FOREST ON THE OCEAN

Where the redwoods meet the Pacific ocean

Patrick's Point State Park in Trinidad, California is a beautiful forest on the ocean.
The park is full of natural attractions and trails, one such leads to Agate Beach.
Semiprecious stones can be found in the sand. Agates, Petrified wood, and Jasper are some of the ones we found.
Along with a bag full of beach rock and drift wood.
It is a climb down the path to the beach and back up but it is a fun way to spend the day.
Other highlights not to be missed, Ceremonial Rock, Lookout Rock and Wedding Rock. All three have dramatic views of the ocean.
Lookout rock and Wedding Rock are the best we have found, for whale watching.
Getting to Wedding Rock is a steep climb, but you can take it slow. It really is well worth the effort.
We were up high enough to look out into the ocean and clearly see the blow of the female and calf whale the day we were there.
She was huge, the baby however was hard to see as he stayed so close to her side.
She would go down for food for several minutes leaving him to himself.
As we were leaving and cameras put away, he slapped the water with his tail or flukes. What a thrill, such a cute little tail.
The California Gray Whale pass the park during its annual migration from Alaska to Baja.
The rocky outcrops and large upright rocks called sea stacks dot the ocean off Patrick's Point and serve as a resting spot for the whales.
There are other interesting wild life to see and birds also.
In the evening flocks of Brown Pelicans and Carmorants dive for fish.
Sea Lions can be seen clearly on the rocks.
There are campgrounds at the Point with spaces for RV's and tents.
Our favorite is The Sounds of the Sea RV Park, across from the park.
We can see the ocean out our back window and hear the seals barking.

FOREST ON THE OCEAN

PATRICKS POINT STATE PARK

TSUNAMI HITS THE CALIFORNIA COAST

It happened and could happen again, any time.

Crescent City, California sea side town of 7500 people, was devastated when a tsunami swept in form the Pacific ocean on March 28,1964.

The business district was leveled and 11 people were killed.

On the afternoon of March 27, 1964, Alaska was shaken by a earthquake. From it center, beneath Prince Williams Sound the quake sent a tsunami rippling across the Pacific down the coast of Canada and United States, Crescent City was where it landed.

Underwater topography can steer a tsunami towards a particular point along the coast and can even increase in power as it goes.

Crescent City sets on that kind of a shore line.

21 foot waves swept into the harbor, 4 waves in all struck the city.

The travel time from Alaska to Crescent City was 4.1 hours.

When daylight came there was devastation everywhere. The business district gone, fuel tanks were on fire, autos tipped over, derbies  and other ruins piled high and covered with mud and sea weed.

Crescent City, California is the only city in the USA where people have been killed by a tsunami.

The residents take tsunami warnings very seriously, and a lot of preparations have been made,just incase.

we stay in Crescent City every time we go to the West Coast. It is very beautiful there and we are mindful of the tsunami.

If you go be aware of the tide when you visit the lighthouse. You could get caught without a way back to shore.

On the harbor you can see seals barking and doing every thing they can to get you to feed them.  

 

 

Powered By Qumana

CRESCENT CITY, CA. SHORELINE

A DIFFERENT KIND OF HOMELESS

Jetty Cats of Gold Beach, Oregon

They call them Jetty cats, the real
name for them is feral cats. A feral cat: Unwanted-unowned-free roaming with life expectation of about 2 years.

All because of irresponsible pet owners. These poor creatures are forced into a life of fear and starvation. This same scenario is happing in neighborhoods across the nation.

With the animal shelters full, there is little hope of resolving this problem.

You have to give one town a lot of credit for the ingenuity of trying something different.

Many people volunteered there time and money to make this a cats dream come true.

 

Powered By Qumana

FIRE IN THE SKY

Beautiful sunsets.

All sunsets are beautiful, but add a little
substance like ocean and rocks, now that's a sunset!

We at doinstuff like them so well we started to collect some of them.

WE hope you will enjoy them from time to time as we do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Powered By Qumana

SUNSETS

TIDE POOLS ALIVE

/>

 

 

Powered By Qumana

TIDE POOLS ALIVE

Gold Beach and Bandon, Oregon have the best beaches for tide pooling that we have found.

Tide pools is the water left around rocks, when the ocean tide goes out.

Either place you choose has its own unique treasures.

Gold Beach always results in good sand dollars, and some smaller shells.

It also has the most sea stars, or star fish as we use to call them, orange and purple among the glowing green of anemones. All of this paints a pristine shoreline.

Bandon has many sea stacks, or sea rocks where there are abundant tide pools.

Seals live on Elephant rock, you can get up close and really get to see them.

Coquille Point with a very nice stairway to the beach is a wonderful place to spend the day. Stairway, tide pools and seals, can it get better than this?

Save some energy to climb the 120 stairs back up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Powered By Qumana

TWO FOR ONE

 

Two towns in one is what Telluride, Colorado has become. Hidden in a box canyon, surrounded by 14,000 feet peaks of the San Juan Mountains.

The discovery of gold in 1858 put Colorado on the map. By 1880 Telluride became a mining town.

The wealth of the town attracted the likes of Butch Cassidy and his "Wild Bunch".

When silver and gold prices crashed with the first World War, Telluride was not much more than a ghost town.

Then in 1970, Telluride was resurrected by another kind of gold.

SNOW.

Today with a population of 2200 residents, all are skiers and snow boarders.

Telluride is really two towns in one. Located up the mountain about midway is a town called Mountain Village.

A three-stage gondola, provides a fast and free commute, from one town, to the other. Telluride for businesses and Mountain Village for lodging.

The gondola is enclosed and takes passengers between the two areas in 13 minutes. Using this system displaces the need for automobiles between the two towns lessening the traffic problems.

The free ride was nice, it was 795 feet to the Mountain Village.

I didn't understand the three-stage, getting off and on a different car each time. That would get old to me. People had groceries and carry ones to take off and on at each stop.

It is unique, the only transportation system of its kind in  North America.

 

Powered By Qumana

NATURAL TREASURES

NATURAL TREASURES

Cannon Beach, Or. Is perched on the edge of the country’s most dramatic coastlines.
The art community entices visitors from around the world.
The nine mile stretch of beach is spectacular oasis, anchored by the famous Haystack Rock.
Haystack Rock rises 235 feet above the shoreline at waters edge.
At low tide it offers many fascinating tide pools to explore.
Cannon Beach with panoramic views of Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, and sandy beaches, provides the setting for a romantic stroll, family fun, and outdoor adventure.
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse can be seen best at Ecola State Park. Finished in 1881 “Terrible Tilly” is over 2 miles out to sea on a lone rock, amid crashing waves.
Ecola State Park is a great place for hiking and surfing.
Ecola State Park is the newest of National Parks.

Completely Surrounded by Sharks

Want to be completely surrounded by sharks and rays?
Sharks swimming over your head and under your feet?
Take advantage of the Passage of The Deep, at the Oregon Aquarium, in Newport Beach, Or.
A clear tunnel of see-through acrylic, 5 inches thick is the only thing between you and the razor sharp teeth.
There are more than 200 species of marine animals living at the aquarium, some inside and outside areas. They are all easy to see.
Some of the most fascinating are the jelly fish.
There are many different kinds, some as tiny as an eraser on a pencil, and my favorite the moon jellies.
The jelly fish live well with no skeleton, no heart and no brain.
Plan to visit on your next trip to the coast.
Oregon Aquarium is one of the top ten in the nation and not to be missed.

WILD GAME

WIILD GAME SAFARI

DEADLY ANIMAL ENCOUNTER

It was like going on a wild animal safari. Once you step through the
gate they all come running right for us.

It takes a brave person to feed these cute little goat, deer and peacocks.

They will follow you for ever if you feed them.

You have just stepped into the worlds largest petting zoo.

For over 35 years West Coast Game Safari had been one of the most popular Oregon attractions.

For anyone of any age who has not experienced the fun of walking among free-roaming wildlife, it is the thrill of a life time.

You can see the awe on the faces of all who go there.

I feel it every time we go.

More than 450 animals and birds live here. The park specializes in hand raising them.

Be sure to visit the most popular area, the nursery. You can hold and pet all of the babies and maybe even feed them their bottles.

There are many different kinds of animals from age 1 month to 2 years.

They always have a baby bear,he is always wanting his bottle and crying when he don't get it.

The rest are different every year. This year they had no leopard but had a cougar.

Raccoons, skunk,ferret. and many others.

I held two possums all cuddled down in a fleece hat. Unaware of how lucky they were to be protected.

The baby fox were new this year.  Where else could you handle such tiny creatures?

You can spend a lot of time walking around and looking at all the other animals in pens. No fear of missing all the nursery babies, they show them about every hour. It will be announced when the next show will be so you have time to get to the nursery.

Beautiful peacocks, little kid goats and deer follow along with you, waiting for a handout.

Bring your camera, you will get some of the best pictures of your children seeing these animals for the first time.

West Coast Game Safari

hwy 101

Bandon, Oregon

 

 

Powered By Qumana

VISIT A LIVING HISTORY

Visit a Living History

Walk boardwalks that have been here over a 140 years.
Stroll through old buildings, mansion, saloons, and museum of this once the greatest and largest city in Nevada.
Virginia City was the first industrial city in the west, when gold was discovered in 1859.
Upon the news of the first gold strike prospectors rushed to the area.
One of the biggest problems in the new tent city was the sticky, blue-gray mud that clung to picks and shovels.
When it was finally assayed the gray mud was silver ore worth over $2000 a ton in 1859.
The rich deposits of gold and high quality silver ore turned Virginia tent city to Virginia City. It was the most important settlement between Denver and San Francisco.
Later Nevada became a state in 1864 by President Abe Lincoln.
The biggest gold mine called Comstock Lode yielded more than 400 million in gold and silver, and remains the richest known US silver deposit.
It was all over by 1878 the mines eventually played out and the mining ceased.
Virginia City, Nevada once called the richest place on earth offers glimpses of its splendid past on every corner.
Tour the liveliest ghost town in the west. Ride a train or trolley with a narrated history lesson.
Just 23 miles form Reno,Nevada

No two alike

Along the Oregon coast you will see them every where. Myrtle wood factories and gift shops.
So what does a Myrtle wood tree look like and why is it so different and popular there?
Myrtle wood trees grow native nowhere else in the world except a narrow band along the coast of Southern Oregon.
These large dense hardwood trees are a member of the Laurel family, growing in a symmetrical shape, having long flat leaves. Surprisingly the leaves can be used for seasoning much like the bay leaf.
The tree is striking, towering like a huge umbrella.
The entire large stand of Myrtle has been cut down by our past settlers, leaving only scattered trees here and there. Making this tree one of the world’s rarest woods.
The wood is a dense hardwood varied in colors of red, yellow, brown. Sliver, grey and black.
There are no two pieces alike. This wood has such a broad variation of figure and startling color contrast it makes a gift of Myrtle, a prize possession.
We were recently to the Bandon, Oregon area where we stopped in at the Woods of the West.
When we ask for a tour they were so willing to show us.
Tom Olive was the one that took us to see the operation of what it takes to get these beautiful wood items finished.
We are not from Oregon, so we wanted to see what a Myrtle tree looked like.
Tom just happened to have one in his yard.
The next thing was to see the work shop where the trees are split into boards and dried for later use and to sell.
The laser used to make the items from the Myrtle wood was all computer generated.
Now how fun that would be. Go to your program find the item you want to make today, put your wood into the machine, push the button and wait for it to spill out a few of them.
Then comes the finished work and that is a lot harder.
If you get to Bandon and stop to see Tom, tell him you read about it here.
Doinstuff.com
Located about 6 miles south of Bandon on hwy. 101.



Thomas Guide: Pacific Northwest Road Atlas (7th)