Newport to Crescent City, CA

Yes, folks, we're back in California!

We sadly left Newport. On the way out of town, we stopped for gas. They still have only full serve in Oregon; no self serve! The gas station attendant gave me a lecture on the evils of self-serve. Apparently, many kids used to get their first real jobs pumping gas, but now they can't do that. And of course we complain about unemployment, but self-serve takes hundreds of thousands of jobs away. He was quite passionate about the whole issue, and who's to say he's wrong? It sure is nice to have someone greet you politely, pump your gas, wash your windshield, and offer to check your oil.

We took 101 south along the coast, and it's so beautiful! You can see a few places that are starting to be developed, but there's still plenty left untouched. I took a few pictures which you see here, but really, every time you go around another curve in the road, there's another beautiful scene laid out in front of you. And there are plenty of friendly little towns along the route, so you feel uncrowded, but not isolated.

The only thing I noticed was that there seems to be lots of clear-cutting going on. Every once in a while, you'll see whole hillsides where all the trees have been taken. It's not a pretty sight. I don't remember seeing as much of that last year when we came through here; and I read in the local paper here that the Bureau of Land Management wants to increase logging seven-fold.

I know there are probably good arguments on the side of clear-cutting, but I hate seeing it. It's so ugly, and I always wonder what happened to the animals who lived there, and I wonder what will happen to the soil, now that there's nothing to keep it from being eroded. Lulu doesn't like it either. Her question: "Where will the squirrels live now?"

But luckily, most of Oregon's trees are still standing, and they're lovely. The drive was a pleasure. We stopped for gas again in Brookings, which is just north of the California border. Gas goes up 30 cents when you cross into California, so lots of people fill up before they cross the border. And lo and behold, the gas station had a cat: Edna, a beautiful calico. She's lived there for about 10 years, and she watches all the activity with amused superiority. She doesn't like the paparrazzi, though: when I tried to take a picture of her, she turned her back and went behind a garbage can.

We crossed the border into California a few miles later and Lulu shouted, "Hooray! We're home!" I warned her that we're still miles from Los Angeles, and she said, "That's okay." I thought she'd be anxious to be home by now, but she likes the hotels and the new sights every day. She's quite the little vagabond. I told her we'd be seeing the redwoods tomorrow, and she said, "It will be a BIG day. Get it? BIG day?" Oh, brother! She's inherited Barry's sense of humor!