Our Travels through America, October 2010 Part 2

Hi everyone,

Well here is the second part of our tour. Sorry for the delay but lots of parties to attend so here it finally is. I am sure you have all been waiting on pins and needles! The second part of our tour this year was a trip all the way down the Oregon and California coast. The infamous Highway 1. What a beautiful way to drive through these two states but do not expect to get too far each day and be ready to drive around and over a million turns and cliffs. By the time we got south of Big Sur, I was so happy to see flat straight roads.

Anyway, we had the most incredible weather. Sunny all the way through the Oregon coast area. A truly unheard of thing to have but we had great luck. Wolfgang had really no idea what this meant since he had never been to this area but I remember as a kid, it was always cold and rainy. OK, so here we go, the last leg of our journey.

This is the first area along the coast after Astoria where we stopped, Ecola St. Park by Cannon Beach. It was recommended to us by the info ladies in Portland. It was beautiful but quite a long way off the beaten path to get there but still worth it.

Our first sunset along the coast, clear and beautiful. Cold but still wonderful. I never get tired of looking at the ocean.

The first light house, of many, that we saw on our first stop. Really beautiful. I believe that this is the Del Rey Lighthouse but I am not swearing by it!

The beautiful sunset is on our way to the hotel in Cannon Beach.

The next morning we headed down the coast. We stopped at just about every state park or rest stop along the way. I think the first day, we drove about 100 miles in 8 hours. It was worth not getting very far. At one stop we watched a group of about 4 grey whales in the water below us. I think we were there for about an 40 minutes just watching them.

This is an original bridge along Highway 1. There are many bridges like this along the coast route but this one is named after the guy who built many of them.

If you look closely, you will see Wolfgang standing on the bridge. It was so early in the morning that there really wasn't any tourist traffic so opportunity knocked and out he went.

Can you believe this is Oregon coastline!

This is an Harlequin Duck that we saw way below on the rocks. I am sure you can guess who spotted him first!

Here is the poser. This little ground squirrel just sat and waited for his picture. No wonder he is so fat. I am sure the tourists feed him well for his patience.

Again, no idea which lighthouse this is. I worked with a woman once who just loved lighthouses. I wonder if she ever drove down the Oregon coast?

This is probably one of the rarest shots we have ever taken. A shot on a west coast beach with the sun on our faces. This means that it was early and the sun was out. Oh, and a few feet down from us was a dead seal. I didn't know it at the time but....

Now most of us have always called these birds Sandpipers, well we are all wrong. It is a Kurlew (I hope that is right too). We see them in California during the winter months when they migrate to the southern beaches. Why do I know this? Do you really need to ask!

A seal. A harbor seal to be exact.

OK, now we stopped at this lighthouse and it was great. Not only was it beautiful but you could go all the way up into the glass dome area. Lots of steps but really a cool thing to do.

A view from the glass dome of the lighthouse. No, I did not take it. I stuck my head up there for about 15 seconds, decided that it was WAY TOO HIGH UP and back in I went.

OK, these are beautiful stairs but I just kept thinking of the guy who had to climb these things over and over every day. I bet he hated steps when he left this location. Probably really wanted a ranch style home after that - all on one level.

Some cute little harbor town that we visited. A little old man at one of our other stops told us to go here. He was right and man, were there seals!

We were on our way to a place called the Sea Lion Cave. It's been a tourist attraction in Oregon since the cave was discovered. Of course, the coastline is spectacular. I started to think that they built the lighthouses with the idea that later on in life, they would make a great picture.

Just before we got to Sea Lion Cave, we stopped at an overlook. When we got out of the car, we could not believe that noise we were hearing from below. When we looked down, it was unbelieveable. There were probably 2-3,000 seals on the beach and in the water. What we later found out was that the seals that had disappeared from pier 39 in San Francisco stayed at this same beach when they were gone. I guess it is a seal resort of some kind. It is only about 1,000 feet from the cave.

When I see a cow, I always moo. I found that when I see a seal, I always make that strange seal sound. I don't think that they heard me.

This is the cave. You have to go down in an elevator and then you can look through an area at the hundreds of seals that hang out in the cave. Well you guessed it, no seals. They were all down at the beach. I think it was good because when you look at this and think, wow, how loud would it actually have been if it was covered with all those seals from the beach and let's not even think about how it would smell.

Just a lovely spot where we stopped to enjoy the view. I think it looks a lot like the beaches on the east coast.

Our signature picture.

Drawbridges are just so cool. Lots of them along the way.

Seals!

Lighthouse (again)

Deer are just so sweet and relaxing to look at aren't they?

Wolfgang loved the name of this park.

Here we are back in California but still a long way from home.

This was absolutely one of our favorite places to stay. It had the most beautiful coastal redwood forest surrounding it and the beach was perfect, including a large pod of whales.

This is an old forest redwood forest. We just loved it and were sorry to have to leave it.

A small redwood.

OK, getting a little bigger.

This reminds me of my childhood when my family would go camping. What every road seemed to look like. Honk first around the corner roads.

Tim's jeep and, boy, the sunroof was perfect for looking all the way up into

the tops of these trees.

I am going to live in the redwoods. They make me feel small.

This could be our house.

This is the forest where you expect dinosaurs to come wandering out from behind the trees.

OK, now this is REALLY BIG!

Wolfgang is about 6'2" and he even looks little.

That Shakespeare, he always said it perfectly.

The coastal area of Cresent City. We watched the sunset here and while we waited we watched about 10 whales swimming out in the ocean.

I have no idea why but yes, it is Paul Bunyun and Babe.

OK, this is a Huell Howser referral. We watched his program on fern canyon and thought that if we were ever in the area, we would visit. We had no idea what that included but it was quite a ride including crossing two streams, driving around elk and going about eight miles on a little one lane road through the forest. IT WAS GREAT!

This the town of Eureka. It is a great town filled with some of the most wonderful victorian homes and main street is priceless. It is also pretty much the capital for Marijuana in the state of California so you do have to look passed the old hippies. I thought that they added to the ambiance but that's me, isn't it.

This is a town that we also heard about on Huell Howser. It is fabulous and I am sorry that we didn't have time to get out and just wander around. It is truly a main street USA place with beautiful buildings.

These are Turkey Vultures or Turkey Buzzards. We have them to in Saugus too, but the photo opportunity was hard to pass up.

This by the golden gate bridge but on the Sausalito side. It is from the World Wars. We thought it was great and it gave us a new and beautiful view of the bridge and San Fransicso. We drove through S.F. and Santa Cruz. It was Halloween time so we had to include some Halloween decorating.

A group of turkey vultures sitting on a rock.

Wolfgang had never been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is one of the best and if you have never been, please find a way to see it.

I want a wall of jellyfish in my house when I win the lotto.

Here is a good man. He not only helps raise the kids but carries all the eggs. Do you think he does laundry?

Young elephant seals just north of Cambria. January is really the best time to visit because everyone is there, Dads, Moms and all the new babies.

Our last stop before home, Morro Bay home of the Morro Bay Rock. We love Morro Bay.

The rock from our hotel, first thing in the morning.

My favorite sea creature, the sea otter. Morro bay has a family of eight living in the harbor. This is a picture of all eight of them waking up first thing in the morning. I want one.

A beautiful hawk on the edge of Morro Rock. What a beautiful animal.

So that's it, our trip. Two weeks of driving and I mean lots of driving but you know there was always something to see and enjoy. We hope you enjoyed it with us and that someday, you will travel some of these places and enjoy it just as much. If you already have, we know that you feel the same.