Oregon Coast & Redwood Forest (November 23 - 26, 2000)

Thanksgiving 2000. A short holiday. For most Americans this means visiting their relatives, but since we're from Europe that doesn't work for us (a bit to far for 4 days). So... we decided to take the bus for another short trip. Plan was to go to the Redwood Forest in northern California. The weather was bad when we left Portland. Cloudy and lots of rain. It was already to late to drive to Redwood Forest that day, so we decided to take the 99 to the coast and then drive the 101 down the coast till it was dark. Nothing preplanned, just see how far we could get. We ended up stopping at J.M. Honeyman Mem. State Park. Very nice campsite. Lots of people with quads and dune buggies (they used to make these of VW bugs - not sure if they still do). The night was cold (around 40 F) but with the little radiator heater we stayed nicely warm. Next day we got up and the sun was shining. We stopped shortly at the dunes and then drove further south. We made several stops at the coast (made a quick photo stop at the entrance of the Prehistoric Park south of Port Orford - see photo below)  and then decided to stop early so we could still make a short walk along the coast. We stopped at Harris Beach Sate Park (just north of Brookings). Again a very nice campsite.We walked from the campsite to the beach and watched the sunset  there (see photo above). The Oregon coast is beautiful. We've been there many times now, but it amazes us over and over again. Went for dinner to Brookings and had some good seafood. After another good night sleep we went further south to Redwood Forest. Look at the pictures below. Those trees are huge (understatement). The weather was good in the morning but  went to rain in the afternoon. So, we didn't stop for a hike but drove the scenic Howland Hill Road, which is an unpaved road, which cuts right through the J. Smith Redwoods State Park. It's the best way to see these  giant trees. Look at below picture on the right. The bus is really tiny next to these trees. We drove further to Grants Pass and from there further south to Ashland. We heard nice things about this town and wanted to check it out. It's famous for it's summer Shakespeare plays. However, it turned out to be a nice place in the winter as well. You can ski there and it has a nice atmosphere because the whole town is lighted at night. We'll go back here for sure to see a play next summer. We stayed at a campsite south-east of Ashland, which was okay. Next morning it was Sunday and we had to had back (Monday is working day again). No fancy detours today, but just the highway all the way back to Portland. We left  Ashland around 12:00 and arrived back home at 17:30. 5,5 hours for 280 miles - not bad he? We drove the bus almost all the way with 70 mph and it  did just fine. So that was another nice little holiday with the  bus. We're starting to figure out where to store everything and how to get the best sleep (head forward - extra blanket under the pillows). Looking        forward to the next holiday already. Don't know when though. We'll keep you posted.

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