Day 28 (September 8, 2016)

We had a relaxed day. The campground is not very exciting so we did not spend much time there. The town is very pretty with its nice old houses by the ocean. There is not aqueduc system and as the water table does not recharge itself rapidly there are water tanks everywhere. I took advantage of the walk by the ocean to call our sons.

We also visited the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. It was very nice, a bit of fog, lots of wonderful plants and flowers and even trees like the ones of the Fangorn Forest. This time the call was to my father!

This was our last night in our Alto of this whole trip, 27 consecutive nights! We were a bit surprised at how this fast it went and were very happy and thankful that it went so well.

Day 27 (September 8th 2016) to Mendocino, California

We left relatively early to go to Mendocino. We had to drive quite a bit and we knew that the last portion of the road would be hilly and winding. Our first stop was for lunch in Eureka. It is a wonderful nice town with older very well preserved houses. It is clear that this area was a hub at some point in time for the gold rush and the lumber industry.

The Road 1 after we left the 101 was a bit nerve wracking. A sign was advising not to take this road with trailers more than 30 ft. The road is very narrow going up and down with many turns of more that 270°… No shoulder, most of the time, the cliff going down is on one side and it is the steep hill in the other, only few place to stop to let traffic pass us. It is almost better to drive as you have to really keep your eyes at all time on the road. The passenger is in a better position to appreciate the ‘danger’. If you leave the road, you better have your affairs in order... At some point, there was a deer between the asphalt and the hill. I told him: don’t move, don’t move, wait until the Alto has passed! Fortunately, he did wait. I did not take picture as I would likely have been sick, not watching the road. Once on the coast, it is the view we got!

Day 25 and 26 (September 6-7, 2016) North Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park and Crescent City, California

On our way to California, we stopped in Bandon for few errands and saw the ‘Beach’ sign! And some beach it was!

We had a reservation at a campground by the beach in Crescent City (variation on the Walmart parking) but decided to try to get a site in the Mill Creek National Forest State Park. We got there early and got a site by the creek (!). It is a wonderful place for tents and trailers (less sites). Being in this forest of giants is incredible, however the pictures do not depict well the feeling of being surrounded by those trees. We did not have any hook up and for a longer stay, we would have run out of power as there was too much shade to recharge the battery with the solar panels.

Je suis dans le milieu de ce qui devrait être le ruisseau...

Nos premières guimauves du voyage!

We spent the next day by the beach in Crescent City. It is a small town with a nice marina and very large wave breakers. We took a very long walk on the very long beach. The tide was coming in and it was fun to watch small soft shellfishes coming with the wave and burying themselves in the sand as the waves receded. We had lunch on the pier by the seals. It was very fun to watch them play and fight for the best spot!

One of the shellfishes left when the tide receded.

We also had a walk on one of the wave breakers by the lighthouse. This is an interesting one as you can only access it at low tide.

One of the pelicans flying over the bay.