North Coast Explorations: Heading for the Border

One more day in Trinidad. It's a tiny town and we've seen pretty much all we came to see. We've not been north of the Trees of Mystery so today we've picked a point on the map...the first town in Oregon, Brookings...and are headed there to see what's up there.

At the sleepy little town of Orick, we stop at the general store to grab a few sodas and keep going. Stretches of highway 101 go down to a narrow two lanes with giant redwoods pushing into the tarmac.

The giant Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe, let us know we've reached the Trees of Mystery. Everything beyond here is virgin territory for us.

We drive through Crescent City, the county seat of Del Norte County. This is the farthest northwest county in the state. The city is named for the shape of it's beach and bay. This geographic anomaly also means it's susceptible to tsunami damage and has been hit a few times, most recently in 2011 when numerous docks and boats were damaged or destroyed when 8 foot waves originating from Japan from the earthquake that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear plant.

The city looks like a miniature version of Eureka and we'll make a quick stop here on the way back.

Next is the small town of Smith River and then the border which welcomes us with a big cannabis shop and hardware store.

Not long after that, we arrive in Brookings which is full of traffic and what seems to be more cannibis shop on each corner.

We can't really find anywhere we want to eat and the gas prices were actually cheaper at an Indian casino we passed back in Smith River.

I walk out to Chetco Point while we stop for a bathroom break. The scenery is very similar to Trinidad with rocks scattered about the bay except for the giant sewage plant taking up the space on top of the bluff.

Nothing's calling to us here so we head back. We stop for a rest at the friendly bar at the Lucky 7 Indian casino in Smith River and gas up with their cheap gas.

We look for a place to eat in Crescent City and end up at a hot dog truck, Shruggie's, in downtown. The food, while basic, is very good. 

A transient is sleeping on a nearby picnic bench. He soon rolls over and falls to the ground. EMT's show up to check on him. He yells at them to leave them alone. They shrug it off and join in by getting some hot dogs of their own.

I buy a few baked goods at a local Hmong club's bake sale then we get back in the van to go.

It's been a so-so day and drive to Brookings. We did enjoy the food in Crescent City and the little time at the casino.

One last thrill, though, was the traffic jam caused by a herd of Roosevelt elk crossing the road a few miles north of Orick. After that, it wasn't much longer back to the cabin where we spent one more night watching the wifi TV in our room.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2022 - All Rights Reserved

North Coast Explorations: The Lighthouse Walk of Trinidad

Trinidad is very compact. As the crow flies, it's less than a mile from Trinidad Head Lighthouse to the freeway exit for the town. This will come in handy as we can just park and see everything we want today without a lot of driving.

Next to the foot of the town's pier are about a half dozen handicapped parking spots. We take the one closest to the pier, which is also the widest one, allowing us to deploy the lift to unload Tim.

There's a highly regarded seafood restaurant here, owned by the local Yuroc tribe. We'll come back and try that later. First, we're going for a hike.

Back at the entrance of this lot, there are accessible restrooms and what looks like the top of a lighthouse. This is actually a replica lighthouse, built in 1949, and now is a memorial to locals who were lost at sea.

A plaque with their names is attached to the back.

Next to this faux lighthouse is the trailhead for today's walk. We'll be heading out to the real lighthouse. The trail is about a mile and a half, each way.

A house sits here, overlooking the pier and the pretty bay. We find out it's a vacation rental. Not accessible, though, but you can see the details about it at this link. There's probably not a more picturesque place to stay in the area.

A few feet further on, a chain across the road blocks access. It's not locked, though, so I just unlatch it and let Tim through.

We stop for a minute to take in the view below.

Just a bit further up is an overlook to the beach on the other side of the point. Here is where the trail forks. A dirt path to the right and the paved (accessible) path to the left. They both meet up again later.

I should also mention that a lot of the trail (maybe a quarter mile) up to this point is rather steep. Tim had no trouble with his power chair but I can see manual chair users or their pushers having quite a go of it here.

We continue up the paved side, stopping now and again to take in the spectacular views of Trinidad Bay.

We're almost to the end, where the lighthouse is, and the last 50 feet or so of trail is loose gravel. Tim finds it easier to roll on the adjacent lawn.

The lighthouse is only open to the public for a few hours one Saturday a month, which is not today. It's rather small by lighthouse standards, only about 20 feet tall, so we take a few pictures and take in the view.

Going down is much easier than going up. We build up a bit more appetite by walking out to the end of the pier, waving goodbye to some fishermen as they head out on an afternoon party boat.

The Seascape restaurant sits right at the edge of the beach and we get a great window table in the patio.

I'm not much of a seafood lover so I get by with a bacon grilled cheese sandwich.

Tim ops for the fish 'n chips...

...and my wife goes for the crab salad and clam chowder.

It's all very good, satisfying, and relaxing.

Afterwards, we go back to the cabin, pop open some wine, and enjoy heaps of junk food while watching stand-up comedy on the inn's Tubi channel.

Tomorrow, we'll take a little drive up to Oregon. We'll see you then.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2022 - All Rights Reserved

North Coast Explorations: Trinidad, California

I've been exploring this state for over 6 decades and, yet, there are still wide swaths I have yet to see. I may have been up this way when I was a child but, if I was, I don't remember. As far as I know, Trees of Mystery...near Klamath...is the farthest I've been up the northern California coast.

At the request of my wife, we're going to be spending three nights in Trinidad, about 30 miles north of Eureka, and seeing what this area is like.

It's a six and a half hour drive from our home. We'll stop along the way in the Colusa County town of Williams to have lunch at Granzella's and gas up the Love's truck stop here to get the cheapest gas before heading over to the coast where the fuel costs will increase considerably.

I was told they close the office at our inn at 6pm so I push as hard as I legally can and arrive at 5:59. They actually go home around 7:30 so I could have taken it a little easier.

The View Crest Lodge is actually five miles north of downtown Trinidad...a small city of just a bit over 300 souls...and sits just across the street from the beaches of the Pacific.

We have a nice, clean, and a bit spartan two room cabin. A queen size (my wife calls BS and says it's full size) bed sit's in its own small room. This room is not really considered wheelchair accessible.

The living room, however, is much roomier and has another queen size bed (this one does meet my wife's approval). A ramp leads to the deck and the back door of the cabin, giving access from the assigned parking spot. 

There's a large bathroom with a bathtub with bars. It'll be a bit of a challenge but I can get Tim on the fold down bench for a wash.

The room also includes a full kitchen with utensils. I'll make use of this to cook breakfast which will help with this trip's finances.

A cozy living area completes the setup with a large TV that is limited to whatever we can get with the Tubi channel on the hotel's sometimes spotty wifi.

There is no dresser so we'll have to live out of the suitcase. We drop it in the bedroom and head into town for dinner.

In the morning, I get into the groceries I'd brought along for cooking breakfast. I had planned on making chorizo and eggs but packed some Italian sausage instead by mistake. Oh well, improvise...I cook it the same way and we have sausage and egg breakfast burritos instead.

It's a cool morning but devoid of the fog that usually hugs this coast in the mornings. It makes for a nice time to sit on the deck, hot cup of coffee in hand, and listen to the sea lions bark on the ocean rocks across the street.

I take a little walk around the property and the area surrounding to just soak up the views, reveling in the cool air, while my wife and Tim get ready for a day out.

We're going to spend the day in downtown Trinidad and go for a little hike there. That's coming up in the next report.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2022 - All Rights Reserved

California's Northern Coast: Victoriana By the Sea

Now that our adventures in narrowly escaping being a crime victim, seeing nature's ancient giants, and our ongoing access follies are behind us, let's go see what else we can find in this area.

After checking into our hotel, we are ready for a fun break. In the little town of Blue Lake, there are not a lot of options outside of the Indian casino. Just a couple of blocks from the hotel, however, is the Mad River Brewery and Grill.

The food doesn't look gourmet but it's really about the only game in town when we don't feel like driving back down to Eureka or Arcata.

There's a very nifty little beer garden outside. If you know us, you know how much we wish the U.S.A. would have friendly, little neighborhood beer gardens like the biergartens in Munich. Not quite on par with that but it'll do nicely tonight.

It's also happy hour, so a couple of $3 beers and and order of food put into the kitchen and then we retire to the patio with our pager to let us know when food will be ready.

Mad River Brewery is dog friendly. They love the pooches here and many friendly dogs are here. One does a little dance on his front legs everytime someone walks by. Here, he makes faces at Tim.

A band, Wild Abandon, strikes up and plays some music to keep us all entertained and relaxed.

Our food comes out. No, it's not gourmet. It's you typical pub fare but it does hit the spot.

We're feeling very good and sleep very well that night in our room.

In the morning, we head south to the city of Ferndale, about 40 minutes away from our hotel.

Ferndale is a dairy farming community that is also a draw for artistic types and, of course, tourists like us. The current city dates back to its founding in 1852 and many of the buildings along Main Street date back almost that far.

They are also extremely well preserved.

The overwhelming style is Victorian and it just makes a perfect place to pull over and take a stroll, which is exactly what we do. We go south on Main, along the west side of the street, where we'll turn around at the end and come back on the other side.

A storefront hides a modern blacksmith shop inside. A candy and gift shop with an indifferent owner comes up next. An old grocery store serves the residents and the western most bar in the United States caps off this end of the street.

An old butcher shop starts us off on the other side. An old gas station with modern above ground storage sits on the corner (I'm imagining the old underground tank ran aground of this state's stringent environmental rules at some point). A couple of art galleries lead us to a tiny antique mall where the visitor's center sits next to some public restrooms.

We finish off this stroll at an ice cream stand at the other end. The owner, Gary, is also a transplant from the city (San Francisco and Marin County for him, L.A. for us) and we compare notes. He is also the artist at the gallery next door so we go and check out some nice paintings and pet his guard dog.

Gary tells us before we leave, we need to drive to the other end of Main Street, go three miles, and check out the beach. We do.

It's a wonderfully uncrowded stretch of northern California coast where we watch beachgoers get a bonfire started for the coming evening.

We relax for a bit to catch the sunset before driving back to the hotel. One more night and then we'll be heading back home.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

CLASSIC TRIP - Central Coast (San Luis Obispo), California 2000

Take a little trip back in time to the Central Coast with us...

San Luis Obispo lies just about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Many use it to stay overnight along the way however it is also a destination unto itself. San Luis Obispo is located about 12 miles inland from the ocean from Morro Bay. It is the starting poing of the scenic portion of Highway 1 that runs through Big Sur, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay before ending up in San Francisco.

Our trip begins on a Friday afternoon. It’s 3 to 4 hours driving before we get to our destination, the Sands Motel. For $70 per night, we get an adequate room with 2 queen beds and an extra large bathroom. It has a bathtub with a shower on a hose, no roll-in. Parking was difficult here as the handicapped spot was not large enough for us to deploy our ramp. We had to park away from the room (update - rooms now appear to be in the $100 plus per night range).

Having had dinner on the ride up, we watch a little TV and then hit the sack. In the morning, we have breakfast across the street at the Monterey St. Café. The motel provided a continental breakfast but to be honest, it just did not look appetizing. The restaurant provided a decent meal.

San Luis Obipso is in the middle of the Central Coast wine country so we headed east of town to visit it. We ended up at Edna Valley Vineyards which has just built a big new tasting room. The wines were good but with prices starting at $18 a bottle they’d need to be a bit better. The demonstration grape vines out by the parking lot were a lot of fun. 15 different varieties are planted here and you can wander through and taste the grapes right off the vine...in season of course.

Back in San Luis Obispo, we have dinner at F. McClintocks, a western themed steak joint. Dinner was excellent and the restaurant was accessible but small. After eating we take a walk along the creek that runs through downtown. Accessible walks allow wheelers to stroll along here too.

There is also an interesting, if a bit gross, attraction in the downtown area. That is “Bubble Gum Alley”, a narrow walkway where locals and visitors alike deposit their chewed gum upon the walls - sometimes to artistic effect. There is almost a half century work of gum deposited on the walls.

Wheelchair seating at Santa Maria Speedway

That evening, we head south to Santa Maria to take in a night of racing at Santa Maria Speedway. The sprint cars were running that night and the place was packed with race fans. Wheelchair users have reserved spots at the top of the stands overlooking the track by turn one.

Santa Maria Speedway

The racing that night was spectacular with typical sprint car hijinks and a lot of fun.
The next morning we drove over to nearby Avila Beach for breakfast. Avila has an interesting recent history. Years ago an oil tank farm was installed in the hills above town. About a decade ago it was found that those tanks had been leaking for years, fouling the ground under downtown Avila Beach. The company was sued and now must pay to remove all the soil under the downtown area (which was largely demolished), restore the downtown area and the beach, plus pay a huge settlement to the tiny town itself.

A sea lion begging for scraps off the San Luis Pier

Downtown Avila Beach is still under construction. Just up the road (past the equally infamous Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant entrance) is Port San Luis pier. This 100+ year old wharf nestles in a beautiful little cove. We had an excellent breakfast at Fatcats at the foot of the pier and then walked out to the end where sea lions cavorted in the water begging for handouts at the back of the fish market. Diners also know that the Olde Port Inn at the end of the pier offers some of the finest dining on the central coast.

In the afternoon we took in a matinee at the theater in downtown San Luis Obispo (Meet the Parents, funny movie).

Dinner tonight would be at the F. McClintock’s in Pismo Beach just south of San Luis Obispo (yes, the very same Pismo Beach that Bugs Bunny was always in search of). This is a much larger and much more tourist oriented location than the one in San Luis Obispo. It’s also a tad more expensive and not quite as good food wise. This night it seemed to attract every birthday and anniversary celebration on the coast. I don’t think I want to hear the wait staff sing the F. McLintock-generic celebration song again for a long, long time...

This being our last night here, we pick up a couple of bottles of local wine from the on-premises liquor store at the motel and soak in the inn’s hot tub before retiring for the night.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS IN SAN LUIS OBISPO
Of course, we couldn’t do it all in a weekend but over the years we’ve found the following area attractions to be well worth your time...

Hearst Castle is an hour’s drive to the north of San Luis Obispo

The Apple Farm Inn at the north end of town has a wonderful restaurant plus a working grist mill powered by the local creek.

The Monarch Butterflies spend their winters in several eucalyptus groves near Pismo Beach.

You can soak in natural hot springs and swim in naturally warm pools at Avila Hot Springs for a reasonable price or nearby Sycamore Hot Springs for a significant amount more. Both are just south of San Luis Obispo at the Port San Luis/Avila Beach exit of the 101 freeway.

-Darryl
Copyright 2000 - Darryl Musick
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CLASSIC TRIP - Elk, California (Mendocino Coast) 2000

Our destination tonight is the tiny village of Elk located half way between Mendocino and Point Arena.  The drive would be from Redding through Ukiah and then over the coastal mountains to Elk. Along the way we would first make a stop for the kid in Clear Lake.

What Tim wanted that day was to spend a refreshing afternoon at Outrageous Waters, a small water park. This we did and it was a lot of fun floating around the lazy river all afternoon in our inner tubes. Unfortunately for a kid in a wheelchair, that is the only attraction there he could go on. So we went around on the lazy river...and around and around and around......

Back on the road, we circled Clear Lake and I missed our exit. Soon, we were back on track and found the road over to Boonville from Ukiah. 16 miles of some of the windiest road we’ve come across. Once in Boonville, the map showed one more road over to Elk. 18 more miles of very windy road. That last 18 miles took over an hour.

While the drive is difficult, it provides a formidable barrier to keep the rest of civilization at bay from Elk. It is a beautiful isolation that’s imposed on this rugged section of coast.

The sign says the population is 250 but that may be an optimistically high number. Tim and I easily walked from one end of town to other in 5 minutes.

We stayed at the Griffin House Bed and Breakfast. Accessibility here is compromised for price. The wheelchair could get around the little cabins without too much difficulty but the big old antique clawfoot bathtubs present quite a challenge for a disabled person to get into, even with help. Even able-bodied persons such as my wife and myself had trouble with the tubs, mainly because they were...just...too...big! Once in, however, the shower head is on a hose.

There are no grab bars in the bathrooms but there is a common accessible restroom up towards the front behind the pub.

There are rooms with more accessibility in Elk but tip the scales in price. The Griffin House is among the lowest priced accommodations here, is very luxurious, has a prime cliff top location, and includes a very sumptuous breakfast delivered to your cabin each morning. The cabins themselves include two rooms so parents and kids can be separated at bedtime.

The little Bridget Dolan’s pub at the front of the inn provides the town’s sole means of night life. It’s a warm cozy place where you can wrap yourself around your favorite drink and chat with the locals, read a book or play a game. The Greenwood Pier, next door provides a nice dinner house but, maybe it was just the day we were there, there were many flies buzzing around inside.

Blackberries Ready to be Picked

At the south end of town, and accessible path provides access to the small beach at the base of the cliffs. Wild blackberries abound in the town providing instant snacks.


A half hour drive in either direction on Highway 1 will bring you to more civilized climes. North will take you to Mendocino. This New England style town hosts many boutique shops and restaurants. Our highlight here was the Mendocino Botanical Gardens a little farther north in Fort Bragg.

The gardens consists of hundreds of acres of unique microclimates and plantings. Miles of wheelchair accessible trails wind their way through the forests, creeks, and flowers ending up at the spectacular bluffs overlooking the sea.

Driving south will take you to the quaint little town of Point Arena. Here you can have a nice dinner overlooking the small century old wharf. After dinner take in a movie at Point Arena’s oustandingly restored theater. This old-style single screen theater will take you back to those great movie houses of your youth while perplexing the youngsters who can’t imagine a theater with only one screen.

No front row stadium seating worries here either. Perfect wheelchair seating locations were built in with the restoration near the center-rear of the theater.

Back in Elk, our main activity was just to relax, sit on the edge of the cliffs with a warm drink in our hand and marvel at the views. You can’t help but to just sit back and take it easy here...cell phones and pagers just won’t work on this isolated stretch of coast.

In short, if you’re just worn out from civilization or just really, really want to get away from it all without traveling halfway around the world, the natural beauty and isolation of this part of the Northern California coast may be just the ticket.

© 2000 Darryl Musick