Tuesday morning in Eureka was overcast and damp. The fog was heavy and I was glad to have a sweater on. After another adequate breakfast at a B&B (why can’t they get breakfast right?), we walked around the area. Our B&B was a replica of a heritage house. It was in an area with real Queen Anne beauties. First we looked at the Carson House. It is for sale for a little over a million dollars. Across the street is the original Carson Mansion. Carson House was built by the Carsons for one of their sons. It was painted pink during its renovation some years back to make it stand out from all the other older houses in the area. The Carson Mansion is now a private club.

   
  
The drive up the coast was rather boring. The sea fog had rolled in and obscured the view. Sometimes we would rise up in elevation to see the bright blue sky and tall green trees but as we dropped down again the fog would shroud the treetops and mute the landscape colours.  As we drove further and the sun had more time to burn off the fog, our views improved. We passed into Oregon around noon and the sea fog was gone. We came across a great spot and we had to stop. First we just took pictures and then we clambered down the bank onto the beach. I kicked off my shoes as soon as the grass of the bank gave way to sand. It felt wonderfully warm on my feet. However, several steps later I belatedly remembered how much solar energy dark sand can hold! I threw my shoes down and got into them as quickly as I could! Of course the sand was cooler down by the water so I took them off again and let the waves tickle my toes. We stood there, taking pictures and enjoying the view for about twenty minutes then we retraced out steps back to the car and continued on.

  
We took the top down and enjoyed the sunshine for the rest of our time on the Oregon Coast Highway. We stopped for a wonderful lunch at Barnacle Bistro in Gold Beach. After lunch we noticed that the highway often veered away from the ocean. The winds picked up and clouds rolled back in. The temperature dropped to 15 C, so we turned east and headed back to the I-5. As we got further inland, the weather got better. We discussed a route through Salem but ended up going further north to get onto the interstate without driving through city traffic. We were both tired and thirsty but we had used all of our cash for lunch. So we drove on, looking at the accommodation listings on the freeway exit signs. After taking an exit we found a cash machine and remedied the cashless situation. We then checked into the Best Western. Dale made a convenience store run and we were set for the night. 

Road trip rule: make sure you always have cash because cash machines are hard to find when you really need them.  And a bonus road trip rule: when you are irritated with your road trip buddy (and chances are if you’re irritated he is too), don’t stay in the car stewing in your respective juices. Get out of the car and go for a walk. Repeat as often as needed.