Jen’s Journal – October 11, 2019

Day 104: Port of Port Orford parking lot, OR

Sunny and MILD.

I woke up around 6:30 and heard a strange noise in the distance. I looked out the front window, and the big crane was lowering fishing boats into the water. Of course Tom was awake so we had some coffee and watched the boats go off fishing and watched the daylight arrive.

Oregon has 95 state parks on the coast, and many county parks and national shoreline, too, that almost the entire coast is available to the public.

We went to Port Orford State Park and walked to the high cliff view. Again we saw the fishing boats but we also saw seals far below and WHALES spouting way in the distance, so far you needed binoculars to see them. It was our first sighting in the lower 48. The wind wasn’t blowing – yesterday the wind was so fierce we didn’t stay at some of the viewpoints very long. I haven’t known the Oregon Coast to be so calm as it was today.

It was such a beautiful day.

We kept driving south and saw more beautiful shoreline.

At Humbug Mountain State Park we walked through a grove of myrtlewood trees. Myrtlewood is a local tree and I think the trees are special.

A little further south we stopped at Ophir State Park and walked the sandy beach just past high tide. We were wearing jackets but I went barefoot on the beach. Again no wind and just as pleasant a day you could ask for.

We are almost to the very south of Oregon now. We found another state park to camp, had a campfire, and have decided to spend another day.

We hear that high winds in Northern California have forced the utility companies to turn off electricity for thousands of people. We hear that gas is well over a dollar per gallon higher once you cross the border. And I’m not sure if they will confiscate our fresh fruits and vegetables. I’m not sure I want to go to California at all.

We’ve visited most of California before. We want to go to Lassen Volcanic National Park, but it may be freezing cold in the mountains there. If we weren’t planning on visiting some dear people, we would just skip over to Reno and drive south from there.

We’ll see what happens.