Finding America

Grabbed a delicious breakfast burrito at the Aztec grill in the Exxon Station this morning and began our drive under gloomy skies. Oh also I had the best cup of convenience store coffee ever. One thing the northwest does well without compare is coffee and beer. I guess you have to be good at something after all and that is their gift.

We drove south along the 101 until we came to the northern end of the Avenue of the Giants. This former stagecoach route has been maintained through the years and is one of the only drives of its kind. Surrounded by ancient redwoods this avenue is a really special place.

We took a little hike in the forests here and also down to the Eel river to skip some stones. Check out the video.

Driving down the road we passed a small sign marketing Hobbiton USA. What……We have a Hobbiton. Heck yeah you know we’re stopping to see the hobbits and other Tolkien lore. What there is also a Living Chimney Tree – no way – what an amazing stop. We didn’t even plan on this and now we are about to uncover one of the Lost Coasts most impressive attractions.

After our disappointing stop at Hobbiton we continued down the avenue and back on the 101. Not far down the road we found the road that would take us to Shelter Cove. This tiny fishing village lies by itself, isolated on the Lost Coast with only one road in and out. It does have its own landing strip in the middle of town, since, as we would soon learn, the road to Shelter Cove is a nail-biter.

Talk about the town the country has forgotten. This place feels so remote and the oppressive weather didn’t help. There was only one deli open for lunch and nary soul to be seen around town. We had a bite to eat and then toured the rocky coastline here spotting some sea lions and a refurbished lighthouse.

We braved the Shelter Cove road again and drove back to Eureka. We stopped off at Kodi to take a nap and then drove a few miles north to Arcata. Arcata feels a lot like Eureka without being on the water. Plenty of hippies and breweries. We walked through a nice CoOp grocery which felt a lot like Whole Foods and then had a few pints at Humbolt Brewing.

We headed home and put some dinner together and cleaned up a bit to prepare for our departure north tomorrow.