Ukiah to Crescent City

Ukiah to Crescent City

We got up at a leisurely pace, packed our bags then went to the lobby for breakfast. Should have gone to Starbucks! After breakfast we loaded the car, took the kids for a quick walk and got on the road. We had planned to stop at another winery but realized that they probably wouldn’t be open at 8:30am, heheheh!

Actually very pretty scenery with the low lying clouds!

The weather was off and on rain showers, never anything too heavy but it would keep the old wipers going pretty steady. Once we left the Mendocino Valley our route took us along the hillsides of the King Range, then from Willits we drove through the King Range for three hours until reaching Fortuna on the Coast.

I drove for the first 90 minutes then had to stop at a rest stop to give my eyes a rest. I’d had trouble trying to keep looking out away from the car farther down the road. Okay on straights but not so good during lots of curves at 65 mph. It was worst going down hill but with Tina able to take over I could take a break. Tina had the wheel until we got to Eureka where we stopped for lunch and to switch drivers.

Tina exiting the Chandelier Tree

We made one stop at the Chandelier Tree in Leggett, which is where Hwy 1 and Hwy 101 join together for the run back to the coast. The Chandelier Tree, a giant Coast Redwood, is named for the way it's branches spread out from the trunk in the shape of a chandelier. The first limbs are over 100 feet from the ground. But the unique feature of the tree is that you can drive through. Thought to be nearly 2,400 years old, the tree is 315 feet tall and over 21 feet in diameter. The opening s 6 feet high and 6 feet nine inches wide. With the mirrors out it's a pretty tight fit! After parking we walked over to the gift shop to look for something for the kids. Then it was back out to the highway.

The rivers are rising!

Apparently it has been raining quite a bit in the past few days. We had been following several different rivers along Hwy 101 and when going downhill alongside them it was easy to see them rushing along, filled with mud and debris. We watched as multiple feeder rivers joined together and by the time we got to the lower valleys you could see that they were definitely over their banks. It's interesting and not something you'd normally think about, but in mountain regions when it rains a couple of inches, the water doesn't have time to sink into the ground and rushes downhill to the rivers which are susceptible to flooding. Whereas in Florida where it's flat, we can get 6 inches of rain in a couple of hours and not much happens.

Horse Sculpture in Eureka

Tina kept the wheel for a little over two hours, driving into Eureka where we had lunch. Leaving town we had switched back to me driving when she saw an amazing sculpture of a horse and was able to snap a picture from the car window as we went by. Pretty amazing as I was doing about 20 mph and there were cars alongside us so she managed to time it to between cars. and all our pictures are done with a small Panasonic Lumix.

And then there were three...

Now that we were at the coast, Hwy 101 would run along the shore then head inland to go up and over a headland. Along the way we kept seeing signs that said "Watch for Elk" but we only saw one out in a field a long way away. Then, with cars following us too close, I pulled over in a lay-by. And there, across the road, were three elk, patiently waiting for Tina to take their picture! The oldest male only has one antler. Perhaps having lost it in a practice duel or maybe it just hadn't dropped off yet as part of the winter molt.

With a rugged shoreline like this the road has to go up and over the headland

Eventually we pulled into Crescent City and found our stop for the night. I registered, then with key in hand, parked in front of our room and unloaded the car. We spent about twenty minutes getting organized then decided to go for a walk on the beach. I had googled the beach and knew what street to turn down. 

Battery Point Lighthouse

Heading back toward town we turned on 9th Ave and drove to the coast where we discovered that we were on a bluff about 50 feet above a very rocky shore, no place for a walk. So we continued driving along the bluff until we came to a small park. Pulling over and parking we got out to look for a trail down to the beach. That's when I realized we were at Battery Point Lighthouse! 

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This Historic Landmark is actually only accessible at low tide and what do you know, it was near low tide. So we worked our way down to the beach and over to the walkway (not yet under water) up to the lighthouse. Half way there we saw the sign "No Dogs Allowed" so I quickly walked up the rest of the way and snapped this photo. There are actually volunteer lighthouse keepers that will give you a tour of the lighthouse on certain days to give you a feel for what a "keepers" life was like.

Exploring the tidal pools

Not having time to do the tour and needing to get back to the beach before the tide came up too far I turned around and walked back to Tina and the kids. We continued to spend time on the beach looking in tidal pools, checking for agates and playing with the dogs. At one point Wicket decided to go for a swim and walked into one pool where the water came up to the middle of her side. Fortunately at this point she had her leash back on and didn't go in any further, I guess she just wanted to cool off. Of course I didn't think to take a picture.

Finally we realized it was getting close to dinner so we took a shortcut back to the top of the beach, next to a big resort and walked back to the car along the sidewalk. Once back at our room we got out the towels and dog shampoo and gave the girls a bath. Wow, they were really dirty, especially Punky! Well Wicket had already done a saltwater half bath, so maybe she was dirty too but had washed most of it away in the ocean - heheheh!

A Bull Sea Lion guarding his Harem

Once the kids were dried off we loaded them in the car again and headed for dinner at the Chart House restaurant at the other end of town. Driving out onto the pier we parked, got out, and saw Sea Lions on the jetty and hauled out on the sidewalk where they were sunning themselves and sleeping. Tina took the camera and got a couple of pictures then we went in for dinner. Tina had a bowl of Lobster Bisque and I had a Sampler Plate with grilled Prawns, Cod and Scallops with Cole Slaw. Everything was excellent and the prices were great too!

And everybody says they don't exist... Heheheh!

Leaving the Restaurant, Tina took a picture of me with a local mermaid perched on a whale. Then we headed back to the room for the night. Tomorrow we drive to Lincoln City before heading for Tacoma and Tina's Mom's place. We'll spend some time there visiting with family before heading up to Whidbey Island.