Into the Redwoods

I made it a point to make it to California for 2 reasons.  First, I had never been to California and could check it off my "states visited" list.  Second, I wanted to see the redwoods.  We pulled off at the state line to snap a photo but were not the only ones there.  A couple of Canadians on motorcycles had also pulled off to document their state line crossing.  We snapped photos for each other and moved on down the road.

We spent part of the day in Jedidiah Smith State Park.  As with a lot of nature's wonders a photograph can not fully capture the scale and beauty of the place.

We took the scenic drive through the park stopping a few times to take a short hike into the forest.  It was very quiet among the trees.  I read later that the ground is soft loamy dirt and absorbs sound.  It also had a distinctive smell.

We stopped at one area that had an easy loop trail through a grove of some of the larger trees.  It was Sunday morning and as we were walking I heard the faint sound of an instrument.  We stopped and were treated to someone playing "Come Thou Fount" on a flute.  It was a beautiful song in a gorgeous setting.  A Sunday "service" that I won't forget.

And what's a day of sightseeing without a geocache.  

Bandon to California

As a result of some Pinterest research I came across Bandon Beach.  We headed out to the beach to Face Rock.  The legend is that you can hear a woman's voice in the wind and see her face in the rock.  I'll let you be the judge.

Again we were treated to a colorful array of sea life.

As a bonus, we were there on a Saturday morning when this crew of people was raking out a labyrinth into the sand.  We were each given a polished stone and got to walk the course of the labyrinth.  

Leaving our mark....until the next tide.

After leaving Bandon we continued down the coast through the Samuel Boardman Scenic corridor which offered more breathtaking views.

A quick stop at this pebble filled beach.  Hard on the feet, but a lot of fun looking for interesting rocks and sea glass.

And a must-have...ice cream break.  This time at a place called Slugs 'n Stones!

Sea Lion Caves

Meandering down the road we stopped at Sea Lion Cave.  This was probably the only ticket stops we made.  We checked in and then took an elevator down to the sea cave level.

Time of year was not on our side as most of the sea lions were not actually spending a whole lot of time in the cave.  There were a few sea lions lounging on the rocks and playing in the water, but most were outside.

However, the views were still spectacular.

We took the elevator back up and walked out to an observation deck.  Far below was the real show.  Having a good telephoto lens came in handy.

Even sea lions have to watch out for sneaker waves.

Have I mentioned the views?

Yaquina Head & Cape Perpetua

We continued down the Oregon coast and the first stop of the day was Yaquina Head lighthouse. The weather was a bit ominous driving out to the lighthouse.  After we parked and headed out to the tidal pools we were rained on for 5 minutes.  Then the skies cleared and we were treated to another gorgeous day.

In this area, during low tide you could walk out and see the tidal pools and all of the sea life.  There was quite a colorful array.

Including a lazy bunch of seals

Further down the coast, we stopped at Cape Perpetua.  After a brief hike, we were treated to another great view.  The trick here was not to get distracted.  Too close and a wave could take you out.

This was also the location of Thor's Well.  Part of a sea cave had collapsed so the waves would crash over the area and then drain down the well.  Unfortunately, we were here at lower tide so the effect wasn't quite as spectacular.

The Hackneys meet the Pacific

We started the day south of Seattle and began driving toward the Oregon coast.  It was quite rainy and dreary as we began, but as we got closer to the ocean the weather started to clear.  By the time we got to Cannon Beach, the sun was out in full force. 

Dipping our toes in the Pacific

The tidal pools were amazing - full of sea stars, anemones, and quite a few other things I couldn't identify.

We had a picnic lunch at nearby Ecola State Park and this might possibly be the best picnic view I've ever had!

We proceeded down the road and made a pit stop at the Tillamook Creamery.  This was Rachel's thoughts on the fresh cheese curds. 

Fortunately, she thought the ice cream was far better.

We ended the day with another long stroll down the beach.  Couldn't get enough of the scenery!

Rachel getting a reminder of how cold the Pacific is!

West Coast Here we Come

Determined to check all 50 states off my "visited" list and due to the fact that I had never been on the west coast our vacation destination for this year was a trip down the Oregon coast.  We would fly to Seattle and start there and meander down the coast to the northern part of California before looping back to Seattle to head home. 

Our Indiana brains say it's 10:30 pm...the abundant sunlight says otherwise

Our first full day was spent sightseeing in Seattle.  Our initial stop was at Geocaching headquarters, a required pilgrimage for anyone in the Seattle area involved in our hobby

We looked at all of the displays, logged the geocache in headquarters, and earned our virtual souvenir.  We also were gifted with some travel bugs and picked up a new pin for our geobag

We then meandered around the Freemont area for a while.  We stopped and visited the Fremont Troll.

Then we headed into the downtown area.  We parked near the Space Needle and took the elevated train to Pike Place Market.

Such an interesting place with a lot to see and experience.  Including this...

Every germaphobe's nightmare...an alley covered entirely in used gum.  We made our contribution of course.

We also stopped by the original Starbucks, but decided that the line was a bit too long for our liking. 

We returned to the Space Needle and walked around the area...logging a few geocaches as we went.

A fun day of sightseeing.  Time to load up the rental and head toward Oregon and the ocean.