Cruising the Lost Coast...

For my friend, Susan's birthday...I told her that I would take a drive with her up to her cabin/tiny house.  The reason it is a big deal???  I am pretty terrified of this drive...it is an act of endurance, being that a lot of the time you have to stop because there is only one lane, every once in a while there is a sheer cliff on one side, the road it kinda like swiss cheese...and the worst part...I get really car sick...and this road is conducive to barfing!!!  We loaded up a picnic lunch and headed out...I had my game face on!

Susan's cabin is in Capetown, about 15 miles outside of Ferndale.

 Once you get to the top (I think Susan said we were near Bunker Hill), you feel like you are on top of the world.  Cows grazing in the sunshine, but the fog seems ever present in the background.

This is the view from Susan's porch...I have only been out here a few times...but I can tell you it is in my top ten "happy places", you can hear the wind before you feel it, the birds practically put on a concert with their songs...you cannot see cars or hear them...all you hear is nature.  Peaceful is not adequate enough to describe the serenity.

Once you leave Susan's and head south a little, you come to the real "Lost Coast"...a short stretch of road that feels just feet from this huge vast ocean...it is off the beaten tourist path, so you feel like you have it all to yourself.  I took a bunch of pictures, it was so pretty.

Since I was not driving, I got to take in all the scenery.  I loved it.  I felt like I took for granted the beauty of the area we live in...because it is crazy beautiful here!  We stopped to eat our picnic along the Mattole River.  Bright red dragonflies, tadpoles and other tiny river creatures kept us pretty enthralled...if we had lawn chairs and a book with us, I am pretty sure we would still be there.

 It's pretty accurate to say that I do not like bridges very much....this one is right up there with the bridge in Astoria, Oregon, on my scary bridge scale!

The last little bit of the drive before it leads us back onto 101, was through a grove of Redwoods, I believe this is the Rockefeller Forest (Humboldt Redwoods State Park)...I wish this picture could capture how small I felt as we slowly drove through...it was incredible.  Its easy to forget we have these amazing trees in our backyard.

It was a perfect day...a hundred mile circle that took us at least 6 hours...not once did I barf though!!  I felt a little queasy, but I did it!  My next long car ride will lead me to another happy place...it will lead me home!!