Redwood Coast Trip Days 7 - 8

Day 1 And 2: The Drive in.
Day 2b: Hikes to Watson Falls and Toketee Falls
Day 3 and 4:  Some relaxing around the room, and our first dip into the redwoods
Day 4b: Trees Of Mystery
Day 4c: Hike - Ladybird Johnson Grove
Day 5 and 6: Exploring the coast South of us, including the Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor and back into the redwoods.
Day 5a: Gold Beach Pioneer Cemetery and Geisel Monument.
Day 5b: Hike - The Myrtle Tree Trail
Day 6a: Hike – Cathedral Trees Trail
Day 6b: Hike – Ah-Pah Trail

Holy crap we packed a lot of adventure into this vacation. :)
 

Day 7: Check out day the drive back, some exploring in the cascades, and Crater Lake.

Check out day.I hate check out day. I am really thrilled with all the adventures we had, but wish I had spent some more time frolicking on the beaches.

I don’t think Roxy wants to leave either.

Last parting shot of the ocean.

And the pretty fuchsia plant.

The last parting shots of our wonderful room. I was really quite pleased with it this yet. We paid a little more than I normally would, but it was worth it.

Driving towards Humbug Mountain. (DBP)

Before long we say farewell to the coast and start driving inland.

I remembered passing this covered bridge on the way in, so I made sure to keep my eye open for it on the way out. Sandy Creek Covered Bridge. Sadly, only the 2nd covered bridge I have seen.

The creek it crosses, plus the more modern highway that made it obsolete.

Built in 1921. Wow. Almost a hundred.

This is a neat little piece of history.I am glad it is still standing.

We did get stuck, twice, in the construction again, but it wasn’t for very long. (DBP)

Weird graffitied rock out cropping near Roseburg.

On the drive in, we passed a sign for Colliding Rivers Boat Launch. Something jumped out in my brain that this is something I knew about and wanted to see, but we didn’t stop.

So on the way back, I kept an eye open, and found the Colliding Rivers Viewpoint. This picture doesn’t quite capture the cool thing about this.

This is on HW 138 approximately 12 miles from Roseburg.

It’s hard to tell with the foliage, but Little River (left, behind tree) and the North Umpqua River (right) collide into each other from almost completely opposite directions, (south and north respectively) before continuing down west. They are both really calm right now, so its kind of meh, but during heavy flow this is particularly outstanding.

This is one of those things that I had heard about, and knew it existed, even knew it was in Oregon, but never thought I would be in the area to see it. So glad we stopped. I think it is neat.

Little vortex in the middle.

Very clear water.

This is a particularly good stop because it can double as a rest stop if you need one. There are restrooms and picnic tables. A rest stop with a neat natural attraction? Heck yes.

Cool old bridge up the road.(DBP)

Just a pretty canyon shot. (DBP)

We decided to finally stop by Crater Lake while passing by.

It is as gorgeous as I thought it would be. You can see more of our adventure there here.

Back to the main highway. (DBP)

The forever view down. (DBP)

Before long we reached Bend, and decided it was time to find some dinner. We ended up getting a little lost in Bend. Funny, we got a little lost here on the way in as well. I am not a fan of Oregon's bigger towns. They are really difficult to navigate. Eventually we found our way, and were on our way towards Burns.

And then the long nothing between Bend and Burns. (DBP)

When it is pretty flat, a slight hill looks like its just going to launch you into the air. (DBP)

The sun is setting behind us, and lighting up the dust in front of us. Ew. (DBP)

I am super glad we are going this way this time of the day. The other way seemed to be driving directly into the sun. And vise Verse, on the way in I am glad we did this leg of the trip first thing in the morning while the sun was behind us.

We finally reached our halfway point hotel a bit after dark. Again, I am glad we didn’t try to explore more of Crater Lake. It really should be a stopping point so you can explore the area more. We checked in for the evening and relaxed our car wary bodies in anticipation of another full day of driving.

Day 8. Last leg home, a smidge more Oregon, Idaho, and finally Utah.

Going through the Smoky Mountains. (DBP)

Back to ODOT’s LIES!!! It also said construction for the next 42 miles. (DBP)

Some more fun mountain shots. (DBP)

IDAHO!!! (DBP)

Fun clouds. (DBP)

Are we home yet?

Yay! Utah! Almost home. (DBP)

More fun clouds.(DBP)

Familiar mountains. (DBP)

Well, that about wraps up our summer vacation. It was truly, truly epic. We saw and explored so many beautiful, wondrous things. Oregon is amazing as always, Crater Lake was stunning, the waterfalls, the forests, the coastline all of it was just phenomenal. The Redwoods in California were magnificent.  I just wish the drive wasn’t so long! But it is worth it. I love our beautiful world, I love all the surprising amazing things mother earth has to show us. Most of all, I love that there were, are, and will be enough people like me who wish to try to preserve these wonders for future generations.

I do need to return to The Redwoods and explore them more thoroughly, but Landis wants to go east next year. We haven't decided where yet, but we will see where the road takes us.