Day 2 The coast and the Redwoods

Quick recap from last night, I went to dinner at a place I found on trip advisor – well it was the place next to the place I was looking for, the place I found was closed.  As it turns out, the restaurant I went to was nice, the owners had just moved from Maine, where they lived for 15 years, running 5 restaurants in that time.  Oregon was home for them, so they moved back and took over a restaurant that they city had taken over because of unpaid taxes.  The waitress was a former heavy equipment operator who moved back to the coast and was working as a waitress in her retirement.  It was a couple’s anniversary and after the waitress made the announcement, another diner came up to them and said “my wife and I have been married so long that we have had fights longer than some marriages last these days” I got a good chuckle.

Today my first stop was over an hour away, so I took off in the dark and when the sun came up I stopped at Cape Blanco lighthouse and continued down the coast admiring the views, much of the trip is along the ocean and view after view was amazing.  Crossing into California I stopped in Crescent City and picked up a map at the national forest service office and got advice on where to stop to see the Redwoods.  Soon after leaving Crescent city, right on the highway you are driving through the Redwoods. I got off at the recommended stop and walked through big tree wayside on a half mile walk.  Later I stopped at Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Richard Nixon named the grove after the former first lady, because of her work in helping save the environment. Can you imagine Joe Biden naming anything after Melania Trump?

After the National Park I stopped in Eureka for lunch – turns out it was an all you can eat Barbecue place – today was Chicken – there were some big eaters here today for lunch. I stopped at a ½ chicken and kept heading south.  At one point I saw a sign for the “famous drive through tree” Thinking it was something I should see; I made the detour.  I don’t think it’s the same tree I have seen in pictures, my little rent a car just squeezed through – but I guess it was worth the $10 to know I drove through the tree.  From there I headed to the coast again on route 1 and it was an amazing winding road with hair pin turns, switchbacks and a genuine fun drive, no problem paying attention, even with ½ a barbecue chicken inside me. Stop for the night was Fort Bragg a little town on the coast.  The Northern California coast is just an extension of the beauty seen in Oregon.

Today I finished The Path Between The Seas David McCullough, story of the Panama canal.

Beer: Anchor Steam

Song of the Day: Traveller Chris Stapleton.