From the Road III-Independence Day

Posted July 13 from El Paso, backdated July 4--Siltcoos, Oregon Coast (Waxmyrtle Campground). We woke up bright and early to the sound of 4-wheelers with no mufflers tearing around on the nearby dunes. The neighboring campground had coin-op showers, so we all squeezed into one stall and came out sparkling clean, but poorer by $2.50. As we packed up camp, Ella did her best to help out. She ended up dirtier than before her shower... We were on the road shortly, Dad at the wheel, Mom navigating, and Ella chatting herself to sleep on her toy cell phone (note the change of clothes from the above "helping out" pre-dirtying-up picture). The scenery was mostly quite pleasant, but we did get reminders of the clearcut logging which scars Northwest hillsides. I know we need wood for housing and paper, but there has to be a better way than this... After a short while, Ella woke up fussy, and it was time to take another look at the coastal scenery, and join in the Fourth of July festivities at Port Orford, OR. We just missed the parade, but there were still food stalls selling hotdogs. Ella posed dramatically with the remains of my snack. Hyunjoo wasn't to be outdone.Finally, bellies full, Ella hopped in the car and drove us on our way. We got a few last vistas of the Oregon Coast, near Cape Foulweather (the weather was fair): and finally stopped for a late lunch at a somewhat dodgy Chinese restaurant. No matter how small a town, anywhere in the world, there always seems to be a few Chinese people there (I even ate red-braised pigs' feet with some Chinese friends in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea once upon a time). Hyunjoo thought the hot-and-sour soup was ok. Ella was just happy to be out of the car. Here is Ella's fortune--advice she didn't need. Maybe the numbers will be helpful, though? We drove on through the northern parts of Redwood National and State Parks. The drive was beautiful, but Ella was sleeping so peacefully, and we needed to get in some more miles that day to catch up, so we didn't stop or get any pictures... one of the biggest regrets of the trip so far. Just north of Eureka, CA we turned eastward on California 229, which was a beautiful drive (see photos tomorrow...), but soon we hit mountain peaks shrouded in dense fog, the sun was very low in the sky, and Ella was very unhappy about how long we'd spent in the car. We would have to stop soon... California isn't Appalachia, but driving through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, as I rounded each corner, I half-expected to encounter a barefoot toothless kid plucking dueling banjos on his front porch... It just had that kind of a vibe... Eventually, we passed the town of Burnt Ranch, population 200-something, which was evidenced only by a biker bar with a bunch of beat up 4x4s and Harley's out front, then came upon this sign: We were desperate, so we pulled in. It was $8 for the night, and we needed to stop.. But there were no other campers to be seen (did they know something we didn't), it was only a half-mile from the seedy bar, and we were in bear country now. with no bear-boxes provided. The bears don't make me afraid for my personal safety, but just for the survival of my car. In many California campsites with bears, you can't even leave food in your car because the bears will break your windows to go after it--even tearing out the back seats to get into the trunk-- so many campgrounds provide heavy duty bear-proof food metal boxes at each site. Anyway, we needed to stop, so we set up camp. It was a fairly pretty and quiet site (we got our choice of all the sites...). After us, two more parties of campers pulled in after dark to set up their tents as well. Maybe seeing us already there made it seem less scary. At any rate, we had a delightful night and slept well. It was much quieter than our site at the dunes. Happy Independence Day!!!