Neotextus

I new that our road trip would take us to some weird and wonderful places, but I didn’t expect it to take us to the planet Shakari at the center of the universe – yet here we are. We’ll actually these are the Trona Pinnacles in the California desert, but they have been the backdrop of many sci-fi movies and television series including Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Battlestar Galactica, Lost in Space, and Planet of the Apes.

There are many word to describe the Pacific coast – rugged, desolate, stunning but I think the best description for the last two days should be bloody windy! We were buffeted by driving rain all the way from Reedsport to Mendicino. The sea at Port Orford gets so rough that the boats have to be lifted out of the harbour by crane to prevent the high winds from smashing them against the jagged rocks. The weather doesn’t look like it is going to get much better for a couple of days, so we turned inwards after chilling out in Mendicino to head into Sonoma for some great wine tastings, then blast down California’s central valley to warmer weather.

What a beautiful day to start our trip – a short drive down the Willamette Valley took us to Silver Falls State Park, Oregon’s largest, for a pleasant walk with the dogs in the afternoon sun. Then onwards southwest to the coast for our last night in Oregon for many weeks.