earth, wind and fire

(Lloyd)

did we face the elements today? we certainly did, pretty much everything nature and humans had to throw at us we faced head on and live to tell the tale :)

day started in the Comfort Suites in Salem.  Need to write an endorsement for these guys and have done so on trip advisor.  Really good value hotel, chosen for proximity to the I5 and nothing more. what we didn't expect was wall to wall complimentaries, drinks on arrival, free sarnies, cookies late at night and a massive breakfast. On top of that a good pool and gym, where Bryn offered me some personal training before said massive breakfast.

hench?

henchman

not a fan of the scone/biscuit, rest all good

got on the road at 9.45 as knew we had around 5 hrs of driving and wanted some downtime at the next destination with some of the daylight hours still left. This was our route today:





First couple of hours relatively tame, kids got some shut eye, Chrissi read excerpts from USA Lonely Planet 1999, and we tried to guess what was still true.  Used one of the rest stops off the I9 and the terrain slowly became a little more mountainous as we cruised into national park territory.  When things got a bit quiet we found ways of entertaining ourselves.

to eat snacks 'stolen' at breakfast

heading for the hills

And of course, plenty of 1980s rock music as you flick through the radio stations. Love US radio, it really is like playing a game of Grand Theft Auto with both the music and chat slightly surreal, although the health warnings about forest fires slightly ominous.  On the rock front Def Leppard and Bon Jovi seem to be the music of choice, so if anyone has any favourites, we can include in the blog in the coming days.  The US was really cool in the 1980's, that was the allure for me in my adolescent metal days looking across the pond.  In a strange way it seems still stuck in that decade in many ways, obviously slightly less cool for the next generations, but a deep pocket of nostalgia for the likes of me.

snack time

Are we in a sauna?

After filling up with gas in Grants Pass, the attendant does the filling, takes your money, but doesn't feel it his job to do your petrol cap back up. Maybe my dollar tip only gets me so far.  The guy in front must not have tipped at all as the attendant left the pump in and he drove off with the nozzle still nuzzling into the hole.

powering through

that fire can't be far away

There was a smell in Grants Pass, and not what you would think. It smelt something like a sauna, that woody heat, forest fires ... of course. And we headed right into the heart of them, albeit the highway was open but signs warning of brave firefighters keeping them at bay on either side.  As we moved into California the air seemed to improve somewhat and we could breathe a sigh of relief.

a sign

state crossing

Having survived that the drive down through the national park forests was hairy to say the least, the bends we steep and tight, and my left hand driving skills had Chrissi scraping the rock face on many an occasion.

round the bemd

down the bend

tight bend

On getting to the bottom of the valley the fog hit us and stayed all along the final coastal undulations, making some pretty dangerous conditions. We stopped at a viewing vista, could see next to nothing, apart from a warning sign about earthquakes and tsunamis.  Beginning to feel our cards were marked, convinced I saw a plague of locusts in the distance.

a vista without a view

the promise of seismic activity

oh ffs thoought I was over the worst

can you see the sea NO?

It may be of no surprise that wildlife was the next danger to feature. After checking in to our hotel, we wanted to find a trail jog/walk and were told about a little coastal sport where the River Klamath meets the Pacific. Beautiful scenery, warnings of bears and mountain lions enough to ensure the pace was pretty high tempo at times on our 5k family run.

blurry means speed

wildlife warnings

a drive not a run

where we did run

end of run, happy faces

Finished off the route by car, a cliff top track that was a bit close to the edge. Did see one of the farm houses that were built by the US in the second world war as disguised radar stations, fearful that the Japanese were getting very close for comfort at the time.

radar farms

radar farm roof

river klamath meets Pacific

Back to our hotel and casino, it's in an Indian Reservation, which we will try and find out a little more about tomorrow. Tonight it was all about clam chowder and pacific fish and chips before calling it a day.

cup of clam

catch of the day

(Carys)



Well, what an unexpected day we have had. It started with another tasty breakfast, our first complimentary one, and my first waffle/pancake of the holiday (yay) - so all was good. Dad wanted us to get on the road before 10ish so we packed up and bade farewell to pour most recent accommodation.

The drive was long again, around 5-6 hours with a state crossing in between. We drove with a few stops for toilets, food etc and then we began driving through some lovely mountainous areas with high cliffs and plenty of fir trees. As we entered some humungous forests with trees trunks wider than a large car. The greenery towered over us like a huge blanket. It was very pretty. However, we soon lost sight of this beauty when we became engulfed by a thick fog. It was like a huge cloud was coming in on us, not necessarily scary, but quite dangerous (and annoying) as it was difficult to see out of. We seemed to pass most of it soon enough and we drove through the remaining trees to our (quite remote) hotel. 

There were a few shops, restaurants and hotels around it but beside that the area was pretty quiet. The trees were still huge, though the fog didn't seem ti be so bad here. We got our running clothes on, and went to find a nice route for ourselves to walk/jog. It was a steady incline, but we got it done, which satisfied us. There weren't really any places to overlook things on our route though, so still wanting to see some sights, we took the car on a loop along the sea. We were disappointed though, as the sea was covered by...the fog. You could hardly see anything. Slightly annoyed, we took the car and ourselves back to the hotel.

We decided to go for dinner in the hotel next door, which was a good choice. I tried clam chowder for the first time - I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or not, it reminded me of fish pie which I don't like, but I did finish the clam chowder. I then had chicken caesar salad, which I know I enjoy. It was a lovely way to finish off the evening.