Heading North

Our goal for this trip was to head to cooler weather. From Texas to New Mexico and through California to Sacramento we were routinely treated to 100+ degree temperatures. We left the Sacramento area and made a brief stop in Redding (where it was also 100 degrees) for service and to get some parts ordered, then we headed west to the coast.

Finally…cooler weather.

We’d never been to Eureka or Crescent City and we spent a few days exploring.

The highlight was a drive down the Avenue of the Giants – a 31 mile stretch of old highway 101 running through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The park features the largest remaining stand of virgin redwoods in the world. It was truly impressive and beautiful.

Oregon

The coast from California into Oregon is beautiful. There’s construction north of Eureka, and we were delayed a bit, but the beauty of the drive made up for it. Once in Oregon, we made a short stop to enjoy the views.

Note the smoke over the ocean from area forest fires.

The view out the window when we stopped for lunch.

Multnomah Falls

We’ve wanted to visit Multnomah Falls for quite a while now, but for one reason or another never made the trip – until this year.

Billed as the “most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest,” the falls boasts around 2 million visitors annually. They’re located in the Columbia River Gorge just east of Portland.

Multnomah Falls

At a height of 620 feet, Multnomah Falls is the tallest waterfall in Oregon. Hiking up to the bridge is a fairly easy walk. There’s a bit of an elevation change, but the trail is paved and easy to manage. We opted not to hike to the top of the falls this day, but we were told by others that the views are great.

While the falls were beautiful, one of the funniest things for us was the attention focused on our dogs. Here we were at a breathtaking site and people were more interested in petting our two furry family members.

Lady Liberty?

Located just outside of Portland is a replica of the Statue of Liberty. It is one-sixth the size, standing over fifty feet tall.

A local business owner paid to have the statue constructed and installed. He is of Middle Eastern descent and wanted to place this statue as his way of showing everyone how much he loves America.

There is an eagle plaque at the base that reads, “Liberty, Freedom for all Nations. Freedom for all people. Let Freedom Ring!”