Halfway There, Stage 5

We completed our 5th day today, and despite a little Oregon rain the route was beautiful. We started the morning driving along the Humboldt Bay. We had partially cloudy skies and then the fog came in. Eureka is where the mountains run into the ocean. The ever green trees lines the roads with beautiful forested roads. The redwoods are not the Giants we saw yesterday, but definitely impressive.

As we were driving to the start, Brad was working on the instructions and I was craning my neck looking to the west in a meadow. I was looking for elk. There were signs everywhere to watch for the elk. I didn’t see one, and then we came to the start of the rally. On one side was the sign we were in search of, and the other side was a meadow full of wild elk.

It was the start of a beautiful day. We drove North toward Gold Beach, Oregon. We winded through the Redwood National Park and in and out of wooded roads. The forest was full of evergreens, birch trees and aspen trees. Some of the evergreens had what looked like Spanish Moss hanging from their bows. Closer to the ground there were ferns and pink and white foxgloves. As we moved North Toward Klamath, California there were fewer redwoods, but a good variety of trees and a coral wild flower along with white and yellow wild flowers. At one point we could smell honey suckle.

As we drove out of the forest to the Pacific shoreline, the sand was dark with big rocks jetting out of the ocean. The air was heavy with mist and rain, but there were plenty of people enjoying the view.

We drove North to Golds Beach where we stopped for lunch. We stopped at a local fairground for a quick pit stop. We shared a sandwich and then headed back on the road. We headed a little further north and enjoyed the scenery of Gold Beach including parts of the Rogue River and the Isaac Lee bridge. We rallied for about an hour and then headed back the way we arrived.

We were heading toward Grants Pass. We were treated to more beautiful roads and drove along The Rogue River. It is a spectacular river, and we rallied until 5pm, and then made our way into the center of Grants Pass. We were greeted by the largest crowd yet. We couldn’t believe how many people were at the finish.

We were happy with our performance today, and we are hoping for 4 more days like today.

I have included a couple of pictures from the last five days. Sadly we didn’t take too many pictures today, but go to http://www.greatrace.com, and you can see some of the wonderful places we visit.

Author: emcniff

This is not really about me, but about an adventure we are lucky enough to take each year. Each trip provides new discoveries, and the opportunity to see this beautiful country we are so blessed to live in. View all posts by emcniff