It's Day 131...it's also 9/14/2019 and we are in Coos Bay Oregon.

It's Day 131...it's also 9/14/2019 and we are in Coos Bay Oregon.

It's Fall in Oregon.....

While in general, we're headed south and looking forward to exploring new parts of the country....minus winter....

But There's no hurry to leave the Oregon coast this time of year. The blending of breezy, sunny afternoons with chilly evenings....and waking up to misty mornings draped in a thick marine layer.....walks on the beach....checking out the Oregon Dunes.....while another breezy, sunny afternoon unfolds in front of us.....great place to read and learn...all the while....exploring and absorbing the beauty around us.

We'd spend nearly a month in Oregon this time. More time in the Umpqua Valley....then over to the coast.....reminiscing in Coos Bay....Florence and the Oregon Dunes.....then discovering a place called Port Orford Oregon learning more detail around the Modoc War as we crossed into California and spent a rainy night on the beach in Orik...

I started the morning a little differently today....by listening to the "news".....something I hadn't done since heading out on this adventure....I'd learn that....

Hundreds of thousands across the planet are staging massive marches in an effort to force the governments of the world to face, and take action against climate change.

At the same time...a tropical depression dropped some 40" of rain on the Houston Texas area over 3 days... resulting in one of the worst freshwater floods in US History...blamed on climate change

The red cross has chimed in stating that nearly two million humans every week are in need of humanitarian relief across the planet as the result of climate change induced storms.

Another report would tell me that across the United States and Canada.....the bird population has taken a hit of nearly 3 Billion since the 1970's....and again....the cause..... Climate Change.....

In just 3 minutes or so of listening....I had quickly been reminded of why I had told myself....some 6 months ago....that I would end my two decade habit of starting each day by listening to the "news"

I hadn't told myself this because I was choosing to be uninformed......I had made the decision because I had grown frustrated with how much work I had to put into to get the "news". And by "news" I mean...the facts. Over time I had determined that each time I turned on the TV....and went about my morning routine.....while the Today Show....or Good morning America told me what was happening in the world.....what I was listening to was not what felt like....was....the n...but instead.....a curated playlist....the things that a group of producers had decided I needed to know....and not there is anything wrong with that.....can't imagine how one would pick the top ten things to report on in a limited amount of time......what I had begun to have issue with.....was that the curated playlist I was listening to...had been put together for the sake of an advertising dollar. I remembered that week that I had spent setting the Tivo box to record three morning shows....so that I could go back through and study the two hour broadcasts up close. When I learned that in two hours....I had been presented the same 5 or six news stories in varying degree's of detail....all of which accounted for some 17 or 18 minutes of each hour. The rest of my time...the other 42 minutes of my time in each of those hours....I was handed over to the advertisers to convince me in the 30 or 40 second spots why I should buy their car....finance my home with their company....or why I absolutely had to be on Lipitor so I could control my cholesterol and throw a few more dollars into the some 52 billion dollars a company called Pfizer will generate this year.

Whatever was left of that 42 minutes I got to listen to some high profile individual sell me their book.....their latest album...or tell me all about how great their upcoming movie is gonna be and why I should go watch it.

I remembered wondering at the time.....when the news stopped being the news.....and when it became entertainment....and a business..... big business......and as the consumer of news......I was just picking my preferred form of entertainment when I chose a news channel.

Listening to that 3 or 4 minutes this morning ...... I nearly immediately fell into old habits.....I quickly typed another couple of searches into the internet as was reminded....

That in those 3 or 4 minutes this morning I had heard

Climate Change

Climate Change

Climate Change

What I had heard nothing about were just a few other facts.....

Like the fact that war continues to plague the planet.....The conflict in Afghanistan and the Mexican Drug Wars alone will result in nearly 80 thousand fatalities in 2019.

Or that hundreds of thousands of folks continue to cross the Mexican border into the US each year documented....while over 800,000 will be apprehended for attempts at illegal entry .......

But no mention of these things this morning. Now maybe had I stayed tuned in a bit longer.....they might have gotten to it....but some how I feel like what they would have gotten to first.....was selling me a car.....or a book.....maybe even mentioning that Ed Sheeran had sold out another venue....and maybe even treat me to Ed playin me a song out on the plaza....for free....or was it....free?

hmmm.....so incredibly complex......I get it......what's right.....whats wrong......or is there even a right and wrong. Which is exactly why I think I started to pull away from this mainstream form of news.....left tells me one thing....the right tells me another...... Realizing how hard it has become.....how hard I have to work to get the news I want......realizing that we now live in a world in which nearly everything we are told, or read... has to be fact checked.....It's exhausting.....being informed.....in a world in which nearly anyone is allowed to say...whatever they want....with almost no accountability to the truth....and the fact that we have a president today that examples that on a daily basis.....should probably alarm me more than it does.

But I'm also realizing......that ignorance.....or simply tuning out....disengaging....well that's not the answer either. I'll find balance in it all I spose....I feel like just knowing that if I tune into fox news....or CNN.....or even listen to a president tell me the state of things.....that what I am really listening to is commentary....rhetoric....spin......and that when I want facts.....and balance.....I'll listen, watch or read.....elsewhere. And I think most importantly.....I'll build into this adventure of mine interacting with.....and listening to....other Americans. We are all never going to think, feel, and believe the same....that's what makes us Americans.....but I know for sure that if I don't listen to those others belief's, thoughts, and feelings....I'll certainly never .....understand them.

So after a brief relapse into the "news".....and breakfast.......Dougie and I would head out for a morning walk....and a deeper understanding.....of this Oregon Coast.

I've shared in multiple episodes how much I love this place.....the beauty of it.....the ruggedness of it.....the sheer force of the Pacific Ocean. I come with a new perspective this trip. Having recently experiencing the wide open wilderness of places like Colorado......Utah......Wyoming.....and Montana......I'm back here viewing the Oregon coast as the true wilderness it is. A very different kind of wildnerness....but wilderness none the less. Looking out over the Pacific Ocean....and realizing that I am indeed looking out over the waves.....that will not touch another piece of land for thousands of miles once it leaves here. And at the same time wondering what shore todays waves had touched....before returning here to these rocky cliff's. And this time....I wanted to understand how this scenery came to be....and when.

The first thing I would read about would be the Pacific Ring of Fire. I'll let the folks over on the YouTube Channel..."Science in a hurry" provide a way better telling than I......

Insert video

Looking at all this, and imagining the millions of years of tectonic shifts, volcanoes and earthquakes that led to what we look at today.....and wondering how things will continue to shift and change ...... and what they might look like in another few million years.....and then out into this Pacific Ocean.....the largest body of water on the planet. The body of water that is surrounded on three sides by a ring of fire.....and wondering.....how did oceans....happen.....

On planet born some 4.5 billion years ago.....some 4.1 billion years before inhabited by any form of human....I guess you'll have to pick which version of creation you believe. Was it millions of years of volcanic activity releasing steam into the atmosphere that resulted in rains that lasted thousands of years and filling the lower elevations with massive bodies of water that would come to cover some 70 percent of the earths surface...and explaining why the earth looks blue when viewed from space. Or was it thousands of years in which huge asteroids and comets filled with water smashing into the earth simultaneously creating a massive crater....and filling it with water......or was it a combination of both? Or.....was it none of this...

Was it as simple as stated in Genesis 1......when a god uttered the words......"let there be light" and began the 7 days of creation that resulted in what we look at today......

I'll just be grateful for having the opportunity to take it all in.....regardless of how it came to be.

Leaving the area headed south....we'd drive through the 170 year old city of Coos Bay that some 17 thousand folks call home. Reading of the area I'd learn that its history doesn't stray much from any other community in the pacific northwest.....a rich history....rich in native American culture....as well as how it became a part of the American Northwest. The name Coos....would be derived from native American language and applied to the bay by early explorers. The town of Coos Bay was incorporated in 1874 under the name Marshfield...after the hometown in Massachusetts of the city's founder. In 1944...residents in the area would vote to rename the town Coos Bay....after the bay it sits on.

Today....the town....and region in general is known for it's natural beauty, and countless opportunities for outdoor adventure. Which likely explains why nearly 300 million dollars are spent by visitors each year to the Coos Bay area.

Passing by Sea Lion caves and into Florence...and the Oregon Dunes....I was reminiscing again. Remembering how some 30 or so years back I would come to the coast with friends to explore. Almost every time....it was Florence....and the Dunes. Surprisingly....not much has changed here in Florence over the past 30 years. Population is up by a couple thousand to the nearly 10k it is today. But it still goes by the moniker....Oregon's Coastal Playground....

The sea lion caves is still pulling in some 200k tourists each year....folks come from all over the world to marvel at some of natures best work......some 25 million years in the making. Sea Lion caves is a system of connected sea caves and caverns that open into the Pacific Ocean. The largest sea cave, is over 12 stories high....and as wide as a football field. These caves serve as a year round home to a large colony of Steller sea lions...and are also a designated wildlife and bird sanctuary...and the caves have been accessible to the public since 1932. Beyond the natural, and unique beauty of the space...the real gem here is the rare opportunity to witness marine life in it's natural habitat.....whether it be sleeping within the caves and caverns.....or basking in the sun out on the rocks peaking from the depths of the pacific ocean.

And just 55 miles down the road from Sea Lion caves....you find another Oregon treasure....the Oregon Dunes national recreation area.

Ahh.....the Dunes......now admittedly...there is a lot to love about Oregon......take from a guy that lived here.....but of it all....one of my most very favorites will always be ...... the Oregon Dunes.

First....there's the fascination....and natural wonder of it all.....a 40 mile stretch of Oregon's coast.....or a 32 some thousand acre piece of the universe in which that universe would take a different path. While tectonic shifts, earthquakes and volcanoes were reshaping the coast and leaving us rocky cliffs and jagged shorelines lined with caverns .....here......in the dunes......about a 100 thousand years ago....a piece of earth would be picked out of it all....a place where the unstoppable forces of the ocean, wind, rain, and rivers....would work their magic to leave us what we see today...a wide open space that offers an incredible array of eco systems. You can find forests, wetlands, waterfalls, and an abundance of wildlife species.....and of course....the sand dunes. The largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America.....the dunes nearest the coast are less than 7000 years old.....and to this day.....nature continues to shape, reshape....and reshape again. In 1972 the Dunes would be designated a National Recreation Area by congress....in recognition of the uniqness of the area.....and they remain in the care of the Siuslaw National Forest.

Over 1.5 million visitors come to the dunes each year to experience a truly one of a kind place....there is nowhere else in the United States.....and perhaps even on the planet....where you can see what you will see here. And the ways you can see it....well that's up to you too....on foot...on a horse, on an ohv.....even on a board.....think snowboarding on sand....or even in a sled being pulled by a team of dogs....yep...not kidding....it's called sand mushing.....and you can do it here. As tempted as I was to rent a side by side......or horse..... and head out for some adventure again.....in these Oregon Dunes.....instead....this trip....we would continue south....in search of new adventures.

Passing thru this time I was more than a little saddened to learn that the Oregon Dunes are shrinking. Grass and Plant species introduced by humans just decades ago have done their damage to the area and are now considered invasive. Large expanses that were wide open dunes just a few decades ago are now forests or grasslands.....once again....the effect of man on nature taking it's toll. I was encouraged to read that the Siuslaw National Forest.....and other federal agencies are working hard to ensure that no further damage is done ..... and in fact.....hopefully reverse some of the effects of decisions made....and actions taken.....decades ago. I'll leave the area this time hoping they pull it off.

And 98 miles south of the Dunes....we would wander into a place called Port Orford Oregon. And here......here would be another example of how the universe will tell you.....and show you things.......provide experiences that would have been hard to plan...

Our trek along US route 101 into Port Orford would be rather uneventful....at first. While entering the town of some 1100....we could not have possibly known what history was around us. But then....a simple sign would change that. We've read....and followed a few signs over these past few months......a sign reading Apex Road in Dillon Montana....a sign that simply said " Public Access" in the Helena National Forest of Montana......or that sign that read "Sprague" in Washington State that led to a night amidst the endless hayfields of Western Washington and learning about the man made marvel .....the Grand Coulee Dam. Here....the sign would come in a bit different form....it would be 5 letters painted on the asphalt in front of us.....with three large arrows above them, The five letters....O C E A N.......and there ya have it....our new address this evening. We would follow those three arrows and wind our way up a road until that pacific ocean had reintroduced itself on our horizon. A large graveled lot was conveniently right there....we pulled into the lot....and deposited our 10 dollar bill in the paybox at the entrance. That ten bucks....would buy us our address for the night......the pacific ocean in our front yard.....and learned about another piece of US history.

What we didn't know....when we pulled in....picked our spot and parked for the night......was that while starring out over the waves crashing into this part of Oregon....that our views would be interrupted by the occasional parasailer riding those winds in off the ocean.....swirling around in the winds.....coming within what felt like feet of the RV before turning and landing safely....and softly....on the beach below us. Dougie, Billie, and I would sit here for hours and watch this happen over and over.....and the whole time thanking the universe.....that our adress was somethin somethin somethin....Port Orford Oregon this evening. I could have worked for months with Realitors....and spent millions on an ocean front property anywhere in the country....and not replicated this experience. And better yet....we get to turn the key tomorrow morning....and drive to the next unforgettable experience.

But tonight....once the sun had set....and Dougie and I had gone for that last walk on the beach.... I would read about Port Orford Oregon...an area that was mapped as early as the 1500's by Spanish explorers......and later by the British. In later years....the US Military would introduce Fort Orford to the area. In 1941 the then mayor Gilbert Gable would suggest that the counties along the Oregon and California Border secede from the Union and create the State of Jefferson.....a notion that would turn out to be short lived, and end with the US involvment in world war two.

And all this....in an area situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Siskiyou National forest...and area that would be born in the era of gold discovery. It also happens to be the westernmost settlement in the State of Oregon...and the westernmost incorporated place in the 48 contiguous states.

For us....it was a place in which 5 letters painted on the asphalt would lead us to all this discovery....not to mention one last peak....at the beauty of the Pacific Ocean in a place called Oregon....A place called Port Orford.....and as port orford calls it....a place of Natural Wonders.

We would pull out of our address on the Oregon Coast the next morning. Continuing South....

Fall...on the pacific northwest coast had indeed set in.....and we were headed out....it appears just in the nick of time.

We would end our day of driving when I spotted a stretch of beach along the northern California coast.....on this wet, chilly, rainy, October evening....and turn the ignition key to the off position in a place called Orik.

We would learn a valuable lesson around the rules of condensation in a motorhome.....as the chilly nights ocean winds....collided with the rains....and the exterior walls of the motorhome.

Fired up the generator....no fear of disturbing the silence here.....the winds coming in off the Pacific Ocean were drowning out most everything......

After dinner, and the evening news......I would, before I knew it, be absorbed in learning about the Modoc War.

I'd read briefly about this conflict during our last stop in Port Orchard Washington....but I wanted to save it....I wanted to learn more about it.....while I was sitting here....closer to where it happened. Granted.....it happened further inland on the eastern side of Northern California...and south eastern Oregon.....in an area called the Lava beds.....but it felt right...on this blustery fall evening on the coast or northern California....to read about it here.

After all the reading....and learning....I had done to this point....learning about how white settlers had simply moved in...taken over....and settled lands that were already inhabited by others....I found this chapter in our history particulary unsettling.

In the late 1800's....white settlers were continuing to push west. As gold continued to be discovered across the western regions of the country.....behaviors became more and more barbarac......I guess....illustrating...that even some 160 years ago...man would do most anything....and kill most anyone....in the name of money.

Almost nowhere else during the Indian Wars...would that fact be illustrated in more detail....than it would be here...in the Modoc War

The Modac People, as with most every other Native American in the US at the time....had lived in the region for thousands of years...depending on the bounty of, and living in unison with...the land.

That would all change when the white settler.....the US Army....and the pursuit of money would enter what they considered thier homelands in the late 1800's. In the end....the Modoc people would stun the nation...and the world....as they found themselves fending off American Settlement in what is considered to be....one of the last great battles of the American West.

In many ways.....the war with the Modoc people would be little different than any of those across the country at the time. But in a very specific couple of ways....it would be very....very different.

The United States would end up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.....and would...time and time again...send in thousands of troups to fight 50 to 70 Modoc Warriors....and for nearly a year...these Modoc Warriors would hold off the impending doom of the American Forces.

Reading of tales in which the California state government had paid miners to exterminate all Native Americans in the area.....and those minors riding into Modoc encampments under the cover of a white flag...only to then break out arms and kill every member of the tribe they could....would example how deliberate....and desparate....the fight had become to take these lands from the people that called it home.

The significance of the Modoc war in America's.....and Native American history....cannot be told in a single accounting.... The conflict would span years...culminating in that battle on the lava fields of southern oregon some 160 years ago. I've put links in the show notes to videos that will share more of the detail...but for me...sitting here on the Northern Caifornia coast on a blustery fall evening.....I was realizing that the Modoc War was a michrocosm....of what was taking place all over the country at the time. This brand new country was entangled in war literally....from shore to shore....and the history of a nation was being written....while the history of a culture....and a people.....were being erased.....one bloody battle at a time.....

And this place called Orick? Well....looks like we are some 40 miles north of Eureka California. The name....Orick...is derived from the Yurok language word "O"rekw.....which means mouth of the river, in recognition of its location on the banks of the Redwood creek. The area was historically significant to the Yurok people, who at one point had over 70 villages in the region. Orick was one of fives of these villages where jumping dances were held. The jump dance....is woven deep into the cultural and historical fabric of the Yurok people...dating back centuries. The ritual served multiple purposes...primarily to pray for healing, abundant food, and restore goodwill among the people in the region.

Settlers would arrive in the area during the gold rush era...and later the area would become known for it's sawmills and lumber industry due to its proximity to California's Redwood Forests.

Less than 400 folks call Orick home....but the area remains a popular tourist destination...with one of the more popular attractions in the area being the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.....14,000 acres of diverse trails, old-growth forests, serene beaches, and the area known as Fern Canyon.

Leaving Orik the following morning....we hooked left and headed inland....I'd decided after wiping up all the condensation in the motor home that I had had enough rain....and was curious about what a trek into those northern Californian Mountains, and Redwood Forests might have to offer.....

I wonder what we'll learn there?

We awoke the next morning with so much of that condensation forming in the motorhome....that as i woke up hearing the drips of water in the shower....I feared our roof was leaking. It was time to make a left and head east...into the interior of Northern California. Enough of the rain for us.

Headed south as planned this morning…..but I guess it wouldn’t be a day in the life of “us” if a curve ball weren’t thrown our way from time to time. This mornings curve ball would come in the form of failing brakes on highway 16 nearing I-5 south. Thankfully it was not a complete failure….but absolutely put a kink in the travel plans. Turns out the brakes would be just the beginning of the failures for this segment of our adventure….soon a failed alternator, a defroster that doesn’t defrost, dashboard lights going out, and even a leaky roof (funny story….turns out a no trespassing sign from Lowes maybe won’t properly patch the hole you removed an old antennae from), would add themselves to the list. Lucky for us we limped our way into Toby and Etta’s driveway…a great relief to have a safe and comfy place to call home for a couple weeks while we sorted things out and got road-worthy again. So much fun visiting, and seeing family and old friends. Even managed to get some fall clean up stuff done around the yard so Toby and Etta are set for winter. Sounds like I may be back next summer to help Marv put a new roof on the place and install some flooring….can’t wait! All in all…thankful to have the opportunity to spend some of the fall season in southern Oregon’s Umpquah River Basin. The arrival of fall in Southern Oregon brings new personality and wide open spaces back to the area. No surprise that tourists from all over the world flock to the coastal areas, rivers, hiking mecca’s and scenic byways…so when the first frost hits the area and the traffic thins out…we are left to enjoy the change in colors and natural beauty in a bit more relaxed way. Shorter days, longer nights, the occasional frost and 50 degree days….It’s almost winter in the Pacific Northwest! As the deer wander through the streets and wild turkeys stop traffic on hiway 38…the frosty nights accelerate and amp up the color shift in the leaves. The mountainsides that spend all summer in lush shades of green start to pop with color in patches where the Oregon white oak, bigleaf maples, poplars and occasional grove of alders begin to shed amongst the douglas fir and western hemlock. On the way down we also stopped in Castle Rock for some photo’s of the Columbia River in its much smaller form…not nearly the monster it becomes closer to Portland and the coast. I am so blessed to have family and friends wherever we seem to roam. The leaving is never easy…but the coming back is always the best part!