Pacific Northwest Family Summer Vacation - Day 6 - Gold Beach, Jerry's Rogue Jets & First Look at Redwoods

Day 6 - Jerry's Rogue Jet Boats

It was an amazing day on the Rogue River. We saw Osprey fishing for Chinook salmon while blue heron skim majestically along the sparkling waters. The Rogue River is the embodiment of the Oregon dream lifestyle. We passed Tu Tu' Tun Lodge, one of the highest rated lodges in all of America. We saw 2 bald eagles and even an osprey fishing in the water and coming up with fish. There were hundreds of boats out fishing near the mouth of the river fishing for salmon. 32 miles up river, we stopped for lunch in a little river town community and played in the water. I can’t say enough good things about this 80 mile 5 hour boat tour. It was exciting for everyone and Addie said it was her favorite thing we did.

Afterwards, in the parking lot, in good road trip etiquette, Blake helped a family jump start their van and we got on the road and headed just north of Brookings to the stunning Boardman State Park, which is a 12 mile coorodor of Highway 101 with 6-8 viewpoints and hikes. It was a completely blue sky, warm sunny day at 65 degrees. So unbelievably perfect weather.

Then suddenly, without even realizing where we were, we made it to California! 

Just over the border east of Crecent City was Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. It was already after 5PM when we arrived but we knew we had to find Stout Grove Trail. Even before we were in the park, the road was literally lined with gigantic redwoods up to the pavement. Wow.... it felt like we were visiting a real life fairytale. I've never seen trees like this, with several of the trees had fallen down and you could see their massive roots. The kids could have easily stayed and played in that grove of redwoods for 8 hours. Around 6:30, we were able to persuade them to leave probably just because they were starving!

We ate in Crescent City at a yummy hole in the wall taco shop.

Then, we drove this section of Highway 101 called Redwood Highway - probably the coolest drive in America! Blake said he was "feeling it" in the rented Ford Flex, the large silver box on wheels! 

The smoke from the nearby fires suddenly appeared as the sun was starting to go down and it was shocking. Driving through some of the dilapidated towns, the smoke made it feel like we were in a horror movie... pretty eerie.

We stayed in a Hampton Inn, in Eureka, California for the night.