Gold Beach, Oregon - Prehistoric Gardens - Port Orford, Oregon

Gold Beach, Oregon - Port Orford, Oregon and "Prehistoric Gardens"

Prehistoric Gardens

Martha and I continue to work our way up to the state of Washington. Looking for things to do we found Prehistoric Gardens. Before you say the words "tourist trap," well, yes it is. It's been on the side of the road pulling in tourists since the 1950's.  However, it is a fun tourist trap and one that is very informative.  Adults pay $12, Senior $10 and Kids $5. Yes it's somewhat pricey but your kids will love the place and it is set in a beautiful coastal rain forest. Give it a try. It gets high reviews on Yelp, Trip Advisor and Roadside America.  Each display has factual information about each of the dinosaur sculptures. It's quite an education. There are a lot more displays than what I have shown below. It is a great way to kill a half an hour and be entertained at the same time.

This sign right here convinced solar-powered Martha that she did not want to live in the Oregon rain forest between November and March:

A big part of our West Coast tour is to finally see the coast of Oregon. It does not disappoint. Every time that you feel the next scenic view cannot possibly top the last, you are proven wrong.  After visiting Prehistoric Gardens we continued up the coast to Port Orford, Oregon. These are some of the sights we saw along the way.

Port Orford

Battle Rock

Gold Beach

The beach at Gold Beach was littered with rocks rather than the usual shells that you find, and the sand was a gray/black rather than white, so it got hot quickly even in the 60 and 70 degree temperatures:

And there was plenty of driftwood:

The beach was not only dog friendly, but horse friendly:

We were lucky enough to experience one colorful sunset before the fog rolled in for the rest of our stay:

A little up the coast from our RV park was a jetty that created some great waves for surfers.  We went there to watch both surfers and sea lions play in the waves:

Below is Gold Beach's historic bridge:

Random thoughts about driving 101 up the coast of Oregon

Traveling North on US 101 in the Beast

US 101 is the "main drag" that takes you up the coast of Oregon.  It is all we've seen of Oregon this trip, and the driving has been both hair-raising and fun (and that's just from my viewpoint as the navigator).

First of all, "Oh, Wow!" is a common phrase in our driving as we come around a curve and see this:

or this

 or even this

101 is also a bicycle route, and you often see bikes on the shoulders.  It's hard to describe the terror you feel when you're riding in a giant RV, go around  a curve, and there's a bicycle on the shoulder coming toward you and a semi truck coming up in the lane toward you, trying to avoid the bicycle rider.  Glad both Chuck and the semi driver were good at what they do.  

Other things we've noticed:

Upon arriving in Oregon, the first sign we saw said "Got Weed?"  and pointed to a cannabis dispensary.  Not something we've seen every day. 

We've had more drivers turn in front of us or cut us off on this road than anywhere else.  Don't they realize that a 40,000 pound RV could hurt them?  Maybe they got some weed.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

Oregon road signs are apparently designed to use as few words as possible.  Instead of "speed limit" signs, their signs say SPEED 40.  If they really want you to pay attention, they use a bigger sign.  If they really, really want you to pay attention, they use a bigger sign and a radar display showing you how fast you are going.  If they really, really, really want you to pay attention, there's a police car next to the radar display.  People tend to travel at the speed limit.

When they have a curve speed limit, they mean it!  There were some tight, tight curves.

Other signs we've seen: "ROCKS,"  "TRUCKS," "SLIDES," "ELK," "CONGESTION."  Often, they skip the words altogether and just put a graphic in for you to figure out for yourself.

We do love that the signs for the state park campgrounds have "VACANCY" or "CAMPGROUND FULL" signs.  

In the towns we drove through, the stoplights appeared to be timed so that the tourist traffic would have to stop at each and every light through town.  Then the pedestrians wandered through the stopped traffic instead of crossing at the crosswalks.  

There is so much beauty and so many cute little towns, I could spend every summer here for several years and never see it all.

Eureka California - Trinidad California - Gold Beach Oregon - Lots of Photos!

Eureka, California - Trinidad, California - Gold Beach, Oregon

Redwoods National Park the "Big Tree"

As Martha and I progress up the left coast towards Orcas Island we've found that all of the things you always see, read and hear about Highway 101 are true. It is curvy, steep and stunningly beautiful and of course it's also construction season along the coast highway. But so far our 40' diesel pusher aka: 'The Beast" has chugged up and down the 7% grades admirably. We stayed at Shoreline RV Park in Eureka and Ireland's RV Park in Gold Beach (reviews below).

Eureka, California is a small and very eclectic city. It is also the home of a large population of homeless persons. That said, it is still a good place to visit. We stayed at Shoreline RV Park which is located near the northern edge of town right on Highway 101. While in Eureka we took excursions to Redwoods National Park, Moonstone Beach and Samoa Beach.

Redwoods National Park is a wild coastal area where the temperatures in the redwood forest range from 40 to 60 degrees F all year. Winters are occasionally frosty and snow is not uncommon. In warmer months, fog is naturally drawn inland from over the Pacific and drips through the dense canopy making the forest a green lush place.

You will find reviews for our campground stays at the bottom of this blog. Also, you can see reviews of all of the places we've stayed in the right hand column under "Campgrounds;"

Redwoods National Forest

On the way home to Shoreline RV Park we noticed some Elk and their young in an open field

Our next excursion took us to Moonstone Beach. It is a beautiful place

Trinidad Beach, California

As we've progressed up the coast the temperatures have gotten lower. We are now at Ireland's RV Park in Gold Beach, Oregon. We are truly seeing the effect that the Pacific has on the coastline as we move north. Our top temperatures here have been in the mid 60's with lots of early and late fog. The shoreline is no less spectacular but it's certainly grayer than we are used to after two months of sunshine in the desert.

The fog can be quite heavy and when it rolls in cold winds and blustery mist come with it. The Pacific can get quite angry at times.

Then just like that. You get days like this.

Our RV is the second one back in the middle row

Shoreline RV Park - Eureka, California - RATING- 4.0/5

WIFI - Yes

AT&T - Yes, 4 bars

VERIZON - Yes, 4 Bars

COST - $42-46 for 30 Amp sites, $47-55 for 50 Amp sites Nightly; discounts available for RV club members, Vets, Seniors, AAA, AARP, etc.  

SERVICES - FHU's, cable, laundry, clean bathroom and showers. Dumpster on site

REVIEW - Long Pull through sites that can accommodate a 40' coach with a toad attached. Well maintained, owner is proactive and cares what happens in the park. The staff is friendly. Sites are somewhat close to one another but otherwise a great private campground. Very clean place. 

Our Site was #42

Ireland's RV Park - Gold Beach, Oregon - Rating - 3.5/5

WIFI - Yes, but weak

AT&T - Yes, 4 bars

VERIZON - Yes, 5 bars

COSTS - $40 Nightly

SERVICES - FHU's, Trash dumpster, Laundry, Showers, Bathrooms, Cable but very fuzzy.

REVIEW - Kind of hard to spot from the highway with a smallish "Rv Park" sign on the west side of the highway. We were somewhat apprehensive given the reviews but this park is OK. It needs better maintenance as the cable needs servicing, the water spigots drip a bit and the sewer hook up will require you to have at least 20' of sewer hose.  The lawn maintenance could be better but all in all it  works and is literally 200' from the beach which negates all of the other stuff in our opinion.  The owners have made good strides to bringing this park up to standards. 

Our site was #22