Back from the Honeymoon

Well, we're back from the honeymoon now (Pics and video are uploading in the background, and will be posted shortly.) Below you'll find a rough map of all the landmarks for our trip, if you'd care to follow along.

We left early Sunday morning, just 15 minutes after our target time of 6 am. Bags had been packed since the evening before (Primarily consisting of the awesome his and her's Playboy luggage given to us by Julian), toiletries assembled, beach gear tucked away, and outfits for the drive set out, so it was pretty much just a matter of getting up and into the car. We took Eden's car, as she has heated seats and considerably less road noise, and we'd just had her car serviced. The ride south was pretty uneventful, with Eden taking the first shift down I-5 and passing the wheel to me in Eugene to take a nap. For a few hours my company consisted primarily of Missy's comforting voice (Eden's family has a habit of naming vehicles; apparently this now extends to GPSes) repeatedly telling me softly to stay left on the same road I'd been on for hours.

A bit before we hit the coast in Reedsport, she woke back up, and joined me in making fun of the Prehistoric Gardens along the way - seriously, Barney seems to be a more realistic dino representation. We also saw an endless array of signs for the West Coast Game Park Safari, which actually turned out to be pretty cool when we visited it on the return leg, contrary to my own expectations. All along the entire trip down to Gold Beach we were stunned by the incredible vegetation that seemed to nearly absorb the roads as we went past. At any number of points, the road is overhung by dense foliage, creating an impression of traveling through some sort of beautiful forest tunnel. Surprisingly, the new camera shoots pretty well through glass, with minimal refractions. Just before we got to our destination, a broad sign on the road itself called us to a beautiful view in Port Orford. We were pleasantly surprised.

We got into town around 1, grabbed a quick bite at Subway, and decided to take a look around while waiting for check in time. The beach was beautiful, but cold and very windy, which highlighted a small problem with my new glasses - it appears that Transitions works based on temperature/radiation differentials, rather than actual temperature, meaning that at 40 degrees less wind chill and overcast skies, my glasses were pitch black and fully polarized, leading to several unusable photos since I couldn't really see the camera screen. Despite this, we had a lot of fun exploring. One notable bit was the fact that a group set up a bunch of lean-tos and a massive teepee at the driftwood line - it was pretty impressive.

Once we were able to check in at Ireland's Rustic Lodges, we pretty much just decompressed for a while. Eden was still beat and we really just needed time out of the car. That night we had dinner at Spinner's, at the recommendation of our hosts. The food was pretty good, all things considered - not incredibly impressive, but it got the job done. The place really gave the impression of a small business trying to achieve fanciness. The remainder of the evening was calm, save for the fact that the room design meant that we could hear our neighbor's TV quite clearly.

In the morning, we headed south for California and the Redwood Forest. Our first trek was through Howland Hills Road, as recommended on the Redwood National Forest website. The experience was simply stunning - the trees are gargantuan, and the forest seems to go on forever when you enter it. Eden also formulated a theory about California roads - the quality of the vistas offered is inversely proportional to the maintenance done on the roads themselves. Accordingly, the potholes on Howland Hills posed some serious threats to the axles. About 15 minutes in, right after a particularly rough jar, the check engine light came on on Eden's car, causing no small amount of panic. We'd only seen one other car on the road, and that was parked a rather long way back. The steam rising from the car was also concerning. In the end, we made it back to Crescent City without incident and took it to a local mechanic. In exchange for a $5 bill to buy lunch for his assistant, the friendly fellow was quick to let us know that it was just a signal that the fuel mix was too rich, a non-threatening condition that should be easily resolved at a dealership back in Oregon. We had a late brunch at the Apple Peddler, a chain of informal eateries we saw a lot of in northern California. The food was tasty, cheap, and served quickly, which helped a lot in soothing our nerves.

After eating, we headed back south along the coast on another route suggested on the website. Eden's theory seemed to hold true here as well, as the viewpoints were plentiful as soon as the road turned to gravel. Nothing quite as spectacular as the first route, but still impressive. We were a little surprised to discover that the route took us past a penetentiary, but we had no problems. We elected to play it a bit safe, just in case there were other problems with the car, and headed back north, stopping to explore the pier area in Cresent City. After a brief encounter with a "raggedy squirel" there, we headed back to the lodge for a few hours.

We spent some time looking for a recommendation for dinner, and came up with the Crazy Norweigan's in Port Orford, a 30 mile drive. Believe me when I tell you that it was worth it! Several reviews raved over the fish and chips there, and they were right. 3 different sizes of fish and chips dinners available, but we both went with the large, and didn't regret it. Simply, it was the best such dinner either of us had ever had. The coleslaw and pies accompanying our meals were also outstanding.

We elected to get an early start back on Tuesday, so as to take a more leisurely course. Breakfast was at Double D's cafe, a shaby but friendly establishment well populated by locals. The food was simple, but good, and I think they cheated pretty severely on my "3 egg" omlette - I was only able to finish about half of the huge portion.

We headed back up the coast, stopping at the West Coast Game Park Safari mentioned earlier. I had initially assumed that this would be a tiny collection of poorly cared for cast offs, and I'll admit that I was very wrong. Even though the animals were fairly damp due to the recent rain, they were obviously well cared for and loved. We got a chance to see and pet a few of the babies in person, which was pretty darn cool. Honestly, I think it was the most comprehensive collection I've ever seen for privately owned animals.

We stayed on 101 all the way to Lincoln City, just so that we could both finally say that we'd been up and down the full length of the Oregon coast. The vistas continued to be beautiful, but after the Redwood Forest, I think we were a little hard to impress. We stopped briefly for a quick lunch at China Bay in Florence, which we quickly regretted. I assumed that the familiar font, name, and menu implied a relation to our favorite restaurant in Beaverton. This was definately not the case, as the food was incredibly sub-par, as was the service.

On a more positive note, we were able to find some ginger candy to settle stomachs in Newport, and had some excellent Tillamook ice cream afterwards. The remainder of our trip home was uneventful, if a little long. Too many hours sitting in a car will eventually wear, even with great scenery.

Pics and movies will follow relatively shortly.


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