More Patrick's Point

As I said before, Patrick's Point was our FAVORITE!!  We enjoyed every inch of this place.  I wish I could post even more pics than I already have!!  We hiked on beautiful fairy paths and stairs that led us out to big rock formations and the ocean.  It was misty, windy and gorgeous!

Morning at Patrick's Point

Waking up at Patrick's Point was like waking up in a fairyland.  It was unbelievably beautiful!!  We were in the middle of a thick forest with trees covered in moss.  We had already planned to have strawberries, yougurt, granola, and whipped cream for breakfast.  What was such a fun surprise was finding bushes full of blackberries in our campsite that we picked and added to our breakfast!!  We ate our breakfast in a moss-covered tree which was really fun.  The girls played around in their pj's for a while.

Camping at Patrick's Point in Humboldt county

After we crossed into the California border, we went to a little town called Trinidad.  We went into super-cute boutiques and had lunch at a delicious healthy cafe.  That night, we camped at Patrick's Point which is the most beautiful place we camped at of our whole trip.  If you ever get the chance to go here, you MUST!!  We popped some jiffy pop, roasted marshmallows, and made hot chocolate.  It was seriously dreamy.  We were again, in a thick forest, but bordering the beach.

Driving down the coast towards California

Today we proceeded down the coast towards California.  It was hard to leave Oregon, we stopped as much as possible.  We saw some of the most beautiful sights we have ever seen!  We hiked lots of beautiful "fairy trails" and ended up on dramatic cliffs over looking the ocean and amazing rock formations.  Seeing these breath-taking sights made me so grateful for our earth and our Lord's beautiful creations.  I felt his love for us, knowing he wanted to give us such beauty to enjoy.  I know I post A LOT of pictures, but I wanted to post even more from this day!!  We saw so many beautiful things.  We hated to leave Oregon!!  We felt tempted to never leave except for we know the rain would come and we So. Californians could never handle that!  Oh, how we loved this day!

The Botanical Gardens of Charleston

Just a bit south of the bay, there is a gorgeous botanical garden that is just a few yards from the beach.  We went out to the ocean and on our walk back towards the gardens, we found this cute little red toadstool.  It looked like it should be the home of a little gnome!  We loved walking around the gardens--very inspiring.

Charleston--the Bay!

We then went to hang out in the beautiful bay in Charleston.  It was gorgeous.  As I've said before, I love where the forest meets the ocean!!  The girls are standing on top of some roots where a redwood stood.  Now they are covered in moss and scratchy barnacles.  We had a great time playing and swimming here.  It was a little chilly but sunny too. 

Charleston--Sea Lions!!

We ended up in Charleston, near Coos Bay for the afternoon and evening.  First, we went to see a million sea lions!  If you click on the second picture, you'll see that the island is basically covered with them!  Among them was one elephant seal, but we could only see him through the telescope!

Camping at Honeyman campground

We spent the night at a campground a little south of Florence.  It was a WONDERFUL place!!  It had a lake where we paddle boated and the girls swam.  There was beautiful forest and sand dunes.  They even had a little lodge where we could buy snacks--hot dogs and ice cream.  We had a GREAT time here.  Everyone told us that we were there for the best weather they had had all year--hot and sunny!  I guess we brought the So. Cal weather with us!

Florence, Oregon

We finished our day by strolling around Florence.  Florence is the town directly west of Eugene and it is adorable.  We went to a really cute ice cream shop and every time Ceci wanted a bite, she would open her mouth wide.  We call her "hippo mouth" because she does this.  Once, we went to the zoo and we saw the hippo, leaning against the wall with her mouth WIDE open and we wondered what the heck?  About 10 minutes later, we saw a team of people with buckets of food come up to her and just start throwing food in her mouth.  It was hilarious!  Then we understood why she was hanging out with her mouth wide open--it was feeding time.  I guess Ceci has the same idea.

A little hike over looking the Devil's Churn

What a BREATHTAKING VIEW.  Do the pictures capture it the way we saw it?  I hope so.  After wandering around the Devil's churn, we took a drive way up the mountain and found a gorgeous viewpoint.  We could see for 4o miles north and 40 miles south.  The girls LOVED hiking around in the trees and moss looking for fairies.  

Cape Perpetua--The Devil's Churn

The Devils Churn was possibly the coolest and most beautiful of God's creations that we saw on our trip.  We were driving through lush beautiful forest and then we saw this amazing view and had to pull over to check it out.  We looked over the cliff, and this is what we saw.  We walked through a little "fairy path" of trees and then down lots of stairs.  We ended up at the jagged rocks where the waves crash in churning motions.  Its amazing.  We hiked around and saw some great things in the tide pools.  I picked up a shell to find it had a little inhabitant.  The wind was blowing and the waves were crashing. (Click on the picture with the wave--we're in it!)  The forest was thick behind us.  I don't know if the pictures capture the majesty.  This place is amazing.