Camping Trip Interrupted

Face Rock

Last week, my guy and I, and our good friends, took the campers to Gold Coast, Oregon. The first few days were amazing, then the smoke rolled in. Due to multiple fires in the area we had to cut our time in this beautiful state short. 

Normally we have a plethora of driving choices, but by Wednesday morning, all but 1 of the roads home were blocked by fire. Rather than wait to see if I-5 reopened we decided to take 299 - can I just say YIKES! It is a beautiful, twisty, hilly drive that wouldn't be too bad if we hadn't been pulling our camper. Fortunately, my guy and his buddy both have mad driving skills so we did fine but I am glad that drive is over.

Here are some fun pictures from our trip: 

If you travel near Bandon, Oregon, be sure to check out the West Coast Safari. Their animals were beautiful and well taken care of. The park grounds were cleaned regularly and staff were available to answer questions. I love petting zoos and thoroughly enjoyed these guys.  

This little one was very vocal 

The Oregon coast is stunning. The rock formations are fun to explore, especially during  low tide when you can find tide pools full of ocean life. 

And sunsets are amazing on the beach!

One of the best parts of the drive home on 299 was the Redwood forest. Talk about primordial. These trees are stunning and SO BIG! I have never seen "The Redwoods" before so it was an awe inspiring experience for me. I could almost hear the fairies laughing. The bottom picture includes my friend so you get a better picture of how large these amazing trees are. 

\

Below you can see the difference in air quality. The same rock is in both photos. The first photo was taken Sept 6 at about 4:40 pm. The second picture was from our drive home, Wednesday, September 9th taken around 11:30 am. 

My heart breaks for those living near any of the fires that are currently raging across the US. Our area is inundated with heavy smoke. It is so bad that since our schools have increased how often the air is replaced within the schools due to Covid-19, they have not had a full week of in-person instruction yet because the increase in air circulation pumps smoky air into the schools. 

I really hope 2021 is a better year!