West Coast Trip October 2016

Day One  - October 3

During the 13 days of our trip we saw the tender touch of the Lord's hand in four very valuable tender mercies.  The first was the health of Kent who had recently completed a bone marrow transplant, had a great deal of toxin in his system and was unclear whether they should even come.  We really felt blessed as he was able to handle the travel and cleared much of the toxin from his system. I'll tell about the others as we move along. 

We had made a reservation at Yosemite on our way home from our Oregon mission but decided that we would head straight home with our packed car and return sometime on a vacation.  The Manti Temple is closed for a month so we decided that an early October trip would be perfect--- not the big crowds but no roads closed from snow.

We wanted to enter from the upper part of Yosemite on the Tioga Peak road so it was logical to drive to Tonopah Nevada for the first night.  For some reason Mike had always wanted to see this little desert city because no matter which way he drove through Nevada there was always a road leading to Tonopah.  We were actually very pleased with our time there and wish that we had arrived earlier and had more time at the Historic Mining Park.

Tonopah Historic Mining Park

The park encompasses portions of four of the original major mining companies and covers more than 100 acres. This rich history is brought to life through preserved and restored equipment and buildings, historic exhibits,  a video presentation, and a self-guided tour (which turned into a short guided tour).  

When we arrived there and parked we thought we had about an hour to see things but they seemed to be wanting to shut down.  I asked the guy who had been driving another couple in an ATV if he would give us a reduced tour but he refused.  We started walking down to the mine entrance and he must have had a change of heart because he showed up and told us to hop in and spent lots of time showing us around and then showing us things in the museum.  We felt he earned his $20 tip.

We invited our friends Kent and Camille Larsen to come along with us and they were delightful company.  Our tour guide snapped this shot before we entered the mine.   

The largest of the four mines was called the Mizpah mine named after a word in the Old Testament.  It was owned by the wife and if I remember right the husband owned the other three mines.  

Their original mining was all done with men and animals.  This bucket was lowered into the mine and loaded and then pulled back up with animals.  They filled it and pulled it up all day and never ran out of silver, gold, copper and precious stones.

After our tour of the outside that he shared with us the guide took us into the museum and into the back room that had a wonderful mineral collection.  I kept thinking how much Kate would have loved that place.  I just took pictures of a few of the rocks.  I couldn't get a good shot of my favorite one that had shiny copper, gold and silver all running through it.  

Notice the turquoise vein in this rock. 

There have veins of silver.

We could have spend much more time there but it was 

5 PM and they were closing so we went back to our motel.  

We had enjoyed a great Chinese lunch in Ely on the way but our guide told us that we should not miss the BBQ at the Tonopah Brewery so we went on over.  They had a dinner for four that had a whole chicken, a rack of ribs, brisket and a large portion of pulled pork along with cole slaw and biscuits. We also got a picture of their homemade root beer.   It was $69 but came pretty close to what it would have been if each of us had ordered separately and we had meat for sandwiches for the next two days.  

After dinner we went over to see the Mizpah Hotel that was built in 1909.  It was a pretty fancy place.  Our tour guide told us that it was haunted an how to go up on some of the floors and feel the ghosts around you but we stayed on the main floor in the lobby. ( I like sideways pictures, don't you?)

Overall we truly enjoyed a day that we thought might really be the most boring one on the trip. 

Day Two- October 4

As we headed toward Yosemite I was surprised at the wide open spaces and the two lane road.  For some reason, probably because so many thousands visit Yosemite each year I expected things to be much more populated and commercial than they were.  As we got close we found a very expensive gas station and Mona Lake. 

I kept snapping pictures every chance that I could get a good shot and I hope that I have most of the things named correctly.  We entered through the Tioga Peak Entrance to the park.

Tioga Peak

Tenya Lake

Pothole Dome

John Muir is quoted saying, " It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter. "     It was simply magnificent every place you looked with it's high sierra, granite cliffs, sequoia groves and the valley.  

This sign was the closest we got to seeing a bear. 

We were so blessed with it being a Tuesday in October.  The crowds were low and we pulled into a campground where there was no longer a host and had a picnic with some of the wonderful meat from the night before and other treats.  Camille has a handicapped parking sticker and we were able to take advantage of it many times on the trip.  

We left the park as we came down from upper park road.  Our lodging was listed as El Portal although we never saw the town.  We picked up our keys from one very nice place and drove on three miles to the "Red Bud Lodge".  It was a 10 unit place with no cell or computer service and no caretakers on site. It was right next to a river and fronted a Highway 40. The rooms were large, clean and old and we had a kitchen so we cooked a little breakfast before we left the next morning.  

 Next to the lodge was a closed trading post and the sign gave a bit of history of the place. 

After we had rested a bit we decided to drive into Mariposa and get a few things and gas the car.  We stopped short about 6 miles at a little grocery/gas station in Midpines.  The lady was a joy to talk to and suggested when we left that we stop at the Yosemite Bus Rustic Mountain Resort which is a hostel with a dining room open to the public.  She suggested that it was a bit "Bohemian" and that just peaked our interest a bit more.

There was a mixed group of people there.  Some were families, some looked like people who would be traveling using hostels and there were a few other older people.  The food was very original and delicious.

It was a great find and a delightful ending for a beautiful day. 





Day Three- October 5

After breakfast and returning our keys to the other lodge we drove into the park to see the lower part on a tour bus with a guide.  Because it is fall the waterfalls were just drizzles and I took so many pictures of El Capitan and Tunnel View that I'll just pick a few and post.  We were glad to have a bus driver who pulled in and out of places and explained about the park.

We finished the tour at noon and then started the very steep and winding trip down the mountain to the valley.  It was a narrow road and I was frightened most of the time.  I think Mike was enjoying pretending he had a little sports car.  We were to meet his granddaughter, Victoria and her baby Asher for lunch in Oakdale.  We were much later than we had planned on because of the type of road and lots of construction that we needed to stop for.

I was so surprised to see how much Asher had grown.  He was taking a few steps and was so cute.  He was tiny and just a few weeks old when we saw him in December.

Victoria is a cute girl and a cute little mommy. Our first great-grandchild.

 We spent the night in Guerneville, CA at a bed and breakfast (of sorts).  The rooms were really more like motel rooms in a row behind the lodge and the breakfast was served with a waitress taking orders off a basic breakfast menu in more of a restaurant. It was the only B&B I had scheduled for the trip and basically was not one.   It was clean and fine but it did win the prize for the tiniest bathroom and the lowest toilet on the trip.  The breakfast wasn't available until 8:30 so Mike and I took a walk around the area.  Most of the homes were garages on the bottom floor and the home above.  There was really no street parking or yard.

Day 4  - October 6

This turned into a very interesting and different day than planned.  I programed my phone for Mendocino, CA and forgot that we needed to select a coastal route along Highway 1 rather than taking the faster route inland which was 101.  I realized my mistake after we had been driving for a few minutes and I couldn't get the gps to change the route.  We were trying to follow a map and took some side streets headed NW.  We decided to head toward Geyserville and take a road that had no highway numbers but went toward the coast.  Here is a map.

As you look at the road (yellow) on the map it looks pretty basic with a few curves.  It was actually one lane much of the time, steep, winding and extremely slow.  To make things more exciting we would occasionally meet logging trucks.  Thankfully that never happened on a curve but we did have to pull off for them to go by.  After we had been winding for a very long, slow time I broke out into an excited laugh when I saw this sign-

We were all so excited to get out of the car and see this place.

As we visited with the Elder we learned that church is held in the main lodge every Sunday and they have a variety of visitors join them.

 The guys found the Elder in his maintenance room.  He told us that they need another couple and that there are three camps in the area and they keep missionaries there full time for 18 month missions.  His wife was away working at another camp but it was a fun break.  We enjoyed and believed these two signs.

We were glad that we were headed down the 189 curves rather than the 445 we had already completed.

Finally we reached the ocean!

We hurried up the coast stopping to have lunch in the parking lot of the Point Arena Lighthouse and then on to the lovely Mendocino area. 

Mendocino village is lapped on three sides by the Pacific.  The "special character" of the town is it's eclectic architecture.  We were hurrying so were not able to get near the pictures that I wanted.  It was such a cute town with such a variety of architecture even though it is now basically a tourist town.  I loved the clever names of some of the shops.  

We hurried on to try to get to the Avenue of the Giants before it was too dark to see them.  

We spent the night in Arcata in a very nice Best Western Inn. 

Day 5 - October 7

My pictures on this day may be out of order but at least they will be on the correct day so within 250 miles of being correct.

 I believe this is Battery Point Lighthouse. 

I took this picture trying to show how the river worked its way into the ocean right at the tip of the rock. 

Cape Sebastian State Park View-  We laughed as we read the review that the road to this park was steep and narrow.  It was like a freeway after some of the California roads we were on.

Mike walked along a part of the Oregon Coast Trail that passed along in the Cape Sebastian State Park.

 

I'm not sure what the name of the town was where we stopped for lunch but these guys seemed to be enjoying all of the traffic in the area.

 

We stopped at Gold Beach to try to fly kites.  The little one went up quite easily but the octopus was not in the mood to catch the wind very well.

We were interested in seeing the"marina" at Port Orford and wanted to watch the fishing boats hauled out of the ocean.  There is no harbor here so every afternoon the boats are hoisted out of the ocean and carted ashore using these two huge cranes. We were too late to see the activity but it was still unique. 

We met lots of road construction on the trip and this time it was bridge construction.  Mike had read the sign saying something about it being one of the highest bridges so I hopped out of the car and took this shot while we waited to go again. 

Our stop for the night was in Winchester Bay, Oregon.  We stayed in a simply delightful motel.  Each of the rooms had been decorated to a theme and ours was the jungle room.  We had "nets" around our bed and a tiger paining on the wall behind our bed.  Winchester Bay is a little town and the "market" was next door.  We walked over in the evening and found that they made their own sausage/egg biscuits and cinnamon rolls each morning so we had our breakfast there.  

We asked the cute girl at the motel desk (her grandmother had owned the motel and had decorated all of the rooms but had recently passed away so the girl and her mother were now running the motel) where we should go to eat and she suggested "Griff's".  We were not disappointed.

This was the view from the back of Griff's after we had eaten. 

The whole day was a winner!