Concerning Americans

That title is supposed to echo the LoTR first chapter as opposed to Americans that concern me (which they do on occasion :D ).

We made our way up two days ago out of California. Crikey, California is a big state. Took a long time to trek out of it. We spent the morning, on recommendation, in Prairie Creek National Park, which, ironically lacked prairies and instead was covered in colossal trees – the famous Redwoods. They’re fairly large. You can’t see their tops most of the time. There were some fun climbing opportunities, including a bunch of trees so close together they formed a platform of dirt, space enough for several people, three of four metres up. That was fun ;)

We had to make sure NEO got his picture with the Pacific!

Problem with Redwoods is that once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. So we set forth. The first stop was in Eureka, on the CA/OR border. We arrived, as usual, later than expected at our host for the night, Jack Justus. The reason we were late was because I wanted to go and do the quintessential but winding Pacific Drive. Some stunning views and a very fortunate break in the weather allowed for some remarkable near-dusk photo opportunities. Before it got completely dark, we saw a sign for a drive-through tree, a particularly impressive Redwood specimen that, to the horror of conversationalists, an entrepreneurial group punched a big fat hole through, big enough for our car (but probably not the average American truck or Missourian) to fit through…

Holy shenanigans, this tree is huge!

Jack was a reserved but polite host. A retired gentleman, he made us comfortable but not too exciting. We set off early* the next day and started up towards our next host in Rogue River, a small mountain town in Southern Oregon on the way to the reputed Crater Lake. However, due to our early start we were facing the unprecedented event of arriving at our host too early. This situation, of course, was unacceptable: we have a reputation for tardiness to maintain. So we pulled into a local cinema and went to see Thor. Excellent film; visual effects and fun are maxed out and then sprinkled by Portman. Better yet, we were the only ones in the theatre; it was a private showing. Guess these small towns don’t have a lot of demand for weekday afternoon cinema going… perhaps they have something else going on?

Suitable enlatened, we rocked up to to Rogue River, a small, cute mountain town. Our host, Spencer, was a very jolly chap. They welcomed us in, had some (delicious) pizza and (delicious) beer. Also joining us was his girlfriend Reina, roommate Katie, her boyfriend James, and a plethora of dogs and cats, none of which were particularly house-trained (the animals, that is).

The next morning we got ready to se off to Crater Lake but discovered, despite it being June, that the roads around the Lake to deep buried in snow and only a tiny bit was accessible. Balls. I’d just persuaded Kim that we could camp outside without fear of retribution from the Confederacy of Anthrovoric Ursines out there and that significant accomplishment was dashed.

So we formed a plan B with our host’s recommendation. We set off South, instead, to the Oregon Caves, a National Monument (ooOooOoh). After a long fun/nauseating winding road to a very remote gully, we found the well-developed cave complex. We joined a tour a got an eclectic guide ranger who appreciated our snarky sense of humour. It’s a fun cave, lots of steps and some impressive chambers of Marble, with a backstory of its discovery and exploitation.

Winding road back to Rogue River. We picked up our hosts and drove down to the next town where they were having an all-American Rodeo. Bulls, pissed-off horses, a clown and pretty lasses on horseback. One guy got minced and there was some over the top patriotism. Good stuff. Something we’ve wanted to see for a while, something to check off the list. There were cowboys, beer, guns, trucks, flags – it was like the Midwest all over again :)

USA! USA!

We stayed another night with Spencer and co, with a plan to set off promptly the next morning.

* Actually early! We even had breakfast at breakfast time after we left. Incredible.