It was still dark when we left this morning, but an hour later, it was looking wonderful to us. Living in the Arizona desert gives us a special appreciation for the clouds, fog, and drizzle that make a day feel romantic and offer one more reason to snuggle and indulge in hot drinks. The landscape here is courtesy of the Elk River just north of Port Orford, Oregon.
Taking time for an overlook at Port Orford Heads State Park, cementing our love of this rugged coast.
Fishing boats in Battle Rock Bay at Port Orford, Oregon.
Meyers Beach North near Gold Beach, Oregon.
Our very first cup of Dutch Bros. Coffee ever in Brookings, Oregon. Over the coming years, we would stop again and again at various Dutch Bros. along the coast and collect way too many loyalty cards that we would always forget to bring on subsequent trips. Again and again, we would tell the baristas how much we loved their coffee and the funky, happy people who worked these roadside drive-thru coffee shops that were always open in the wee hours until late at night, well after the hour that coffee shops close in Arizona. We also never forgot to mention we were from Arizona, so when Dutch Bros. started opening outside of Oregon and chose Phoenix as one of their markets, we couldn’t help but think we played some small role in that decision.
Another sight we will always try to make time for are lighthouses. This one is at Battery Park in Crescent City, California. Take note to visit the Battery Point Lighthouse.
I took a few photographs of driftwood, but this root ball from a redwood was one of the most amazing natural sculptures I’ve yet seen washed up on a beach. We are at Enderts Beach in Crescent City, California.
Caroline walks along Enderts Beach collecting souvenirs.
If we find berries along the trail, we eat those berries unless they are poisonous, and then we just admire them, take their picture, and leave them alone.
The colors of fall found near the beach in northern California.
Redwoods National Park.
Took some time to stretch our legs in the Lady Bird Johnson Grove at Redwoods National Park.
Black Bulgar fungi are also known as Bachelor’s Buttons growing here on a fallen dead hardwood tree. This was the end of our explorations for the day as the long Thanksgiving day weekend was coming to an end, and we needed to get as far south as possible so we could drive back to Phoenix tomorrow. With a few windy roads, fog, and the traffic around San Francisco, we now had little time to spare. We finally pulled into a motel in Watsonville, California, at 11:00 p.m. We’ll ask for a 6:00 wake-up call.