Lighthouses and Redwoods - Sounds like a Band- 1/17/15

Continuing my roadie from my previous post, as I may have mentioned, I had 6 goals on this trip.  Sadly, only 4 were realized.  

What was also realized is that, despite my predilection for sudden road trips, I'm also a planner.  I guess I'm a fan of spontaneously planning.  Which I did and didn't do for this weekend.

That's okay though because I have a future "redo" to look forward to.  I'm really hoping to make this a fairly regular thing sometime in the not so distant future.  And to be quite honest, I had a really fun and relaxing time so I consider this trip, although aborted, a win!

So my "goals":

1)  To see a few beaches and wander them looking for shells and agates.  -- Check!
2)  To go to Point Arena and climb the tallest Lighthouse on the West Coast.  -- Check!
3)  To see the mouth of the Russian River and possibly do some exploring. -- Check!  Well, no exploring.
4)  To explore the beautiful California Redwoods, preferably in Redwood National Park & the Humboldt Redwoods. --  Check!  Well, kinda.
5)  To make it to Crescent City California and search for agates on Pebble Beach.  -- Noooooo.  
6)  Camp in a random campground near Eureka so I could be central to the Redwoods.  -- Yeah, no.  Didn't happen.

So first, the lighthouse.

I really love the lighthouses of California.  I know some people say they don't compare to the East Coast and I say they are equally wonderful, just different.  I've now explored the lighthouses at Pigeon Point, Point Montara, Point Reyes, and now Point Arena.

Driving Highway 1 towards the lighthouse in the somewhat misty weather was fun and beautiful.  Except for the lack of bathrooms.  Traveler's beware!  There are no fast food places...no stores...few gas stations.  It is hell on an old woman's bladder.   Sorry.

Anyhoo, back to the gorgeous scenery:

It's easy to see why a lighthouse was needed with all these rocky cliffs.  Fun fact!  The lighthouse is the closest piece of mainland to the Hawaiian Islands!

The backstory: Like a lot of other towns along this coast, Point Arena got its start as a tiny "doghole" port for the timber that built San Francisco. Until recently, its chief claim to fame was that it was the mainland's closest point to Hawaii; the islands' high-speed Internet cable comes ashore here.  (San Francisco Chronicle article about the area)

So gorgeous. The black and brown cliffs, the red roof and white walls of the signal building, and the majestic lighthouse overlooking all.

There are so many places to hike around here.  I really have to go back.  I stopped and walked around the cliffs above the tidal pools when I saw a ton of harbor seals hanging out.  So freaking cute!!  They were watching me right back which was kind of an amazing feeling.

Well, some of them were.  Some were just too chill. 

I had another admirer as I walked around too!  

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, “Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore— Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!” Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

I have never seen a raven before.  I have seen crows...many, many crows.  And some crows so big that I thought it might be a raven.  But!  When you see a raven you know it's a raven.  Astonishing and cool.  

I kind of love this picture with the way the fence looks.  I would not want to be on the wrong side of that beak!  

I also saw a birdie that was the polar opposite of the stately raven...so little and puffy!  Warding off the cold from his fragile, tiny bones was a White-Crowned Sparrow.  That article says they are large sparrows, but this one and his friends that were flitting around seemed quite small. 

After using the nicest bathroom I had seen on my trip, I made my way into the lighthouse museum/gift shop to sign up for the "tour".  

The First-order Fresnel Lens was amazing.  So beautiful.

We learned that the lighthouse is quite close to the San Andreas Fault line and suffered quite a bit of damage in the 1906 earthquake.   In fact, the original tower sustained enough damage that it was deemed more cost effective to rebuild it rather than fix it. 

Exhibit A

After learning the history of the lens and lighthouse, it was time to make the climb up the stairs.  Between 90 and 144 steps depending on the source.  It seemed like more.

Going up!

The views at the top were simply breathtaking.  This is aptly called "The Sinkhole".

This is the view of my car from the top.  And the nice bathroom.  haha

On my way out, I took a picture of the plaques beside the lighthouse.  Just thought they looked kind of cool.  

And then I ran into my friend, Lenore.  Following me just like the grim portent in Poe's poem.  But I loved it. 

I mean, yeeessssss!  So awesome.  

So here is where things kind of went sideways.  I was talking to one of the nice gentlemen who worked at the lighthouse and I asked him if I was close to any Redwood groves.  He told me there was a beautiful one on Highway 128 and that I should definitely make the drive because it was 10 miles of beauty.

I thanked him for the information, but wasn't sure if it would work in my plan of heading up to Eureka via the coast. 

So I head out and I make it to the mouth of the Russian River, which was gorgeous, but not exactly as I remembered through the eyes of my 10-year old self which was the last time I remember being there.

Just after passing through, I came to a fork in the road where I had to turn either left or right.  Left, my sense of direction knew, was towards the coast.  Right, the sign informed me, was Highway 128 TO EUREKA.  This confused me.  

But I figured, "Jeah!  I can see the Redwood grove and still be heading to Eureka!"  My brain and sense of direction were saying, "Don't do it!"  But I turned right...and pulled over to the side of the road after about 100 feet.  I started to turn around.  I was really at war with myself.  But the SIGN!  It said Eureka!  

I finally pulled out my phone to check GPS and NO SERVICE!!  The first time Verizon has failed me ever.  lol  So I decided to continue on Highway 128 because EUREKA!

At first it was a good decision.  I was soon ensconced on a nice, twisty road surrounded by an old, emerald and red grove of tall trees. 

I saw this fallen, hollow trunk and couldn't resist pulling over and walking around a bit.  It turned out to be an actual grove with markers, although you couldn't see them from the road.  I think that kind of defeats the purpose.

The backside:

So many shades of green and grey.  With beautiful browns thrown in.  The trees...the ferns...  I just love the forest.

 Each tree is a work of art.

 And mixed in with the ferns were clovers!  Everywhere!  

 So much luck in this picture!  A horseshoe covered in clovers!

And the ferns I tell ya!  I love ferns.  #Olicity

After I left the Redwood grove, I became increasingly uneasy that this damn road was NOT going to take me to Eureka.  It was definitely going the wrong direction.  

It was fun because it was super wind-y (not to be confused with windy) and pretty.  I love pretending to be a race-car driver and pushing myself on roads like that.  So I really enjoyed it.  AND I saw the Husch Vineyards!!  My favorite wine is a Husch Late Harvest Gewurztraminer.  OMG so delicious.  I must go back and go wine-tasting now that I know where they are.

So bottom line...this damn road headed back towards the Bay Area and connected with Highway 101 WAY below where I was on the Coast.

Exhibit B

Dammit!!!

So my goal of reaching Eureka by 5:00 pm ish was torpedoed and I didn't get there until 8:00 even though I drove straight up 101!  And you know what?  Campgrounds in that area close at 6:00.  So me=screwed.  I contemplated sleeping in a parking lot somewhere but there were too many sketchy people around.  

I ended up driving all the way back to Sacramento (arriving at 3:30 a.m.!) after driving around Eureka and the surrounding areas for awhile trying to find a campground that was open and/or would let me stay there.

That's where the better planning would have come in.  That and having a map.  lol 

It was a fun time though.  I loved it and felt really rejuvenated by being out in nature and seeing God's beauty.  

Can't wait for next trip!  

xoxo

Gotta Get Away - Rancho to the Pacific Ocean 1/17/15

Lots of stuff happening lately.  LOTS of stress (when doesn't my life have lots of stress would be the better question).  I was originally going to drive to visit my family in Washington this weekend, but due to the turn of events I needed to be somewhat close to home.  

But I REALLY needed to get away.  Just get out and drive and listen to music and restore my soul with some heavenly beauty.  That's my relaxation.  So I headed West towards that blue and green wonderland known as the California coastline with my camera and Ipod to keep me company.

My first view of the ocean was amazing.  It was warm enough to walk around in a tshirt (not always the case on a NorCal beach).  Foggy, but with that slight brightness that tells you the sun is just behind the marine layer. 

There were quite a few people on the beach above which was near Jenner. 

Not really what I was looking for, so I drove a mile or so north to a more secluded location.

The surf was up and strong.  But the cormorants didn't seem to mind too much. 

The waves hitting the rocks were massive!

Moving on to my next beach, just slightly down the coast...More cormorants! And seagulls.  :-) 

The view back along the coast was magnificent with the slight fog and beautiful cliffs. 

But this seagull was not impressed.

At my next beach, I decided to brave the semi-steep cliff trail to search for agates and shells.  I found a few moonstones and some California jade, but the only shells I found were mussels.  That's not to say they aren't beautiful though! 

One of the first things I noticed were several turkey vultures hanging around on one of the surrounding hill sides.  This picture looks like I was on LSD.  haha  It turned out weird because I hit a wrong button while editing and I thought I'd leave it that way. 

I walked down pretty close to the water, but the surf was up and, to be honest, I wasn't keen on being taken out by a sleeper wave.  That happens a few times a year it seems like.  

The rule is if the sand is wet, it'll be wet again shortly.  And almost the entire little beach was wet, so I was a bit nervous.

But I kept walking about looking for my agates. 

Unfortunately, although I loved my little beach, I wish I would have stayed on one side of it.  As I walked around a sea stack near the water, I saw a bunch of turkey vultures and crows milling about in the far corner.  

Of course, I see a bird and want to take it's picture so I walked closer...only to realize that, of course, the large presence of turkey vultures on the beach and cliff could only mean one thing.  Something to eat. And it was.  A. Deer.  So freaking sad and hard to see.  But I reminded myself it's the circle of life.  

What more than likely happened was that the deer was hit by a car on Highway 1 which was fairly close to the cliff at that point.  And fell down onto the beach.  Of course, the beach I chose.  SMH  

I tried to blur out the sad part of the picture but on this sad note, I'll end for now.  Hakuna Matata

  

xoxo