DAY 34- Covered Bridges & Live Musical FUN

I stayed last night in a Quality Inn and I was pleasantly surprised by how clean and well-maintained it was. I also loved that they had a refrigerator in the room with a microwave. I booked the room on www.hotels.com website and got a pretty good deal but I always try to read the reviews of the hotel before I book. I don't want to end up with another Econolodge type of incident. So as I was reading some of these reviews I was questioning what I had actually reserved for the night. It all really seems to be a crap shoot; roll the dice and see what you get or at least it seems with hotels.  I’m thinking I may have to check out more of the Bed & Breakfasts; those seem to be better and more consistent.

Photo- The wonderful scenery on way to the first covered bridge.

Well, I enjoyed a waffle for breakfast and I was off.  I wanted to get a couple more covered bridges and possibly a couple of wineries before I started driving to the coastline.  I started out driving east out of Roseburg to hit my first covered bridge.  I followed the directions in a brochure that I got at the visitor’s center.  I drove a wonderful scenic 16 miles and then took a right turn and drove along a Little River (it’s actual name and it fit) for another seven miles.  There was the covered bridge.  I drove slowly across it and then flipped a Utah “U”turn.  I took a few pictures and while standing there a dog from a nearby house was barking at me.  I didn’t stay long because I didn’t want to wake up the whole neighborhood.  But I did read in the brochure that they made this bridge a little taller and designed the peaked opening to accommodate logging trucks in the area.

Photo- The first covered bridge- Cravitt Creek.

 
The next covered bridge was further north and near a couple of wineries that I wanted to visit.  So I jumped on Interstate 5 and got off after a couple of exits.  I was in the small town of Sutherlin.  I headed east about 1.5 miles and took a right.  Here was the second covered bridge.  I stopped quickly and took a picture but there weren’t any historical markers on this one like there was the last one.  I, instead, referred to the brochure.  This bridge featured a Howe truss span.  Okay, I’m unsure what that means and may have to Google it someday.  But it was a nice well maintained white covered bridge with side windows with curved tops.

Photo- The second covered bridge.

Next, I did a bit of back tracking and headed towards the wineries.  I was a bit disappointed the one that I really wanted to see was closed on Sundays.  It was the Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyard and I guess that there was a marvelous wine cave area.  But I guess with a name like that I should’ve figured that it would be closed on Sundays.

Photos- Live music and FUN at the Henry Estates Winery.

 

But I pushed on to another winery that the lady at the visitor’s center had recommended; the Henry Estates Winery.  I drove past the signs for two other wineries figure if I had time I would swing back.  I drove out to the Henry Estates and there was a live Bluegrass Country group playing music.  I did a bit of wine tasting and decided to buy a glass of wine.  I went out to the shady area where there were picnic tables and enjoyed the music.  It was a beautiful day; why not I figured.  There were also a couple of tents and boxes of fresh vegetables you could help yourself to.  I guess it was supposed to be a loose version of a Farmer’s Market.

Photo- Booths out at the Henry Estates Winery.

 It wasn’t long before most of the tables were filling up and someone part of group introduced themselves and asked if they could sit with me.  Sure, I said. I got to talking with a retired woman that lived just east in a small town nearby.  They were out for a weekly thing and then she asked me where I was from.  I had to laugh because the first thing she said to me when I told where I’m from was—Well; you sure are off the beaten track.  I thought to myself, lady you hit the nail on the head on that one.  She said that it was mainly locals that knew about this event.  I said that was wonderful because then I could get a feel for what the locals were like.  They were a fun bunch and I very slowly drank my glass of wine and enjoyed.


Needless to say, I didn’t get to try any other wineries but that was okay.  Next, I decided since I was already kind of north I would just catch a highway nearby Hwy 138 and head towards the coast.  I back tracked again and went to a gas station just off of the Interstate 5.  Then, off to the west I went.  The road curved around and I was kind of heading in a northwestern direction.  It ended up going along Umpqua River which the further west I went the larger the river got.  There were more and more creeks and waterways pouring into it.  It was just beautiful.

Photo- The scenic Umpqua River that Hwy 138 runs along. 

Then, I got to Reedsport and turned south on Hwy 101 and got my first glimpse on the ocean at an overlook.  I went by a lighthouse that I had visited years ago on a vacation but it was getting to be late afternoon and I had hoped to set up a dune buggy ride in the sand dunes just north of Coos Bay.  So I pressed on.  I saw the sign about 15 miles before Coos Bay for the Sand Dune Rental Company and turned off to set it up for tomorrow.
 

Then off to the Red Lion hotel where I would spend to the night.  After checking in, I went to dinner at a local Italian restaurant that my cousin Kimmie had suggested.  It was a wonderful fun meal.  In all the time I’ve been in the restaurant business, I’ve never seen a service team work so well together.  They were all communicating and working together; from the hostess to the waitress to the busboy.  They all worked as a team and not one of them was below performing anything that the customer needed and it was all done with a smile; plus a wonderful attitude too.  I would highly recommend Benintos!

DAY 15- Hurricane Ridge and Cape Flattery...

I woke up at 2AM to the sound of coyotes howling.  They sounded about ¼ mile off and I wasn’t too concerned because I was close to the bathrooms and other campers.  Besides, all my food supplies were in a plastic bin buried in my car.  Good luck to the coyote that could get to that!  I have enough time myself and I know which bin it is in.  Yes, I so need to figure out how to organize my car and I know I’ve got too much stuff.  Okay, it’s something I need to work on.  But  at least I survived the night and no Twilight vampires or Big foots ate me; so I’m still here and alive and relatively well.

I woke up again at 5:30AM; not because of a noise but due to cold.  I’m in a sleeping bag and I have almost every blanket in there with me.  I can see my breath.  MAN! It’s COLD!  And did I mention damp too.  There’s a layer of dew on everything and condensation inside my tent from my breathing all night.  I go to the KOA restroom and it’s warm in there.  It’s pretty sad when you go to the restroom to warm up.

So I decide I’m going to stay up and break camp early.  Now, to start a fire for breakfast; I have two logs left over from the bundle I bought last night.  BUT I have no kindling because I used it ALL last night to start the fire.  Oooopps!  So I wander around my campsite and am picking up leaves and what not that’s would be burnable.  I set it all up in the fire ring and start lighting matches.  Did I mention that it was damp?  Well, I got a great deal of smoke and more smoke.  It was perfect if I had smoke signals in mind but not one bit of flame. 

I finally remembered I had some paper bags in the car (another reason to ask for paper at your grocery store) and got those and then lite a match.  Go figure it worked!  It only took me a chilly 15 minutes to figure that one out.  Aww… life’s lessons aren’t they grand.  Thanks for the doritas tip mom!  Now, I know I can use those for kindling too.  I now know how to light a spicy fire!

Photo- Big boats at Port Angeles.

After I got packed and what not, I was on the road to Port Angeles, WA.  Some of you may remember that this town was in a few scenes of the Twilight vampire books and movies.  I went down to the coastline and took a couple of photos of big boats and then I went by the restaurant where Bella and Edward had their first date.  But overall, there wasn’t much scenic town area other than the port that I could find.

Photo- At top of Hurricane Ridge, a sea of endless mountains in one direction.

Photo- At top of Hurricane Ridge, the deeper blue areas just above mountain tops
that's Canada.  Yes, that's snow that will never melt in foreground. 

Photo- Me near the visitors center at top of Hurricane ridge.
Yep. there's snow and I'm running around in a skort!

Next, I headed up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. OMG!  It was AMAZING!  It was like I was driving up to the nose bleed section of the mountains in the area to get the ridge.  But the 17 mile drive was VERY worth the views.  It was like seeing forever mountains one way and you could literally see all the way to Canada the other way. Wow!  I would highly recommend putting this on your list of things to see.  There is a fee to get into the National Park but it's well worth the price.  I decided to get an annual pass, since I'll be seeing more National Parks this year.

Photo- The "Indy 500" Shelby that I followed on a gravel road.

Then, I headed back to Port Angeles, and headed west on Hwy 101.  I took the turn off of Hwy 112 to go to Neah Bay.  This has got to be the most winding highway ever!  The speed limit was supposed to be 50mph but they kept throwing these 20mph and 15mph curves at you about every 5 miles; if not more.  Then, they of course had road construction going on.  Go figure!  There was this pattern of 10 miles of curve, 15 minutes of waiting and 5 miles of construction.  Then, I turned onto Hwy 113 as I got closer to Neah Bay.  It was the same thing.

I had to laugh because there was this guy from South Carolina in a brand new Shelby all muscled out that was in front of me.  He was racing around the curves like he was at the Indy 500, and I was always catching up with him at the construction zones.  He would be careful of every little bump in the construction zones but would pour on the speed as soon as we cleared the zones.  Then, we had a long part that was nothing but gravel roads.  I imagine that was not making him happy at all.

Photo- The trail at Cape Flattery is made of boardwalks and tree stumps.

I finally made it to Neah Bay after the three hour drive that should have been an hour and a half tops.  It was pretty but it wasn’t what it had been built up to be. I thought that the John Wayne Marina was more scenic.  Next, I went on to Cape Flattery which is the most northwestern point of the 48 US states.  It was about another 25 to 30 minutes to the parking lot to the trail head for it.  The trail is about half a mile long and is put together of boarded walk ways, tree stumps and winds through a forested area.  It’s a fun trail to go on.  I grabbed my camera and headed in. 

Photos- Scenes from Cape Flattery.

Photo- Tatoosh Island off Cape Flattery that has a light house on it.

Later, as I get down to the bottom they have a warning that there had been cougar sightings.  I thought that it was interesting that they put that information at the bottom of the path way.  But the look outs and the views were beautiful.  It was very worth the ½ mile hike.  I will say that it can be a bit of a climb back up for those that are out of shape.  I saw several older people pausing quite often on the way up.  Meanwhile, I was almost running back up to the parking lot.  I needed to use the restroom facilities and didn’t want to go off to the side of the trail.  A picture of me having my pants around my ankles and being stared down by a cougar flashed through my mind.  

Photo- A thick fog coming into near Hobuck Beach Area.
Pretty to look at but I didn't like the idea of camping in it.

Next, I went over to Hobuck Beach area where I was thinking of camping for the night but there was quite a bit of fog and I really just felt like a night in motel with a shower sounded better.  So I drove back through some of the construction on Hwys 113 and over to Forks for the night.  Yes, another Twilight hot spot.