ON VACATION

 Darrell and I left early this morning, heading south.  The ultimate goal is Pasadena California.  But, there will be lots to see and do on the way there and back.  Our original plan was to stop at Fort Vancouver on the way down, but since we left so early we decided to pass it by this time, get it on the way back, and head straight to the Oregon Caves, about 460 miles, 7+ hours of driving.

We arrived about 3pm in Cave Junction, stopping at the Visitors Center there in town, then headed up the windy road to the park.  When we go there we walked up to the Visitor Center and got another stamp in my NPS  Passport.  Neither of us was not interested in going into the cave (I'm a bit claustrophobic) so we walked around a bit.  I sat down to sketch the lodge, but discovered I'd left my sketchbook in the pickup.  So, I took a photo and made some notes and sketched the Visitors Center later.

This is the 1924 Chateau, which is closed for now, awaiting funds for much needed repairs and upgrades.  It sits atop the large stream coming down off the mountain side.

The opening for the guided cave walk.m

They let us walk a short way into the cave.  The temperature dropped significantly to about 40 degrees.  Brrr.  

We walked up the hillside on a very nice trail.  Since it was late in the day we didn't go very far and we had a ways to go yet.

So off we went, hoping to make it to Crescent City for the night.  It was another 69 miles, a bit over an hour and a half.  Since it was the beginning of Memorial Weekend the hotel prices were sky-high with most places being pretty well booked up.  We ended up in a horrible hotel called Front Street Motel, right on the main drag.  I now wish we had paid the extra $100 to stay in a nicer place.  This place was scary icky and smelly.  Yuck.

We did manage to find a good Thai restaurant for dinner though, The Kin Khao Thai Eatery.  Good food, very busy, too.