October 7 & 8, 2009--Gold Beach, OR to Palo Alto, CA

The things you'll promise someone on their birthday, especially when plied with a glass of wine or two... When the alarm sounded this morning at 6 AM, I thought it was the middle of the night. Then I remembered--we were going to paddle a kayak up the Rogue at dawn and enjoy the sunrise from the river. Groaning, but fortified by the coffee and juice tray brought to our room, we collected paddles and life vests from the main lodge, then headed down to where the kayaks were stored along the river's edge. Soon we were moving slowly along (against the current), scanning the banks for wildlife, waiting for the sun to come up over the hills along the river and warm our freezing cold hands. By the time we returned an hour later, we had seen an osprey and a river otter, but still no sun. Yes, due to the terrain, it would be another hour or so before sunlight hit the water. By that time, we'd already warmed our numb hands in the shower and had headed to breakfast. Our table companions described the wonders of their trip to see the redwoods in Stout Grove, just over the border in California, so we firmed up our own plans to spend some time in that area. That meant that we wouldn't be able to make it all the way to Mendocino today, as originally planned, so we aimed for Eureka instead, vowing to make it to Mendocino on another trip. We would have a longer drive the next day when heading to Palo Alto, but we'd pretty much decided we would be done with sightseeing by then, so we'd be able to make it.

Back on the road in the late morning, we succumbed to the lure of all the tourist brochures and stopped at the myrtlewood factory in Gold Beach to pick up a few souvenirs. Before crossing the border, we also couldn't resist stopping at a few more overlooks on the Oregon Coast--they did not disappoint. Then, finally, onward towards Jedediah Smith State Park. We had detailed directions to the "off the beaten path" Stout Memorial Grove, but much of it was slow going on a one-lane gravel road. Eventually, we found it, and were surprised to learn that it is part of a World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve. We took a pleasant walk through the old growth forest and stopped for a quick picnic lunch. Then we made our way back to 101 and headed south to Eureka. Our chain motel was located right on the highway in a less than lovely part of town. But we were pleased to discover we were only a few blocks away from the historic "Old Town" and Humboldt Bay. Although it was once again too late to really enjoy the sights of the town, we had dinner in a fun brew pub, and retired for the evening.

The next day we headed down the 101 towards the Bay Area, but we couldn't help taking a slight detour onto the "Avenue of the Giants", a 32 mile road paralleling 101, that is part of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It was well worth the additional time to drive through the soaring redwoods and make a few stops to get more up close and personal with the "giants". One of the stops took us to the Founder's Grove, which had some spectacular trees and a great little half mile trail with accompanying brochure that did a good job explaining some of the complexities of a redwood forest.

Back on 101, our anticipation grew about spending some time with Drew and Chris that evening and the next day before heading back to San Luis Obispo. We also had time to reflect on our trip as a whole, and had to agree we'd thoroughly enjoyed spending three weeks in our "little bubble", focusing on each other, sharing new experiences, and seeing the amazing natural beauty which fed our souls. We were also in agreement that there were so many places where we would have liked to have spent more time Although the pace was a bit too fast, we wouldn't have eliminated any of the stops we made. They all had something unique to contribute to our memories... And the best part is--for those of you who were wondering in suspense--we are still speaking to each other!

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