Trip Report: 20060731
We had a truely awesome night at the Albion River Inn. The room was great, the view was great, the food was great and they had an excellent wine selection. Sadly, I availed myself of that selection and was somewhat hung over the next morning, but other than that, things were fine. The plan was to leave relatively early and head to Crescent City. Due to a variety of factors, including late breakfast reservations at the restaurant, we did not leave until 1100. The drive was uneventful, but the scenery was off the chart. The photos below are what we saw.
View from the breakfast area at the Albion River Inn. The odd color cast is due to my polarizing filter accidentally left on from the previous afternoon.
The hotel had a great viewing area for the bay.
One of the creeks that highway 1 crosses on the path north.
The gold of the dry grass, the blue of the sky and ocean and the green vegetation make for colorful contrast in a photo.
As we were driving north, we frequently went through "tunnels" of trees. This shot was taken by Kathleen while driving (not recommended for home users).
I worked hard for these photos. Here we are at a road side turnout and I was shooting the coastline.
And here is the coastline that I was shooting. Highway 1 is visible on the right.
Highway 1 had construction. So did 101. Here you can see the cliff under repair. Note the wire mesh that is used to prevent rocks from falling on the traffic. The road work did add substantial time to the travel, but in the end it was little more than an inconvenience.
As we got closer to Crescent City, we took a road-side turn out. This lake was right next to 101.
Further down the road, we stopped at a view point. The clouds were coming in. Here is a view of the cliffs above the road.
At the stop, I saw some thistles that were blooming and went to investigate. As I got closer, I saw this bee at work. As Disney would say "thistle while you work".
Many of the turnouts had views of beaches. This one had brave folks in the water.
An overlook of Crescent City.
We got a hotel on the beach in Crescent City. I went to investigate and came upon a huge sea of drift wood that was left by a combination of high tides and wave action. In the distance is the point that produced the previous photo.
Highway 1 north of San Francisco has to be one of the best drives around. The road is twisty which is great for our cars, although not so good for a motor home. The views were tremendous. We had a great time at the Albion River Inn and would strongly recommend it to anyone passing through thet area. One thing that I would suggest (which we did not do) is to check with the locals before driving the road. They will know about road closures and that information may save you a ton of hassle when traveling.
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