Gadabout Artist Days 7-10

We finally made it into California, and I am finally stopped long enough to hook up my smart phone and log in for this post. We spent a very quiet Christmas Eve at Sunset Beach Campgrounds near Coos Bay, OR.  This beach is located close to Shore Acres State Park. Through the month of December, Shore Acres has a beautiful holiday light display in it's  formal gardens. We started hearing about them long before we got to our campsite, so after we hooked everything up, and after searching for and finding a couple more letterboxes, we headed on up the trail. It ended up being about a 3 miles hike, we could have driven the RV, but it is so hard to know in advance if there is decent parking and turn around for something that big, so we walked. If you want to know more about this amazing place, go to ; http://www.shoreacres.net/

It was dark afterwards, and we still needed to hike back down the trail. I was sneaky though, and brought a flashlight along, so even though Mr. How2 hates using one, it kinda saved our backsides, so score one Sally! :) We had a simple Christmas dinner of chicken and mashed potatoes, and turned in early. The next morning we got up and hunted for another couple letterboxes, then set out to find cell coverage so I could call our children and family for Christmas. The tiny town of Bandon was perfect for that, then on our way again.

 We had spotted a campground on the map called Cape Blanco, so we headed that way. A beautiful place, so we stopped very early and spent the better part of the day walking on the beach. We did not get in to see the lighthouse, because it was closed for the holiday, but the beach was lovely, and we hiked at least 4 miles.

That night I worked on the background of yet another canvas, and started the wrap up on my previous small ones. In the morning we headed out again, realizing that this was very likely our last day to enjoy the ocean. After this, we will be turning inland and trying to make better time towards Arizona. We drove across the California border, and stopped in Crescent City, CA for new maps, and tourist info, and headed south towards the redwood forest. Most of yesterday was driving, though we did stop for a quick peek at the BIG TREE! A gigantic specimen indeed!

We stayed that night in a rest area, it was getting too dark to push on and we were both tired. I finished up on a the new canvas, and did final detail on the others.

We woke this morning before daylight, and headed south towards the turn off for Highway 20, east towards Sacramento, CA. We really put the hammer down, and didn't stop for much of anything until we got to I-5. We did see two different herd of elk though...

Now we are stopped for a bit at a rest stop, just north of Sacramento, taking a break after a seven hour stint. Mr. How2 is tired, but we don't really want to stop at 3:00 in the afternoon, and don't want to drive into the city. I am hoping to meet and have coffee with one of my fellow fliers sometime tomorrow, but I am waiting to hear back from her. So perhaps we will head to Folsom Lake, they have campsites there, or look for a KOA in the area. Until next time, enjoy...