Oregon Road Trip: Day 6 The Long Road Home

The rain has returned and isn’t going away. It looks like it will follow us all the way back home.

We stayed the night in Gold Beach at the Turtle Rock Resort, named after the nearby large rock formation that resembles a turtle, of course. This is the nicest of all the RV parks we’ve stayed at with our own private hot tub at our site. We took a nice soak at night while polishing off our last bottle of Oregon Pinot. In the morning, the kids jumped into the “hot pool” not minding the rain at all.

More big lava rock formations dot the oceanside, but there are too many scenic vistas to stop at each one and the rain clouds don’t make for good photos, so we keep on driving. Forty-five minutes south of Gold Beach, we cross the California border. We’re back! Things immediately feel more familiar after crossing the state line.

We enter the majestic redwood territory of Northern California and head to Jedediah Smith State Park. A friend of mine recommended this park, otherwise I wouldn’t have known about it.  When we turn onto the road toward Jed Smith, it’s like entering a magical forest. It’s a small park, mostly undeveloped with old-growth redwoods. There isn’t an easily accessible route into the center of the park to see the trees. We’ll have to hike it in to get to the real giants. We try to get to Stout Grove, a short .6 mile trail that the kids and grandparents could probably handle. To get to the trailhead, it’s a 1.5 mile drive on a dirt road. It’s still raining and our better judgment tells us to turnaround and not risk getting the RV stuck in the mud.  We pullover to the side of the road and just let the kids run into the forest a few yards to get up close to the tall trees.

There’s not much else to do because of the rain. We could hit the KOA and sit in the RV or high tail it back to Berkeley in 7 hours. We decide to head home and get back a day earlier than scheduled. We buckle down and prepare for the long road ahead. The kids both fall asleep and take nice long naps which makes for a parent’s dream road trip. When my son wakes up, the first thing he says to me is, “I liked being in the forest.” He must have been dreaming about trees.

An hour south of Eureka, we drive along old Highway 101, the Avenue of the Giants, to see more giant redwoods out of our windows. I can never see enough of these magnificent trees. After a dinner stop in Willits, just north of Ukiah, we get home at 11 pm and carry our sleeping children into their bedroom. Our trip has come to an end and we made it back safely, snuggled up in our comfy beds. It’s good to be home.

Overall it was a very successful trip. There weren’t any breakdowns and we all survived being in an RV for a week without killing each other. We came home with great memories of our new experiences riding the Amtrak and discovering the beauty of the Oregon Coast. The kids went back to school excited to tell their friends and teachers that they rode on a train, met a llama and slept in an RV.

We’ll have to do it again.

-Catherine Lo

Oregon Road Trip: Day 5 Cape Arago to Gold Beach

The clouds have returned and we can kiss the sun goodbye for the rest of our trip. It’s chilly, but still a good day for beachcombing to find treasures that the sea washed up overnight. We discover a couple of purple sea stars, sea snails and a ton of anemones in the tidepools.

We continue driving south toward Cape Blanco, the westernmost point in Oregon. On the way, we see a sign for the West Coast Game Park Safari. A quick Yelp search reveals we can pet baby tigers and baby bears so we decide to skip Cape Blanco and make a U-turn to check out the animal park. It’s not everyday you get to pet a baby tiger, whereas we’ve visited a cape every day this week. We figured the kids would be more excited to pet a baby tiger than see another lighthouse.

I know, I know, it’s sad to see a wild animal caged up. But we’re talking about petting a baby tiger here! I just can’t pass it up. The only other opportunity I might have would be on an African safari or Asian tiger preserve, which I don’t think will be happening anytime soon. So gimme a break. Go ahead and hate me. Or just stop reading now.

The zoo is a small operation, but the conditions aren’t horrendous. Yes, the animals are in small cages, some about the same size as at a regular zoo. I can’t help but be awed seeing these animals so close: black and spotted leopards, lion, tigers, and a cougar, the most beautiful big cat I’ve ever seen. There are dozens of goats, llamas, and donkeys roaming about freely and visitors can walk along and pet them. My daughter didn’t want to leave the donkey’s side. All the animals seemed docile. They brought out a 4-month old baby tiger, baby bobcat and baby bear, but they seemed more like rowdy teenagers than babies to me. They were actually pretty big animals. If they were to get mad, I’m sure they could do some serious damage to any-size human. But the handlers kept the animals occupied with toys and food, while visitors, one-by-one, could pet the animal, always on its back and never near its face. It was quite an experience, but not life-altering as I had imagined. Both of my kids were scaredy cats and wouldn’t pet the tiger or bear, not even the bobcat, which looked very similar to our own pet cat. I guess it’s a good thing that they’re cautious and have an innate fear of wild animals – smart survival skills to have.

After our wild animal detour, we get back on the road and drive through more breathtaking scenery: lush mountains, large sheer rocks protruding out of the ocean, black sand beaches. It reminds me a little of the Napali Coast in Kauai. I read somewhere that this part of the Oregon coast, from Cape Blanco to Brookings, is the most beautiful and I would have to agree, although the entire coast has been glorious. I haven’t been disappointed yet.

We come across a giant T-rex sculpture, one of those corny tourist traps in random places. We have to stop for a picture. It costs $10 to enter the Prehistoric Gardens and see their 23 life-size dinosaurs. I really want to go in, but my husband refuses to indulge me.

Our overnight stop is in Gold Beach and it turns out my mother’s high school classmate’s brother owns a Chinese restaurant in town. I swear, Chinese people get around. We pull into Turtle Rock RV Resort, right on a creek along Highway 101. I booked this spot for one reason only, our own private hot tub at the RV site.

Tomorrow: Going back to Cali…

-Catherine Lo

Oregon Road Trip: Day 3 Cape Lookout to Lincoln City

We woke up to the sound of waves and our first day of sunshine! Finally, beach time for the kids. From our RV site at Cape Lookout State Park, it was about 20 steps to a wide open beach. It was a magnificent sight with the fog hanging low amongst the trees. The kids had the whole beach to themselves and went wild after feeling cooped up in the rain for the last two days.

After some fun in the sun, we head up the Three Capes scenic drive between Cape Lookout and Cape Meares. Approaching the three arch rocks popping out of the ocean is quite magical. I hate to keep comparing everything to California, but this scenic drive reminds me of Highway 1 in Big Sur, dare I say, maybe even better? Shhh…I’ll lose my California girl cred.

We get to the Cape Meares and it’s an easy 1/4 mile walk to the lighthouse. There’s an amazing vista point at every turn. Nearby is a Sitka Spruce tree named the Octopus tree for its eight trunks.

Our next objective was to head to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, two hours away in Newport. On the way, we saw a giant hangar with the words “AIR MUSEUM” painted on it. Instead of rushing to the aquarium, we decided to make a detour and visit the air museum instead. I thought this was the air museum which has the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes’ plane, on display, but I was mistaken. The Spruce Goose is at the air museum in McMinnville, OR. This was still a pretty good museum where the kids could sit inside jet cockpits. But the coolest thing was being inside the giant blimp hangar. The museum is in a former blimp hangar that once housed many blimps at a single time. It was huge.

On the way to our next overnight stop, we drive through Lincoln City, and pass a Tanger Outlet Mall. We have to stop, just to take advantage of no sales tax in Oregon. It’s your basic outlet mall with a Nike Store, Gap Outlet, Carter’s, Old Navy, and other basics. We don’t spend too much time there, or too much money. I bought myself a pair of Nikes and a couple of shirts for the kids at Old Navy. I was tempted to buy a Pendleton blanket, being in Oregon and all, but I resisted the urge. We ate dinner at the Chinese/Japanese restaurant in the outlet mall and it wasn’t half bad. The owner came from the same province in China as my dad and spoke the same dialect.

It’s another hour drive to Beachside State Park and we arrive after dark to stay the night.

What’s happening next: Oregon Coast Aquarium

-Catherine Lo

Oregon Road Trip: Day 1 Hitting the Road

We pick up our RV from Cruise America in Portland. We’ve done the RV thing before, two years ago when we drove down the California coast between SF and Newport Beach. The kids loved it so much, we decided to do it again, this time along the Oregon Coast, which none of us had visited before.

We got a 30′ RV, much bigger than the 23′ one we drove on our first trip. It was the only size available to make the one-way trip from Portland back to Oakland. Cruise America’s RVs come bare bones: no bed linens, dishes, coffee maker, not even the essential TV/DVD player. The RV we rented from Apollo a couple years ago came fully loaded with pots/pans, cooking utensils, even an oven. For this trip, we had to bring along our own portable DVD player and settle for instant coffee in the mornings.

1st stop: Costco to stock up. Since the RV came equipped with nothing, I outfit the whole rig with 3 new sets of sheets, pillows, and towels. Good thing we’re driving it back home since I could use new linens and pillows anyways.

2nd stop: Target to pick up the small stuff.

3rd stop: Pick up my parents from the Portland airport. The large RV sleeps 7, so with the extra room, we invited my parents along for the ride. We thought it’d be great quality time with the grandkids. Extra pairs of eyes and hands to help take care of the kids are always nice too.

We’re all loaded up, buckled in, and hit the road. Perfect timing because it immediately starts to rain.

Our first overnight spot is at L.L. Stub Stewart State Park, only 45 minutes from Portland. It’s midway to the coast and I just want to stop somewhere before dark to bunk down for the night.

Tomorrow: Cannon Beach

-Catherine Lo