Day 2 started off groggily, but we made it out of the room at 10:59 a.m. (a la Ross). We ate lunch at Gallagher’s, an Irish pub in Eureka, CA. This was our first opportunity for seafood on the west coast and I had heard somewhere – probably on a radio commercial – about their clam chowder. So we ordered a bowl for the three of us to share. Dear had a seafood combo plate, #3 had fish and chips and I ordered a grilled mahi mahi sandwich w/cole slaw. The clam chowder was wonderful. There was just a hint of garlic in every bite and the bowl was empty in record time. The rest of the meal was good, too, but nothing to write about. We took a couple of pictures at the pub just to document our visit. Then back in the car to continue our northward journey.
The drive up the 101 through NoCal is called the Redwood Highway and it took us through the heart of the coastal redwood forests. [I’ve had this nearly uncontrollable urge to burst into song about redwood forests and gulfstream waters, but have managed to contain myself thus far.] To say the redwoods are big is a vast understatement and, unless you’ve actually seen them, even pictures don’t do them justice.
We stopped at a visitor information center to pick up some literature on the area and also to get our National Park Pass because we’ve planned to stop at several National Parks on this trip. The ranger station where we stopped didn’t require a NP pass, so they didn’t sell them. The ranger did give us a handy-dandy map of the redwood trail and pointed out a couple of must-see places that were on our route. There was also a 12-minute video about the redwoods, which gave us good info about the trees themselves and the rainforest environment in which they grow.
I won’t bore you with a lot of scientific data, but the dynamic of the redwood environment is very interesting should you be…well, interested. I like to view natural wonders with at least a smattering of knowledge about what I’m viewing, and the video was just enough info to satisfy my curiosity without going overboard with nerdy facts.
For example, the redwoods regenerate themselves so that when the parent tree is damaged or falls, it has already produced an offspring tree that lives on the original root system. And for such tall trees – they can grow up to 360’ in height – their root system is only 10-12 feet deep. But the roots spread out for hundreds of feet, intertwining with other redwood root systems to produce the stability that has kept them standing for so long.
There are other things, but I said I wouldn’t bore you with my newfound knowledge. Do your own research (or keep reading – I’m sure I’ll throw some other stuff in as we go…).
The ranger station also had beach access, so we strolled down toward the Pacific and took some beach photos. There were some large pieces of driftwood on the beach that made for good posing props.
With map in hand, we continued driving north on the 101. Our first stop in the Redwood National Park was at a tree that had been hollowed out by fire, but the hollow was large enough to accommodate a breakfast table and chairs comfortably inside. The layer just inside the bark of redwoods is like a sponge, thus giving the tree an extra layer of fire protection. That’s why so many of the trees have survived forest fires. It’s like trying to burn a sponge.
Our next stop was the Big Tree (duh … wonder how they came up with that name…). At least that’s what I was thinking until we saw the thing. Again, words are not adequate to express the grandeur of these giants. We walked a couple of trails and found a spot called the Cathedral where part of a giant had fallen between 2 other giants creating a cathedral-ceiling effect. More photos. Dear and #3 decided to climb one of the fallen limbs (that still stood about 30 feet tall!). Still more photos.
When we had enough of the forestry and got serious about driving, we made pretty good time. It was about 130 miles on to Coos Bay/North Bend, OR where we were scheduled to spend 2 nights. The drive on the 101 through southern Oregon is absolutely spectacular. The road is labeled the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway. We had to pull over several times just to enjoy the awe-inspiring views. And take pictures.
We made it to Coos Bay about 8:00 and Maggie directed us to have seafood at The Captain’s Choice restaurant. Good choice, Maggs. The clam chowder was superb – even better than Gallagher’s this morning.
The rental car has gotten between 20-30 mpg. That’s a good thing because gas in CA was in the $4.75-$4.95 range. Dear filled up at $4.77 when the tank got down to ¼ full and it was $65 and change for nearly 14 gallons. Gas is cheaper in OR. We’ve seen it as low as $4.21, but the average has been around $4.35. We’re actually spending less than we usually do even though the price per gallon is more than at home. But at home we put gas in three cars at least once a week and Dear usually has to fill up twice a week because of his job-related driving. It’ll probably be a wash when all the gas bills are totaled and compared.
The hotel/motel in North Bend is okay. Really big room, very small bathroom. The wifi didn’t work for our laptops because they use Windows Vista (go figure…). So, I’ve been journaling in MS Word until we get the wifi going here or get to another hotel where it actually works in real time.
And that was Day 2.
ttfn
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