Redwoods and Napa Valley

Wednesday, July 8

We took off for breakfast at Bandon Coffee Café in Bandon, OR.  Had delicious sandwiches and coffee (mocha for Kacie) to go.  Had picnic tables outside with cool art made out of plastic washed up from the ocean (toilet seat, golf ball, rain boots, umbrella handle, shovels, etc.) decorating the green space.  One was made to resemble a whale’s tail, one a fish, one a turtle riding a wave and one a penguin.

Had a beautiful, scenic drive on 101 to Crescent City, CA.  Tons of boulders sitting out in the ocean.  Stopped at Samuel Boardman State Park with a rock in the shape of an arch.  In Crescent City we drove out to Crescent Beach Outlook for an endless view of the ocean and the coastline of the city.  We were blessed with another beautiful day!

Then hit Chart Room for some “snacks.”  Chart Room is a tiny restaurant on the marina with great food and drinks.  They had plenty of outsdoor picnic tables to sit at and we could even see a bunch of sea lions sunbathing right off the  pier!  We ended up ordering more than just a snack – 2 bowls of clam chowder, fries, onion rings and fried zucchini.  Plentiful portions.  Owen and I tried the Eel River IPA, too, which was tasty!

We then drove through Jedediah Smith State Park, which is part of Redwood National State Park.  We had read about Stout Grove Memorial Trail, so headed for that trailhead.  The end of the road had a sign saying “No Trailers” and another one saying “rough, narrow road for next 6 miles.” We decided to try it anyway.  Took a bit of maneuvering, but found a “parking spot” not far from the trailhead.  This trail was amazing.  Highly recommend it!  It was about ½ mile down an incline, then about a 0.6 mile loop through huge, beautiful redwoods!  Then back up the ½ mile incline, so about 1.5 miles total.  It was the perfect length for Kacie not to complain .  

Part of the hike is close to the Smith River, so we walked out on the rocks and both Kacie and Owen got in and floated down the river for a little ways.  Kacie said that was the warmest water yet!  

We checked into our RV Park – Ramblin Redwoods RV Park.  Very pretty park nestled in among the trees.  They take their 5mph very seriously, though.  Owen was reprimanded more than once, even though he was probably only going 8-10mph .  Did some laundry and made turkey zucchini tacos (recipe courtesy of HB’s girl scout troop from years ago) and s’mores.  

Thursday, July 9

Our last full day on the RV!  We had a 5 ½ hour drive down to Napa on Redwoods Highway (US 101S) with beautiful coastal views. It was a little foggy when we first started out, but cleared up fairly quickly.

Went from a low of 50-ish when we woke up to a high of 91 in Napa Valley!  We stopped at Rombauer Vineyards (after making a reservation online the day before) for a quick wine tasting while Kacie complained of being hot.  They only had outdoor seating because of COVID-19, so we bought a bottle of Chardonnay from their window and sat at a picnic table.  Their Chardonnay was very good and the views from our table were beautiful!

Went to our RV Park (Napa Valley Expo RV Park) and had "clean out the fridge" for dinner.  We did a pretty good job of eating most of what we bought!  Other than all of the Ghirardehli chocolates we bought in San Francisco (which we ended up bringing home, of course!).

Hit the road early on Friday morning so Owen could drop the four ladies off at the airport with most of our luggage while he took the RV back to Cruise America before it was due at 11am.  The guy checking Owen in told him that somehow our reservation was cancelled the day after we rented it and he wasn't sure how to rectify the situation.  Sure enough, we checked our credit card statement and there was a charge on 6/30 for the RV, and then a credit for the same amount on 7/1.  He ended up telling Owen that there was a glitch in their system and that it was his lucky day - free RV!  We couldn't believe it!  What a great end to our trip!