Tillamook, Oregon

We left Newport this morning and arrived in Tillamook....just in time for lunch. We ate at the Blue Heron Cheese and Wine Deli. I had the clam chowder and it was one of the best I have tasted. From there we toured the Tillamook Cheese factory which was very interesting. We could not leave there without having a dessert. For me it was a single scoop Caramel Pecan Praline ice cream in a waffle cone. Being on a lighthouse crusade, I implored John to take me to the Cape Meares Lighthouse. Gretchen and I took the 1/4 mile path to the lighthouse only to discover it had been vandalised. The "panes" of the lighthouse had been hit by bullets of vandals in January and the damage had been covered by metal plates. Even though it was damaged, the lighthouse still had grace. It was built in 1889, began operation January 1, 1890 and celebrates 120 years in 2010. The tower stands 38 feet high and is the shortest lightouse in Oregon. It is constructed of bricks (made right on site at a cost of $2,900) with iron plates covering it. The original addition that now houses the interpretive shop was a work room built in 1895.

From there, we were off to Oceanside where we heard we could observe Parasailers in action. Oceanside was an intriguing little cliff-dwelling town. I loved its charm and would love to spend a few weeks there. Watching the parasailers riding the wind currents was fascinating especially when it appeared as though the birds were soaring with them.

We then headed to the Munson Creek Road in search of the 380 foot Munson Creek Falls. Wow, this 1/4 mile hike was beautiful. We kind of felt like we got a taste of what the Olympic Peninsula holds in store for us. Every where I looked, I snapped pictures. Don't worry. I will only post a few here.

Yaquina Head Outstanding Area

We explored the Newport and surrounding areas. I remembered visiting Yaquina Head Lighthouses a few years ago and wanted to see them again. So we took the bridge over Yaquina Bay and stopped at the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse which was built in 1871 and decommissioned 1874. It is believed to be the oldest structure in Newport, the only existing Oregon lighthouse with the living quarters attached and the only only historic wooden Oregon lighthouse still standing. I believe I read the reason it was "retired" was because it was visible for ships traveling north along the coast. But southbound vessels could not see it. Thus the construction of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

The 93 foot tower, Oregon's tallest, is located on a narrow point of land jutting due west into the Pacific Ocean north of Newport, at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. Winds and rain have buffeted this lighthouse since its beginning in 1872. It took approximately one year and over 370,000 bricks to construct Oregon's tallest lighthouse.

114 steps lead to the Fresnal light. The light was automated on May 1, 1966. the original lens is still in place, but is now illuminated with an electric 1,000 watt globe. It has a signature of two seconds on, two seconds off, two seconds, then 14 seconds off.

I am fascinated by these lighthouses and the historical role they played in navigating the west coast.

Newport, Oregon

We headed towards Newport from Coos Bay on Wednesday, April 28th. Gretchen and I drove the Honda Element because we wanted to poke around in the coastal towns heading to Newport as well as take pictures of coastal vistas. We ate lunch at Rosa's Mexican Restaurant in Florence. The restaurant was highly recommended and now I know why.....about as authentic as you can get this side of Kino Bay....The scenes were beautiful on the drive. Heceta Head lighthouse was awesome, but I only got a picture of the B & B ... it is spectacular in its own right!

Coos Bay, Oregon

Arrived in Coos Bay April 25th. It has been raining since. Today there have been breaks in between cloudbursts so Gretchen and I headed to Arago Bay to see what we could see. Again, more fabulous vistas. First we saw a lady flying a kite along the beach, then the Arago Bay Lighthouse followed by the Simpson Reef. When I got out of the car to take pictures of the reef, I could hear seals. There are four species of seals found here, but I can only remember the Harbor and Elephant Seals listed. Gray Whales can be spotted in the area as well as this is their route to and from Alaska.

On to the Redwoods

While staying in Trinidad, Gretchen and I had lunch with the daughter of one of my friends. Joanna Schultz is a junior at Humboldt State University. She gave us a fabulous tour of Arcata after we finished lunch at the Seascape restaurant. On Saturday, John, Gret and I ventured north along the coast to Redwood National Park. The drive was beautiful. Stopped along the way to explore a beach and to let Kellogg run a bit. We came across Elk in the area. I am not sure if they stay in the area year round or if this was part of their migratory route. A few wildflowers are out now and one to be found in the Redwoods was a Trillium.

Napa Valley

On April 20th we drove the Silverado Trail through Napa Valley. What a huge change from when I last saw it in ~1975. Many, many more vineyards have sprung up. Vineyard after vineyard after vineyard. Truly beautiful country. We popped into many wineries but only sampled at one or two. Complimentary wine tastings are a thing of the past. Today it is about $5 to $40 depending on whether or not you choose to have palate-cleansing nibbles to accompany the tastings.

Charles Krug Winery

I wanted to visit the Charles Krug Winery primarily because it was the first Winery in Napa Valley. The original building was still standing, but no longer in use except for storage purposes. The grounds were quite impressive.

Founded in 1861 by Charles Krug, the 27-year old Prussian immigrant came to America with little besides willpower and a willingness to work hard to build the cornerstone of the first winery in the Napa Valley. He became the major local winery figure of his era, greatly influencing Napa Valley's development as a world-renown wine producing region.

After his death in 1892, James Moffitt purchased the winery in 1893, holding it in proprietorship through Prohibition. By 1943 he found a pioneering spirit in Cesare and Rosa Mondavi, Italian immigrants with a passion for wine, and sold the winery to them for $75,000.

"Today, as it enters its third century, Charles Krug has turned the corner and is now making the best wines in its 140-year history."

Wine Enthusiast Magazine, May 2002

Folie a Deux at Napa Cellars

When I was reading the various brochures perusing the wine bottles at the Napa Valley Information Center in Yountville, CA, I saw the winery responsible for producing the Ménage à Trois. series of wines. Folie a Deux is the name of the winery and is a French term which means "shared fantasies". There are three varieties of wine in the Ménage à Trois family because, you know, there has to be three. They are the White Blend (Moscato, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc), Rose Blend (Merlot, Syrah and Gewurztraminer) and my personal favorite, The Red Blend (Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet). As they winery states "These three wines are the result of bottling some passion, fun and a little excitement - all without breaking the bank." Yep, they are affordable...ummmm, perhaps more so than Charles Krug wines

Redwood National Park

I had the privilege of visiting the Redwood National Park (on the last sunny day for awhile) Saturday, April 24th. Another most impressive National Park. The world's tallest living tree-monarch of the North Coast-the Redwoods grow from seeds the size of a tomato seed yet can weigh 500 tons and stand taller than the Statue of Liberty. Its foot-thick bark makes the tree all but impervious to fire and insects. These magnificent trees can live to 2,000 years; however, average 500-700 years. They have no known killing diseases and do not suffer significant insect damage. While the redwood trees have been subjected to forest fires, they survive because the sap is mostly water not resin and the bark is 12 inches thick. Pretty good armor I would say. The mighty redwoods have no taproot; their roots penetrate only 10 to 13 feet deep but spread out 60 to 80 feet. They grow 20 feet in their first 100 years. When the leaves reach the sunlight, the energy is then sent down to the trunk and roots and growing rate slows, but is tenacious in its progress.
We hiked two trails through this amazing forest. Sometimes we found ourselves nearly whispering to each other. There is something about this giant forest that renders one to just walking around in awe with our heads up and searching for the tops of these giants. The only thing to break the silence was the babbling of a wonderful little brook which meandered along the trail for a short distance. Many times we just stopped to listen to ..... absolutely nothing .... and just turned in circles.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

One of the sights I was encouraged to take in was the Monterey Bay Aquarium so we headed there in the morning on April 14th. Wow, what an experience! I have visited a fair amount of aquariums in my life, but this one surpassed all. I was most impressed with the collections of seahorses and jellyfish. I most likely took about 100 photos ….I will only attach a few. We easily spent about five hours there and could have stayed longer and seen more. However, it seemed like it was “kids’ day” for all elementary schools in a one hundred mile range so we left without spending any time in the touch pools.

Cannery Row

We visited Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row on Tuesday, April 13th. We poked around in all John Steinbeck’s old haunts. He was another very interesting person. Most of his material for Cannery Row (duh) and Sweet Thursday came from here as well as the character, “Doc” in both novels. Doc; aka Edward Ricketts, was a close friend of Steinbeck’s as well as a scientist/philosopher/chemist. His lab still stands on Cannery Row. We finished off the day by having tapas and cocktails/wine at the “Sardine Factory” joined by one of Gretchen’s friends from her days of teaching in Okinawa. She entertained us with many stories and legends of John Steinbeck for the rest of the evening.

Hearst Castle

I can’t even begin to describe Hearst Castle. Breath taking is the best I can do. I have attached just a few pictures of it…..not all. WR Hearst did not begin construction until he was 56 years old and then it took 15 years to complete. Ruth (?) Morgan was the architect, civil engr, landscape and interior designer of the project. WR didn’t draw lines of distinction w/gender…he just wanted the best. The outdoor pool was expanded three times in the fifteen years of construction. The indoor pool, Neptune Pool, was inlaid with 24 carat gold tiles and alabaster lights illuminated the pool in the evening. Four guest houses are on the grounds and have little rooms (like play houses) above which slept the children of guests. Guests were expected to eat as a group so guest houses did not have kitchens or dining areas….just a personal maid assigned to each. Total acreage was approx. 350+/- acres and the cost of the land at the time was $30,000.

Route 1 Pacific Coast

April 12th found Gretchen and me driving the Honda Element up the coast to Hearst Castle. John didn’t particularly want to drive the 65’ motor home and trailer up Hwy 1 so he took Hwy 101 to our next stop in Monterey Bay, CA. Some of you have had the experience of Pacific Coast Hwy 1, some of you may not. I have attached a couple of pictures of the views. It is truly a beautiful drive and one that should be done at least once in a lifetime.

Arrived in LA area on Sunday, April 4th. Much to my chagrin, I never heard from my friend, Ellen, regarding the tickets to her Spent a week with cousins Dawn Davis and Diane Wolfberg (and their families). Visited Santa Barbara, Venice Beach and the Poppy Festival in Solvang (Danish settlement) area along with other areas betwixt and between. Wednesday, April 7th, Cousin Di took us to the home of a friend in the hills above Santa Barbara where both the home and views were beautiful.

Thursday, April 8th we went to Venice Beach, California. Venice was developed to replicate Venice, Italy complete with canals. Fascinating city and beach. Walking along the vendors on the beach was reminiscent of the late 60’s and 70’s. Heard lots of the music from that era . . . a virtual trip back in time. Lots of fun.

Friday, April 9th we headed back to the Santa Barbara area where we had lunch at a 122 year-old stagecoach stop. We then followed a winding road with lots of switchbacks up to view the poppies. Jay Fisher (spouse of 2nd cousin, Tambi) and John rode their Harley’s up there and we followed trying to keep our panic at bay. We made it about half-way to the field of poppies before deciding it would be in our best interest to snap pictures there and turn around. Good decision as were told later the road deteriorated significantly after our turnaround point.

Tonight we have dinner with the Wolfberg Family in Santa Monica and then back to Dawn’s in West Lake. Early to bed and early to rise will find us motoring once again up to Santa Margarita, CA.

If you would rather not receive these missles, please let me know and I will spare you further ramblings.

Debi

Joshua Tree National Park

Next stop was Quartzsite, AZ. Quartzsite’s claim to fame is the annual gathering in Jan and Feb of thousands of people to the gem and mineral show. The 32 RV parks are filled to overflowing with over 2000 vendors hawking their wares. That’s it. I neglected to take a picture so don’t look for an attachment here.

Off to Joshua Tree National Park. Who would have thought deserts could be so vastly different. I always thought they were just sand dotted with cacti and an occasional Oasis. Joshua Tree NP contains portions of both the Colorado (Low) and Mojave (High) Deserts and much of the 794,000 acres of the park lies in the overlap of these two deserts which is considered the Transition Zone. We could have easily spent four days here and not explore every nook and cranny of the park; however we managed to do the high desert in the morning and the low desert in the afternoon.

The Mojave Desert is the western half of the park and the elevation is above 3,000 feet. The habitat contains Joshua trees, pinyon pines, junipers, scrub oaks, Mojave yuccas and prickly pear cacti as well as rock piles. Joshua Trees aren’t really trees but a species of yucca which is part of the lily family. The waxy, spiny leaves expose little surface area, efficiently conserving moisture. Joshua’s can grow over 40 feet tall at the rate of an inch a year. Clusters of cream-colored flowers bloom February through April. Rock piles are the result of volcanic activity. The attached picture of a rock pile reminded us of nostrils. There is also a picture of me scaling one of the rock piles with John overseeing…..NOT J One of the interesting facts I learned while at the JTNP was that a oasis indicates you are atop a crack in the Earth’s crust. When groundwater hits a fault plane, it rises to the surface and creates ideal conditions for an oasis. Fan palms are found in these oases. One of the amazing vistas in this portion of the park was the San Andreas Fault.

The Colorado Desert makes up the eastern half of the park and lies below 3,000 feet above sea level and is part of the much larger Sonoran Desert. Creosote bush is found here as well as Ocotillo, Palo Verde and patches of the Cholla (choy-ya) cactus. The cholla is also referred to the “teddy bear” cactus because it appears to be covered with soft, silvery bristles. We stopped at the Cholla Cactus Garden and the Ocotillo Patch and walked around a bit and took pictures. The day was getting late and we needed to get back to our home on wheels because we were heading to LA the next day.