It was a late start for us -- we left around 10:30 am and visited the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, which featured 47 acres of gardens, forests, and trails. It was well worth the $6/person admission fee. It was quite desolate when we arrived, but the crowds poured in towards 11:30 am. We made a few quick stops in town at the bank, at the brewpub (for souvenirs), and for lunch. Then it was onward and north.

The road was quite scenic, with warm sunny weather, and the occasional beaches were populated by small crowds of campers and vacationers. Eventually Hwy 1 took us inland to join up with the larger Hwy 101, and as it did so we climbed about 2000 ft up into the mountains through spectacular redwood forests, but the road was continuously broken up into hairpin curves and we both became nauseous after five miles of these winding, aimless curves.

Finally we made it to Hwy 101, which surprisingly was rather straight and was mostly a divided four-lane freeway. Heading towards Eureka we stopped at a rock & mineral shop, which was quite large and was worth the visit. I picked up a couple of souvenirs.

Eureka was essentially a small city, complete with malls, downtown areas, and run down areas, and was considerably more congested than I was expecting. Arcata, further on, was a bit nicer.

Next along the way was Redwood National Forest, which was not a single spot but rather a park that followed the highway for 20 miles. We went inland around Orick and saw the Lady Bird Johnson grove, which was probably the best accessible display of giant trees. We took a short walk for about half a mile, and fortunately I had my laser distance gadget, which was of great help in understanding the scale of these massive trees. On many of them, the lowest branches started at 90 ft above the ground, and 200 ft trees weren't uncommon.

We headed back to the highway, stopping only near Klamath to see a cheesy tourist trap marked with a 47 ft Paul Bunyan statue. The statue was talking to kids standing at its foot, providing quite a source of amusement.

The last stretch started in the quiet down of Crescent City, where we left the Pacific Ocean and headed inland through the Siskayou Mountains. The drive was quite scenic, and we got to go through a quarter-mile tunnel before crossing into Oregon.

The Oregon towns we saw were beautiful and had a friendly feel to them. We checked into the Hawthorn Inn & Suites in Grants Pass, which turned out to be an excellent hotel with great staff. And the 24 hr Mexican restaurant nearby was a nice bonus.

Miles travelled: 320

Likes: