Day 12: Hiking in the REDwoods!

Girls Hiking

When you look up....

Brett with his girls!

All of us on the hike!

We had hoped to get up early and go tide pooling in Crescent City, but the girls were simply too tired! Norah didn't wake up until 8:00 and believe me, SHE NEEDED THE SLEEP! We would have had to be on the road by 7:00 in order to get to the best tide pool locations, so we'll have to do that on another coast trip! We started the day with a hike on a 1 mile loop near our campground called The Simpson Reed Loop. It was AMAZING! At times the size and beauty was completely overwhelming. No picture can grasp the beautiful sights we saw on this trip, so I am only showing you a glimpse at God's great creation with the pictures above!

Our truck passing through.....

Family photo at the Tour thru Tree!

We then drove further South on HWY 101. Had we known we were only 3 miles from this yesterday we would have done it then! The girls REALLY wanted to drive through a tree, so we made the 30 minute trek South again so we could experience driving through a redwood! It was VERY cool and a little nerve wracking, as we didn't think we would actually fit through! A family from Iowa was there and we took turns taking pictures for each other, which was GREAT! It was well worth the $5.00 it costs and certainly a great memory!

All the girls on the beach trail.

Brett and I!

We then stopped at another trail head to do some hiking by the beach. It was a beautiful location and we hiked about 3/4 of a mile to a look-out point and then headed back. You might notice the girls have garbage bags with them.....they were collecting trash to earn their Redwood Junior Ranger Badge! We were certainly impressed with how little litter there was....but the girls were hoping for more =)!

The girls walking.....

All us girls in the woods!

Our final hike for the day was down a gravel road where there were several trail heads. We had a difficult time understanding the map, but thought we found the right trail. It looked to be about 1 mile total, but we now think it was maybe 1 mile to where the actual loop started! The girls were real troopers and once we got a little over 1 mile in we determined it would be in EVERYONE'S best interest to turn back and call it a day! We again saw beautiful green foliage and more amazing redwood clusters, roots, burls, and streams. Back at camp the girls finished more assignments and earned their jr ranger badge!!!

The girls swimming in the Smith River

The view!

The girls with their friends in the "hot tub"!

Now it's just a MUD BATH!!!!

We decided to then hike down to the river for some swimming and refreshing. It was beautiful. The girls swam, Brett and I waded, and the sun was out. We stayed for about 2 hours. The girls made friends and together carved a "hot tub" in the bank, which they later called "sand chairs"! Such imaginations!

We are sad to say goodbye to this beautiful scenery, but VERY ready to head home and sleep in our own beds soon!!!!

Day 11: CALIFORNIA! The Redwoods....

We got an early start packing up the trailer and were on the road by 9:00 a.m. We had planned to scout out the town of Brookings a little more as we had been told a retired coast gaurd gentleman had purchased the lighthouse there and convereted it to his home. Due to the extensive fog and some whiney, tired little girls we decided to just get into California and experience something new. It was a FOGGY drive!! We headed past our camp ground to the Trees of Mystery.....

The girls by Babe the Blue Ox!

Norah and Brett by Paul Bunyan! (Well by his foot!)

The Cathedal....AMAZING!

Check out that BIG TREE!

Aww....the girls!

The Trees of Mystery was GREAT! Well worth the money. We saw 12 trees growing out of one tree, a lightening bolt tree (shaped like a lightening bolt!), the Cathedral trees, a tunnel tree, and some amazing wood carvings. At the peek of the hike we took a gondola ride to a much higher point where you could look out over the tree tops and take in the peace of some of God's beauty! It truly was breath taking and a wonderful place to visit. Once we completed the tour there was a Native American museum, which was neat as we are reading the "Little House on the Prairie" series right now! The girls selected a souvenir to place on their shelves to remember this day!

Lighthouse.....

....NO ACCESS!!!

On our way through Crescent City we saw a sign for a lighthouse. As we have learned so much about lighthouses and have seen everyone thus far, Brett and I decided an extra stop was necessary! So we followed the signs and came to a nice rocky beach. We headed toward the lighthouse and quickly realized we would NOT be touring this one.....it's on an island surrounded by heavy crashing waves! This lighthouse is only accessible 2-3 hours a day at most when the tide is at it's lowest - CRAZY! I took some pictures through the fog to give you an idea of what we saw!

Jedediah Smith State Park

We arrived mid afternoon to our next camp ground. It felt so different to be surrounded by HUGE trees, as we have been camping so close to the beach for a week! It is VERY beautiful here and it only took 2 minutes before I had my first mosquito bite! We set up camp and took a trip over to the information center to learn about the hiking opportunities and gather more information. During our walk back to the campsite we wandered down to the Smith River and determined there would be swimming tomorrow as long as it's warm enough!

After a delicious spaghetti dinner we played some games, enjoyed the fire and went to a presentation by the ranger. They offer free hot cocoa and light a nice fire at the site of the slide show presentation! It was GREAT! We learned a lot about the animals and foliage here and found out that tomorrow morning should be excellent tide pooling - SO our goal is to be on the road by 7:00 a.m. to explore the tide pools in Crescent City.......sea stars, anemones here we come! Then for LOTS of hiking!!!

Day 10: Even further South

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast of HUGE pancakes and sausage this morning served at the KOA. We then loaded up and headed South - again =)! We didn't have to go as far since Brookings was our destination today. We wanted to surprise the girls and take them to the Prehistoric Gardens! Ready to go in!

Look at the size of that dinosaur!

Walking the trail!

They had a good time and Abigail said it was the best part of the day! They kept saying, "Oh yeah, we've seen ones like this in movies....." OH MY! But we also saw a couple live bunny rabbits as we toured the area and the girls were super excited by that! We started out reading all the history to them.......it was a little over kill!!

FOG......

Most of the drive was very foggy, so we couldn't see the sights we hoped for. But when we could see it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Harris Beach!

Girls watching the waves....

Brett and I.... (Norah took the picture)

Climbing a rock!

SCARY attack grey squirrels!

We were able to get a camp site at Harris Beach State Park! This campground is WONDERFUL! We have thoroughly enjoyed each place we've stayed, but I think this one is the BEST! The beach is beautiful, the camp ground is great - complete with laundry facilities and a great play ground and many trails that I would love to drag the girls down! We spent a relaxing afternoon on the beach, watching the waves crash onto the sand and the girls played! We were amazed at how similar this beach felt to being on a beach in Hawaii. A few more degrees of warmth would have been welcom, but all in all it was a wonderful afternoon! Tomorow we cross the border and enter CALIFORNIA!! REDwoods (as Abigail says) here we come!!

Day 9: The Southern Oregon Coast

The girls at the Japanese Garden

We had read about two state parks just South of Sunset Beach and the admission is waved when you stay at the campground, so we headed that way first thing this morning. We drove a short distance to Shore Acres State Park. This land was formerly owned by a man named Simpson. He built an amazing estate right on the ocean and even had his own private beach. The house burned down and he built a second home, but couldn't afford it and eventually had to sell everything to the State of Oregon. The house no longer exists, but the magnificent formal gardens have been maintained. We wandered through the grounds and saw plants from all over the world. The girls LOVED the Japanese Garden! We would like to come back in the winter when they light everything up and have special Christmas hours!

Cape Arago Lighthouse

We then drove to Cape Arago. You can see the Cape Arago Lighthouse, but can no longer drive up close to it. It is privately owned by the Native American tribe in the area. We took a LONG distance pictue to prove we'd seen EVERY lighhouse on the Oregon Coast! The views at Cape Arago State Park were stunning and we heard many sea lions and seals making noise. The girls drew pictures of them and said, "there were HUNDREDS of them mommy!"

The girils in front of the Coquille River Lighthouse

All of us at the top of the Coquille River Lighthouse

Due to the exhaustion of our girls we determined the beach was not going to happen and decided to hook up the trailer and continue South. Our next stop was at the Coquille River Lighthouse. From the research we had done we assumed this lighthouse wouldn't be open, but we at least wanted to stop for a photo. We were pleasantly surprised that they were about to open the building when we arrived. We also found out that they were allowing people to go to the top of the lighthouse! This lighthouse is no longer in use and the light is not at the top, but it was still fun to see the view and hear about the history of this lighthouse.

The girls posing in Bandon!
Next we visited Bandon. We planned to stop for lunch here and wander around a bit. The girls were not very interested in window shopping or browsing. So we found a quick place to eat and were VERY disappointed. We later saw several other places we would rather have eaten at, but the girls were happy and ready to pose for pictures so we counted that a blessing!

FACE ROCK

We had to visit Face Rock, a place where Brett has fond memories growing up. I will honestly admit I did NOT see it at first. I was looking for a frontal view of the face, but after looking at the pictue and understnading it was a profile view, I DID see it!! Brett will laugh about this often I'm sure =)!

The girls waiting to climb the stairs!

All of us at the TOP of the lighthouse!

Looking intot he Fresnel Lens!

The girls in front of the lighthouse!

We had made reservations the night before at a KOA between Bandon and Port Orford for several reason: we wanted a pool to swim in (hot tub was a bonus), we NEEDED to do some laundry, and I was hoping to have Wifi to upload several of these blog updates. (Alas the internet was SO slow that I gave up!!!) So we parked the trailer at the camp ground and headed a little further South to visit the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

This is the oldest lighthouse in Oregon and the furthest West lighthouse in Oregon. We were able to go all the way to the top and watch the Fresnel lens rotate while taking in the breath taking views of the amazing terrain. This is a VERY windy location, but a treasure to visit. Just down the hill from the lighthouse was the Hughes House.

Brett and the girls outside the Hughes House!

This house was built LONG ago. We had a delightful tour and the girls got to do a scavenger hunt as we learned about more history of the area.

Girls on a train ride!

Abigail eating a HUGE sundae!

Norah being goofy!

Back at the KOA we swam, the girls made friends and we relaxed. Brett started the laundry, which proved to take quite a while, but at least we got it done! Later that evening the girls went on a train ride through the camp ground, they were able to sit with the friends they had made earlier at the pool! Following the train ride we purchased HUGE sundaes, the proceeds went to cancer research. So we of course had to support that and enjoy a frosty treat! All in all a great day! Tomorrow we're headed to Brookings and hope to find a lighthouse that is privately owned!

Day 8: The Central Oregon Coast

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

Brett and I with the Newport Bridge in the background!

A beautiful morning in Newport! We made a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon and hashbrowns.....YUMMY! Then we went to Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. This one wasn't open that early in the morning, so we took pictures out front and enjoyed the views from there! We then hooked up the trailer and headed South. We knew this would be a LONG day of driving so we were glad to get an early start.All the girls at Cape Perpetua!

Brett at Cape Perpetua

Our first stop was Cape Perpetua at Devil's Churn. This was amazing. We hiked down the hillside to a place were the ocean comes back into a deep rock crevice. The power behind the waves was unbelievable. It was such a beautiful location and well worth the hike down. We then went to Cooks Chasm where there was a Spounting Horn, also a part of Cape Perpetua. We did not capture this amazing sight on camera, but we did see several small and one HUGE display. The force of the ocean's waves sounded like thunder as they slam underneath these rock formations. Occasionally the formula is exactly right and water if forced through a small hole and shoots a spray about 20 feet into the air. I was immediately addicted and didn't want to leave for fear of missing another beautiful plume!

The girls at the bottom of Heceta Lighthouse
All of us to the top of Heceta Head Lighthouse

Heceta Head Lighthouse as we drove away!

Next we stopped at Heceta Lighthouse. There was a beautiful beach at the base of this hike. We climbed just over 1/2 mile up to the lighthouse. The girls were getting a little tired and whiny towards the top (We figured we had already walked close to two miles before this one!) Needless to say we took a long break at the top and waited for our personal guided tour. The guide was very informative and the girls listened VERY well. We learned about the history of the land, the lighthouse and what they hoped to do in the future. The views were amazing and the girls were rested enough to make the easy hike back down!

Ice Cream Time!

Norah is a MESS!

Abigail enjoyed EVERY bite!

After all that hiking we had to stop for a delicious ice cream cone! We stopped at BJ's Ice Cream in Florence. Abigail enjoyed rainbow sherbert, Norah had smores and Brett and I shared Grasshopper.......YUMMY! Then we continued South........

The Umpqua River Lighthouse

We made a quick stop at the Umpqua River Lighthouse. This one is not open to the public during the time we were there and you even enter the area right close to it, so we made a quick stop and got a picture before continuing the journey.

The Girls are ready to play in the sand!

The view from the Beach at Sunset Bay!

Aww....LOVE YOU BABE!

We made it to Sunset Beach State Park just in time to get a full hook-up site. This campground came recommended by several people and we were hoping to be able to stay here! It is beautiful! We are looking forward to walking on the beach in the morning and enjoying a few more hours here before a shorter trip tomorrow! Ready for a good night sleep =)!