Eureka! We found the Pacific.

The foodies out there will not be impressed with our dietary adventures today. Breakfast included in the price of the room at the Grand Hotel in Salem was actually not bad -- porridge, cereal, scrambled eggs (although somewhat overcooked), sausages, lots of bread products, fresh fruit and yogurt and the usual tea, coffee and juice. I stuck to porridge, fresh fruit and a bagel. Off we went to check out the antique stores in Salem. Norm found postcards (surprise) and I had fun looking. So much stuff that we probably don't need. Today then saw us making our way to the coast. We headed down I-5 and had great fun listening to Nick Hornby's, "Juliet, Naked" about a reclusive American rock singer who hasn't written a song in 25 years, the Internet groupies who obsess over him and the (many) women (and children) in his life. We're hooked on the story. (Maureen: can we say we actually "read" the book?) Thank you GVPL Juan de Fuca branch. A great way to pass the time travelling. By the time we got to Roseburg and needed gas we also needed to use the laptop so McDonald's seemed like the best spot. I read that there are only 380 calories in the fries I ate. God knows what is in the chicken burger :( but it(sure tasted good. Anyone playing Monopoly, we have St. Charles -- it's yours. But we're keeping the one for free medium fries. It was an amazing 81 F. in Grants Pass.
Once we hit the ocean (note photo), we stretched our legs and saw the most beautiful sunset. Great to be back on the Pacific Ocean. We decided to push on to Eureka, California. Now it is past dinner hour and too late to find a restaurant so.......dinner is rice cakes with Holland's apple butter (very tasty), somewhat warm yogurt with muesli and a Toblerone. Not totally balanced, but I think we got a couple of food groups.
Norman's Notes and News: I like shopping as much as the next traveller, so we targeted Target in Keizer, Ore. Our goal: find the Maira Kalman-designed (spoiler alert: mothers of infants we know, skip to the next sentence) baby sleepers and onesies. You could Google her -- she makes lovely children's books, and some for grownups. Mary found some stylish black denims and a striped white and grey top, suitable for our next meal out in Napa in the next day or two. Photo promised.
Today was a long drive south through the Willamette Valley, kind of a really wide and much longer Fraser Valley. Lovely flat farmland, even sheep just like Metchosin. Then we hit the hills and mountains in the less-populated southern part of Oregon, which looks more like California, actually, with lots of oak trees and grassy meadows. The first arbutus (OK, they call them madrona) trees showed up along the South Umpqua River near Riddle, Ore., a long way inland. I thought they grew only a short distance from the ocean?
Some favourite names: town of Drain, Ore., and the Spores Bridge over the McKenzie River. The town of Scio was another catchy highway sign. Little did we know of the wonderful place names coming up in the southwestern corner of the Beaver State and the adjacent piece of California. (Did you know that Oregon's motto is She Flies With Her Own Wings?) Calapooya Creek was a good one and Jumpoff Joe Creek. Then it was a right turn at Grants Pass and down the Smith River Scenic Byway (slow to 20 in spots) into the Golden State. Amazing redwoods right beside the road.
Places and attractions we drove right by without stopping: Patrick Creek Lodge -- Food Booze Snooze; "Bowls Tables Clocks Slabs" near Crescent City, Calif. (flooded by the tsunami in 1964, no surprise for a town whose elevation above sea level is 29 feet); Trees of Mystery with the giant Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. They have Tsunami Lanes bowling alley right downtown in CC.
No inclination to drive into the wonderfully-named Holland, Ore. or Happy Camp, Calif. about 45 miles away. We're saving Honeydew and Hoopa too for a future California road trip. And Peanut.
Special for Katherine Marie: if all fails, there's a Kate's Bar & Grill on Highway 199 south of Grants Pass, not far from Eight Dollar Mountain. I bet they're open to offers.