Pacific Coast Highway 101

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Pacific Coast Highway 101

Leaving the beautiful redwoods was hard… really hard, but we had the coastline to see so it was back in the car for the ride up 101 toward Gold Beach. Everywhere you look there are these craggy outcroppings. I really wanted to make the walk to the lighthouse but we arrived too late and the tide was already coming in covering the land bridge. We found a hotel room in time to enjoy this pretty sunset over the Pacific. It is a very different kind of beauty than we are used to on the gulf coast. The rocky beaches are filled with driftwood. It is not as user friendly as our sugar white sand,

but lends itself to some great campfires on the beach, as we learned. People started pouring in at sundown to claim their spots.

Soon, someone invited us to join them around their fire for some great wine and cheese and other munchies. Wasn’t that nice?

The next day we crossed back over into Oregon and continued the drive up the chilly coast.

I’m getting a bit confused but I believe this was coming into Gold Beach where the Rogue River empties into the Pacific Ocean. Isn’t that a lovely little bridge.

Don Sawyer, one of Jeff’s Excellent Artist from Florida, would have approved of this. Area schoolchildren’s artwork decorated the pier.

This is where it starts to get amusing to me.  We are driving along this famous highway that I have always wanted to see, it’s a beautiful day and this is what I catch myself doing:

doodling in my journal and daydreaming about good ole Morrison’s Lodge on the Rogue ( read earlier post here).

(I’m sorry but I just find that hilarious. LOL)

So ya know what we did? Turned east and headed right back to that wonderful river for one more night.

Finally, it was time to make our way back to Medford for an early morning flight and the long trip home but not before we had the chance to explore the two little “must see” cities of Jacksonville ( why do I feel like my life revolves around  Jacksonvilles no matter where I go? haha) and Ashland. Ahh, Ashland, we loved you: Such an art-driven town.

Downtown Ashland sculpture

My beloved mountain streams meander through the downtown area.

The shopping was fun. I thought the grands would have loved this miniature bike. NO, I didn’t get it. They would be cool dudes in it but remember, we have the 1-year-old who has already tried to hang from the dining room chandelier and has crawled into the front load dryer and happily played hamster, rolling the drum. His slightly older sister has requested a rock star birthday party. No motorcycles for them!

One reason we felt so at home here is that Ashland is home to a fantastic Shakespeare theater as is our hometown of Montgomery, Al.

“To be or not to be….”

All the world is a stage. And I never met one I didn’t like. smile

Embarrassing I know but fun. This was my favorite of their three theater stages. It looks like you are walking into a building but once inside you realize the stage is open air. Grandbaby girl got my genes. When she sees a stage she says, “humon (come on) Gigi, let’s go sing and dance!” I love that kiddo. I know this is a little strange but we were told that we shouldn’t leave the area without visiting the historic cemetery in Jacksonville. Not only were the graves ancient but it occupies the highest point around with great views of the surrounding wine country. We obliged.

In the Jewish section when people visit they leave “remembrance stones” on the monuments. I liked that.

We think we checked off every box on our “want to see” list. Whew.

We closed the trip with a visit here for some good fruit and fresh jams:

Thanks for coming along for the ride. I hope it inspired you to plan your own trip. When you get back send me some pics!

And if you would like to say, “That was fun!” at the end of your project contact me at

www.cindybarganier.com.

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