Rugged Shores and Majestic Trees (Bullards State Park, OR)

We drove into Northern-Cal for a day visit to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park before we left Harris Beach SP. 

We spent a couple of hours driving on a dirt road through the Redwoods.  (A mild off-road test drive for our new jeep.)😁

The best part was walking the trails among the majestic giants while listening to the wind high above us.  I had a kink in my neck the next day from spending so much time looking up and sore toes from tripping on roots.

We had some light rain, but the drops coming off the branches created some big plops on our heads.  We are getting plenty of use from our raincoats this winter.

The sun finally showed up towards the end of our walk.  I was sorry we had to go.  It was so peaceful and quiet. 

The trails were not too busy.  There were a few families and couples walking through the redwoods.  Everyone looked relaxed and happy to be outdoors.  The kids especially were excited to be outside right down to a toddler with a big smile on her face waving at us as they passed by.  So cute!

Our next stay was in  Bullards Beach State Park.  The park has trails leading from the campground to the beach area.  We found out that the one going through the woods was not a good choice with all the recent rains.  We had to navigate around a lot of swampy areas full of noisy frogs only to come to a dead-end where the dune had become a 30 ft cliff drop to the beach.  In the nearby town of Bandon, we came across Henry the Fish made from debris washed up on the beaches.  

Washed Ashore is taking plastic trash from the ocean and turning it into a learning artwork while helping to clean the ocean.  People can volunteer to help by collecting, cleaning, and prepping the plastic for the artist.  Visit the website to learn more about saving our oceans.

A close-up to show some of the debris in Henry's tail.

I blew a year's worth of dust off my camera and went crazy taking photos.  After visiting the redwoods and different beaches, I had way too many photos to look through especially after our visit to Shore Acres State Park.  Going through row after row of beach scenes took more time than I care to think about!  

No worries with the estate's garden since it was winter.  I only took...hmm...around fifty shots...oh okay...closer to a hundred.😊  I promise not to post them all!

The few winter-blooming flowers were beautiful and unique to see.

Where I really went crazy taking photos was of the waves breaking along the shore.  It was so fantastic to watch the waves and wonder what it would have been like to live here in the early 1900s.

Man in red jacket standing at one of the viewpoints.
We were standing in the same spot earlier.

Trails lead to more spectacular views along the cliffs.

As you know, I love gnarly and unique trees.  This one is a survivor refusing to let go by hanging on by its roots. 

From the other side, the tree looks like it is trying to crawl to the more solid ground while leaning towards its companions for support.  

Okay, back to all those photos I took.  I can take videos with my phone, but I haven't figured out how to transfer the phone video to my blog.  With still shots, it's hard to capture the raw energy of the waves breaking on the rocks and along the cliffs when we are standing high above them.  I decided to gather together some of the continuously photographed waves crashing and make them into a slide show.  I wish I could insert the roaring sound of the wind and waves to go with the video.  Hopefully, it will give you a visual of what we were seeing.  And if you are curious as to why the waves are so big in this location, here is a link to why Shore Acres has such Big Waves all the time.

The cats seem to be enjoying the travel days, but on this day Dusty was looking a little bummed out when he realized we were getting ready to move and did not have time to take him outside.  I can assure you that he was the first one outside as soon as we stopped and before I had unpacked.😻  By the way, that is long thick fur, not fat.  He is very fluffy!

Hitch on the other hand was more curious about what was for lunch.

While Max was happy with a good chin scratch.

On The Cutting Board

All the blocks have been assembled.  I plan to layer and quilt them later after I get the scrap bags under control.  I  would like to make another Disappearing 4-patch.  It is so quick and easy to make.

The Wonky Log Cabin is now assembled.  The fabrics in this quilt must cover more than10 years of saved scraps.  Quilting this one might prove to be more challenging with all those seams.

I sewed the A to Zzzz Snowmen blocks and

I have started embroidering along the seams.

I forgot all about my Fancy Sue blocks.  They were buried under the snowmen and log cabin blocks.  I just so happen to have the perfect pink floral fabric leftover from another quilt project.  It was just enough for the sashings and border.  

Seeing the four photos of the finished tops makes me feel a little better.  Yes!  Two bags of scraps - Gone! One storage container for quilt blocks - Empty!  Now to get back to the rest of the scrap bags...

Happy Quilting!

On The Road Again 2021 Style (Bullards State Park, OR)

We are traveling again now that we have finished with our medical appointments.  Since we are self-contained and do not need to interact with a lot of people while traveling, we decided it was safe enough to get back on the road to see something different. 

So happy to be back on the Oregon coast. We are starting at the southernmost end of the Oregon coast and will work our way north to Seaside before going back south again.  

First stop:  Harris Beach State Park

The park was busy, but the beaches were not too bad.  Social distancing was easy to do between the beach areas and trails offered to visitors.

We needed our walking sticks for part of the Rock trail.  A little more rugged towards the end of the trail, but the views from the trail were spectacular!

The last of the rain blew away and left us with cloudy blue skies.  

I had no luck getting a good sunset photo.  The clouds on the horizon were too much for the sun to shine through leaving us with a fizzle of light with no show.  Maybe as it warms up and we have less rain I will have better luck.

No complaints though, I love this area whether it is rain or shine.  Below is a photo of one arched rock that used to be a nesting ground for many birds.  According to the sign, they are no longer there because people kept climbing the rock.  

We can only hope they will return now that this rock is off-limits to humans.  I saw Puffins was one of the birds that used to nest here.  I would really like to see them in their own environment.  I have only seen them in a captive environment.  They are so much fun to watch!

Along with walking the beaches and looking at the rock formations, I found a lot of unique trees...well to me they were unique looking, and of course, I had to take their picture as well.

North of Harris Beach SP is the Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Corridor.  We stopped at one of the locations called the Arch Rock Picnic Area.

It was a short easy trail from the parking lot to view the blue-green coastal waters with many rock islands.

Fabulous view of the arched rock from the pathway.  We ran out of time trying to see everything nearby so next time, we will try to explore more of the corridor area.  We also went to California to view the Redwoods.  I'll try to post again soon with more photos from that trip.

The cats are happy to be back on the road.  Dusty started to beg to go outside while we were traveling down the road.  He usually waits...actually he seems to know when we are parked for the night and just before we start to unpack.  As soon as we are stopped, he starts begging at the door, but not this time.  He was so excited to see something new that he just could not wait for us to stop!

We have trees!  Moss! Birds...lots of biiiirds!

Hitch on the other hand was rather blasé at first.  By the second day, he was trying to climb trees.

And his ol' muscles were feeling it the next day, but he hasn't given up on climbing trees.  Yesterday, we had only Dusty out since the other two did not seem in a hurry to leave the coach.  We left the door open hoping to entice them out for some exercise and exploring.  Hitch took the opportunity to run out the door and up a tree when we were not looking.  He came down the tree, trotted back to the door, looked at us, and ran right back to the tree for a second climb.  He never climbs very high so no worries.  The next time he came down, he strutted proudly past both of us twitching his tail, and went back into the coach.  Boy, did he show us!

Max in the meantime is just being his old self by hanging around the door making sure all is safe for kitties.  

Once it is safe with no stranger-danger or big dogs barking, he will do a little exploring before he decides that it is time for a nap.  The weather is still too cold for him.  He prefers the 80+ degrees while lying in the sun.

It's muddy outside!  
Why would I want to mess up this perfect fur?

We are on the move tomorrow..  On to Florence, OR!

On The Cutting Board

I have been working on my bags of scraps.  I found more than enough large pieces to make my first Disappearing 4-patch quilt.  I saw this layout online and liked this one better.  If I find enough for a second quilt, I'll use the original layout.

The quilt below was half done.  I had 20 more blocks to make. This pattern is great for using up the smaller scrappy strips.

This quilt is an old Project Linus paper-piecing pattern from the Quiltmaker magazine called Charmed Log Cabin.  I call it Wonky Log Cabin since I'm not going to quilt charmed animals in the centers.

I still have a lot of bags of leftover scraps. I might have put a dent in it, but it barely shows. So, what to do next to use up some more scraps. I have a lot of bias strips so I thought of making string/strip quilts or crazy quilts just so I would not have to do a lot of cutting, but I really don't like making them half as much as I enjoy looking at other quilters' work.

So, I started cutting 2-inch squares with a couple of patterns in mind once I'm done cutting.  The only problem was finding big enough pieces that were cut on the grain.  That's when I decided to do something really crazy.  I started marking 1/2 inch hexagons.  I know I am going to regret starting this one so I decided to make this a lifelong project that I will probably end up leaving behind for someone else to finish, but I'll have fun prepping for it and watching the scraps disappear.

Oh, while pulling out the Wonky Log Cabin blocks, I came across the A to Zzz Snowman quilt, and yes, you guessed it!  I started working on it too.  I trimmed all the blocks and I will sew them together along with the other two quilts.  Once the snowmen blocks are together, I need to embroider the fern stitch along the seams. 

Well, I think I have given myself enough projects to last through to next year.  I better get back to those scraps before they multiply again!

Happy Quilting!