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":
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!
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
