Northern California during the wildfires

The plan had been to drive up the California coast on Route 101 and to spend the night in Brookings, Oregon tonight.  But, we heard last night that whole town of Brookings was evacuated due to a wildfire in the Suislaw National Forest that was coming too close.  So, we tried to check with several authorities in Eureka, CA to find out if route 299 was still safe from wildfire and discovered that all of those authorities (fire stations, police stations, Forest Service, and National Park Service offices) are closed up tight on weekends.  Eventually, the California State Patrol phone number confirmed that 299 would be safe and probably smoke-free.

Route 299 was very beautiful, though, with the Rogue River winding through next to the road and the Redwoods sprinkled through the forests.  It was a very windy road, perfect for listening to Fleetwood Mac's Mystery to Me album.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFTKnuilf2c 

It was a such a long drive that I finally realized that I have Audible books that we could listen to and pulled out The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King.  I love that book and it was wonderful to be able to listen to the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes story being narrated as we traveled.  I really wish I had remembered those audio books a long time ago.  I don't have many, but we could go on to the 2nd book in that series The Monstrous Regiment of Women, To Kill a Mockingbird, or even Pippi Longstocking.  This will not be forgotten again!

After driving until way after dark, we are now in a motel in Weed, California (I know, it's not what you think. Weed was named for Abner Weed who discovered the area).  We will be heading tomorrow for either Portland or the Northern Oregon beaches by way of Corvallis again.  Neither are threatened by wildfires, thank goodness.

The Rogue River and NO wildfires.

We made it!

California - so different as we come back through the fires

WooHoo!  We arrived at Benbow KOA and we were able to rent a tiny room with AC, refrigerator, TV, sink, shower, and toilet.  It is sitting next to a small river (make that creek) and is pretty comfy. We stayed at the same place (different unit) on the way down the coast and we liked it.

However, our plan to drive up Highway 101 through more of the Redwoods to Brookings, Oregon is going to have to change.  This valley has a lot of smoke from wildfires to the north.  We are assured that this RV campground is in no danger, but it turns out that Brookings, OR was ordered to evacuate at 5:30pm today due to a fire in the Siuslaw National Forest.  100,000+ acres have burned and Brookings is threatened now.

So, our intention is to continue to Eureka tomorrow, take Route 299 across the mountains to Redding, CA and take I-5 north from there.

We are disappointed, but it looks safer to go that way.  There don't appear to be any wildfires in that part of the Shasta Trinity National Forest.  And, heaven knows, we don't want to see a wildfire up close.

I'll keep you posted.  But, in the meantime, here are a couple of my older photos of the Redwoods because there don't appear to be any more coming:

San Francisco & Walnut Creek - Cannery Row & Point Lobos along the way

Here we are in Walnut Creek, CA again, briefly visiting with Steve's cousin's husband on our way back home.

Yesterday, we drove through Monterey, CA.  Steve wanted to see Cannery Row, made famous by John Steinbeck.  It was a bit of a letdown; very commercialized and no real canneries, I'm sure those have moved on.

But, Point Lobos State Reserve (a place our daughter Meghan and her boyfriend Aram recommended) was just gorgeous!  This was south of Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea.  There were sea lions on the long island in the photos, flocks of pelicans and other birds flying low over the water.  Watching the scene, with the sound of sea lion barks in the air and 5 pelicans cruising 3 feet off the water, it felt like Jurassic Park.  As you can see, I really like the contrasts of the foliage on the hillsides, too.  In that overcast light, the greens and grays speckled with flowers just jumped out at me.

This island is covered, COVERED, with sea lions barking their heads off.

Look closely - 5 or 6 sea lions are lazing on that peninsula. 

Different angle, but the same 5 or 6 sea lions.

I couldn't "capture" the pelicans, but this is either a hawk or an eagle (and it had a mate  dancing around it).

Cousin Nancy and Bud graciously offered to put us up for a night or two.  So, today, we ventured into San Francisco with Bud as our guide.  We rode BART from Walnut Creek to Embarcadaro in San Francisco.  It was fun!

The clock tower at the Port that had tolling bells every hour!

The Port of San Francisco - great Mexican food on the other side!

Ferry Building at the Port

Statue of Ghandi on the ferry docks.

The Oakland Ferry

Bay Bridge and Cupid's Span sculpture in Rincon Park on the Embarcadero.  See the big bow and arrow in the background?

Bay Bridge

Trolley leaving the Port area.

Solar panels shading parked cars in our Park n Ride.  Brilliant!

Tomorrow, we visit with Steve's other cousin, Kerry and his wife Lynn, and then hit the road for Northern California, the Redwoods again, and maybe another couple beaches.  Tacoma, we will see you soon!

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden was not as beautiful as I expected and not as accessible as I had hoped.  There are 78 acres of gardens, but very few plants were flowering and many looked very dry or even dying.  This is probably the wrong time of year for the best viewing and I think they are short-staffed.  One can't expect a garden to always be perfect, I tell myself.  However, many of the trails involved very steep slopes and, as we were told, rough terrain.  So, we walked through the upper area and called it a day.  There were some very interesting and beautiful areas, though.  See for yourself:

These Jumping Chollas look like cartoon animals to me.

Giant Redwood trees in the background - young ones, probably only a few hundred years old. 

A "Beaker" cactus for you, Meghan. 

This is a very old Giant Sequoia.

It was a baby in 1150 AD.  Think about it.

After that, we walked Ledbetter Beach in Santa Barbara and watched the para-boarders sailing across the water.  I had never seen para-boarders and it was fascinating to see them wade out with those huge sails and get up on their boards.  I still can't quite understand how they get to a standing position, even after watching them do it.

This parasurfer was a real veteran.  Watch him take off.

Then, we cruised through Santa Barbara.  I loved the whole feel of the place, probably because it was too expensive for me.  The buildings, the sculptures, the rental bikes, the wharf, and even the marina.

I love the dolphin sculpture behind the tiled sign.

And on the way "home" to our AirBnb, we drove through this valley.  It epitomizes the California countryside for me.

Tomorrow, we leave for Monterey, CA and hope to at least go down to Carmel and see Point Lobos.  Then, we'll continue to head north.