Drive Time: 8½ hours
Today’s blog entry will be pretty short as it is mostly driving. I wake up around 6 and get up shortly afterwards. David and I go for a short walk around his neighborhood. Maybe half an hour. Sherri is up when we get back. We have our cereal breakfast and then pack up our stuff. We have learned to bring in only what we need when we have a short stay. So this packing is quick.
At 8:30, we say goodbye to David. He is appreciative that we stopped by, even if it was only for about 36 hours. After checking on our gas situation, I think we could make it to Costco in Roseburg, but we would be coming in on fumes. David has warned me that the gas in Eureka is expensive, so I do not bother to get filled up there.
We are supposed to be retired, free and easy. So we should act that way. Instead of taking the faster Highway 101 straight through, we get off and stop at the Visitor Center at Redwood National Park’s Prairie Creek Visitor Center, mostly to take care of business, but also to stretch our legs for a few. Then we go up the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway. It is scenic, and a little slower than 101. It is a drive I enjoy.
When we cross the Klamath River I start looking for the gas station David told me about. We found the Pem-Mey store and put about 5 gallons in. Turns out when we reached Roseburg, I would have needed about half a gallon, so this was a wise stop. We continued on through Crescent City with me missing the Starbucks stop Sherri wanted. I had just passed by there and noticed it. Sherri indicated we could continue on.
When we passed through Crescent City, we left Highway 101 and went onto 199. It is a good road, but has a lot of curves. It also is scenic as we pass through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. The Smith River cuts a gorge through these mountains as we climb towards to Oregon border.
Then in Oregon, we stop at Cave Junction and Taylor Sausage. It is time for lunch. I enjoyed a French Dip and fries while Sherri enjoyed bratwurst with sauerkraut. This is a good place to stop both in terms of the good food and a good time to rest for a few minutes.
Sherri takes over driving. We continue on 199 until it gets to Grants Pass. One of these days we need to not be in such a rush and visit my cousin. But today, we are heading for Salem so no chance to start. Sherri travels up to Roseberg and the Costco there. Why? To get gas, of course!
We also switch drivers and I drive all the way to Salem. There was some heavy traffic starting about a half an hour outside of Salem. I want to say it is because of 5 o’clock traffic, but the traffic is going into Salem, not out of it. We were delayed long enough that we stopped at a rest stop just outside of Salem.
When we got to Andrea and Lawrence’s house, we greeted them. Then unload the back of our Highlander. All of a sudden, the back looks pretty vacant. Good. Then we rest a few minutes before Lawrence fixes us dinner. After dinner a bit more talking followed a game. This keeps us busy until I am about to fall asleep.
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