OREGON COAST

We hit the road again! This time for a "mini" road trip to the Oregon Coast traveling 1248 miles over four days - short for us. 😃 The weather in both California & Oregon had been ferocious for weeks with torrential rains & winds in the lower altitudes & heavy snows in the mountains but luckily there were just a few showers during our getaway.

Mt. Shasta in Northern California was a breathtaking sight! The 14,179 foot mountain was completely blanketed in snow.

This Steller's Jay was determined to help us eat our lunch when we stopped for a picnic on the shore of Lake Shasta. He did stand still long enough for us to snap some pretty good photos.

Our goal on day one was simply to reach Grants Pass, Oregon, & get a good night's sleep. Along the way we made an unscheduled stop at Crater Rock Museum in Central Point, Oregon. They had a huge collection of rocks, shells, dinosaur artifacts & thousands of other interesting items such as this miniature carousel made of rocks & gems.

The primary focus of our road trip was Oregon lighthouses & bridges. Lou did his usual research learning that there are eleven arch bridges, all constructed in the 1930s, & designed by American bridge engineer, Conde McCullough, along Oregon's coastal highway. Over the course of two days we saw seven lighthouses & ten bridges.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse north of Newport was the only lighthouse open for tours & climbing since we are in the middle of winter. It has 114 steps & a first order Fresnel lens that is still in operation. The day was foggy & overcast putting a bit of a damper on our photos but the following day made up for it with beautiful skies.

The Rocky Creek Bridge, also known as the Ben Jones Bridge, was a little tricky to find but we would not be deterred. The others were all on Highway 101 but this one was off the main road. Lou's notes & a bit of deducing led us to the bridge.

The Depoe Bay Bridge was simple to locate but figuring out how to get a photo of many of these bridges was often a bit more difficult. This one had a pedestrian walkway under the bridge that made it possible to get this shot.

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is only a few miles from the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. According to the docent, Yaquina Head was built too close to Yaquina Bay by mistake causing it to be closed after about 30 years since two lighthouses in such close proximity weren't needed. 

The Yaquina Bay Bridge is 3223 feet long with a soaring steel arch flanked by two steel deck arches & a "jewelry chain" of five concrete deck arches.

One of the perks of driving around searching for views of the bridges was stumbling onto old harbors, villages & other interesting photo ops. While hunting around Newport for an unobstructed view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge, we came across a ton of sea lions. They were quite the attraction as lots of people were milling about taking pictures.

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Every available space was taken up by literally thousands of sea lions! These were just below a walkway but out in the harbor was a huge rock (above) completely covered by sea lions. They could be heard a block away barking loudly.

I discovered that they would be sound asleep then one would suddenly bite at another. They would start yelling, fighting & wreaking havoc with each other. Ten seconds later they were all sleeping next to & on top of each other again.

Our second night was spent at the SeaQuest Inn Bed & Breakfast between Yachats & Florence, Oregon. This B & B is literally right on the ocean with beautiful views, lovely rooms with jacuzzi tubs & a scrumptious breakfast cooked by our innkeeper, Sherwood.

The back of the SeaQuest Inn - the waves were crashing about 20 feet behind me when I took this photo.  The sliding door second from the right on the lower floor was our room, The Dominica, complete with an oceanview large jacuzzi tub.

The front of the inn with its lagoon. The facility was built as a bed & breakfast about 35 years ago. It was a delightful place to stay & we highly recommend it.

The Great Room - it has music, games, reading material, chairs & afghans to watch the waves plus wine, cheese & crackers in the late afternoon. There are seven guest rooms but only two were occupied during our stay. It was nice to have the place almost to ourselves. Dave & Christine were the other couple who we enjoyed meeting & talking with for quite a while.

After bidding farewell to Sherwood, Dave & Christine we made our way south for a full day of lighthouse & bridge exploring.

Big Creek Bridge is one of the simple arch bridges designed by Conde McCullough.

Heceta Head Lighthouse from the overlook across the cove. We walked about 1/2 mile uphill to visit this lighthouse. It is not available to climb until inspectors clear it as being safe after a five year restoration project.

Umpqua Lighthouse sits above the entrance to Winchester Bay near Reedsport.

This mile long span is the McCullough Memorial Bridge built in 1936 to cross Coos Bay. Many of these bridge & lighthouse photos were taken from quite a distance away. Thank goodness for cameras with big optical zoom lenses!

Cape Arago Lighthouse on Sunset Bay was the most difficult to find. Fortunately, our GPS had it listed as an attraction & led us to the overlook. The lighthouse is not open to the public & is on Native American land.

The Coquille River Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1939 due to improvements to the river channel & advanced navigational aids. Restoration was begun in 2007 & is ongoing.

Our daylight was running out as we "raced" to Cape Blanco Lighthouse located six miles off of Highway 101. Dusk was descending making the light beam more visible at our final lighthouse. This one was also closed for the winter of which  we were aware.

Along the way there were ample opportunities to take some wonderful photos of the shoreline, buildings & sand dunes. Our first full day was overcast & cold but day two turned out sunny & beautiful for which we were thankful since it was the middle of winter!

Every now & then you get lucky & snap a shot that needs no tweaking or enhancement. This was taken in the late morning even though it looks like sunset. The clouds & water patterns made a great subject.

Rocks & driftwood are abundant all along the Oregon coast.

I love reflections! These buildings along the Old Harbor in Florence, Oregon, made for a lovely photo taken from a pier across the water.

The pier in Florence we walked out on to snap the reflection photo above (the buildings were to the left). When I turned around to walk back I had to snap another beautiful shot.

The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area features miles & miles of giant sand dunes. 

Another area of the Oregon Dunes glowing in the afternoon sun.

This was my second trip along Oregon's shoreline, the first being about 25 years ago. It has some gorgeous scenery with rugged landscapes & huge rocks but I guess I'm just a California girl through & through because it still can't hold a candle to our majestic Northern California coastline.....IMHO.

FEEL GOOD PHOTOS

After all the stress of the past few weeks with the illness, passing & funeral of my wonderful mother-in-law, Bruni, I felt the need to share some of my favorite "feel good photos" of my Charley from her last time with us. When I look at her sweet, smiling face it warms my heart, makes me feel good all over & reinforces that life goes on. 

We have such a great time together. Here we are at her & Darrin's apartment in Hayward making some good old-fashioned Rice Krispie Treats.

Charley loves to bake! I remember making Toll House chocolate chip cookies with my grandma. It is such a delight to be able to do it with my granddaughter.

Of course, the most important ingredient in any recipe is love!

As Charley gets older she wants to do more & more by herself. Anyway, the worst that can happen is we have to sweep up four cups of Rice Krispies from the floor.

When Darrin was a kid  he loved going to Jack London Square in Oakland to see the trains go down the main street & eat at the Spaghetti Factory (which is no longer there). Our family would take turns choosing a restaurant when we went out to eat. When it was Darrin's turn, Allen & I made sure that we were up for a trip to Jack London Square since he picked it every time!

Our Charley is creating her own traditions at this East Bay landmark.

Charley loves to ride "Wolfie", the wolf statue from Jack London's "Call of the Wild" novel. That is Jack's cabin recreated in the background.

Our girl following the wolf footprints that meander all through Jack London Square.

Thumbs up! Darrin says he has about 20 similar photos since every time Charley wants her picture taken.

Charley & Daddy waiting sort of patiently for our pizza to arrive at "The Plank" restaurant.

Most of you know about the "Favorite Rock" in Pacifica on the coast. Charley absolutely loves visiting her rock & watching the sunset.

The Northern California coast really is beautiful....almost as beautiful as our little sweetheart.

This is one of my favorite photos ever! Darrin took an incredible shot!

They took me to their favorite rock in Pacifica. I had been there many, many times but it took on a whole new meaning when shared with Charley.

Once the sun set, we had promised Charley we would go to Taco Bell in Pacifica for dinner. Yes, she is definitely related to me & loves Taco Bell. It is literally on the beach but doesn't look like a normal Taco Bell since it blends in with the surroundings. As we got out of the car, Charley says, "This isn't Taco Bell." Took a little doing but we finally convinced her it was indeed a Taco Bell.

A couple of California Girls.....born & raised.

We love playing with Maya & Jada, identical three year old twins, who live in the apartment complex with Darrin & Charley. Last year when we met them, I introduced myself to their mother as "Charley's grandma, Gaga." Somehow, the comma was eliminated & I became "Grandma Gaga" to Maya, Jada & their parents.

Maya, Charley & Jada, I think. Or it could be Jada, Charley & Maya. Either way I know Charley is in the middle.

Maya, Jada, Charley & Grandma Gaga!

CHILDREN'S FAIRYLAND

Children's Fairyland has been perched on the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland since 1950. My grandmother took me there when I was 3 or 4 years old. We took Darrin around that age, also. Now, our third generation has entered the make believe world through the giant shoe of the "Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe".

The entrance to Fairyland. History says that the original cost of entering Fairyland was 10-15 cents. It is now $10 per person for ages 1 to 100. No adult is admitted without a child & no child is admitted without an adult.

The website describes Fairyland as a magical 10-acre outdoor park that features larger-than-life displays, rides & entertainment inspired by children's literature. Through the eyes of a 4 year old that is probably true. In truth Fairyland is in need of some upgrading. Honestly, I don't think much has changed since I was there as a child. But it still seems to delight young children.

This innocent looking slide is the devil in disguise. Back when I was there with my grandmother I climbed the stairs but refused to go down when I reached the top. The line was completely backed up with kids waiting for me to stop crying & go down. My grandmother had to climb up past the kids & bring me back down the steps. When we first took Charley back in February, it wasn't crowded but all the encouraging in the world couldn't entice her to try it. It was deja vu all over again as she stood at the top unable to muster the courage to go down.

I felt so badly that this miserable contraption had claimed yet another victim in our family BUT Darrin took her a few months later & she bravely gave it a try. This time she exclaimed, "One more time!" about ten more times as she went down it. In our defense, it is dark at the top & a very steep drop off into the curling  metal abyss. And I swear that damn thing was at least three times taller back when I was a kid!

The idea of Fairyland is a good one - a place for wholesome, family fun for small children. Darrin wants to take Charley as often as possible since the window for her enjoying it is likely only another few years at best.  The website proclaims that Walt Disney even got the idea for Disneyland from Fairyland. Disneyland didn't open until five years after Fairyland so maybe that is true.

Charley loves to climb on almost anything. If there is something she can climb up on, she will. The fun thing that you can't see in this photo is that her shirt had a picture of a giraffe on it.

This hill has several squares of cardboard strewn about encouraging kids of all ages to sit on them & slide down the hill. Charley insisted that Daddy & Gaga both do it with her. It was slow enough that Gaga creeped down the slope at about 1/4 mile per hour.

Charley has recently discovered the joys of being a model. I took almost 80 photos since every single thing we did she yelled, "Take my picture, Gaga!" Thank goodness for digital photography.

As I said, she's a climber. You probably weren't supposed to but Darrin helped her onto this giant mushroom.

Fairyland has the "oldest continuously operating puppet theater in the United States" according to its website. That is quite an accomplishment!

I took this close up while Charley was watching the Halloween puppet show.

At one point in the puppet show, a character commented that, "The zombie was gross." Charley loved it & repeated the line. That was when I snapped this shot.

Charley loves to imitate poses for the camera. She takes great care to look at every detail. Hmmm? Wonder where that comes from?

Another of her impersonations of a scene.

There is one area of Fairyland that has all of the characters from the Wizard of Oz with cutouts to put your face on the character. I had to take a photo of every one with her looking through it - she insisted.

Isn't this the cutest little Dorothy with her little dog, Toto?

A pretty cute tin man, too.

Thanks for indulging me with my Gaga moments of sharing something that I enjoyed, my son enjoyed & now my granddaughter enjoys. I wonder if Fairyland will still be around when Charley's kids are ready to explore it? I sure hope so.