Today brought more rain, but it did not dampen our spirits as today was our 5th wedding anniversary. Paul has truly lived up to his vows, especially the part about being my “partner in adventure.”



We took our time in the morning - I used the sorry excuse for a fitness room while Paul worked on job hunting – and, by the time we were back on the coast, the rain, for the most part, had subsided. Just in case, I had my brand new waterproof boots that we had picked up at REI in Eugene. I think these will serve me well in Massachusetts



We made a number of stops throughout the afternoon.

Heceta Lighthouse



Cape Perpetua,with it's fantastic blow hole.



Seal Rock, with it's rocky coast and fun tide pools. Paul made this find which he thinks might be a whale vertebrate.





And we stopped for an anniversary dinner in Newport at Sharks’s Seafood Bar where we enjoyed their fantastic Cioppino and a Vera Cruz Cocktail.



After dinner, we strolled the downtown area and watched the sea lions lounging under the dock.



We covered a little more ground before calling it a night and ended up staying in Lincoln City.

Now that we’ve arrived in Oregon, we’ll have to get used to being wet. We awoke in Coos Bay to 46-degree temperatures and steady rain. The forecast shows a respite on Saturday, but, otherwise, rain for the next week.

Feeling the need to prove to myself that I can handle inclement weather, I suggested a run. Our 30-minute jaunt was cold and wet, but also invigorating.



After a hot shower, we continued our trek north with a brief stop in Florence to check out the dunes.



Then, we turned east to spend the day in Eugene. In addition to being a funky, little college town, Eugene is known as Track Town USA.



It is where Steve Prefontaine made his mark in the world of running and then tragically died. We left a bib number from the Pirate’s Cove 20K at Pre’s Rock, the site of his car accident and, now, a shrine of sorts.



Eugene is also where Bill Bowerman made a name for himself as a track coach at Hayward Field and, later, co-founder of Nike.



We would have loved to check out some of Eugene’s great running trails, but decided that one rainy run was enough for the day.

There appear to be lots of fun restaurants in town, many with gluten-free options. We had a phenomenal lunch at the Pizza Research Institute. The name gave me pause…but I’m glad we took the risk. We started with a coconut curry yam soup – it was out of this world!



And, of course, we had to try their gluten-free pizza – a smoked tofu with roasted cauliflower, cheddar cheese and onions. It was a little heavy on the cheese for me, but was delicious. And the crust was the best gluten-free one we’ve had. Even better than Picazzo’s, if you can believe it!



Later in the day, we headed to Holy Donuts. All of their baked goods are vegan and some are also gluten-free. This doesn’t necessarily make them healthy, but it was a special treat for Paul to enjoy coffee and donuts the following morning.





With the poor weather, we called it a day early and were checked in and settled at our hotel, America’s Best Value Inn, by 5:30pm. I caught up with phone calls and emails while Paul did some job hunting and online applications.

We didn’t get a chance to explore Eureka, but I’ve had to make peace with the fact that we’re covering a lot of ground on this trip. We can’t see it all, but we can enjoy the heck out of all of the great things we do see.



Paul had really been looking forward to some good fishing and so we drove north to Gold Beach and he got all set up with info, a license and the equipment he needed. We ended up on the South Jetty where the Rogue River meets the ocean. But, after searching for a suitable location and then trying to get his fishing line set up in gale force winds, we decided that Mother Nature just wasn’t going to cooperate.



We bagged the fishing and headed to lunch at the Port Hole Café where the food was average, but the servers were extraordinarily friendly. And while we didn’t catch any fish, we at least got to eat some!

Our next stop was Cape Blanco, the westernmost tip of the mainland US. This spot is typically quite windy, but, with a storm rolling in, I think it was even more so today.





We spent quite a bit of time there playing in the crazy wind, hiking down to the beach and marveling at all of the life in the tide pools. We ran into a researcher collecting some sort of sea grass and she gave us a quick marine biology lesson.





I don't know if it truly comes across in the photos, but the surf was phenomenal! This stop was definitely one of the highlights of our trip thus far.



We moved on to the quaint town of Bandon, where Paul inquired once again about fishing while I browsed the shops. Things seemed fairly calm and we were excited for fishing…until we headed out to the jetty and, once again, found high winds. I was posing for a photo here when a big gust almost took me down.





With fishing out of the question, we decided to head up to Coos Bay for the night. We arrived in time to visit the memorial to Steve Prefontaine, a legendary runner who was born here. Unfortunately, it is part of a visitor center currently undergoing renovations and so we had to use the zoom lens from behind a fence. But, as our next stop is Eugene, where Pre attended college, I know we have more Pre memorabilia coming up.



To see all of our trip photos, you can check out Paul's photo blog.

We hit the road first thing today, anxious to see the redwoods. A visitor center ranger assisted us in finding a suitable trail and we ended up driving to Prairie Creek State Park for the 10-mile (roundtrip) hike/run on the James Irvine Trail.





What a difference from the trails in Tucson! The air was moist, everything was so green, and the trees were, as expected, enormous.





The water was flowing at Fern Canyon (the end point of the trail), but, during the summer, you can hike along the stream bed to view more of the moss-covered canyon walls above.

Not having had quite enough, we continued north to Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park and strolled for a short while on the Boy Scout Tree Trail and in Stout Grove.



People and guidebooks talk about certain redwood areas or parks being more spectacular than others, but that was difficult for us to judge. Everything we saw was extraordinary.





We continued north and drove just over the state line where we spent the night at the Harbor Inn Motel in Brookings, Oregon.

And week #2 begins!

We awoke to a chilly morning – probably in the low 40’s – and ran down to the water for a short-lived run on the beach. Between the wind, the soft sand and the steep camber of the beach, it was not ideal for running. But, we enjoyed the views and appreciated the start of another day in a beautiful place...instead of in an office.



After packing up camp, we spent much of the day driving along the gorgeous coastal highway. It was slow-going in many areas as the road was winding and there were lots of great scenic view points at which to stop.

However, we did make it to the southern end of redwood country. The Avenue of the Giants, a 31-mile stretch of redwoods, was a disappointment. Sure, there were huge trees, but there was also a whole lot of kitsch – “tourist trap” type offerings.



We only made a few stops, knowing there were many more redwoods to come, and then continued on to Eureka for the night.