December 18 - Red House


Arrive with Harriet at the Netarts, OR,


beach house late,


after a semi-perilous, fairly cloudy-rainy journey (though now, voila, the moon shines brightly),


to


greet


the even-later-arriving Claire, Tom,


Tisha, and


Aubrey --


beginning our (pre-)Christmas 2018 celebration together.


Weather-wise,


the day begins promisingly enough,


but


is


almost


immediately


overtaken by what first appears to be a


coastal marine layer,


turning quickly into bone fide precipitation,



which will be our on-and-off accompanist all the way through


Napa on


12, and


Sonoma, connecting with 101 north, petrolling up at Clover near


Redwood Mountain Ridge,


then into Mendocino,


past Frog Woman (formerly Squaw / Lover's Leap) Rock,


through


Hopland,


over Rattlesnake Summit


to


South Fork Eel River near Piercy.


Now in Humbolt at


Richardson Grove,


downstream to


Benbow,


more supplies at


Garberville,


followed by Avenue of the Giants,


Scotia and


Rio


Del,


the


Bay,


Eureka / Arcata,


Trinidad,


Stone


and


Freshwater Lagoons,


Orick,


elk at


Prairie Creek Redwoods.


Del Norte,


over the Klamath,


against


the


Pacific,


Crescent City into


Smith River


for another


stop


before the


Oregon border,


where the sun makes a welcome re-appearance.


The reasonable coastal weather of the day continues from Brooks,


along


the


rocky


way


to


Gold


Beach,


over


the


Rogue


River,


beyond


where


Sol


sets


during the


transit


from


Humbug


Mountain


to


Port Orford. 


Night, and eventually


Tillamook / Netarts, on the 38th day of fall -- high 61, sunny, and no rain whatsover back home: Smith River, 56; Oregon beach residence, 55...