Clear Lake, California

When we pulled out of Fort Bragg on the Mendocino Coast, we headed up Highway 20 back to the 101. It's a little better road than Highway 1 coming down from Leggett. They offer many pullouts for larger vehicles and I used several. Local custom seems to be to honk and wave in appreciation when someone pulls out and allows smaller faster vehicles to pass. We stopped at Clear Lake State Park for two days. The park was virtually closed, only a handful of other camps were occupied during our stay. The only loop that was open wasn't the best for a 5th wheel ... The best site we could find was so far off the level that I could walk under the nose of the 5th wheel after we jacked it up close to level. We moved carefully in the trailer while in the nose, especially. I had visions of it sliding forward during the night while we slept ... We managed a day trip from here to Harbin Hot Springs. The water is great! The people were really weird! Way too many rules about silent pools and quiet pools. I would never have imagined that people soaking in such great hot water could be so up tight. A church runs the place. I think this is their version of enlightenment, but I'm not buying it.

Mendocino Coast

When we left Arcata, we headed down the 101 through the Avenue of the Giants. Slow going through this section of old road, it’s narrow, they’ve got trees marked with reflectors so guys like me who tow big trailers through know what not to hit. We turned off the 101 onto the 1 at Leggett. Wow! This road climbs over the coastal range then drops like a rock (20% grades) onto the Mendocino Coast, which is a very rugged area. Much more like Oregon than the California coast we’d encounter further south.

We camped at MacKerricher State Park quite close to Laguna Point, which is a good seal watching area. They pulled a lot of lumber out of here in the early days, using a gravity fed rail road line to move the lumber from the hills above to the coast to be milled and shipped. What remains of a haul road into Fort Bragg to the south now functions as a good coastal bike trail.

We saw our first confirmed Great Egret and Joanie discovered that Green Sea Anemones look a lot like sand covered bumps on a rock when the tides out. She figures its part of their strategy to stay wet until the next tide. In Fort Bragg we visited the North Coast Brewery. This brewery crafts the best group of beers of the four breweries that I sampled on the 450 mile stretch of the coast from Newport Oregon to Ukiah California.

The first winter storm of the year is brewing in the Pacific when we leave MacKerricher. The sky is clear, sun is shining through the trees when we leave camp. Without a radio we'd never know the storm is coming. We do know, though, that this coast is not the place we want to be when one of these storms hit. We pack it up and head for Clear Lake.

Arcata/Eureka California

In Arcata we met up with Joanie's parents, Charlie and Shirley Keller. They were in Antioch visiting Joan's brother Brian. We really enjoyed seeing them and touring the Arcata/Eureka area with them.

We enjoyed breakfast together at the Samoa Cookhouse, a menu-less all you can eat restaurant that once served the area's lumber mill workers. Great food.

Arcata and Eureka had a liberal spin to them both - about the only place I've ever been that felt more liberal than Boulder Colorado. This mural, reminiscent of Diego Rivera's work is just one example. Sure is pretty, though! ... I had a cup of coffee at Cafe Mokka downtown Arcata while I had the oil changed. They serve great coffee and rent hot tubs and saunas by the hour. I'll wager I was driving the only Dodge diesel with a McCain-Palin bumper sticker on the rear bumper in the whole town.

The Carson mansion on the Eureka waterfront stands as a prime example of Victorian architecture.

Can you guess what these folks are dressed up as? I sure couldn't. On the last Saturday of October before Halloween, downtown Eureka hosts treat-or-treat for all comers. These folks were sushi.

Jedediah Smith State Park, California

On the way down from Bullard's Beach to Jed Smith we picked up our first (and only to date) hitch hiker. Cammie was a woman in her early fifties. Travelling light. She wanted a ride to Brookings Oregon that day. Since we were going that far and further, we offered her a ride. She hitch hikes up the coast in early summer, then goes down to the Mendocino Coast in the fall, finally wintering around Monterrey. She sleeps in churches along the way, telling us she feels rich, though she has very, very little. She used to travel with a guitar. "They" stole it. Then a fiddle. They stole it. Same thing with a camera. Cammie told us she'd like to live up around Yachats Oregon, but there are a lot of people around there that grow pot in the forest. They seem to have a way of showing up at your camp unannounced. She finds the tall forest on the Smith River where we're headed to be spooky. We drop her off in the rain on the south end of Brookings near the church where she'll sleep for the night. Jed Smith marks the start of the truly big trees. In the campground we find the largest redwood tree in the grove, the Grand Mother of those that surround it. Twenty feet from it is a circular raised stone fire place.

Redwoods are not the only large tree in this forest. Believe it or not, the Douglas Fir grows thick and tall here, too. Their needles are so far up the tree, it's hard to tell what you're looking at. One tip off is that Douglas Firs seem to have more moss growing on them, as does this one in our camp. Bark and the needles and cones beneath the tree assist in identification, too.

More fungus!

We didn't run the generator the entire time we were in Oregon. All the state parks had electric hookups. In California, things change. The state parks no longer offer hookups of any kind - water or electric. California park employees tell us that's because Oregon parks are financed from their gasoline tax and user fees, while California relies primarily on user fees. Even so, California charges more for less.

The road in the Jed Smith campground wasn't much wider than a good bike path ... Made for fun pulling the trailer in and out between the trees.

Shore Acres (near Coos Bay)

The gardens at Shore Acres were originally part of a lumber baron's estate. Eventually they came to be owned and preserved by the state of Oregon. You'll find them on the coast south and west of Coos Bay. Why is Joanie smiling in this picture? It's late October and she sees acres of gardens planted in flowers, part of a grand design that blooms year round.

Bullard's Beach

Evergreen Huckleberry bushes surrounded our camp on Bullard Beach. Joan felt industrious one morning. She gathered a full bowl, cleaned them all, and baked an even dozen Huckleberry tarts. Served warm with whipped cream and coffee. They were the best!

Bullard's Beach at Bandon

Oregon grows all sorts of mushrooms. This one in particular caught Joanie's attention. It's the Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric. Poisonous, yes, as well as psychotropic. One of those double edged swords! How did the ancient peoples figure out how to use these things in shamanic ritual? Eat these mushrooms and you'll get very, very sick. Hallucinations may follow. No thanks!


The coast features several rocky areas where spouts have been carved. They're just as regular as those Yellowstone geysers.

The Coquille River light house at Bandon was the final one that we visited. It has a 4th order lens (much smaller than the other two), since it's job was to guide ships into the river channel, not to assist ships far at sea.

The jetty at the light house extends quite a ways into the ocean. At the far end the final piece has separated from the rest and now slopes into the sea. Joanie wanted a picture of her on the jetty, so I waited until I saw a good sized wave coming. Spooked her a bit!