Gord loves the fire no matter where he is. Oh yeah, we got him a new hat in Tofino, the bear was a little small.
It didn't take us long to pack up and move out. We bid adieu to South Beach State Park and got back on the 101. Oregon isn't a hge state, but we drove for over 2 hours straight and were still in Oregon when our bladders and Gord's good humour demanded a stop. The first place we saw in Gold Beach was the Port Hole Cafe - we relieved ourselves and checked out the menu. It looked like it would satisfy our needs. This would be a costly mistake.
Theresa ordered the onion rings and the taco salad with a coffee while I got another veggie burger and sweet potato fries. We shared most things, but i didn't have any of the salad. Which probably ended up being a good thing. It would be over a day before Theresa would feel ok again.
B careful if approaching this little establishment. The staff we couldn't have been friendlier, but the taco salad had evil lurking within.
We got back in the car unsure of what was to come. T gave Gord some quick milk and popped back in the driver's seat. At this point the sun came out and we were feeling pretty lucky. It took Gord a while to fall asleep, but he obliged and we meandered along the Oregon coast and eventually into the California coast.
They said California is the place you want to be...
And I can see why.
Our stop for the night was Prairie Creek Redwood state park in the heart of Redwood country and it wasn't long before the giants were towering up over us. The road also brought other sights:
Lots of cyclists dotted the roads. Brave souls with iron lungs and legs.
And tunnels made the landscape interesting.
Finally we made it to the realm of the redwoods. Our campground (Prarie Creek Redwood State Park) was nestled deep within the Redwood National Forest Reserve and we all felt like little children next to these trees - 100 feet tall and 1000s of years old. The park itself isnprettynold as well as exemplified by our old school stone fire grill. This would have been used to cook for camera long before Coleman was popular. Nevertheless, by this time T definitely felt something was wrong. I gave her a bottle of water and got her seated while Gord and I readied the site. By the time the tent was up and the bed made she was feeling worse. We hoped that a nap would help right this ship and we put her to bed as Gord and I set out for a hike.
Some neat features from days gone by, right in our site.
The trails were plentiful and impressive. Not knowing where to go I simply set my timer for 45 minutes and headed out - when the timer went off I'd trace my steps, hopefully to find a rested and well spouse.
These trails ar really impressive, which is nice considering they meander through some of most pristine forest landscape I've ever seen. It wasn't as lush and verdant as the rain forest of Vancouver Island, but there was a lot of life here. I felt like an Ewok was going to spring up and me at any moment!
Gord was actually in great spirits as we made our way through the grove. In this pic we're actually inside a tree - many, many trees have large cavities in them through which decades of visitors have carved paths and hollows. Apparently the Redwoods grow so large and last so long simply because they are so difficult to kill. Their bark is very thick and resistant to fire, and they ar full of sap to deter pests. Quite the emblem of fortitude.
These trees are tall, there's no way to capture the scale on a camera like this, but we tried to give you some scale.
Like I said, lovely trails. I climbed a lot, and passed over many briefs like this one carved into and around the trees - see what I mean about the "forest moon of endor"?
After a long time by ourselves in e woods I came across a few other hikers. They were all smiles and oohs and aahs, which isn't out of the ordinary with this guy, but they were whispering their fawning, which did seem strange. It took me a few minutes to realize why.
No matter, right about then my alarm went off and it was time to go back and see if Mom was feeling any better. We retraced our steps and arrived back an hour and a half after we left having covered nearly 6 miles (10 k) of forest trail. W were both prey proud of ourselves.
Theresa was still in the tent. This wasn't a good omen, but I thought we'd give her a little more time. W should be starting dinner soon (tacos?!) but we needed fire wood. I packed Gord (who was in a stellar mood, having just woken up from his 3rd nap of the day) into the car and headed for the visitor centre. They wear closed. Shoot! No problem though, California State Parks (and many State parks for that matter) have a host who also sells fire wood late into the evening. We headed that way, I just hope he took VISA. <pause for effect> He didn't. So we wouldn't have a fire tonight, no problem given mom's state. Nothing left to do but go and see how she was doing. When she heard us pull in she rolld out of the tent, clearly not feeling any better. I was thinking what could be done when she suddenly showed us all what she'd eaten that day. Alright, let's pack up and head for Eureaka. And that's what we did.
There was no way I was going to ask Theresa to sleep in a tent in that condition, and there was o way Gord and I were going to share that tiny, poorly ventilated space with her, we needed a hotel room with a bathroom close by and a nice warm bed. I'e never broken down a camp site so fast, and in 15 minutes we were explaining to the camp administrators why we were leaving and where they needed to clean up, this was bear country after all.
TOTAL FUEL FILL UPS: 7
DAILY WILDLIFE: squirrel, chipmunk, dogs, lots of kids, and another porcupine on the side of the road.
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