Tuesday, November 21, 2017
It was unusually warm when we woke up Tuesday morning at our campsite in Jedediah Smith State Park. It had rained steadily until the wee hours of the morning, so we slept in the car rather than in our tent. I prefer the tent because there's more room. Pongo's a bit of a bed hog. The car is nicer for bad weather, though. It's very comfortable when it's just me but get's a little tight with me and the dog and all of our camping gear. Plus, I packed too much stuff for this trip. I need to weed some stuff out before the next road trip. Anyway, it was so warm that morning I was in short sleeves all the way up to Bandon, OR.
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| Smith River, Jedediah Smith State Park, CA |
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| Smith River, Jedediah Smith State Park, CA |
The campgrounds at Jedediah Smith State Park are fantastic. The site is in the middle of a redwood forest along the banks of the Smith River. A number of the campsite look right out onto the river. I prefer the ones across the road from those which are under some really big trees. It makes for a dramatic place to wake up in the morning.
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| Jedediah Smith State Park, CA |
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| Jedediah Smith State Park, CA |
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| Jedediah Smith State Park, CA |
We drove up North to Pistol River in Oregon where we stopped for a walk on the beach and dunes. Pongo particularly liked the dunes, where he could poke his head around dunes and tall grass looking for little critters. We didn't find any. It reminded me of his adventures at Goblin Valley in Utah, where he had great fun sneaking around the sandstone structures.
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| Pistol River State Scenic Viewpoint, OR |
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| Pistol River State Scenic Viewpoint, OR |
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| Pistol River State Scenic Viewpoint, OR |
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| Harbor Seal -- Pistol River State Scenic Viewpoint, OR |
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| Pistol River State Scenic Viewpoint, OR |
We made our obligatory stop at Gold Beach to photograph the sunken tugboat in the Rogue River. I never miss that opportunity.
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| Rogue River, Gold Beach, OR |
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| Prehistoric Gardens, Port Orford, OR |
We took a short detour in Bandon, mostly because I had to go to the bathroom. It took us out to the Coquille Lighthouse, which was pretty cool. The thing with driving up the Oregon Coast on 101 isn't the Oregon Coast itself. The highway actually spends a lot more time out of sight of the ocean than within it. It's the rivers. A hundred miles or more can be driven on the California coastline without crossing a major river. In Oregon, they come one after the other. The rivers and the bays make the drive up the Oregon coast the unique drive that it is. There are more spectacular coastlines. My dad would probably argue that point, but IMO California and Washington both have Oregon licked in that regard. It's the preponderance of big rivers that makes Oregon unique on the American West Coast. I don't know any other coastline, so I can't speak in more general terms.
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| Bullards Bridge, Coquille River, Bandon, OR |
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| Coquille River, Bandon, OR |
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| Coquille Lighthouse, Bandon, OR |
It rained for the rest of the drive up the coastline. We were going to camp if the weather permitted. It didn't. So, at Lincoln City we cut over to Salem and had a nice dinner with my parents before settling in to a nice warm bed for the night. Well, more of a mat on the floor of my sister's old bedroom. Close enough. I actually sleep very well on that mat. So does Pongo.
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| Steller Sea Lion -- Sea Lion Caves, Florence, OR |
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| Steller Sea Lion -- Sea Lion Caves, Florence, OR |
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| Heceta Head Lighthouse, Florence, OR |
Soundtrack:
- Elvis Costello -- The Man
- Ryan Adams -- Heartbreaker
- Sonic Youth -- Murray Street
- Loretta Lynn -- Van Lear Rose
- Erykah Badhu -- New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
- LCD Soundsystem -- This Is Happening
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