California Lighthouses

Here's a peak at the lighthouses we saw in California.

Crescent City Lighthouse

It's an island at high tide and attached to the town at low tide

Trinidad Lighthouse Replica

A cute little town with a great breakfast spot.

Point Cabrillo Lighthouse

Point Arena Lighthouse

Closest point on the California coast to Hawaii

Everything needs its claim to fame

California Redwoods

Crescent City is the northernmost California coastal town.  It's a cute little city but its claim to fame is the Crescent City "hills" on the southern outskirts.  They seemed like mountains to me!  The day we climbed those hills was cloudy and misty.  The climb to the top of each hill built up quite a sweat and then it was time for the trip back down.  The air was chilly and by the end of the last hill, the bone chilling numbness had set in.  On top of that, the road surface was wet and a bit mossy which made for some slipping and sliding of the back tires.  All and all, not so fun.  But those hills led us into the Redwood Forest.  Del Norte State Park and Redwoods National Park surrounded us for days.  Words can't express the beauty and grandeur of those trees.

Corkscrew Tree

California Wildlife

Banana Slug

In places, the road seemed as narrow as this path, with redwoods towering overhead.  Quite awe inspiring.

Not a single picture I took captured the true essence of this place.  You really must come see for yourself.

A Last Look at Oregon

Here's a last look at the Oregon Coast.  Once we crossed the "border" into California, we headed toward the Redwoods...

I took many pictures trying to capture the essence of the coastal fog.  It seemed to have a life of its own, and you never knew when it would envelope everything in sight!

I loved the sea stacks along the coast.

Harris Beach State Park

Brookings, Oregon

Those kids are tough.  You could never call that water anything but darn cold!

Welcome to California, but leave all your fruit in Oregon please...  we smuggled an illegal banana and avacado into the state

Oregon's Highway 101

Check out the link if you are interesed in the history of Highway 101.  History Of Oregon's Highway 101  It is a magnificent road.  We traveled almost every mile, some of it bike friendly and some of it not.  We crossed numerous bridges, some of them scary and some of them not, and through both of its tunnels.  Before entering the tunnels, there is a button to push.  This activates the blinking signal with the big sign that reads:  Cyclist in Tunnel.  Not the best of protection, but better than nothing.  Actually, when we were cycling through the first tunnel, we had a kind motorist drive very slowly behind us which prevented any other car from coming past.  She was getting out of her car at the vista point a little past the tunnel and told us she is a cyclist herself and always does that when she drives this route.  We thanked her from the bottom of our hearts.  The other tunnel was pretty short and the traffic was light, so we were lucky on both counts.  We have cycled through numerous tunnels on our travels and I've never felt "in danger", but it is no fun when a truck or motorcycle roars past, or a car decides that honking their horn is a fun thing to do.  Here's a look at some of those bridges and tunnels:

The Astoria Bridge

This is the really scary one we didn't have to cross!

Depoe Bay Bridge

Newport Bridge
We left Newport around 9 am so the traffic on the bridge was pretty light. 

Bridge at Heceta Head leading to the Cape Creek Tunnel

Oregon Coast Lighthouses

The Oregon coast has plenty of lighthouses to be sure.  We tried to see as many as possible, but traveling by bike can pose its own set of problems.  We always investigated the route before venturing off in search of the lighthouse.  If it looked like we needed to go up a non-bicycle friendly hill or out too far into the wilderness, we opted to simply purchase a postcard!  But we certainly saw many great ones on our travels.  Here's a sampling:

Cape Mears

Cape Foulweather
It's no longer a working lighthouse, but I love the name.
We saw a whale right here!

Heceta Head

The view after leaving Heceta Head, crossing a bridge and going through a tunnel!

More Oregon Coast

I am ready to continue the trip down the coast and will try and make this blog work for me!  We've just left the Waldport area where we enjoyed exploring the low tide pools.  The mounds of muscle colonies were amazing!  Now we continue on down the coast toward the sand dunes.

Enjoying a cycling break in Yachats.  It is one of  my favorite Oregon coastal towns.

Heceta Head

From Florence to Coos Bay, the Oregon Dunes National Recration Area extends for 40 miles along the Oregon Coast. Formed by the ancient forces of wind, water and time, these dunes are like no others in the world. These are the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America.  The dunes can reach over 500 feet above sea level and can be up to 3 miles wide.  Quite an awsome sight.

The ocean is out there somewhere

The Southern Oregon Coast

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the remaining miles of the Oregon Coast.  I'm leaving out all pictures of bridges and lighthouses.  That's the subject of my next blog posting.

The local animal life

On the beach in Newport  looking out to Yaquina Head

Tidepool exploring near Waldport

Look at those muscles!

We enjoy dinner at Cafe Mundo in Newport, Oregon
We are staying at a hotel today!

For some reason these pictures will not order themselves properly!  This picture should be first and the beautiful rocky coastline picture should be last.  I am giving up for now and will try again tomorrow.  I leave you in Waldport and will continue on down the coast another day.