Day 9: Dad's Fear = My Opportunity for Adventure

When I began this trip, my dad's greatest fear was that my car would break down and leave me stranded somewhere. It did! But the blessing is that my car held up long enough so I could limp into Gold Beach on the Oregon coast. Because this happened on a Sunday, no one was available to make repairs. I had to wait until Monday, which meant I was stranded in an awesome beachfront hotel, with fantastic seaside restaurants, the boat docks, piles of drift wood on a dark sandy beach, a river adorned with a beautiful bridge, and other places just waiting to be explored. I spent the day wandering up and down the beach, took a nap, and made a new friend; a fat seal who barked at me until I went to see him, and then allowed me to get close and photograph him.

http://www.goldbeach.org/

Coastal Forests

Few things left me completely awestruck on this trip as did the forests - especially the Redwood Forest. It simply astounds me! I do not understand why these trees are so massive compared to normal trees, and I found myself driving and wanting to do some research to find out if there is any other place on this planet that produces trees this size, and why they grow so large. Standing alone in the Redwood Forest is as humbling as standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon. I am so small in this universe.

No picture does them justice, so when you get a chance, go see them in person and make sure you get there on a bright sunny day in the middle of the day. With cloud coverage or a setting sun, you would be left a blanket of blackness. It can be overwhelmingly shocking how massive and overpowering these treees are when they block out the sun so well.

Driving-

Normal forest

Giant
Forest

Small redwood tree beside a large normal tree.

Cut out door is 6 feet tall, four feet wide.

Wood warts

...and a river runs through it.

http://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm

Hiking in Southern Oregon

I love to hike but rarely do it now that I live in Phoenix. Hiking in Phoenix is brown and plain with few plants and trees, thus little variety in scenery. Hiking in southern Oregon was AWESOME and green with lush plants everywhere! Having just receovered from pneumonia, this moist coastal air helped to clear my lungs. (click photos to enlarge)

http://www.nwcoast.com/oregon/southern/