It was a lovely sleep in the cabin in the woods, mostly. Chris woke up in the middle of the night, disoriented as to where the bedroom door was located. Our room was pitch black. I fumbled to find my phone, knocking my blistex on the floor, and was finally able to turn on my phone for a little bit of light. Chris made his way out of the room to the bathroom, and then I followed. Unfortunately my phone light turned off by the time I returned, and I had to feel my way back to my side of the bed. The cabin could have benefited from a nightlight or two. Perhaps I will need to add one to my packing list.
We packed up the cabin to spend a day in the Redwoods at Prairie Creek State Park. It was a beautiful area frequented by elk. We even saw a couple elk as we drove into the park. We started off on a hike, taking the Cathedral Trees Trail.
Six miles and three hours later, after going uphill, downhill, over trees, under trees, and through the Rhododendron Valley, we finally passed the Cathedral Trees Trail sign again. Turns out, it was the “strenuous” hike. Yep, we can attest to that. There was lots of hiking. Some whining.
In our walking, we even passed a work group of men from the prison, working to clear fallen trees from the road.
After gratefully sinking into the seats of the car, we drove on toward Gold Beach in Oregon. We stopped in Brookings for groceries at Fred Meyer’s and were then pleasantly surprised by the lovely airbnb Chris and I had picked. It was a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom townhome next to the beach. Not right on the beach, but close enough to have a small view of the crashing waves between two homes in front of us.
We made pasta, corn, and salad for dinner with a little ice cream for dessert. It was a pleasant evening followed by a walk on the beach at sunset.
It was nice to spread out and relax for a couple of days instead of having to pack up every night and move on to a new place.