. Lo and behold, there were two male elk waaayyy over in the field, lying down so only their heads showed. No great photo op, but at least we didn't get skunked (or Elked?). Okay, that was really bad...but if you know my dad you know I come by it naturally!

We hit paydirt for Tacoman's science class (who has been studying the composition of rocks) at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. We walked along a riverbed and collected about 12 different types of stones and rocks. I hope to mail them home to him, and can't wait to hear how their composition compares to the pebbles I picked up yesterday at Glass Beach, and the samples I plan to collect tomorrow at Crater Lake.

We made one more unplanned stop at Crescent City. The harbor full of fishing boats was really interesting in the fog. The Pacific fleet that fishes out of that harbor looked surprisingly similar to the Atlantic fleet out of Wanchese. There was a great sailboat that must have been at least 100 years old. We saw a couple of sea lions playing with each other, but they refused to come close enough for a picture. Instead, they swam just outside of the reach of my 200mm lens, "barking" as if to mock me. (Like that kingfisher at home that teases me to the amusement of my kids).

Shortly afterwards, we crossed into Oregon. The transition was AMAZING! We had started the day in the fog and soggy forest, then traveled through some terrain that looked like it was in a drought, then back through even denser fog, and then, as if there was some kind of force field around the Oregon state line, the blue sky broke through the fog and we crossed over into a land of scrub trees and dry red clay soil. The temperature, that had been hovering in the 50s and 60s, steadily climbed back into the 80s (and up to 94 here at our motel in Grant's Pass).

We have been trying not to belittle the locals, although we have seen very few people that are not (1) stereotypical mountain people, sturdy and with lots of scraggly hair, or (2) sixties-style hippies who likely support the legalization of hemp, or (3) homeless people walking along the desolate stretches of road, eating berries. However, our restraint was tested when we passed the third silly sign of the day, which advertised the local farmer's prize crop, "Fresh Cron". I tend to transpose letters and numbers on a regular basis, but I'd hope that once I noticed the sign was misspelled, I wouldn't put up a 20-foot billboard advertising my incompetence!

Anyway, it's once again late, my belly is full, and tomorrow should be a great day. We're not going to travel as many miles because we have to go way out of our way to see Crater Lake. But I am so excited...with or without any new photos to add to my portfolio...I will get to see the country's deepest lake and more of the breathtaking west coast scenery.