7/12/08 - Between Trinidad and Orick, California

This morning we got up and drove through the Redwood National and State Parks. We went on several short hikes and even drove our Pathfinder through a redwood tree. The weather today was very hazy due to sea fog. At a lot of the lookout points on the coast we couldn’t see the ocean. Take a close look at the last picture. Jim is at the very bottom of the redwood. That gives you some idea of the enormity of the trees. They are the largest living things on earth.

7/13/08 - Cave Junction, Oregon

We drove north back through the Redwoods National and State Parks and walked through another redwood grove. When you walk through these groves of giant trees you experience another world of silence and timelessness. We continued on into Oregon to the Oregon Caves National Monument where we went on a guided tour of the cave. As caves go, this one was only so-so, and is small and claustrophobic to boot. We have better caves in Texas, like Carlsbad Cavern, Natural Bridge Cavern, Longhorn Cavern, Cave With No Name, and Caverns of Sonora. We checked into the Mountain Man RV Park in Cave Junction and had a pizza and beer sampler at the local brewpub, Wild River Brewing and Pizza Company. The town of Cave River, population 1,685, has as many brewpubs as Houston, and their beers have won 4 medals at the Great American Beer Festival.

7/14/08 - Union Creek Campground, Rogue National Forest - Oregon

We left Cave Junction and drove through the beautiful town of Grants Pass and then alongside the wild and scenic Rogue River before arriving at our next campsite at Union Creek Campground in the Rogue National Forest. We took some short hikes to the Rogue River Gorge, Natural Bridge (where the river flows underground through a lava tube), and to two waterfalls near the town of Prospect. We bought a couple of pieces of pie made from four different berries at the historic Becky’s Café to have for dessert after eating Carolyn’s chicken stir fry. Pie seems to be a big deal up here – reminds me of the TV show Twin Peaks. We have no hookups but we are right beside a mountain creek and the price is right - $6.

7/15/08 - Union Creek Campground, Rogue National Forest - Oregon

We drove to Crater Lake National Park and drove the rim drive around the lake. This area is supposed to have some of the clearest skies in North America, you should be able to see 100 miles. However, it was very smoky due to the California wildfires. You couldn't see the other side of the lake. We took pictures anyway. The range said the previous day was crystal clear, of course. We went on a few short hikes on the rim road including one to an area they call the Pinnacles. These are pointy volcanic chimneys. We went back to camp and stopped by Becky's and got pie again. Jim got peach and I got coconut. We went for a little hike on the trail in our campground down Union Creek where it merges with the Rogue River.

7/16/08 - Sutherlin, Oregon

We drove out of Rogue National Forest along the scenic Umpqua River. This is supposed to be one of the top fly fishing rivers in the country. Along the way we passed Diamond Lake and several picturesque waterfalls. We stopped off in Roseburg and visited the McMinneman's Brew Pub, located in a restored railroad station. They have several locations in Oregon and most of them are in restored historical buildings. We also had the oil in the Pathfinder changed. We checked into the Hi-Way Haven RV Park. It is in an old drive-in movie location and they still have the screen. On come nights they show old movies, not tonight though, of course. They had a wine tasting with wine from a winery 6 miles down the road. There was a group of RV'ers here and they had set it up. They also had a sing-a-long with the greatest hits of the early 1900's (like My Darling Clementine, Red River Valley, The Yellow Rose of Texas).

7/17/08 – Bandon, Oregon

We started the day by washing the Pathfinder and Casita to get the dirt off so it would be clean for the fiberglass trailer rally in Bandon. We drove to a covered bridge near Sutherlin after leaving the RV park. We followed the Umpqua River until it flowed into the Pacific Ocean at Bullard’s Beach State Park. We checked into the park to attend the Oregon Fiberglass Trailer Rally. We had the Casita and Pathfinder weighed, and then went to our site. We met up with our friends from San Antonio Ranger Duke and Beverlee who we had met at rallies in Texas. Everyone got together at night for a beer exchange and campfire.

7/18/08 – Bandon, Oregon

Jim went to a seminar on solar power and I attended a beading class. We made lanyards for our name tags. We went to Old Town Bandon and had fish and chips, clam chowder and shrimp cocktail at Bandon Fish Market. Then we walked around town and went to the library where they were having a used book sale. We drove along the beach loop road and took a walk on the beach. There were a couple of neat rocks, one they call Elephant Rock and the other Face Rock. At night we had a get together with Tapas appetizers and smores.

7/19/08 - Bandon, Oregon

We woke up a 5:30 am and went back to the beach because there was a super low tide that exposed marine life in the tide pools. We saw lots of star fish, sea anemones, sponges, barnacles and sea weed. We went back to the rally and Jim went to an LED light seminar. The kids decorated their bikes and rode around all the loops in the campground. After getting together for a group picture the “egg viewing” began. Everyone checked out each others’ trailers. There were Casitas, Scamps, Big Foots, Trilliums, Bolers, U-Hauls, Compact Jr,s, Compact IIs, Fiber Streams, Olivers, Escapes, etc. Some of these models are no longer made but people have bought and restored them and use them regularly. Everyone got together at night for a pot luck dinner. They had awards and prizes -- we won the award for travelling Farthest From the South (we traveled 5,477 miles to get there.) The people from Florida only traveled a little over 5,000 miles. We received as a door prize a very nice Lodge cast iron dutch oven. Now Jim has to learn to cook for me.

7/20/08 - Lakeside, Oregon

We checked out of Bandon Beach State Park and drove south to Port Orford ( the western most point in the lower 48 states) and saw the Cape Blanco lighthouse. It was very windy and cold. We thought the wind might blow the Casita off the cliff. We then came back north past Bandon, and we stopped at a lookout for marine mammals on the way to the Cape Arago lighthouse. We saw lots of harbor seals, some elephant seals and sea lions sunning themselves on an offshore island. Jim saw a gray whale. We drove to our RV park in Lakeside and after unhooking we drove to the Umpqua River Lighthouse.

7/21/08 - Newport, Oregon

We left Lakeside and went to Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. We saw guys on dirt bikes riding up and down the dunes. There was a jeep with a man, his niece and son. I asked them if they would take me for a ride. I got in the back seat and took an exciting trip up to the top of the dunes and down a few times. It was very fun, like riding a roller coaster at Astroworld. We drove down the coast and stopped at a rock formation off the beach called COX ROCK. We stopped at another lighthouse at Heceta Head. We went to Sea Lion Cave but they charged $10.00 to see the sea lions. We already saw some the day before at a state park for free so,we wouldn’t pay $10 to see them. A mile or so down the road we saw people at a pull out. We stopped and lo and behold there were some sea lions sunning on beach and playing in the water. I bet the people who had just paid $10 were furious. We stopped at another pullout and there was a great formation called Spouting Horn. It was a blow hole that the surf was coming through with such a force that the water sprayed through it and up in the air. We traveled down the road and stopped at two more lighthouses -- Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head. In between these two we stopped at the Rogue Brewery and had a taste of 16 of their 39 beers. When we got to Yaquina Head lighthouse the fog had rolled in and you could hardly see it. We will go back in the morning to visit again.

7/22/08 - McMinnville, Oregon

We went back to Yaquina Head Lighthouse. This time there was no fog. The tide was down and we went to the tide pools again. We took a picture of an anemone eating a crab. We stopped at two brewpubs on the way to McMinnville -- McMenamins Lighthouse Brewery in Lincoln City and Pelican Brewery in Pacific City. We drove to our RV park in McMinnville and talked with Kim and Steve who were on the way from the Portland airport but had stopped off at a few wineries. We met them at Golden Valley Brewery and then went to their hotel for dinner. They were staying at McMenamins Hotel Oregon so we had more beer. This is a very neat old historic hotel that had been refurbished. Kim and Steve had a very comfy cozy room that was period decorated.

7/23/08 - Portland, Oregon

We went to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum which was located next to our RV park in McMinnville. Howard Hughes' airplane the "Spruce Goose" was in one of the museum's hangers. This is the largest airplane ever made and flew only one time in 1947. We moved the RV to a park on an island in the Columbia River between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. We met our friends Steve and Kim who had flown from Houston to go to the Oregon Brewers Festival. We met them at the Portland Japanese Garden. Then we visited several brewpubs -- New Old Lompoc, Lucky Labrador, Bridgeport, and Hopworks Urban Brewery.