Airstream Time

Monday, August 7, 2017

I had to go back to Grant’s Pass to get an awning wheel I lost and had shipped. This is the third time I have driven this road and it is just as good the third time. From west to east, you start in the Redwood National Park. The drive is through magnificent trees right on the edge of the road. You quickly pass Jedediah Smith State Recreation Area. I would stop there and walk the trail through it on the way back. It is an incredible stand of Redwoods that is on the Smith River. People were swimming, floating and kayaking in the river all through the park. It has a beautiful campground amongst the trees and by the river. What more can you ask for?

I stopped several times to take pictures of the Smith River. Oregon is a wonderful place for kayaks. They call it the Wild River Coast, and it is. I was taking pictures at one pull-over and looked down to see loads of ripe blackberries. I quickly filled a water bottle.

I ordered the awning wheel at the same time as the burned out plug, but it was backordered. I took the unhappy, busy postmen a bag of Danish. A new man put the bag aside and said “OK”. He would probably get the bomb-sniffing dogs out later. If this post office is any indication of the USPS, it is in big trouble. Anyway, I was happy to finally get the wheel.

I stopped at a nice store, Gooseberries, to get a few things and headed back west. There are two areas of road construction on this very busy, beautiful route. One area goes through the Smith River gorge. It is curvy and on the edge of a steep mountain. I was happier going this direction without the Airstream as I was driving on the mountain side. Going east you are on the straight drop-off, river side. When you are not in a hurry, the construction stops just give you time to enjoy the scenery.

A walk was just what I needed at the Jedediah Smith Recreation area. Old Jedediah would be amazed at the changes in just 150 years. I have enjoyed my stay here, but will move up the coast tomorrow. I will miss this little drive up Winchuck River Road. I have seen three elk right in the road and three deer. Those elk are so big! As soon as they see the car, they scramble to get out of there with feet sliding on the pavement. Two of them hopped a barbed wire fence not as gracefully as a deer, but still it seemed effortless. Then they stopped in the cattle field, turned sideways and looked back at me. If I were a hunter, it would have been a perfect shot. Hope I see another one on the way out.