2015 Fall Western Trip: Highway 101 in California and Oregon

Thursday evening, 10/1 and Friday, 10/2:  Crescent City, California

Thursday night grilled steak and wine dinner.

Bob and Karen rented a KOA Deluxe cabin for the weekend.  It was very nice.  After grilling steaks and drinking fine wine last night, we were ready for a mini road trip today.  Bob had already found several wineries about an hour away in Oregon.

The plan today was to drive to Cave Junction, Oregon via Rt. 199, also called The Redwood Highway.   The highway passes through the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.  It is a beautiful drive showcasing some amazing redwood trees.  Incidentally, The Crescent City KOA has a small but impressive redwood grove located right on the campground.  The grove was a beautiful place to walk the dogs each day.

The first wine tasting stop was Foris Winery.   We sampled several and bought a few bottles.  Next on the list was Bridgeview Winery.  Again, we sampled and purchased.  In fact, this winery even puts some of their wines in boxes, which are ideal for the camper, so we got a box of Riesling.

For dinner we headed to the Crescent City docks and found a great place with an amazing view of the harbor.  We had great dinners, seafood of course.

Saturday, 10/3:  Crescent City, California

There is a lighthouse at Crescent City, but it can only be visited during periods of low tide, when you can walk to the lighthouse.  Low tide this morning was about 10:00, so we made a visit.

After the lighthouse visit we headed to the coast to Brookings, Oregon.  We grabbed lunch at a pub on the docks, and then headed to Peak Brandy Distillery which is the only legal wood fired pot distillery in the United States. It was a very interesting visit.

We stopped back at a fish market on the harbor and picked up some fresh lingcod to grill for dinner.  We breaded the cod and sautéed it in shallow oil.  The resulting meal was phenomenal.


Sunday, 10/4:  Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon, Oregon

This morning we said our  "Good Byes" to Karen and Bob over coffee.  Bob and Karen headed back south to Oakland, while we packed up the camper and headed north for Bandon.  Bullard Beach State Park is a beautiful park with a huge sand beach.  The campground is excellent too.  We took the dogs beach walking, and had a great time.

Tomorrow we relocate to Roseburg, Oregon to visit Cory.