Southern Oregon to Redwood National Park

And then it was a hot drive into an even hotter Medford to pick up my friend Ali who was flying in from Toronto. We were both equally relieved to see each other at the airport; after she got delayed 2 days I think we were both unsure whether we'd be still be doing this trip together or not! But here we were, on a shortened itinerary but together at least, and determined to make it count. We had a great little motel in Medford for 50 USD (Econo Lodge), complete with revamped modern rooms, a decent pool, and, to our delight the next morning, a surprise and encompassing free breakfast. After a dip in the pool, we decided to spend the evening in Jacksonville, a cute old western town 15 minutes west of Medford. After roaming the old streets, we were drawn to the sound of live music in the back of a wine bar. With a beautiful seating area in the back garden complete with strung up lights, this was exactly what we both needed to unwind our first night.

As it got dark, we headed back to Medford to drop off the car at the hotel and wander the streets a little more. Just down the street to us was Osmo's Alehouse, which looked great based on reviews, and we headed in that direction. It was only when seated at the bar of this brewery that we were informed that they were shutting down and we had already missed last call. Disappointed, we told the bartender we were sorry to be missing out, and I guess she took pity on us coming from Canada and wanting to see the brewery because she ended up pouring us each a drink! We shared a sour and a hef, and both were delicious.

The next morning, after a bit of a much needed sleep-in, we took off down the highway 199 towards Redwood National and State parks. Along the way we stopped at some cute shops and wineries, including a Kaleidoscope shop that was a lot of fun. Then it was into the parks, with winding roads and giant trees. We did a bit of a guided tour along a hike with a park ranger, and learned about the importance of these impressive ecosystems that humans have all but destroyed.

That evening, we had a delicious seafood dinner in Crescent city before setting up for a bonfire on the beach. All went well except for a couple local guys who overstayed their welcome by our fire. We were the only ones on the beach, so we ended up putting out our fire around dark and retreating to our SUV home for the night.

The next day we explored more of the redwoods, hiking 3-4 hrs along Miner's Ridge, which Ali described admiringly as "the best hike of her life". The gorgeous quiet trail had such magnificent trees and vegetation, we really felt like we were in Jurassic Park. The trail ended on the beach at Gold Bluff's Beach Campground, where we got a lift back to our starting point.

We ended the day with driving as far as we could along the 101 until it got too dark for me to comfortably drive. We pulled over for the night in Fortuna, a small town with only one dive bar that we decided to enter. I think we really stuck out, and the locals got a hoot that we had come all the way from Canada to stop in to their small bar in their small town. We again slept in the SUV, pulled up in on a quiet side street in Fortuna. The next day we would be heading into San Francisco, from where Ali would be flying out and my next travel partner, Shannon, would be flying in. Stay tuned, and thanks as always for reading! -Amanda