Oregon – Page 24 – John Wise

Yurtville

November 21, 2006 JWise Travels

It is travel time. For the first time since July, we are taking a road trip. There were some short side excursions here and there, but this is the first real journey in months. It is also our 5th week of vacation for 2006. Where are we going, you ask? To the Oregon coast. Along the way, we will stop in San Francisco for some shopping at the Ferry Plaza Marketplace and some raw fooding at Cafe Gratitude; then, we’ll be on our way to the Redwoods National Park. Once in Oregon, we have yurts reserved for three evenings, starting at Harris Beach at Brookings, then Umpqua Lighthouse, and finishing at Beverly Beach near Newport. So, guess what? There won’t be any postings here until we return and I fill the gaps. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, or whatever it is you’ll be doing over the next week.

Hey, VISITORS from around the world – You stop in, look around, and never say a word – COME ON AND LEAVE ME A COMMENT. Tell me where you come from, what you were looking for, how you found me.

Jutta On The Road – Day 7

May 26, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Disclaimer: This blog entry wasn’t written until 15 years after the trip. It should be noted that this was a huge mistake to have not written it way back when. Sometimes, after writing so much about other days, it happens that at the time directly after the trip (or even during), I convince myself that the details are not that important. Years later, these details are that important, and pulling them out of foggy memories is difficult. The photos help and often leave clues, and then Caroline’s memories are usually far clearer than mine. With that said, here goes.

Thinking about the dearth of photos I posted back then due to bandwidth limitations, I’d nearly forgotten just how difficult it was handling the images we were shooting back in the day. First off, we had a brand new Canon Digital Rebel XT sporting 8 megapixels of resolution. Whatever we shot, we had to wait until we got home to work with the images, even if we’d had a notebook: dealing with the images would have been too slow. Once home, they were transferred to a spinning hard disk using Windows XP and Photoshop CS2. Adjusting images was slow and cumbersome compared to these days when I can assemble panoramas made of 10 photos in under a minute, and I can use presets to get a quick idea of what color corrections will look like. Exporting a couple dozen images also takes less than a minute.

But here we are in 2021 and the biggest conundrum I face is not using too many images as I’m the one who’s attempting to write something to each image. The photo above is from Cape Lookout and was taken as we left the state park with the same name. We were out here to have another night in a yurt.

Tillamook means cheese and ice cream here in Oregon, and that means COWS!

We did some backtracking here by driving through Pacific City past the Cape Kiwanda Haystack rock. Last night, we took the drive out past Tillamook Bay, and so today, we are mixing things up by approaching from the southeast back towards Tillamook.

Ice cream stop in Tillamook.

We’re not making a lot of stops as we have quite a few miles to cover today, like most days we were traveling with Jutta. This is Crab Rock, just north of Garibaldi.

The views of things I couldn’t imagine my mother-in-law ever having seen with her own eyes is what drove me to plan these trips and then where to stop. Sometimes, the inspiration for stopping came from the backseat as Jutta would exclaim how beautiful something was. Coastal woods and an overwater cabin reflecting in a large, quiet pond were just one such sight.

Looking back down the coast as we’re about to leave Oregon.

With the addition of the state of Washington to Jutta’s list of places she’s visited, bragging rights to having traveled the entirety of the Pacific coast of the United States is now in the bag for her.

Off in the distance is our next stop on this major road trip.

This is Mount St. Helens seen from the Johnston Ridge Observatory in Washington. On a previous visit, Caroline and I visited the Windy Ridge Viewpoint, which, in my opinion, is the most interesting location to visit in this park. Johnston Ridge offers a great view of the blast zone from the perspective of being in it, while Windy Ridge offers an overview of looking into the direction the blast traveled and getting a great view into Spirit Lake. Windy Ridge also offers a closer view of the Crater at the cost of a more isolated backcountry drive.

World’s Largest Egg in Winlock, Washington. Admit it, you’d have stopped, too.

Mt. Rainier in the distance.

There was no way we were going to let Jutta be this far north on the coast of the western United States and not have her walk barefoot in the sand and surf. Sometimes, I thought she was a bit reluctant but the enthusiasm of her daughter pulled her along.

Speaking of her daughter Caroline.

Staying the night in Forks, Washington, at the Town Motel, so we are well-positioned in the morning to visit the rainforest and Olympic National Park.

Jutta On The Road – Day 6

May 25, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Disclaimer: This blog entry wasn’t written until 15 years after the trip. It should be noted that it was a huge mistake to have not written it way back when. Sometimes, after writing so much about other days, it happens that at the time directly after the trip (or even during), I convince myself that the details are not that important. Years later, these details are that important, and pulling them out of foggy memories is difficult. The photos help and often leave clues, and then Caroline’s memories are usually far clearer than mine. With that said, here goes.

As I look back at these photos and consider how it sufficed so many years ago to have a single photo representing an entire day, I cannot believe how far we’ve come regarding bandwidth and storage. Pages were slow to load when overloaded with images, and so in light of that, it seemed perfectly fine to choose a favorite and go with it. Those days were pre-Instagram and social media, even photography had not caught back up in popularity as it had been in the decades before. Now, here I am in 2021, filling in some blanks, and I find it difficult to only choose the 15 images that will now accompany this day spent visiting the Oregon Coast. This was Jutta’s first night sleeping in a yurt, and it wasn’t going to be her last. She loved her “camping experience.” When she needed to visit the loo at night, she nudged Caroline to help her find the facilities, and on the way, they enjoyed the starlit sky.

By the way, it’s been fortunate that I kept nearly all the itineraries I made for these trips. So, in this instance, we were staying at Sunset Bay State Park in Charleston for the bargain price of only $33.

Waking up next to the ocean, it was obligatory that we went for some sightseeing before continuing our trek north.

Our first encounter with the bridges of Oregon had us falling in love with these beautiful structures that add so much character to the coastal drive. This particular one is the McCullough Memorial Bridge in North Bend.

Just this past November 2020, Caroline and I took a tour of this lighthouse once more. We are at the Umpqua River Lighthouse, where we have stopped on every trip we’ve made over the years, and on more than a few occasions, we also stayed in the state park just around the corner.

We’ll never tire of looking through Fresnel lenses, ever. This particular lens has an intriguing pattern of white and red flashes in the dark, a spectacle we are drawn to on every visit.

We finally gave in and visited the Sea Lion Caves, though we had a bit of trepidation that it might be more hype than an amazing spectacle.

Well, two sea lions down in the cave qualified the place as living up to its name, but still, it was just two.

The view from down in the cave, though, is spectacular, even offering a great view of Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Yeah, I know another lighthouse today would have been off the chart, but we had places to be with limited amounts of time. This is the Alsea Bay Bridge in Waldport.

There was no way we’d skip out on a stop at the Blue Heron Cheese Factory in Tillamook for some smoked brie sandwiches, followed by ice cream cones at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I’d guess by now, you can recognize that we’re having a perfect day.

Did some backtracking so we could take Jutta up the hill to another lighthouse. By the way, this view of Bayocean Peninsula Park from the road is now gone as a landslide stopped vehicle traffic. As of 2021, the word is that the road will once again be open.

Cape Meares Lighthouse near Tillamook, Oregon

One lighthouse a day isn’t enough when it’s possible to visit a second. This is the Cape Meares Lighthouse near Tillamook, which is no longer in service. This photo became very special to us this past year as we’d learned that some drunk young men decided to shoot at the Fresnel lens and damage it forever. This image is of the formerly complete and intact lens that had been standing sentry here for more than 120 years.

Three Arch Rocks in Oceanside.

This is my likely very tired and in need of a nap mother-in-law, Jutta. Time is precious to spend with our families, and there will be plenty of time to sleep when she returns to Germany, so my motto was, “Shake a leg, Jutta, we’ve got places to be.”

Our second night in a yurt was at the Cape Lookout State Park for only $33. Over the years, they’ve become more popular and were $57 a night in the off-season last time we stayed in one back in 2019. Tomorrow, we’ll head up to Washington as we continue on this crazy 5,000-mile road trip into the entirety of the western United States.

Jutta On The Road – Day 5

May 24, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

As often as we can, we’ll stop for animals and greet them. On occasion, they’ll come over to show their interest in us, too, and while we cannot judge their level of appreciation, I can say that we are always delighted.

Of course, we feel the same about stopping for trees, and like horses at fence lines, who wouldn’t love a forest of giants that are encroaching on the road?

The ghostly memory of my mother-in-law will forever be present with Caroline and me across America in all the places she visited with us and expressed her awe, even when she’s no longer in the picture.

I’ve written many words about these two women, but not one of them compares to what these smiles say.

Maybe with enough searching, we might one day find this old bleached-out tree trunk, but will it ever again look so captivating?

This was the color of May 2005; it was exquisite.

The goal for this leg of the trip was to bring Jutta out to Fern Canyon so she, too, could see something very few people will ever have the opportunity to see with their own eyes.

We were not going to leave Fern Canyon, right next to the beach, without Caroline and her mom dipping their toes in the water of the Pacific Ocean.

While the cheese factor is high with Paul Bunyan and Babe standing roadside for Trees Of Mystery, we’ll always find this worthy of some cheap entertainment. As for Jutta and her sense of it? She is German and sometimes a bit too pragmatic for such silliness.

The first-ever kiss I planted on my mother-in-law’s cheek. Hopefully, I never forget how sweet she thought that was.

One of the very few times outside of November that Caroline and I have visited the Oregon Coast. While it’s certainly beautiful, it’s easy enough to reach the northern coast of the western United States even in winter, and so when springtime rolls around, we typically opt to visit the places where heavy cold weather hampers our ease of getting there and exploring.

Looking back at these, I’m inclined to consider the idea that we should make an effort to visit every month of the year to properly decide which is the absolute best time to be here.

This is Face Rock in Bandon, but our destination is a little further north at Sunset Bay State Park near Charleston, as we are introducing Jutta to sleeping in a yurt.

Western United States – 16 Days

May 20, 2005 JWise Travels

On the road through the Redwoods National Park in California

After giving Jutta a week to recuperate from jet lag, we packed my mother-in-law into the rental car and pointed the car west for a 16-day road trip, her fourth trip to America. Our visit to Death Valley was a high point for Jutta, as it was a dream destination she’d wished to see for many years. From there, we drove north over the coast, pausing to visit the elephant seals near San Simeon, and a little further north, we watched two of the rare California Condors that have been released back into the wild. Slowly, we went north, stopping at Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, taking photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, taking a walk in the Muir Woods National Monument, visiting Point Reyes, and then the Redwoods National Park.

Sunset over the Three Capes near Tillamook, Oregon

In Oregon, we camped for two nights in Yurts at the Sunset Bay and Cape Lookout State Parks. After years of trying, we finally were able to visit the Sea Lion Caves. We visited lighthouses, the Blue Heron Cheese Company, and stopped for ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Our next stop was Washington.

The most reflective beach we have ever visited at Pacific Beach in Washington

After going to Mount St. Helens Volcanic National Monument, we cut west to the coast, stopping at Pacific Beach and then continued north for a visit to the rainforest of the Olympic National Park. Northeast, we stop in on the scenic North Cascades National Park before slicing across Idaho to Glacier National Park.

Descending out of Glacier National Park from the east of the park you enter the Great Plains in Northern Montana

This was Caroline and my second visit to Glacier, and this time, we were greeted with sunny skies. It is our intention to one day continue north up the Rocky Mountains to Banff, Yoho, and Jasper National Parks in Canada. Leaving Glacier from the east side of the park, we head out onto the Great Plains, where a few Bison can still be seen.

Monument dedicated to the Blackfeet Nation in Montana

The Great Plains never fail to amaze me. They have their own unique beauty that lends contrast to the coastal anchors on their east and western sides. We drive along the eastern front of the Rockies on our way south to Wyoming for a return visit to our favorite national park in the United States, the mighty Yellowstone.

A Bsion also known as the American Buffalo walking through Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming

Only a day and a half have been planned for Jutta’s second visit to Yellowstone, but a pleasant reminder it was. Soon, we would be going south through the Tetons National Park on our way to Dinosaur National Monument before driving into Colorado for a ride on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Steam Train.

Steam rising from grasses in a barren forest at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming

Up the Mokee Dugway from Mexican Hat, we drove around Lake Powell to Capitol Reef National Park, then Bryce National Park, and finally, an overnight at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Sixteen days on the road with your mother-in-law is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but we did it.

Thanksgiving 2004 – Day 4

November 28, 2004 JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Eureka, California

Welcome to Junkie City, USA, a.k.a. Eureka, California. What is the attraction of this place to those who prefer life on a needle instead of working to find something akin to happiness? Oh, I know the answer is that those who’ve taken this path are suffering from deep pain inflicted upon them by those who have denied them love and betrayed the trust that should exist between family members. Well, that’s likely the most common cause, as why else would someone have so little self-confidence and self-loathing to try a little bit of suicide every day?

As for this small town of only about 27,000 people, it is beautiful and loaded with Victorian homes, so it’s certainly worth a visit.

Eureka, California

Across from Old Town Eureka is Woodley Island, and behind that is Indian Island.

Clam Beach County Park in Northern California

By 8:30, we were out on Clam Beach, walking north to the Little River State Beach.

Clam Beach County Park in Northern California

There was a lot of ice out on the beach and even something called Frost Heave. When ice is forming below the surface and pushes up it can create some very strange soil extrusions. While I got a couple of photos of the phenomenon, I wasn’t happy enough with any one of them, so I give you a giant jellyfish, of which there were many on our oceanside walk.

Northern California Coast

I have no idea where this was, but it adds to the beauty of the day, so here it is.

Fern Canyon area in Redwoods National Park, California

This is on our way to Fern Canyon at the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and marks our second visit.

Fern Canyon area in Redwoods National Park, California

Yes, it’s still that cold out here.

Fern Canyon area in Redwoods National Park, California

Fern Canyon and our camera do not like each other. What a strange place this is with these vertical fern-covered canyon walls. We weren’t able to hike too far in as we weren’t wearing the right shoes for getting through the creek that runs through the canyon.

Fern Canyon area in Redwoods National Park, California

I’ve got a hunch that we’ll be bringing my mother-in-law Jutta up into this corner of America on her next visit.

Fern Canyon area in Redwoods National Park, California