Northwest Passages – Morning Two

The objective today was to see some lighthouses, redwoods, beaches, and anything else we could find between Crescent City, CA and Florence, OR – where we planned to spend the evening / night.
We started off with a trip to the local lighthouse, paid a visit to the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park, and found our first covered bridge.
Battery Point Light House from Shore Me standing next to the Lighthouse sign Text about the light house… Battery Point Light House Plaque Light House Keeper Cleaning off the glass A Whale Carved Into a Tree Stump Fishermen carved into tree trunk A closer look at the light house A tidal pool from the light house The low tide path back to shore Hil and I heading back to shore Hilary in front of wild flowers at the beach Beauty abounds my path… At the Feet of Giants I like this one! Even the stumps are photogenic Sarah at Stout Grove Hil Amongst The Redwoods “Hey, what’s in here?” Hil and me at Stout Grove Rolling mist over a river bed Rolling mist on the hills Our first covered bridge… (Quick, pull over) Jedediah Smith Covered Bridge Was this in “Lord of the Rings?” It looks Elfvish…
For those of you interested in additional information on lighthouses, check out this site:  LightHouse Heritage
The lighthouse (referred to in the “Lighthouse Inn”) was literally right outside our window that night and though it looked to be far out at sea, it was actually on an island only about 150 yards off the mainland and we could walk to it during low tide.  It’s name is the Battery Point Lighthouse.
The best thing about the Lighthouse Inn was the convenience – right on 101, across the street from the restaurant and pier, blocks from the lighthouse and only a few miles from the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
While in the park we stopped at Stout Grove  and on the way out we saw our first covered bridge (Jedediah Smith covered bridge).
Many of the parks and their paths are described at:  Redwood Hikes
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Northwest Passages – Evening One

The first evening we ate at the Fisherman’s Restaurant & Lounge, located at 700 US Highway 101 S, Crescent City, CA 95531.  I had calamari, Hil had fish & chips and Sarah had a burger.  Maybe it was the long drive or the sea air, but we all really enjoyed it.  I personally thought it was some of the tenderest calamari I’ve ever eaten in my life!  We highly recommend the restaurant.

After dinner, we took a stroll around the pier and then went back to the hotel:  Lighthouse Inn, at 681 Highway 101 South, Crescent City, CA 95531.

It was very clean and friendly and had these cool little miniature houses around the reception area.  They also offered the best of the “free” continental breakfasts we had on the trip.

Fisherman’s Resaurant In Crescent City We were on the top floor with the balcony in front of our window The Lighthouse Inn in Crescent City

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Northwest Passages – Poetry

There wasn’t an easy way for me (that I know about) to link the photo of the poetry signs to the actual words of the poem.  The solution was to look up the poem and add it to my poems page.  Enjoy “The Redwoods“…
Redwood Poetry
The interesting thing is the connection between the author and San Francisco.  The author was the designer of the Golden Gate Bridge.  (It really is a small world!)  And yes, I noticed the poem has an extra verse – and no, I don’t know why.  Maybe, you can look it up and let me know with a comment (hint, hint).
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Northwest Passages – Day One

The general plan was to wander our way up to Crescent City by the end of the day.  We were to try to see as many trees and shorelines as possible.
Our main stop this day was to see the drive-thru Redwood named: Chandelier Tree, located in Leggett, CA.  The Chandelier Tree is one of only three remaining “drive-thru” trees still standing.
A little more of the tree Chandelier Tree Sign Perspective… And the crowd goes wild… Redwood Poetry Driving thru the tree Sarah sitting on a fallen tree Close-up of Sarah Hil and me sitting in a tree stump Me showing off the VFF-KSOs Hilary and me swinging
Now there are two interesting things here…  The first is the feeling you get when you actually drive thru a tree.  As much as I consider myself to be “environmentally aware” – it’s SO COOL!!  It really does just blow you away.
The second thing is, of course, this is a living thing which has been violated.  Imagine if you had a large section of your stomach carved thru so folks could see your innards.  And the tree is at least 2,400 years old!  For a little perspective, that’s about halfway between the founding of Rome (752 BCE) and the transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire (27 BCE).  And, of course, 400 years before the birth of Christ!
Next, evening one…
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Northwest Passages – Intro

Ok.  A little background first…
Our youngest (Sarah) did a report on a volcano named Mount Mazama about six years ago.  As it turns out, the volcano blew up and became what is today called Crater Lake.  Sarah is a Harry Potter fan and as you would have it, Crater Lake has an island – called Wizard Island – in it.  So, Sarah has always wanted to visit the lake.
Not knowing this, James and I went out for a cruise last year and ended up at Crater Lake.  This was my way to smooth the ruffled feathers…
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First Things First…

The week before this I was off on vacation and Hil, Sarah and I took a trip up to Oregon.  The plan was to visit the Redwoods and Crater Lake.  We did both and got lots of great pictures which I’ll be including in upcoming posts.
First though, upon our return I had a chat with my daughter Rebecca and she introduced me to TED.  If you’ve not visited TED, I highly recommend you check it out.  It’s a site dedicated to Technology, Education and Design.  I’ve added the link to the side of my blog so you can find it easily – if you come here often, don’t use favorites and / or can’t remember how to spell “http://www.ted.com/“
I’ll be back shortly with a series of short posts on our trip…
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