Travel day back to the SF area and a few reflections

Today was a road trip day in order to return to the San Francisco area for our flight home tomorrow. We decided to make the return drive in one day via the interstate route.  Yesterday, we discovered that the highway connecting our hotel to Interstate 5 was closed due to forest fires in the area.  We were afraid we would have to backtrack about 2 hours to reach the interstate.  Fortunately, the fires were under control this morning and the highway was reopened.  As we drove south, we passed through the fire areas.  We witnessed the charred lands first-hand and even saw smoldering groundcover in some areas.  

I have a few reflections/observations from our past (almost) two weeks:

• Apparently, we need to do a better job of reducing our carbon footprint and just being less wasteful in our every day life in North Carolina.    Almost every counter service restaurant we encountered did not have "serve yourself" napkins or ketchup to reduce waste.  I am a napkin hoarder, so this was hard for me.  I had to ask for extra napkins on repeated occasions.  Crater Lake has even banned straws from its property.  The statistics they posted quoted the number of school buses we could fill each year in America due to the use of disposable straws.  I want to say it was around 700.  They gave us a sippy cup type of lid for our fountain drink, instead.  Most places only gave disposable bags if you asked.  Several stores even charged extra for disposable bags.  The San Francisco area had trash, recycling and compost bins in most eating establishments. The compost addition was interesting and may be something we should pursue at home.  Also, many restaurants made you bus your own tables when you finished eating. 

• Homeless people asking for money on the streets were much more prevalent in both the San Francisco area and in the smaller towns than we have noticed in other big cities or in our hometown.  Many places in SF had locked public restrooms in order to deter loitering.  I have so much respect for the Crisis Ministry organization in Lexington and the programs they have built for the homeless population in our town. 

• Life lesson learned -- Don't go to McDonald's in a town called Weed, California.  The reason is obvious.  We may have been the only patrons that hadn't just visited The Weed Shop (yes, it was a real place).  Everyone there moved in slow-motion, which is not good for a family with four hungry kids and a 5 hour drive ahead of them.  

We have definitely enjoyed our trip to the West Coast.  Who knows what next year will bring...

Crater Lake and its 4 new Junior Rangers

Our day began with beautiful weather, contrary to the weather forecasts, which led to a beautiful visit to Crater Lake.  We drove an hour and a half from our hotel to Crater Lake National Park.  Luckily, there weren't many twists and turns until we reached the park property.  Upon our arrival, the view was breathtaking.  

Crater Lake is a caldera that was formed when a volcano, Mount Mazama, had a massive eruption and collapsed around 7,700 years ago.  Rain and snow have filled the resulting crater over thousands of years, forming the lake.  It is 1,943 feet deep, which makes it the deepest lake in the US.  It is also one of the clearest lakes in the world with clarity of around 122 feet below the water surface.  

Here is a picture of Hadley with Wizard Island in the distance.  It is an island within the lake, formed from a subsequent volcanic eruption.  

The kids humored me with a group picture, but Jack insisted on wearing my sunglasses.

The only way to reach the actual lake shore is to take a very steep and strenuous hike to the bottom of the cliffs.  We opted out when we read that the hike back up from the bottom was the equivalent of climbing 66 flights of stairs.  Again, it is added to the "next time" list.  

The kids completed a booklet to become Junior Rangers of Crater Lake National Park.  It was full of fun and informational activities.  They were sworn in by an official Park Ranger.  

Here are the 4 newest Junior Rangers with their badges.

The entire ride back to the hotel, we promised the kids we would take them to the pool after dinner for an extra long swim.  As luck would have it, the storms decided to roll in at the same time, so the indoor pool was closed for the evening.  Oh, well.  They have plenty of time to swim when we return to Lexington.  

A travel day filled with redwoods

We departed from Klamath, CA this morning on our way to Klamath Falls, Oregon.  I know this is confusing, but they are four hours apart.  We stopped at one more beach en route at low tide, but it wasn't a good beach for tidepooling, so we moved on.  I am adding the tidepooling to the "next time" list. Our main stop today was Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park on the California border.  Dan read that the Endor (Ewok) battle scenes from Return of the Jedi were filmed in this redwood forest, so we knew we had to make it a priority.

My guidebook recommended the Simpson-Reed hiking trail, which is a 1 mile loop of easy hiking through the redwoods.  It was amazing.

I can't adequately put into words the immense size of these trees.  Pictures don't do them justice, either, because they stretch up farther than a camera can capture. This picture may give some perspective, as it shows Sidney and Hadley standing in front of the root structure of one of these fallen giants.

The walk was very peaceful and so quiet.  The massive trees and the surrounding groundcover of ferns seem to absorb all sound.  

We also drove to the Stout Grove, which was highly recommended.  This is a grove that includes some of the oldest redwoods on the West Coast.  It was a half-mile loop that was also very beautiful and peaceful. The trees are estimated to be around 2,000 years old.  

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An early afternoon filled with tree-hugging led to a long drive through the afternoon to Klamath Falls.  We did get the kids a few movies from Redbox to help them pass the time.  Our hotel, The Running Y Ranch, has a great indoor pool, so the kids were able to swim a bit before dinner. 

We didn't find any Ewoks today, but it was a very fun day.  Tomorrow...Crater Lake.  Let's hope for clear skies.  

A quest to find dinosaurs...

Our secret goal for the day was to find the Prehistoric Gardens north of Gold Beach, Oregon.  We knew Jack would absolutely love it.  We didn't broadcast that goal to the kids, though, because our maps showed it was about a 2 hour drive up the coastal highway.  After yesterday's twists and turns, we didn't want to commit to a similar experience.  Luckily, the roads weren't nearly as severe as the previous day. We stopped at a local seafood restaurant in Crescent City, CA for lunch.  The Chart Room specialized in extremely fresh, fried seafood.  Dan and I enjoyed the food.  I think the kids were more interested in the sea lions sunning themselves right outside off of the dock.  Sidney's facial expression is one of embarrassment, because Hadley was barking like a sea lion 5 seconds before I snapped this picture.

We crossed over into Oregon and stopped at the first promising overlook I read about in my guidebook.  The coastline views were supposed to be spectacular.  Instead, they were foggy...

As we continued up the coast and located the next suggested overlook, Natural Bridges Cove, the fog was burning off a little.  This was our beautiful sight.

We continued our drive north and discovered Myers Creek Beach, which was supposed to have great tidepools to view.  Unfortunately, we missed low tide, but the kids had a great time frolicking on this beautiful beach.  Dan and I remarked numerous times that we felt like we were in the beach scene from Goonies.  The kids were shocked at the cold temperatures of the Pacific Ocean.  

The drive was moving much quicker than we anticipated, so we continued on to our secret destination.  After about 45 minutes of driving, we reached Prehistoric Gardens.

Yes, it was as cheesy as it looks, but it was also great fun.  The Oregon climate is similar to a rain forest climate.  The creator of this establishment created a small rain forest on the side of an Oregon highway in the 1950s.  He filled it with sculptural replicas of  20 different dinosaurs, using the dimensions of paleontological findings to create the dinosaurs to scale.  We followed a trail through the rain forest to find all 20 dinosaurs.  Jack thought it was the best outing ever!  It was fun to see the perspective size of the dinosaurs in a fake flesh-and-blood way.  Sometimes it is hard to get perspective from the bones in museums.  

We had dinner at a great local pizza joint in Brookings, Oregon (Wild River Pizza) before heading back to our hotel in Klamath, CA. 

Mendocino to Klamath -- a very curvy drive!

We awoke to more fog in Mendocino.  We drove to the coast road on our way out of town and discovered that Mendocino is a very charming town.  The views were impressive and would have been spectacular without the fog.

We took a steep trail down to the beach.  It was beautiful and quite different from our Atlantic Ocean beaches.

We headed to Fort Bragg, CA to find a good spot for lunch.  The Noyo Harbor area was recommended, so we ate at a Mayan fusion restaurant.  We expected to eat seafood, but couldn't pass up this restaurant.  It was delicious.  

Back in the car, the fog finally lifted and we had some amazing views of the Northern California coastline.  It was quite windy, as you can see.

The highway became extremely steep and curvy for about 60 miles as we alternated between mountainous coastline and forests.  As we approached The Avenue of the Giants, a 20 mile stretch of redwood forest, Hadley's stomach finally got the best of her.  Luckily, the redwood forest grove was a great place to pull over.  Dan and the kids could explore the giant trees while I cleaned up Hadley (and the car) with wet wipes.  "Giant" may be an understatement for the trees...

Hadley made a full recovery, so we jumped back in the car to head to Klamath and our hotel for the evening.  I read a chapter of  Harry Potter aloud to the kids to help pass the time.  We had planned to stop in Eureka, CA to explore a bit and have dinner.  Unfortunately, we discovered that they were having a street festival and several of the main streets were closed.  We decided not to expose ourselves to that chaos and seek dinner elsewhere.  "Elsewhere" resulted in McDonalds in Arcata.  (Boo!)  I think it helped settle the kids' stomachs, though. We finally made it to our hotel as the fog resettled for the evening.  

Leaving San Francisco and finding Snoopy along the way

Dan and Sidney took the train to the airport early this morning to get the rental car for our trip to Northern California and Oregon.  The other kids and I hung out at the hotel until they returned.  Here is a picture of the restaurant in the Palace Hotel lobby.  Needless to say, we didn't dine in the restaurant, as the prices are astronomical.

The kids wanted to try to drive down Lombard Street on our way out of town, so we attempted it.  Unfortunately, the line of cars was backed up for several blocks.  A quick calculation led us to determine that it wasn't worth our wait, since we had other destinations for the day.  Once again, it will be added to the list for another trip.  I have to brag on Dan's driving skills on the narrow and hilly streets of SF.  There is no way we would have made it out in one piece if I were driving.  We headed out of town toward Mendocino via the Golden Gate Bridge.  I thought Jack's head was going to explode because he was so excited!  Here are a few pictures.

We drove for about an hour and a half and made a scheduled stop in Santa Rosa.  We discovered another eating establishment named after the youngest Briggs, Jack's Urban Eats.  We had a good lunch and found another photo opportunity.

Our main reason for the stop was to visit the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa.  Schulz was the creator of the Peanuts comic strip for over 50 years.  Santa Rosa was his home for the latter half of his life.  My dad and I read the Sunday comics (or funnies, as we called them) together for many years.  Peanuts was always our favorite, so we had to stop here.  It was a great museum with lots of photo opportunities.

The doc is in...

                                                                                             

 We found Snoopy on his doghouse and Woodstock taking a bath...

This mural fills a huge wall of the museum.  It is entirely comprised of individual 4-cell Peanuts comic strips. 

We also found the kite eating tree...Arrrgh!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day--our version of the Peanuts gang with Snoopy and Woodstock.

The drive from Santa Rosa to Mendocino is a very curvy, mountainous road full of switchbacks.  Lyndon's stomach almost got the better of her, but we made it through unscathed.  The second half of the drive was through a redwood forest.  The light filtering through the trees as we drove was so beautiful.  We arrived in Mendocino to a thick blanket of fog, so we didn't get to see the spectacular views.  Hopefully, the fog will burn off tomorrow before we leave town.  

Our hotel rooms are quite....something.  Dan and I couldn't quite put our fingers on how to describe it, until he discovered that Mendocino was the setting of Murder, She Wrote with Angela Lansbury.  Apparently, they modeled our room after her scenes in the 80s and decided to stick with it.  

The kids came running in and said, "The TV looks like a box."  Ha!  I feel like I should be using a typewriter instead of a computer...

Last full day in San Francisco, also known as the queue and view day

We started our last full day in SF a little later than usual, due to our previous late night.  The good thing about a late start in SF is that it gives time for the fog to lift.  The bad thing is that everyone waits for the fog to lift.  Thus, I grant it the title of "The Queue and View Day." We knew that we wanted to walk down Lombard Street, which is referred to as the World's Most Crooked Street. We also wanted to spend some time at Fisherman's Wharf during the day.  Since we purchased the 7-day Muni Pass on our first day in SF, we decided to ride the Cable Cars again.  It was free to us, where it normally costs $6 per person.  (If you like taking mass transportation, I highly recommend the Muni Pass when you visit SF.)  The line for the Cable Cars wrapped around the block, so we walked up the street a few blocks, where the line was much shorter.  Within ten minutes, we made it inside a car, whereas we would have waited for over an hour at the bottom of the hill.  We arrived at the top of Lombard Street with some spectacular views.

We walked down Lombard Street, making our way to the bottom.  We watched a row of cars drive down, which takes a good bit of time at such a slow pace. Here is the view of the crooked street.  The shrubbery behind us is layered between each curve.  

We decided to walk the rest of the way to Fisherman's Wharf (downhill), and we discovered a beautiful view of Alcatraz in the Bay.  It is just over Dan's shoulder.  

Jack had talked non-stop about seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, but it had been too foggy to see.  We walked over a hill and finally discovered the elusive bridge.  It was partially visible in the background underneath the fog.  

Then, it was well past time for a late lunch.  We decided on Scoma's for seafood, a renowned restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf (where there was a bit of a wait for a table, of course.  Note the theme of the day...).  Dan was finally able to eat some cioppino, a hearty seafood stew that is a SF specialty.  

Sidney had been looking forward to seeing the sea lions at Pier 39, so we headed that way.  Along the route, we discovered a bar named for the youngest Briggs, so we had to take a pic.  

We made it to see the sea lions sunning themselves on the pier.  It was lots of fun for the kids and those sea lions make quite a lot of noise.  

At this point, the plan was to attempt to climb Telegraph Hill and ride to the top of Coit Tower.  The fog started to roll in and we decided the view would be obscured, so we scrapped that plan until our next visit to SF.  Instead, we waited at the other end of the cable car line to ride back toward our hotel.  The kids really wanted to ride in the very front, so we waited in the queue for about an hour to be able to do so.  It was well worth it.  Lyndon, Jack, Dan and Hadley got prime seats and Sidney and I got the standing spots hanging off of the side.  It was so thrilling to ride hanging onto the cable car as we drove up and down the hills of SF.  It was very much worth the wait.  This was Sidney's actual spot on the cable car.  I couldn't resist a group shot after everyone had disembarked.  

We let the kids swim one last time in the hotel pool before getting dinner and heading to bed.  What a fun, but tiring day!