Melissa's Blog

CHICO, CALIFORNIA TO THE SOUTHERN OREGON COAST

Setting Sun

Monday, April 9^th took us from Lee Vining, California to Chico, California.  In April of last year, I met to great women while on a photo trip to Arches NP in Moab, Utah.  (Tom actually joined me on that trip, and while I took pictures, he played some golf.)  So we both had the opportunity to meet and get to know Polly and Kathleen (from Chico), of course!  We were excited to have a couple of days to reconnect with them while in Chico.

Up until this point, I don’t think we had seen even a drop of rain.  Well all that changed once we arrived in Chico!  Tom’s attempt to play golf – not so good.  The ladies attempt to take some pictures – not so good.  That meant that we just had to spend our time hanging out and talking photography.  Oh, and Kathleen cooked us a fabulous dinner on Tuesday night.  And on Wednesday night, we all went out to dinner at the Sierra Nevada Brewery.  We had a lovely dinner and Tom had fun ordering a “flight” of sampler beers.  Not that this means anything to me, but he had Draught-Style Pale Ale, Ovila Dubbel, Brown Ale, Off-Kilter Strong Scotch Ale, and Side Car Amber Ale.  His favorite was the Draught-Style Pale Ale, and I just bet you’re really glad to know that!!

Polly, Kathleen, and I are all signed up for a photo trip to the Canadian Rockies this fall – really looking forward to spending time with them again!

The California Connection: Polly, Kathleen, Melissa, & Tom

On Thursday, the 12^th we drove from Chico to Trinidad, California.  It was a beautiful, winding drive up, over, and around the mountains.  And, of course, it poured rain pretty much the entire time.  In fact, we set up our camper at our Trinidad campground in the pouring down rain.  How much fun can you have anyway??  The rain stopped – well it didn’t really stop, but let up some – (that would be after we finished setting up).  So we headed for the forest for a short hike in the Redwoods.  The nice thing about the forest is that you don’t generally get as wet in the rain as you do when you’re out in the open.

Redwood Tunnel

Path Through The Redwoods

We awakened to NO RAIN on Friday – overcast, but no rain – what a treat!  We took a 5 mile hike through the Redwoods and followed that with a scenic drive.  (Actually, we were also going to hike to this place called “Fern Canyon” until we discovered that we had to hike through a river to get there!

On Saturday, the 14^th we left Trinidad for our next destination which was Brookings, Oregon.  We stayed at Harris Beach State Park.  Oregon has the most incredible state parks – the best we’ve ever encountered.  Most of them offer full hookups and they are located in the best scenic locations.  This park was right on the ocean.  The beach and the sea stacks were just a short hike down the hill from the campground.  We only stayed here one night – but one could easily spend 3 or 4 days at this park!  Most of the state parks also offer yurts for those who want to do their camping a bit differently. They’re really cute & seemed to be quite popular. Our day at this park was rainless, but when we tried to walk the beaches, we almost blew over!  There was actually a sunset on Saturday night – which kept me happy for awhile!

Harris Beach Sunset

Campground Yurts

Harris Beach State Park Campground

Sunday morning I took some pictures in this little garden called Azalea Park before we headed north to our next destination which was Bandon, Oregon.  Bandon is both a photographers paradise and offers lots of golf courses for the golf enthusiast.  I was able to get a few pictures between rain drops, but there was no golf for Tom.  Old Town Bandon is really cute and has several old buildings & shops.  We mostly saw it through the rainy car windows!

There is an area just north of Bandon that has 3 state parks right along the coast – a beautiful area with a rocky shoreline & crashing waves.  One of the parks – “Shore Acres” – is actually a formal garden.  That was a beautiful and unique state park experience.

It has been a challenge getting this entry posted as our internet has been very limited for the last several days.  But here it is – finally!  Hope you’re all well and enjoying spring.  April is spring, right???

Melissa