Oregon-Brookings-Southern Coast-16 of 49 on our RV Adventure

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

Today we head north. We are up early, skipped our showers and packed up and on the road by 7:35 am. The goal is to reach Brookings, Oregon which is on the boarder of Northern California’s State line. Brookings It is located on the beautiful Southern Oregon Coast six miles north of the California border on U.S. Highway 101.

The route takes us north on CA Highway 1, first along the beautiful cliffs along the Pacific Ocean. The road is very windy with many 180 degree turns slowing down to 15 mph. There are at least half a dozen one lane construction zones in the route. There are very few people coming towards or behind us, so taking the turns wide was relatively easy.

Eventually we leave the coast and move inland over lush thick Redwood Groves deep into the mountains. The windy turns and narrow road makes it much more challenging for our length. We finally seen our first Elk on the side of a hill. They are very large bucks.

If you do not manage your turn around the sharp 180 degree corners you can easily scrape the camper on trees and rocks sticking out from the white lines on the road. We had 2 close calls, one with a road crew truck making a turn and the other by my driving. CA Highway 1 ends when you reach Leggett, CA. There is a sign for the World Famous Drive Thru Tree road. Of course we are pulling a camper so skip the attraction.

We intersect CA Highway 101. The road is much easier to drive. The route takes us through move Redwood Forests and mountain passes. There are small towns along the route and state parks to drive deeper into the massive redwoods on either side.

We stopped in Rio Dell, CA for a bite to eat. We found DJ's Burger Bar. The burgers were exactly as ordered and fries were fresh cut. The meal hit the spot. There is parking on the street so we were able to park the truck and camper without issue. We made a phone call to Beachfront RV Park in Brookings CA to see if they have spaces. After lunch we turned ourselves around and fueled up before heading back to CA Highway 101.

We were back driving on the Coastline of Northern California. The Redwood Forests come right up to the edge of the coast. We stopped at Trees of Mystery in Klamath California. I had seen the attraction on some YouTube videos. They had a large statue of Paul Bunion and Babe out front of the entrance. They have a Redwood Trail and Gondola Ride through the forest. We stopped to take pictures of Paul and Babe.

We reached the largest city on our route, Crescent City, California. We drive through the city and knew we were close to our goal. We seen more elk along the way, but was unable to stop. At one point we seen cars up head slow down. As we approached we seen a baby elk on the side of the road. It was trying to get up. Someone must of just hit it. 2 cars in front of use slowed down a pulled over to assist the little guy. Our camper and truck is so long there is no where to pull off. In the rear view mirror I see the baby elk get up on its legs.

We received a callback from Beachfront RV Park letting us know they had site available so we now have a place to stay.

The travel time from Wildwood Campground & RV Park in Fort Bragg CA to Beachfront RV Park in Brookings OR is 5 h 7 min (245 miles) via CA-1 N and Hwy 101 N. We make our reservation for June 5th through June 8th.

Brookings is surrounded by the Chetco River and Port of Brookings Harbor to the south and to the north, by Harris Beach State Park. Brookings originally thrived on the lumber and commercial and sports fishing industries. Lily bulb farming was introduced in the 1920's. Although dwindling, lumber and fishing are still strong factors in the City’s economy and the lily bulb farms, which are in a 12-mile area between Brookings and Smith River, California, produce 100% of the lily bulbs grown in North America. Because of these stable industries, Brookings is less dependent on the tourist trade than many Oregon coast cities.

On September 9, 1942, Mount Emily, near Brookings, became the first site in the continental United States to suffer aerial bombardment in wartime. A Japanese floatplane piloted by Nobuo Fujita was launched from submarine I-25. The plane was armed with incendiary bombs on a mission to start massive fires in the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest. The attack caused only minor damage. Fujita would be invited back to Brookings in 1962 and he presented the town his family's 400-year-old samurai sword in friendship.

Beachfront RV Park reviews are good. The sites are narrow if the park is filled, but when less RV’s they space you out. We are nearly less than 30 ft from the beach entrance. The marina is behind us. The beach is public so there are car parking continuously to gaze at the ocean, waves, and sunset. The public beach access is open from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm. At first Lora was not happy with the site, but she quickly enjoyed the sounds of crashing waves and the view of the vast ocean. It is very relaxing.

Lora heard a sea lion in the distance. I walked to the marina and captured the large sea lion in the water and on the dock.

Around 6:00 pm the campground host, Jim, brought us a campfire ring to build a fire. We started a small fire in the front of the camper and enjoyed the emanating heat from the fire as the temperature around us cooled down.

I set up my camera on a tripod to capture the sunset.

There were two groups of young people having large fires on the beach. One group was more family with children and young adults playing the guitar and listening to music. The other group were young adults more partying. We ended the evening satisfied of our trip and plan to stay in Brookings.

We slept great last night. The crashing waves and clean smell of the ocean was refreshing. Lora was outside for her morning smoke when she see a boat going out. I looked outside and seen it was a Coast Guard ship. I pulled out the binoculars and checked over the ocean in the direction of the ships path. I seen two other ships side by side.

One looked like a fishing boat taking on water and the other a smaller Coast Guard boat. The larger Coast Guard ship came up to the two and they circles around. Obviously there was something wrong with the fishing vessel but I discounted the taking on water theory We watched for a long while before thinking the rescue was over. I looked back out to the scene and the fishing vessel was on its side sinking. My original thought was correct. The two coast guard ships were keeping a distance as the fishing boat capsized on its side. I pulled out my camera to see if I can get some pictures with the zoom camera.

The smaller Coast Guard boat came back to shore as the larger one stayed with the sinking ship until is was gone at sea. It was truly something we would have never expected to see. We are glad no one was injured or lost.

After washing up we set out North on Hwy 101 to see the coast. We drove through Brookings and seen the numerous Cannabis shops.

We stopped at a few scenic lookouts along the route.

We eventually made it to the city of Gold Coast. We stopped to take a photograph of the bridge in town.

We turn back and stopped a couple of more times before heading back to the campground.

When we returned we started our normal routine of drinking. Lora had her wine. I did not have beer so I had a few Whiskey and Coke-Cola. Phillip had called about an issue with his realtor and assessment on the house being incorrectly stated.

Lora made herself a fire and stayed outside until the fire went out. After which she went to bed. I got up, watch TV and uploaded photos to Shutterstock.com before going back to bed after 2:00 am.

Bella Bee got me up just after 6:00 am. I walked her on the beach and fed her. She later went back to bed with Lora. I worked on the Lake Isabella, Bass Lake, and Fort Bragg blog posts. I picked up some pastry’s from Brookings and brought them back to the camper while Lora slept.

The day was a much of nothing. We stayed at the camper all day. The temperature was in the low 60 degree’s. I binged watched Netflix and Lora stayed on Facebook. Later in the day, I drove into town to top off the truck and do some shopping. There is a Fred Myers Superstore. They are equivalent to a Walmart Superstore, but owned by Kroger. I bought some groceries and grilling items. They have a gas station and I was able to by Diesel for $3.29 per gallon. The best price in a long time. Lora was in bed before dark this time. I stayed up till after nine, then went to bed as well.

Today we leave Brookings and head up the Oregon Coast’s Hwy 101 to Lincoln City. We cleaned up the camper and prepared for an early rise and departure.

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